Wrecks?

Jonathan · November 29th, 2005, 11:52 AM

This year I haven't done any UK wreck diving (aside from the Stanegarth and co) and only a handful of shore dives.

I gave myself a little scare off on the south coast a couple of years ago and have been taking my time getting over it (warm water and very easy uk), I think now I'm feeling a little more confident (thanks to some good training

) and would like to do a lot of wrecks next year, soooo, getting to the point...

I'd like to get a list together of good wrecks to do in the South East (south from Norfolk and east from Dorset, Chatting to Fraser we came up with the Aeolian Sky and the Kyarra but I've forgotten any others. So, come on you UK wrekkies what say you, lets have your favourites! Max depth 30-35m please.

(ps if anyone wants to come with me on any of these that would be great

)

Tricky · November 29th, 2005, 11:56 AM

The M2 is a good one. I also enjoyed great dives on the Sidon and the Pomeranian this year. All three of these can be reached from Weymouth.

*Clare Gledhill* · November 29th, 2005, 12:31 PM

St Dunstan - my favourite shallow wreck dive to date.

Here's the report from my blog....

Thoroughly boring day out...
Well you know that we DIR divers only train, we don't do proper dives, and we are miserable buggers who never have any fun... so there's nothing to report from our day out on Wey Chieftain from Weymouth.

Any guesses who is on the boat?

The first dive was the St Dunstan, a rather uninspiring wreck on paper, in just under 30 meters.

The huge shoals of fish on the wreck really got in the way of our doing s drills, the excellent vis we enjoyed as we swam round it meant there was little chance of practicing our light signals and trying to catch lobsters buggered the trim so frankly we gave up the dive as a bit of a waste of time...

Andy Carroll (And), John Kendall and Bob Cooper had real trouble squaring away their trim and kicks... so gave up and scootered around instead...

OK - I can't keep it up.

What a brilliant day out

Mark Powell joined an otherewise GUE affair on Wey Chieftain III today - our team's last day of frivolity before Tech 1 starts. In addition to the scooter boys above we were also joined by Frank (e-aquanauts) and JustinF.

The first dive, Mark came in with Al, Frase and I, and led us on a pootle round the wreck as he had dived it several times before.

I totally destroyed any reputation I have (which is none) as a wreck diver by missing the boilers (they were apparently the biggest thing on the wreck) the engine room (we swam through it) the rudder - I swam over it - and two congers which were pointed out to me with swimmy hand signals and lights...

I did manage to spot a lobster - although dismayed Fraser by christening it "dinner" - Frank and Justin were busy fighting other crustaceans in an effort to take them home to mum - but today they left empty handed. Well actually that's not strictly true - one edible crab attached itself literally to Frank and had to be shaken off - shame it landed on Justin's manifold

Here's the team - with special guest Mark Powell

A huge shoal of fish greeted us on the exit from one swim through and just as I thought the dive could not get any more cool - And, Bob and JK scootered past - JK doing a barrel roll (he owned up afterwards that he was actually only trying to turn right but it did look great

)

Back on the boat after total overkill on the deco (slight mix up on the gases) Andy started to take the mick about our impending course. "Tech 1 tomorrow isn't it.... it's hard, that Tech 1"

And finds it a bit hard going being pulled round the wreck on a scooter - imagine what he'd have been like if he'd had to swim...

Dive 2 was to be the Bomdardon Unit - and the reason why I first booked the boat today. Having dismissed it as the most boring dive ever Frank had told me that it was great fun as a penetration dive - and that was what we had come back to do. Slight problem is that the skipper thought we meant the one in Weymouth bay - not Portland harbour and when we got to it - it was about two meteres high and inpenetrateable. So we had a long flat shape to swim around for a dive - with not much to see - and a large fishing net to one side.

We hung around for a while as we figured that if one of the scooter divers made a mistake we could watch them scoring an own goal in the net... but it wasn't to be. I finally saw a conger in a hole - there was one free swimming too - but I missed that one - what a surprise

Frank then gestured to Justin to tie off and we swam off from the wreck with Justin and Frank laying line for almost the full length of Justin's reel - over a flat sea bed. Pretty good job that there was not much to see as on the way back, you guessed it, I joined the Frank Bruce "mask is an optional extra" school of diving again. A nice touch this time was when I got back to the wreck he hit me with a stream of bubbles in a simulated failure too. Well I suppose it made the dive interesting

Justin and I both bagged off (don't quite know why we sent up two but there you go) the bags were caught by the drifting boat above and pulled up. We let go and sat quite happily at 6 before ascending - the bags had been picked up on the surface. Another good day done- on an excellent boat with a great bunch of people.

