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Diving

Dives

I've dived with Eric Franz 46 times:

Dive number	Date	Site	Location	Area	Country	Wreck	Freshwater	Depth (m)	Bottom time (min)	Total time (min)	Divers	Quality	Summary	Equipment
12	15 Jun 1980	Fidra	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			7	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Looking for lobsters again. None, but thousands of brittle stars & other squidgy things. Vis unimpressive. Weather very good. Wind dropped by evening.	Steel 60, own dv, ABLJ 6, ~26lbs weight
13	15 Jun 1980	Fidra	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			10	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Snorkelled out to another island. Found 2 crabs (one with no claws) but still no lobsters. Rats!	as before
27	25 Oct 1980	Priest Island	Summer Isles	North-west Scotland	Scotland			20	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		2nd dive of the day, again off the 'Vimiera'. Snorkelled to shore, descended and followed the 20m contour. Huge shoal of pollack, dogfish (quite large) and lots of other fish not yet identified. Also plenty of crabs, but no pretty squidgy things.	Steel 60, ABLJ 1, own dv
30	23 Nov 1980	Largs		Clyde	Scotland			2	25	25	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Mike Malone		Boring, but funny.	ABLJ 1, steel 69
34	5 Apr 1981	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			17	30	30	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Followed same gully as last time but missed the tunnel. Found two spider crabs making friends. Not so cold as last time but a slight current.	ABLJ 3, steel 69
36	12 Apr 1981	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		First attempt aborted due to current. Second attempt during slack (almost). Wreck is perpendicular to shore, bows up, buoyed. Beautiful tube worms (small heads). Vis 6m, not cold.	Steel 69, ABLJ 2
37	13 Apr 1981	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			25	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Malcolm Gauld		Dived with Malcolm & Eric in 2nd wave. Strong current, ~1 knot. Toured hold on two levels, then proceeded to bridge. Saw mast & derricks. Ran low on air so came up. Very pretty anemones, many of which we accidentally squashed.	Steel 69, ABLJ 2
38	14 Apr 1981	Pelican	Calve Island, Tobermory Bay	Mull	Scotland			18	15	15	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Wreck lies just offshore, in Calve Sound. Very silty, even sea-squirts silted-up. Circumnavigated the wreck and looked inside. Came up with 90 ats left.	Steel 60, ABLJ 2
39	15 Apr 1981	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			17	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Geoff Hide		Against all the odds, we were up at 6am for this one, and in the water about 9. No current, vis 7m. Saw superstructure, and details of hull. Very pretty sea-life.	Steel 60, ABLJ 2
43	17 Apr 1981	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			28	15	15	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		No current this time - down buoy line onto bow section, down starboard side to stern at 28m, back up port side, seeing boiler, engine room, holds and up into bows. Vis 5m. Very pretty fan-worms in companionway.	Steel 69, ABLJ 2
53	19 May 1981	Balmeanach Bay	The Braes	Skye	Scotland			3	25	25	Iain Hosking, Doc Mitchell, Eric Franz, Geoff Hide		Night dive to see phosphorescence. We did. It's like bright sparks whenever you make any sudden movement, and is due to plankton and jellyfish.	Al 56, ABLJ 2
54	19 May 1981	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			15	30	30	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Dived with Eric and went round much the same area as with Niall the previous day, but in more detail eg gun mounting, mines in tubes. Vis a bit cruddy.	Steel 69, ABLJ 2
59	19 Jul 1981	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			15	25	25	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		2nd dive of the day. Didn't find Cathedral probably due to current but good fun anyway. Darker, almost monochromatic, and poorer vis: 7m or so.	Steel 69
61	9 Aug 1981	Glanmire	St Abbs Head	Forth	Scotland			31	15	15	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Dived just after slack, so some current. Down grapple line onto wreck, up port side to bows, down starboard side to stern, which is more intact. Boilers stand out well. Then back up to undo grapple. Life - outstanding feature was a huge, pale conger with an evil expression on its face, under a steel plate. Also pollack. Water warm. Vis 7m at least. [The 'conger' was actually a wolf fish - Ed]	Steel 60
64	13 Sep 1981	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			13	40	40	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Had difficulty finding Cathedral at first but found it at the second attempt. Far more fish than before - two wrasse (very curious), shoal of pollack or saithe + one larger one. Many smaller fish. Also large lobster sharing crevice with squat lobster and crab. Breathed from air bubble in arch using snorkel. Vis 8m. Very warm (new woolly bear).	Own tank: 82 cu ft. 150 ats used.
