Donegal 2005

Alex · February 2nd, 2006, 04:18 PM

Cleaning up the memory of my mobile phone I came across some pictures from our trip to Donegal in September, which inspired me to write this report. It has been nice to refresh memories

! I hope it will entertain you despite my poor English skills

….

When I was a kid I really loved science fiction, and used to read loads of books about different kind of space adventures. Hovering over the deck of RMS Justicia at 70 m, with the visibility limited rather by the lack of ambient light than by clarity of the water, it was easy to imagine that you were exploring the wreck of a space ship under a dark sky of an exotic planet. Perhaps, it is this sort of surreal scenery which makes me addicted to deep diving and deep wrecks in particular …

Our trip to Donegal in September 2005 was organized by David Burke on YD; see a full report by Blanaid Divegyrl there.

DISCLAIMER: it wasn’t a DIR trip, the diving practices and techniques used, even if look similar, are not GUE-recommended, dangerous and probably wrong.

We spent a week on board of Loyal Watcher, which could easily accommodate 12 technical divers (11 in our case actually). The owners / cru – Darren, Linda and their 18 years old dog (forgot the name), and the gas blender Richard - have been great, Richard having difficult times with 9 OC divers (only two Inspirations on board this time, quite unusual for today’s technical wreck diving).

The start wasn’t particularly welcoming- on the way to Donegal we hit force 9. It calmed down to 6 on the second day, and we went out to dive the Laurentic in 40 m. This was the only dive during the week which I didn’t like- my team and I managed to swim in a wrong direction and loose the wreck eventually (don’t ask how!). What impressed me was quite a strong surge on the bottom, generated by long Atlantic waves – what a contrast with the English Channel. These waves make it actually easier to climb Watcher’s ladder - you step on it and wait, and the next wave takes you up, well sort of :D

There are 3 famous deep wrecks there – the Justicia, Empire Heritage and Audacious, all at depth between 60 and 70 m, the 32,234-ton White Star liner Justicia being the deepest and the biggest one.

The information on these wrecks, and some logistics, can be found on Leigh Bishop’s web page

http://www.deepimage.co.uk/online_articles/trimix_donegal.htm

along with some great images:

The foredeck of the Justicia- the image has been taken on a much clearer day.

The third day and it is the noise of the engine which awakes us at 6 in the morning- we are heading to the Justicia, which is about 22 miles offshore. It is still force 4, and I am struggling to get to the exit with my 3 stages on. To be honest, my air consumption has never been low (I like to think that’s because of big lungs, might be because of poor techniques though

….), and I decided to take a stage of bottom gas in addition to twin 12’s. First I wanted to put one of the bottles on the shot- we were going to come back to it anyway. It worked well in the Crimea a couple of weeks before; however it was a support diver there and no tides, and the bottle could be attached to the rope at 6m. Here it could not be shallower than 25 ish, where the lazy shot was connected to the main line. When I arrived there I understood it would take quite a wile to do the job, and decided not to waste time and to carry on with all 3 bottles. I practised swimming with a stage on a leash in Stoney, and it proved to be quite easy in real conditions, too.

At 70 m, it was dark and spooky, the deck looking like a metal desert with skeletons of strange constructions. We put a couple of strobes on the shot, which appeared to be a very good idea. My buddies started looking for artefacts on the deck, and I decided to swim to the bow (not very DIR I am afraid…..), which is the most impressive part of the wreck

The Justicia is 230 m long, the shot was put closer to the stern and nobody of us had enough time to swim around the bow and to see it from this perspective- I wish I had a scooter! When I turned back I thought for a moment I’d never find the shot

, and was happy I had all my bottles with me. In about five minutes I saw a reassuring strobe light hovering in the darkness, and this felt nice indeed

!

