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Shakespeare, Henry V

Later that year, 1984, as a veteran (well at least in my own mind) of some 25 dives, I booked myself onto the Ellon BSAC weekend dive trip to Kyle of Lochalsh on the west coast of Scotland. I was keen to dive my first proper shipwreck, something that looked like the Hollywood version of a shipwreck.

At dive club meetings I had heard much talk of the wreck of the Port Napier at Kyle of Lochalsh. Kyle is a small coastal town, which is the gateway from mainland Scotland to the romantic Isle of Skye. It is only about half a mile across Loch Alsh to the Isle of Skye.

Looking across Loch Alsh to Skye from Kyle, the dark brooding Munros of the Cuillin Hills, famous amongst mountaineers, dominate the lower lands around. At this time, Skye was only reachable by the local ferry - now of course it is served by the Skye Bridge.

The plan was to dive the relatively intact wreck of the Second World War minelayer, HMS Port Napier twice on the Saturday, stay overnight and dive another location twice on the Sunday. We would then head back home to the east coast of Scotland. This would involve a 5-hour drive across the whole width of Scotland, directly after work on a dark November Friday night.