65	19 Sep 1981	Eilean Imersay	Ardbeg	Islay	Scotland			6	65	65	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Looked for 'John Strachan' but couldn't find it, so went scallop-hunting, with considerable success. Vis crap, about 2m.	own
66	20 Sep 1981	Islay	Port Ellen	Islay	Scotland			9	35	35	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Found wreck immediately from transits and tied buoy onto it. Saw boilers, pipes, sections of hull. Life - wrasse, pollack, urchins, starfish but not as much as last time. Conditions rough. Vis 4m.	Twin Draegers (90 cu ft)
67	21 Sep 1981	Shuna		Islay	Scotland			11	25	25	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Ewan Rowell		Wreck had been buoyed by the first wave. Very broken up, scattered around among kelp. Pretty sea life - sunstars and wrasse with luminous blue markings. Vis 3m.	own
68	22 Sep 1981	Floristan	Kilchiaran Bay	Islay	Scotland			11	10	10	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Very rough. Down buoy line to steel plates and chain, and some copper pipe. Then we lost it, and covered vast areas of seabed before giving up. Vis 3m.	own
72	18 Oct 1981	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			9	40	40	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Very low tide so Cathedral Rock easy to find. Usual pollack etc, pair of wrasse and sea-scorpions. Vis 3-4m. A little chilly.	own
76	20 Mar 1982	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			14	15	15	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Susan Playfair		Now low tide. Dived with Eric and Susan (Susan had the torch - we were invisible). Getting a little dark, but good fun. Dive-bombed Doc and Rob.	own
77	21 Mar 1982	Creran Bridge		Oban	Scotland			5	25	25	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Drift dive (3 shorter dives actually). Mussels in abundance, very pretty bit with beadlet and plumose anemones, crabs, squat lobsters etc. Fair current, especially on second run. Vis 15ft.	own
83	6 Apr 1982	Catalina	Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			25	27	27	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid, Eric Franz		Vis better than last time. Good sea life.	own
87	11 Apr 1982	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Caught slack by sheer coincidence. Straight down to stern, and back up through holds and engine room. Latter very spectacular with missing hull plates forming a gallery, and boilers, wheels etc. Dive-bombed Geoff, Sue & Doc, and lost Eric. Torch had a burial at sea. Vis between 0 and 4m.	own
91	13 Apr 1982	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	18	18	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Right round wreck, up into bows and swam entire length of ship under the deck - in through rear hold, past engine and boiler, through forward hold and right into bows. No torches, vis terrible, but great dive.	own
92	13 Apr 1982	Ballista	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			9	15	15	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Quick, abortive search for the 'Dartmouth' then on to dive the 'Ballista' (which was showing above water). Right round outside - in through gap in hull, up to bows, inside bridge and engine room (diesel engines). Every man's idea of what a modern wreck should look like. Good fun.
101	15 May 1982	Seacliffs	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			9	50	50	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid, Eric Franz		Lobster hunt with Ceri and Eric. Vis fairly poor. No lobsters in clefts - all in lobster pots instead, a new innovation. Plenty of squat lobsters and one fish. Also fishing line. Evening dive - in about 7pm. Good sunset.	own (New Typhoon depth gauge - works!)
103	21 May 1982	Seacliffs	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			5	5	5	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid, Eric Franz		In water after 9pm so dark and very low vis, 2-3m. Dive abruptly cut short by realisation of massive leak in cuff.	own
105	12 Jun 1982	Sound of Kerrera		Oban	Scotland			20	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Susan Playfair		Sloping bottom, silty and dark, but good vis - at least 10m. Hundreds of squat lobsters, plus scallops, squid, sea squirts, swimming crabs, large fish. I had to shorten the dive because of sinus trouble when we surfaced halfway through. Spent a surprisingly comfortable night in Eric's tent, on the shore of the Sound.	own
106	13 Jun 1982	Easdale	Seil Island	Oban	Scotland			22	30	30	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Susan Playfair		Dived cliffs again. Fantastic vis: 60-100 feet. Incredible variety of life - squat lobsters, brightly-coloured sea anemones, plumose anemones, sea squirts, feather duster worms, dead men's fingers, cup coral, sun stars, starfish, sponges, nudibranchs, dogfish, wrasse, sea urchins, hydras, jellyfish, oysters and a cowrie which I found on my tank after the dive. Tremendous scenic dive.	own
113	2 Aug 1982	Dresden	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			38	21	36	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Wreck lies on its port side. Oriented ourselves first then swam to stern, past 2 gun turrets. Back to bows, in between decks once or twice, past bridge and forward turret mounting. Bows (at last!) - very spectacular knife-edge. Back to line and stops. Blew air rings. Vis 40 feet or so.	own, twin 60s.
