Skipper/owner Bob Anderson The skipper/owner is Bob Anderson. Originally Bob came north to Orkney in 1993, attracted by the allure of Scapa Flow. He worked as a commercial diver for four years before becoming a dive boat skipper in 1998. After three years on other boats he finally took the plunge in November 2001 and bought the Halton.
As an owner and skipper, I will be on the boat for the whole of your week: no delegation of duties here! On busier weeks and away trips, I normally enlist a crewman to help with the work load, especially if the trip involves overnight passages etc. I have an MCA Boatmaster ticket for Scapa Flow, a RYA Yachtmaster Offshore ticket for 60nm off land, an HSE Commercial Diver qualification and an O level in Ceramics.
I am a diver too so hopefully can give a fairly accurate impression of what you are going to dive. I try to dive most of the sites that I put divers in for that very reason... certainly I have explored the vast bulk of the dives in Scapa Flow. The summer of 2003 saw me tick off a dive that had been on my wish list for a good while: Sula Sgeir.
Sula Sgeir is a small rock stack about 90 miles due west of Orkney, accessible only during the best of weather. In the summer of 2003, the Halton roamed here and the other Scottish Outliers in a 2 week bird ringing trip (report here) and I managed to sneak a few dives in. Stron na Lise is the southernmost headland and I can still picture being at 25m and looking up and seeing the two buoys of my SMB floating on the surface.
Bob Anderson: bob@mvhalton.co.uk Tel:(01856) 851532
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