We ascended along the lazy shot and bagged off after it was disconnected. At 6 m, I found it entertaining to swim from one diver to another, waving hello to them (not very DIR too, probably…). I ended up with about 2 hrs in the water, and was quite warm in my new PB 400 undersuit. Back on board after a short fight with the ladder and it is dinner waiting for us, and 3 hours steam back to Lough Swilly (rough seas claiming the dinner of some of us), and Guinness in the local pub (for all except Richard struggling with our fills until midnight). Normal day on board of Loyal Watcher. :p

Three other dives of the trip- one on the Empire Heritage, and two on Audacious, appeared to be equally exciting. The seas gradually calmed down, however the only sunny day was the last one- and how much difference it made. The ambient light really gives a possibility to enjoy the 30+ m viz – and a spooky structure suddenly obtains the form of a ship!

As I already mentioned, it wasn’t DIR diving. I just used some elements of the system- Hogarthian kit configuration, Ali stages (two 80’s and one old style 7 ltr), the standard gases (well, almost; I ended up with the highest gas bill on the boat). I vomited twice – certainly not DIR

.

All in all, it was a great trip. In fact, you can easily spend the whole week diving just any one of these wrecks. I hope I’ll be back!

Loyal Watcher in Lough Swilly. Nothing shows that it is force 6 outside

Thanks
Alex

fraser · February 2nd, 2006, 05:59 PM

Alex,

Great report mate and thanks for posting. We are due to do this trip in September and the more I hear about it the less patient I am about going

Argh

Cheers,

Fraser.

decowarrior · February 2nd, 2006, 10:42 PM

i can second that we had a two weeker at the start of august and the viz was world class although we were diving a well known little dived wreck ten miles past the justicia and the viz was awesome the sea was oily calm and for the first day a light swell was rolling in other days it was magnificent we almost turned in port after the run from jura because the weather was well rough until a few miles from the wreck and it mysteriously flattened off we were joined by a pod with literally hundreds of dolphins every day and they were playing on the bow wave enaibling some cracking video!! you could se ethem as far as the horizon, on the dive the water was a clear deep blue and from the clip in on the station it was possible to see divers swimming on the bridge area some 60m below the 70m deep tie in swimming around the wreck we had ambient light on the dive and no real reason for a torch except i had taken it for clarity,, the water was crystal clear and i headed to the bow which is a considerable distance from the shot to look for the elusive bell and when there i looked along and realised that i could see past the shot line and the many strobes and see people transfering to the station from the shot to the jump line after swimming to the bridge and seeing the famous telegraphs i swam over the side to see the once mighty funnels lying on the sea bed another 8 or so meters below but probably over 30-40m away it was quite a sureal experience, from the shot it was possible to see the whole team of divers stretcing up to the 6m stop !!

did it make an impression???

hell yes back this september!!

Alex · February 3rd, 2006, 12:26 AM

Quote: (Originally Posted by decowarrior)

i can second that we had a two weeker at the start of august and the viz was world class although we were diving a well known little dived wreck ten miles past the justicia and the viz was awesome the sea was oily calm and for the first day a light swell was rolling in other days it was magnificent we almost turned in port after the run from jura because the weather was well rough until a few miles from the wreck and it mysteriously flattened off we were joined by a pod with literally hundreds of dolphins every day and they were playing on the bow wave enaibling some cracking video!! you could se ethem as far as the horizon, on the dive the water was a clear deep blue and from the clip in on the station it was possible to see divers swimming on the bridge area some 60m below the 70m deep tie in swimming around the wreck we had ambient light on the dive and no real reason for a torch except i had taken it for clarity,, the water was crystal clear and i headed to the bow which is a considerable distance from the shot to look for the elusive bell and when there i looked along and realised that i could see past the shot line and the many strobes and see people transfering to the station from the shot to the jump line after swimming to the bridge and seeing the famous telegraphs i swam over the side to see the once mighty funnels lying on the sea bed another 8 or so meters below but probably over 30-40m away it was quite a sureal experience, from the shot it was possible to see the whole team of divers stretcing up to the 6m stop !!

did it make an impression???

hell yes back this september!!

