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MarkEm · April 8th, 2006, 09:35 PM

On Wednesday Clare and I dived the Moldavia off of Nauticat out of Brighton. We have now done quite a few skills/drills sessions over the winter and this was to be our first ‘proper’ dive together.

The boat roped off at 07:45 so I was up at 04:50 and on the road at 05:25, to hopefuly beat the rush hour traffic. I arrived at the marina at 07:15, unloaded then parked the car in the free multi-storey car park that is right next to the marina.

The skipper had fully booked the trip so the normally roomy Nauticat was pretty rammed with 12 divers on board! I think the boat only had few OC divers onboard. The rest were on rebreathers of one type or another.

The two and a half hour trip out to the wreck site was pretty uneventfull. Clare and I chatted to Mark Powell and Finbar Taylor who were also on the trip. One thing that did concern me a little was the state of the sea. There were a lot of white horses and some rather large waves. The shipping forcast had predicted a variable force 3-4 wind and slight to moderate sea state. I’d say that it was force 4 and moderate sea state. Not ideal conditions for a trimix dive.

At arrival over the wreck the sea looked rather milky so I didn’t expect much vis on the dive. We kitted up quickly and were about the third pair over the side. We stopped at 6m for a bubble check then proceeded to swim down a rather less then vertical shot. Everything went black at about 30m and we found the wreck at about 45m. On the wreck it was pitch black and the vis ranged from 2-3m. There was still a fair amount of tide running and it was not a particulaly pleasant experience finning hard to stay still so we quickly moved off around the wreck to get out of the flow.

I really dislike these conditions beacause it’s simply not much fun!

We proceeded with care so to avoid accidently penetrating the wreck and did a reasonable tour around the stern section where we spotted a good sized conger. We also found the 4.7″ gun which points skywards and another large gun laying on it’s side. After rounding the stern and heading foward and up along the port side of the ship we saw some huge and intact portholes. At least one of these had it’s glass still in place. Removal of these would be a serious undertaking to say the least!

We had expected an avarage max depth of about 48m based on previous dives but it was more like 43m (if that). We thumbed it at 28 mins actual BT. We were at 36m when we left the wreck so headed up to 33m where I started the deep stops. After our gas switch at 21m Clare shot her DSMB and as the skipper had requested each diver to deploy a bag we also sent my alert marker up Clare’s line (after she had helped me retrieve it from the storage pouch).

The deco was fun compared to the previous 33 minutes of darkness/crap vis/tide. I ran the deco and watched Clare using her spool as a yo-yo for entertainment.

Back on the surface and the boat was convenienetly right next to us. We approached the stern and Clare was going to be first up the lift. I tried to swim past the lift to get to the rope that hung into the water behind the boat but just as I passed behind Clare a large wave threw me hard against the corner of the lift. The metal caught me right on the ribs. I have never been hit so hard! I think the boat was moving down at the same time as the wave smashed me into the lift so the force was great. I let out a bit of a yelp. Ouch! If it had hit me on the head I think I may have not been around to write this trip report. The wave had also caused Clare some trouble as it threw her through the lift and she wrenched her shoulder.

It took a lot of effort to then get back on the boat as I was in a lot of pain (to say the least) and feeling in shock from the impact. I sat down and chilled for about 10 minutes before de-kitting (with Clare’s help). I felt sick, light headed and really cold so I then went and sat on my own in the sunshine. This worried Clare so she proceeded to fuss over me to make sure I was ok. She was a great help!

After about an hour we both nodded off in the wheel house. I felt a lot better after that but my ribs had not improved. The journey back was cold and uncomfortable but I was in good company and the prospect of some fish ‘n’ chips in Brighton kept my spirits up.

I have since had a check over by my Doctor and she thinks I have probably got at least one fractured rib which will take eight weeks to heal!

Sea diving in April is off from now on!

Regards,

Mark.

