Pentyrch Wreck, Brighton

jamesd · February 12th, 2006, 10:16 PM

Hi,

I had a very enjoyable dive today. It may not have been the most adventurous dive but kept me happy for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was my first dive since I took the fundamentals course where my buddy was similarly trained. Alan (my buddy) has done the TECH 1 course and is really good to dive with. Secondly, after the previous weekend, diving in Weymouth in terrible conditions, it was a pleasure to have a dive in good conditions with ambient light and 4-5m vis.

I don't know that much about the Pentyrch but google gave a link saying that it was a 3,382 ton British steamer, laden with coal and was sunk in 1918. Interestingly, it seems to have been torpedoed by the the U-boat UB40 which I believe was also responsible for the sinking of the Salsette, a famous liner in lyme bay, in 1917. The Pentyrch wreck is in 24msw.

It was a pleasure to dive in reasonable viz on a wreck with so much life even in 5 degree water. Amongst the broken wreckage were flat fish, lobsters, tom pot blennies and schools of bib. The propshaft was exposed and led us nicely from the bow to the stern. In the progess of diving the wreck we also did some DIR skills which still need some polish but are making progress.

I am very pleased to have done a fun dive. We dived from Spartacat and I was impresssed by the skipper and the boat. The weather/sea was fairly choppy and other dive boats in the marina had called off their dives. We made the right choice to continue and dive a shallow wreck with some ambient light.

The weather did curtail a second drift dive, where I had hoped to do some more dedicated skill practice, but conditions had worsened.

Overall a great day.
James

fraser · February 13th, 2006, 04:01 PM

I did the Pentrych a couple of years ago (from Shoreham, I think...) and thought it was a great wreck. All I can really recall though are two big boilers and some mussels... apparently there is a gun somewhere on it?

Anyway, nice to see that someone is getting some wreck diving in!

Cheers for posting.

Fraser.

jamesd · February 13th, 2006, 07:07 PM

Hi,

Yes we found the gun sitting upright pointing upwards at about 45 degrees and the boilers

James

February 12th, 2006, 10:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
jamesd(Offline) New Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: London Posts: 54	Pentyrch Wreck, Brighton Hi, I had a very enjoyable dive today. It may not have been the most adventurous dive but kept me happy for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was my first dive since I took the fundamentals course where my buddy was similarly trained. Alan (my buddy) has done the TECH 1 course and is really good to dive with. Secondly, after the previous weekend, diving in Weymouth in terrible conditions, it was a pleasure to have a dive in good conditions with ambient light and 4-5m vis. I don't know that much about the Pentyrch but google gave a link saying that it was a 3,382 ton British steamer, laden with coal and was sunk in 1918. Interestingly, it seems to have been torpedoed by the the U-boat UB40 which I believe was also responsible for the sinking of the Salsette, a famous liner in lyme bay, in 1917. The Pentyrch wreck is in 24msw. It was a pleasure to dive in reasonable viz on a wreck with so much life even in 5 degree water. Amongst the broken wreckage were flat fish, lobsters, tom pot blennies and schools of bib. The propshaft was exposed and led us nicely from the bow to the stern. In the progess of diving the wreck we also did some DIR skills which still need some polish but are making progress. I am very pleased to have done a fun dive. We dived from Spartacat and I was impresssed by the skipper and the boat. The weather/sea was fairly choppy and other dive boats in the marina had called off their dives. We made the right choice to continue and dive a shallow wreck with some ambient light. The weather did curtail a second drift dive, where I had hoped to do some more dedicated skill practice, but conditions had worsened. Overall a great day. James

February 13th, 2006, 04:01 PM	#2 (permalink)
fraser(Offline) "I'm only late on your timescale" Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Kent, UK Posts: 463	I did the Pentrych a couple of years ago (from Shoreham, I think...) and thought it was a great wreck. All I can really recall though are two big boilers and some mussels... apparently there is a gun somewhere on it? Anyway, nice to see that someone is getting some wreck diving in! Cheers for posting. Fraser. __________________ Damn it feels good to be a gangsta

February 13th, 2006, 07:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
jamesd(Offline) New Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: London Posts: 54	Hi, Yes we found the gun sitting upright pointing upwards at about 45 degrees and the boilers James