This seems to be quite a differente weather from what we experienced. Would be great to do these dives on a bright day some time. What is the wreck that you dived?

decowarrior · February 3rd, 2006, 01:20 AM

transylvania

sorry tried to insert a pic but it backfired heres a link

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...l%3Den%26lr%3D

and this one is of an earlier trip that the group i went with dived it

thanks to leigh bishop for this great shot by the way

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...l%3Den%26lr%3D

sorry about the long links (if a mod or admin type could tidy it up tehn that would be appreciated)

its interesting as the whole bridge area was wooden and has now colapsed down to the same height as the main deck and that has the effect of shortening the distance to bow its actually quite deceiving and makes it appear much shorter than it actually is to the bow the sight over the side of the wreck is stunning, the fish life is amazing and is there are asses of large fish the sight of the telemotor and the telegrpahs was awesome there are loads of brass dials and guages lying around the bridge

what people seem to forget is that the justicia is actually just one of a string of liners in the area there is the andania the tuscania the campania never been found believed to be well over 300m transylvania, and a few others as well there are loads of lost liners in that area its a bit of a hot bed and they are fantastic dives although the andania is a bit of an adrealine dive as there are a couple of stories that involve normans wall of water maybe oll save that one for another time hahahahah

Alex · February 3rd, 2006, 02:21 PM

Well the Transilvania is 130 m deep- out of reach of most rec trimix divers, definitely of those on OC. I think 70 m is kind of border line in this sense.

Yua are saying it was it enough light at 130. Amasing.