April 8th, 2006, 09:35 PM	#1 (permalink)
MarkEm(Offline) Site Sponsor Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Essex, UK Posts: 220	The Moldavia strikes again. On Wednesday Clare and I dived the Moldavia off of Nauticat out of Brighton. We have now done quite a few skills/drills sessions over the winter and this was to be our first ‘proper’ dive together. The boat roped off at 07:45 so I was up at 04:50 and on the road at 05:25, to hopefuly beat the rush hour traffic. I arrived at the marina at 07:15, unloaded then parked the car in the free multi-storey car park that is right next to the marina. The skipper had fully booked the trip so the normally roomy Nauticat was pretty rammed with 12 divers on board! I think the boat only had few OC divers onboard. The rest were on rebreathers of one type or another. The two and a half hour trip out to the wreck site was pretty uneventfull. Clare and I chatted to Mark Powell and Finbar Taylor who were also on the trip. One thing that did concern me a little was the state of the sea. There were a lot of white horses and some rather large waves. The shipping forcast had predicted a variable force 3-4 wind and slight to moderate sea state. I’d say that it was force 4 and moderate sea state. Not ideal conditions for a trimix dive. At arrival over the wreck the sea looked rather milky so I didn’t expect much vis on the dive. We kitted up quickly and were about the third pair over the side. We stopped at 6m for a bubble check then proceeded to swim down a rather less then vertical shot. Everything went black at about 30m and we found the wreck at about 45m. On the wreck it was pitch black and the vis ranged from 2-3m. There was still a fair amount of tide running and it was not a particulaly pleasant experience finning hard to stay still so we quickly moved off around the wreck to get out of the flow. I really dislike these conditions beacause it’s simply not much fun! We proceeded with care so to avoid accidently penetrating the wreck and did a reasonable tour around the stern section where we spotted a good sized conger. We also found the 4.7″ gun which points skywards and another large gun laying on it’s side. After rounding the stern and heading foward and up along the port side of the ship we saw some huge and intact portholes. At least one of these had it’s glass still in place. Removal of these would be a serious undertaking to say the least! We had expected an avarage max depth of about 48m based on previous dives but it was more like 43m (if that). We thumbed it at 28 mins actual BT. We were at 36m when we left the wreck so headed up to 33m where I started the deep stops. After our gas switch at 21m Clare shot her DSMB and as the skipper had requested each diver to deploy a bag we also sent my alert marker up Clare’s line (after she had helped me retrieve it from the storage pouch). The deco was fun compared to the previous 33 minutes of darkness/crap vis/tide. I ran the deco and watched Clare using her spool as a yo-yo for entertainment. Back on the surface and the boat was convenienetly right next to us. We approached the stern and Clare was going to be first up the lift. I tried to swim past the lift to get to the rope that hung into the water behind the boat but just as I passed behind Clare a large wave threw me hard against the corner of the lift. The metal caught me right on the ribs. I have never been hit so hard! I think the boat was moving down at the same time as the wave smashed me into the lift so the force was great. I let out a bit of a yelp. Ouch! If it had hit me on the head I think I may have not been around to write this trip report. The wave had also caused Clare some trouble as it threw her through the lift and she wrenched her shoulder. It took a lot of effort to then get back on the boat as I was in a lot of pain (to say the least) and feeling in shock from the impact. I sat down and chilled for about 10 minutes before de-kitting (with Clare’s help). I felt sick, light headed and really cold so I then went and sat on my own in the sunshine. This worried Clare so she proceeded to fuss over me to make sure I was ok. She was a great help! After about an hour we both nodded off in the wheel house. I felt a lot better after that but my ribs had not improved. The journey back was cold and uncomfortable but I was in good company and the prospect of some fish ‘n’ chips in Brighton kept my spirits up. I have since had a check over by my Doctor and she thinks I have probably got at least one fractured rib which will take eight weeks to heal! Sea diving in April is off from now on! Regards, Mark. __________________ *WWW.DIVESIGNS.COM* Last edited by MarkEm; April 9th, 2006 at 12:24 AM.