27/07/2025
Aase, 13 July 2025
13 may be unlucky for some, but July 13 was a lucky day for Josef Vaca, Fiona Houston, Ronnie Scrymgeour and myself. Weather and tides were nigh on perfect to have a pop at diving the SS 'Aase' at Brims Ness. For those who haven't dived the wreck, the 'Aase' came ashore at Brims in dense fog and a southerly gale on the evening of 16 March 1928. The ship was carrying scrap from a dismantled railway system and pretty much all that remains is the cargo, principally railway lines and bogies + wheels. Of the ship itself, nothing much seems to have survived (Brims is a VERY exposed site!). the last set of pictures I took at Brims were in 2016, probably the last time I dived there and we have tried a few times since
We launched Hagar at the Yacht Club slip (trailer brakes and bearings worked beautifully!!) and headed round the Head to Brims where, in spite of the calm conditions, there were still a few (smallish, plus one surprisingly big) waves breaking at the Ness. Conditions at the dive site were pretty well perfect, though, with only a very slight surge coming ashore.
Ronnie and Fiona went in first (I had dropped them a little shallow, but they found the wreck site ok) and had a relaxing hour or so among the railway lines and bogies. They left an SMB reel attached to a bogie so Josef and I dropped straight on to the wreck. for a further relaxed dive. Water was a toasty 12C
That's the good bit. We got back to the slip to find that no less than THREE fecking cars were parked across the top of it. Scrabster beach was busy, so we reckoned we had little chance of finding the owners. The Harbour slip had a friendly barrier across it (and the tide was probably to low anyway, plus it is a sod to reverse a trailer round that corner). Thurso Harbour slip was unuseable so we had no choice but to recover at Dwarwick (with no problems - lovely slip).
Back to the Clubhouse and what do we find - a fecking red Jaguar parked opposite the roller door! (It wasn't anything to do with Sean next door - he had left the area clear for us). No chance of reversing in so we had to unhitch the boat and manhandle it so we could winch it inside after washing it down.
By this time, we were all feeling a bit put upon, so it was off to Popeye's for some welcome rehydration. When I was driving out of Scrabster, I noticed that there was ANOTHER, different vehicle, with paddle boards on the roof parked across the top of the slip. To be fair, this is the first time we have been blocked like this, but I think I will make a sandwich board 'Keep Clear, No Parking' sign to place on the slip, certainly on nice days like today. Overall, definitely worth getting out of bed to go diving today. It would be great to dive the site March/April when there is no w**d, but the chances of a calm Sunday at that time of year are pretty slim.
![Duncansby Geo [Geo of Sclaites] dive, 11 May 2025Greg, Josef and I launched Aliuce at Groats and went round to Duncansby...](https://img4.gyms1.com/139/227/1205209571392271.jpg)