Cheers
Alex

February 2nd, 2006, 04:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
Alex(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Nottingham Posts: 74	Donegal 2005 Cleaning up the memory of my mobile phone I came across some pictures from our trip to Donegal in September, which inspired me to write this report. It has been nice to refresh memories ! I hope it will entertain you despite my poor English skills …. When I was a kid I really loved science fiction, and used to read loads of books about different kind of space adventures. Hovering over the deck of RMS Justicia at 70 m, with the visibility limited rather by the lack of ambient light than by clarity of the water, it was easy to imagine that you were exploring the wreck of a space ship under a dark sky of an exotic planet. Perhaps, it is this sort of surreal scenery which makes me addicted to deep diving and deep wrecks in particular … Our trip to Donegal in September 2005 was organized by David Burke on YD; see a full report by Blanaid Divegyrl there. DISCLAIMER: it wasn’t a DIR trip, the diving practices and techniques used, even if look similar, are not GUE-recommended, dangerous and probably wrong. We spent a week on board of Loyal Watcher, which could easily accommodate 12 technical divers (11 in our case actually). The owners / cru – Darren, Linda and their 18 years old dog (forgot the name), and the gas blender Richard - have been great, Richard having difficult times with 9 OC divers (only two Inspirations on board this time, quite unusual for today’s technical wreck diving). The start wasn’t particularly welcoming- on the way to Donegal we hit force 9. It calmed down to 6 on the second day, and we went out to dive the Laurentic in 40 m. This was the only dive during the week which I didn’t like- my team and I managed to swim in a wrong direction and loose the wreck eventually (don’t ask how!). What impressed me was quite a strong surge on the bottom, generated by long Atlantic waves – what a contrast with the English Channel. These waves make it actually easier to climb Watcher’s ladder - you step on it and wait, and the next wave takes you up, well sort of :D There are 3 famous deep wrecks there – the Justicia, Empire Heritage and Audacious, all at depth between 60 and 70 m, the 32,234-ton White Star liner Justicia being the deepest and the biggest one. The information on these wrecks, and some logistics, can be found on Leigh Bishop’s web page http://www.deepimage.co.uk/online_articles/trimix_donegal.htm along with some great images: The foredeck of the Justicia- the image has been taken on a much clearer day. The third day and it is the noise of the engine which awakes us at 6 in the morning- we are heading to the Justicia, which is about 22 miles offshore. It is still force 4, and I am struggling to get to the exit with my 3 stages on. To be honest, my air consumption has never been low (I like to think that’s because of big lungs, might be because of poor techniques though ….), and I decided to take a stage of bottom gas in addition to twin 12’s. First I wanted to put one of the bottles on the shot- we were going to come back to it anyway. It worked well in the Crimea a couple of weeks before; however it was a support diver there and no tides, and the bottle could be attached to the rope at 6m. Here it could not be shallower than 25 ish, where the lazy shot was connected to the main line. When I arrived there I understood it would take quite a wile to do the job, and decided not to waste time and to carry on with all 3 bottles. I practised swimming with a stage on a leash in Stoney, and it proved to be quite easy in real conditions, too. At 70 m, it was dark and spooky, the deck looking like a metal desert with skeletons of strange constructions. We put a couple of strobes on the shot, which appeared to be a very good idea. My buddies started looking for artefacts on the deck, and I decided to swim to the bow (not very DIR I am afraid…..), which is the most impressive part of the wreck The Justicia is 230 m long, the shot was put closer to the stern and nobody of us had enough time to swim around the bow and to see it from this perspective- I wish I had a scooter! When I turned back I thought for a moment I’d never find the shot , and was happy I had all my bottles with me. In about five minutes I saw a reassuring strobe light hovering in the darkness, and this felt nice indeed ! We ascended along the lazy shot and bagged off after it was disconnected. At 6 m, I found it entertaining to swim from one diver to another, waving hello to them (not very DIR too, probably…). I ended up with about 2 hrs in the water, and was quite warm in my new PB 400 undersuit. Back on board after a short fight with the ladder and it is dinner waiting for us, and 3 hours steam back to Lough Swilly (rough seas claiming the dinner of some of us), and Guinness in the local pub (for all except Richard struggling with our fills until midnight). Normal day on board of Loyal Watcher. :p Three other dives of the trip- one on the Empire Heritage, and two on Audacious, appeared to be equally exciting. The seas gradually calmed down, however the only sunny day was the last one- and how much difference it made. The ambient light really gives a possibility to enjoy the 30+ m viz – and a spooky structure suddenly obtains the form of a ship! As I already mentioned, it wasn’t DIR diving. I just used some elements of the system- Hogarthian kit configuration, Ali stages (two 80’s and one old style 7 ltr), the standard gases (well, almost; I ended up with the highest gas bill on the boat). I vomited twice – certainly not DIR . All in all, it was a great trip. In fact, you can easily spend the whole week diving just any one of these wrecks. I hope I’ll be back! Loyal Watcher in Lough Swilly. Nothing shows that it is force 6 outside Thanks Alex __________________ "Some of the positions in the Kama Sutra are only possible in a weightless environment..."

February 2nd, 2006, 05:59 PM	#2 (permalink)
fraser(Offline) "I'm only late on your timescale" Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Kent, UK Posts: 463	Alex, Great report mate and thanks for posting. We are due to do this trip in September and the more I hear about it the less patient I am about going Argh Cheers, Fraser. __________________ Damn it feels good to be a gangsta

