Dive Scapa Flow is a comprehensive and practical guide to the spectacular and famous Orkney wrecks - the colossal, intact remains of the scuttled German fleet, U-boats, steamers, tugs and Churchill's extraordinary 'Blockships'. Since this book was first published, there have been huge advances in diving technique and with the new wave of 'technical diving', wrecks previously beyond the realm of the air diver can now be reached. This updated and revised edition incorporates these, particularly HMS Hampshire, which took Lord Kitchener to his doom in 1916. Rod Macdonald's intimate knowledge of the dives is supplemented by up-to-date information on characters, travel and accommodation in the area. An essential companion for discovering the underwater secrets and intriguing naval history of Britain's most popular dive site, Dive Scapa Flow comes complete with new illustrations, photographs and charts.
Rod took up diving in the early 1980's - before even Wham were popular - and very quickly went on to develop an interest in shipwrecks after his first dive trip to Scapa Flow in Orkney where the remains of the German High Seas Fleet from World War I still lie on the seabed - 4 cruisers and 3 gigantic battleships.
This interest led to his eureka moment of writing the essential dive guide to the Scapa Flow wrecks, Dive Scapa Flow which was published in 1990. The wrecks there have decayed and changed so much over the intervening years that the book has been constantly updated and amended - it's now in its 4th edition.
Dive Scotland's Greatest Wrecks soon followed in 1993 covering the classic Scottish wreck dives and is now in its updated 2nd edition.
Dive England's Greatest Wrecks is a complimentary book about the top 10 wrecks south of the border and was published in 2003.
These latter 2 Dive manuals devote a whole chapter to each individual wreck giving its history, current condition and essential hard diver information. A specially commissioned artist's illustration of each wreck as it lies on the seabed today completes all the information you need to go dive.
Into the Abyss - Diving to Adventure in the Liquid World is a collection of all the incidents, hilarious and serious, that have crammed themselves into Rod's diving career and covers his panic stricken first sea dives and subsequents forays into increasingly deeper water in search of virgin wrecks.
Rod is finalising his latest book, The Darkness Below, which covers his transition from deep air diving to trimix diving using helium gas mixes to take him far beyond normal sport diving depths. From there it follows his progression to rebreather diving - and along the way covers diving in Scapa Flow, the South China Seas, Norway and many other fabulous wreck sites, some lost and forgotten for aeons.
Rod is a lawyer by day and lives with his wife Claire and his 2 daughters Nicola and Catriona in Stonehaven, a small fishing town in Scotland. He is a keen sailor and volunteer crew on the Stonehaven lifeboat.
