GerryO
26-05-07, 22:14
I arrived at about 8:15 with Robert and the staff at the Dive Bunker were already getting prepped for the day ahead.
The wrecks were very low viz but I particularly enjoyed the Campania; it is a very long jumble of wreckage completley festooned in anemones and soft corals. Occasionally more ship-like features such as port holes or bollards resolved themselves out of the gloom as I drifted with the current along the length of the ship. I had time to ponder facts about the history of the ship - trans-Atlantic blue riband holder and the worlds first aircraft carrier- and how all the grand designs of her age were now mouldering and splintering away under the blanket of marine life. It is certainly a gloomy, but not an unfriendly wreck although I highly recommend diving with Robert and his mega-torch for additional illumination at depth!
The Saucy is a touch on the small and silty side to have ten divers deposited on it. The bow and the deck gun are very striking and once again the profuse coating of marine life softened the outline of the wreck. However, a few silt-outs later and a fin-stroke across the forehead from an unknown assailant followed by a temporary buddy separation culminated in a tactical withdrawal to the safety of the shot line. Not much time for philosophical musings here then.
PS Subsequently hit my head off the parcel shelf in the car in exactly the same place where the fin met my forehead. Ah well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Now where's the anadin and the icepack....
All told a very pleasant day's diving and it was great to put some faces to names from the forum at last. (Especially when one of those faces turned out to be my old next door neighbour- small world!)
The wrecks were very low viz but I particularly enjoyed the Campania; it is a very long jumble of wreckage completley festooned in anemones and soft corals. Occasionally more ship-like features such as port holes or bollards resolved themselves out of the gloom as I drifted with the current along the length of the ship. I had time to ponder facts about the history of the ship - trans-Atlantic blue riband holder and the worlds first aircraft carrier- and how all the grand designs of her age were now mouldering and splintering away under the blanket of marine life. It is certainly a gloomy, but not an unfriendly wreck although I highly recommend diving with Robert and his mega-torch for additional illumination at depth!
The Saucy is a touch on the small and silty side to have ten divers deposited on it. The bow and the deck gun are very striking and once again the profuse coating of marine life softened the outline of the wreck. However, a few silt-outs later and a fin-stroke across the forehead from an unknown assailant followed by a temporary buddy separation culminated in a tactical withdrawal to the safety of the shot line. Not much time for philosophical musings here then.
PS Subsequently hit my head off the parcel shelf in the car in exactly the same place where the fin met my forehead. Ah well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Now where's the anadin and the icepack....
All told a very pleasant day's diving and it was great to put some faces to names from the forum at last. (Especially when one of those faces turned out to be my old next door neighbour- small world!)