February 3rd, 2006, 12:26 AM	#4 (permalink)
Alex(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Nottingham Posts: 74	Quote: (Originally Posted by decowarrior) i can second that we had a two weeker at the start of august and the viz was world class although we were diving a well known little dived wreck ten miles past the justicia and the viz was awesome the sea was oily calm and for the first day a light swell was rolling in other days it was magnificent we almost turned in port after the run from jura because the weather was well rough until a few miles from the wreck and it mysteriously flattened off we were joined by a pod with literally hundreds of dolphins every day and they were playing on the bow wave enaibling some cracking video!! you could se ethem as far as the horizon, on the dive the water was a clear deep blue and from the clip in on the station it was possible to see divers swimming on the bridge area some 60m below the 70m deep tie in swimming around the wreck we had ambient light on the dive and no real reason for a torch except i had taken it for clarity,, the water was crystal clear and i headed to the bow which is a considerable distance from the shot to look for the elusive bell and when there i looked along and realised that i could see past the shot line and the many strobes and see people transfering to the station from the shot to the jump line after swimming to the bridge and seeing the famous telegraphs i swam over the side to see the once mighty funnels lying on the sea bed another 8 or so meters below but probably over 30-40m away it was quite a sureal experience, from the shot it was possible to see the whole team of divers stretcing up to the 6m stop !! did it make an impression??? hell yes back this september!! This seems to be quite a differente weather from what we experienced. Would be great to do these dives on a bright day some time. What is the wreck that you dived? __________________ "Some of the positions in the Kama Sutra are only possible in a weightless environment..."

February 3rd, 2006, 01:20 AM	#5 (permalink)
decowarrior(Offline) New Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: stoke on trent Posts: 31	transylvania sorry tried to insert a pic but it backfired heres a link http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...l%3Den%26lr%3D and this one is of an earlier trip that the group i went with dived it thanks to leigh bishop for this great shot by the way http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...l%3Den%26lr%3D sorry about the long links (if a mod or admin type could tidy it up tehn that would be appreciated) its interesting as the whole bridge area was wooden and has now colapsed down to the same height as the main deck and that has the effect of shortening the distance to bow its actually quite deceiving and makes it appear much shorter than it actually is to the bow the sight over the side of the wreck is stunning, the fish life is amazing and is there are asses of large fish the sight of the telemotor and the telegrpahs was awesome there are loads of brass dials and guages lying around the bridge what people seem to forget is that the justicia is actually just one of a string of liners in the area there is the andania the tuscania the campania never been found believed to be well over 300m transylvania, and a few others as well there are loads of lost liners in that area its a bit of a hot bed and they are fantastic dives although the andania is a bit of an adrealine dive as there are a couple of stories that involve normans wall of water maybe oll save that one for another time hahahahah Last edited by decowarrior; February 3rd, 2006 at 01:42 AM.

February 3rd, 2006, 02:21 PM	#6 (permalink)
Alex(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Nottingham Posts: 74	Well the Transilvania is 130 m deep- out of reach of most rec trimix divers, definitely of those on OC. I think 70 m is kind of border line in this sense. Yua are saying it was it enough light at 130. Amasing. Cheers Alex __________________ "Some of the positions in the Kama Sutra are only possible in a weightless environment..."

February 2nd, 2006, 10:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
decowarrior(Offline) New Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: stoke on trent Posts: 31	i can second that we had a two weeker at the start of august and the viz was world class although we were diving a well known little dived wreck ten miles past the justicia and the viz was awesome the sea was oily calm and for the first day a light swell was rolling in other days it was magnificent we almost turned in port after the run from jura because the weather was well rough until a few miles from the wreck and it mysteriously flattened off we were joined by a pod with literally hundreds of dolphins every day and they were playing on the bow wave enaibling some cracking video!! you could se ethem as far as the horizon, on the dive the water was a clear deep blue and from the clip in on the station it was possible to see divers swimming on the bridge area some 60m below the 70m deep tie in swimming around the wreck we had ambient light on the dive and no real reason for a torch except i had taken it for clarity,, the water was crystal clear and i headed to the bow which is a considerable distance from the shot to look for the elusive bell and when there i looked along and realised that i could see past the shot line and the many strobes and see people transfering to the station from the shot to the jump line after swimming to the bridge and seeing the famous telegraphs i swam over the side to see the once mighty funnels lying on the sea bed another 8 or so meters below but probably over 30-40m away it was quite a sureal experience, from the shot it was possible to see the whole team of divers stretcing up to the 6m stop !! did it make an impression??? hell yes back this september!!