114	2 Aug 1982	König	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			36	21	36	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		König is a 25,000 ton battleship, lying more or less upside-down. We went down the buoy line, which is on the port side, and swam towards the bows. Saw very little that was recognisable - chief impression was of immense size. Vis not so good.	own, twin 60s
121	6 Aug 1982	Brummer	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			36	21	36	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Circumnavigated the wreck. To stern first (though I thought it was the bows again...) and then past stern turrets, funnels, midships six inch turret, bridge, bow turret. It's possible to get into the wreck.	own, twin 60s, +12lbs
122	6 Aug 1982	Guns of the Bayern	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			36	21	21	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Dived with Eric and Derek, and Robert's camera to finish the film. Found that using the camera was straightforward [I thought - none of the shots came out], but little time was left for actually seeing the wreck. Two turrets, each with 2 x 15 inch guns, upside down. Hatches leading into the seabed. Photographs probably cruddy [they were]. Dark. Vis 8m.	own, twin 60s, Robert's camera (Nikonos III)
124	19 Sep 1982	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			14	50	50	Iain Hosking, Dougie McEwan, Eric Franz, Grace Franz		Dived with Dougie, Eric and Grace. Swam to Cathedral via gully. Wrasse, pollack, nudibranchs, lobsters (one of which we caught, but returned of course, being conservation-minded divers). Vis crap. Current.	own
125	20 Sep 1982	Eyemouth		Forth	Scotland			13	32	32	Iain Hosking, Colin Gordon, Eric Franz		In at gully - swam round cliff to right, finding fins and fishing hooks on the way. Found Malcom's cave, full of wrasse. Sunny, windy day.	own
131	12 Jun 1983	Bass Rock		Forth	Scotland			20	10	12	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Fairly strong westerly, maybe force 4. Also strong current in same direction. Dived off north side of the Bass. Had to crawl into the current by hanging on to the rocks. Not much fun so came up. Saw a seal.	Doc's dry suit, demand valve and boots, Jenny's woolly bear [!], Grace's gloves. I remembered everything else.
133	19 Jun 1983	St Abbs Head	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			35	7	7	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Abortive search for the 'Glanmire'. Beautiful day: flat calm and blazing sunshine. No excuses.	own
134	19 Jun 1983	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			10	40	40	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Salvaged something from the day with an excellent dive at Cathedral. Good vis. Tame wrasse back, bolder than ever. 4 boats off Cathedral!	own
140	6 Jul 1983	Köln	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			32	26	41	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Flat calm and boiling hot. Good look inside battlebridge. Saw telegraph and other bits and pieces. Through bridge and past anti-aircraft guns to aft superstructure. Two stern turrets still intact. Excellent vis - 50-60 feet at least.	Twin 60s, + 6lbs
141	6 Jul 1983	Köln	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			32	23	23	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		This dive demonstrated how quickly narcs can appear when working hard. Eric found the boathook, and we saw the compass shoot past us tied below a lifting bag. Tied the boathook to the shot line and headed for the stern. Got lost and ended up on hull side of wreck. Very embarrassing. Missed line. Free stops.	Twin 60s, +6lbs
148	6 Aug 1983	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			25	35	40	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Early start - in water at 11am. [eh?] Flat calm and sunny. Vis undisturbed by other divers: 25-30 feet. Down buoy line to bows and swam aft through the holds to the stern. Found boxes of rivets, tin cans, tyres, the truck, solidified sacks of cement and a pile of gas masks. Stern framework beautiful with dead men's fingers and anemones. 25m at rudder. No prop. Very quick blast back to the bows since low on air.	own
149	6 Aug 1983	Helen Wilson	Kerrera (Ardentrive Bay, opposite Oban Harbour)	Oban	Scotland			35	14	16	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Spent early part of the afternoon echo-sounding for the Sunderland. Nothing, so dived this trawler, which is in Ardentrive Bay, opposite Oban harbour, and is buoyed. Up to gunwhales in silt - superstructure still more or less intact. Left a gasmask on the wheel as our calling card. Recovered knife and tank boot. Decompressed on a barge nearby in only 4m of water, and left another calling card in its boiler. Fruitless search for seaplane afterwards.	own
159	6 Nov 1983	Wallachia	The Gantocks	Clyde	Scotland			30	20	22	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Hell. Force 5, wet (on surface), dark, deep, silty, current. Dived on ebb tide (missed slack). Lost line on first attempt. At the second attempt spent half the dive undoing the grapple, then drifted over the jars. Only 20 ats by this time so surfaced rapidly. Soaking wet. PS. Seasick too.	own
160	31 Dec 1983	Loch Sunart		Scottish West Coast	Scotland			17	25	25	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Hogmanay Dive. Wind gale force 7 and pissing rain. Hispania off so dived Loch Sunart and got scallops.	own
179	6 May 1984	Dun Domhnuill	Garvellachs (SW corner of the islan)	Oban	Scotland			9	8	10	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Pretty cliff dive with dead men's fingers, anemones, sponges, sea squirts, worms and urchins. Vis quite good - 30 feet or so.	own