Keith and Kathy Bichan have been operating a unique boat tour out of the small port of Orphir in the Orkney islands since 1997. Orphir is located on the southern side of Mainland Orkney overlooking Scapa Flow. On a daily basis, Keith chucks the cash equivalent of a top of the range BMW 5 Series overboard only to watch it sink into the depths below.

The HK$512,000 submersible camera, known as the ‘Roving Eye’, is attached to the boat by an umbilical cord and Skipper Keith steers it into the deep with the aid of the onboard Playstation-like controller. “It’s normally used in the oil and gas exploration industry to check on pipelines and the like,” explains Kathy. “We’re the only place in the world where it is used for tourism.”

The couple were inspired by the exploits of Dr. Bob Ballard, the man who discovered the R.M.S. Titanic and now heads up the Institute for Exploration at the Mystic Marinelife Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut. It soon becomes clear why they chose Scapa Flow for their imaginative venture. As the camera gently whirrs into the abyss, the S.M.S. Dresden looms into view on the live onboard video relay. For wannabe Jacques Cousteaus who don't wanna get wet the boat trip is a boon. Visitors sit in comfort, in front of a T.V. below deck as Keith, a local marine expert and historian, guides ‘the Eye’ along the bows of the German battleship now resting on its side and explains in great detail the history of the ship.

If you recycle your empties, dabble in organic apples or ease your environmental conscience with recycled toilet paper once in while the boat trip could have an added attraction. The Roving Eye tour is the only boat tour in Britain recognized by the Green Tourism Business Scheme. The boat uses an efficient engine to reduce pollution and Keith takes the old oil to a recycling point. Launched in 1998, the scheme allows tourists to make informed decisions about where to stay and what to do to make a good holiday a greener one too. An easily identifiable green plaque in a window or on a wall denotes membership, which makes plotting an environmentally friendly path across the 70-island archipelago painless.

The seabed is littered with rusting ships torpedoed or scuttled by the German Navy during the 1st and 2nd World Wars. Each year some 3000 divers come to Orkney to dive among the man-made reefs which support Conger eels, crabs, sea urchins and seals - known as selkies in Orkney. There are 30,000 Grey Seals, 8,000 Common seals and the occasional pod of Killer Whales living in Orkney waters.

Two of the seven remaining wrecks; H.M.S. Royal Oak and H.M.S. Hampshire, are designated as war graves and all diving, including the ‘Roving Eye, is strictly prohibited around them. The Royal Oak was torpedoed by a German U47 Submarine one month after the beginning of World War II and sank with the loss of 833 lives. Oil still seeps from the wreck more than sixty years later, although it is tapped off and sent to an oil refinery.

Above deck the boat tour brings visitors close to a few spots where seals loll on the rocks. Killer whales also visit on occasion and are not always a pleasant sight to behold. “Some hardened Italian fishermen came out here a while back,” explains Keith. “They were physically sick when they saw the whales tossing the seals in the air. It’s a pretty bloody spectacle.”

After the underwater tour of Scapa Flow, the boat stops off on the Island of Hoy for a visit to Scapa Flow visitor centre and museum in Lyness. Outside the museum is a litany of rusting guns, torpedoes, depth charges and propellers. Inside is a fact-packed exhibition which traces the history of the old Royal Naval Base from the 1st World War onwards. Popping 2 pence into one of three ancient ESE telephones allows visitors to hear an oral history of Lyness and the story behind the various fleets that met their fate at the bottom of Scapa Flow.

Roving Eye Enterprises
Westrow Lodge
Orphir
Tel: +44 (0)1856 811360
$40 per person approx. 3 hours

©2003 Graham Holliday

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