Justin and Frank

Dinner and drinks for the whole team at Portland where we got to meet Howard, Jen and Davey Willo who had travelled down for diving tomorrow. Jen gave me her phone number to call her during Tech 1 (I don't mind tears she said

) and And continued with the spirit of the day..."Tech 1 - it's bloody hard that is"

Thanks Andy - we feel so much better now

My best days diving to date...

rooster · November 29th, 2005, 12:36 PM

Hi Jonathan

Head a touch further West and add the James Eagan Layne to the list

The Bretagne (Torbay) is also a very nice dive.

Regards

Roy

*JohnKendall* · November 29th, 2005, 12:43 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by CHG)

St Dunstan - my favourite shallow wreck dive to date.

I'd quite like to go back to the St Dunstan and do it without the scooter. It was a really nice little wreck, and I'd love to have a nose around inside it.

J

DanE · November 29th, 2005, 01:03 PM

You're spoilt for choice, really.

A couple of liners are easily accessable from Eastbourne. The Gascony and Shirala from Selsey or Portsmouth. Also HMS Northcoates, HMS Sapper in that area. Teapot (aka Brigitta). HMS Leopold is fantastic. City of Waterford from Brighton. The list goes on. The Mullberries are a stunning dive in 10m of water. The Valentine tanks from Poole are good and shallow (<15m?) The Betsy Anna from Swanage. I'll stop there, I think you get the idea.

Pick up copies of the Dive x (where x is Sussex, Dorset, Hampshire and Wight, Kent) and plan away

dan

Tricky · November 29th, 2005, 01:17 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by DanE)

...City of Waterford from Brighton...

That's another one I did earlier this year that I'd like to do next year.

fraser · November 29th, 2005, 04:50 PM

Hi mate,

Don't bother with Dive Kent unless you like scrabbling around in 1m viz on a good day. Dive Sussex and Dorset are good books to have, especially given your location.

I like the Pentrych out of Littlehampton, there are dozens of nice wrecks further around off Portland/Weymouth. We tend to dive there a lot so as I suggested get yourself along on a few dives there next year. The Pomeranian is a great dive but best explored on mix as it is at about 34-6m.

I dare say nice Auntie Clare will organise a trip to Plymouth or two

as mentioned there are some great wrecks there. And HMS Scylla :D If you like the Stanegarth you'll love that

I'd like to get on the Persier and Rose Hill...

Quote: (Originally Posted by Tricky)

The M2 is a good one.

Really? I thought it was like a bigger version of the sub at Stoney Cove - no penetration makes subs rather dull IMO.

Cheers,

Fraser.

Tricky · November 29th, 2005, 05:09 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by fraser)

Really? I thought it was like a bigger version of the sub at Stoney Cove - no penetration makes subs rather dull IMO.

You can always penetrate the hangar

Seriously though, there's something about it that fascinates me. It's quite a short dive for its depth though - I covered all of it in a total dive time of about 45 minutes, having planned for an hour. I was lucky enough to be in the first pair to dive it that day though and managed to avoid the crowding that you sometimes get on the wrecks round there.

PBrown · November 29th, 2005, 05:16 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Tricky)

Seriously though, there's something about it that fascinates me. It's quite a short dive for its depth though - I covered all of it in a total dive time of about 45 minutes, having planned for an hour. I was lucky enough to be in the first pair to dive it that day though and managed to avoid the crowding that you sometimes get on the wrecks round there.

P555 is nice, perfectly upright (due to the frame it sits in) and looks how you expect a sub to look, bit deeper though, 45m OTTOMH.

Moidart & Alicia Craig are also good dives (~35m).

cheers,
Paul

November 29th, 2005, 11:52 AM	#1 (permalink)
Jonathan(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Kent, UK Posts: 215	Wrecks? This year I haven't done any UK wreck diving (aside from the Stanegarth and co) and only a handful of shore dives. I gave myself a little scare off on the south coast a couple of years ago and have been taking my time getting over it (warm water and very easy uk), I think now I'm feeling a little more confident (thanks to some good training ) and would like to do a lot of wrecks next year, soooo, getting to the point... I'd like to get a list together of good wrecks to do in the South East (south from Norfolk and east from Dorset, Chatting to Fraser we came up with the Aeolian Sky and the Kyarra but I've forgotten any others. So, come on you UK wrekkies what say you, lets have your favourites! Max depth 30-35m please. (ps if anyone wants to come with me on any of these that would be great )

November 29th, 2005, 11:56 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tricky(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Reading, Berkshire Posts: 555	The M2 is a good one. I also enjoyed great dives on the Sidon and the Pomeranian this year. All three of these can be reached from Weymouth. __________________ "I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant." "Make me one with everything" said the Mystic to the Hamburger vendor. UK Diving Forum Sryth: A Free Online Text RPG Join the Adventure! Fallen Sword: Free online RPG

November 29th, 2005, 12:31 PM	#3 (permalink)
Clare Gledhill(Offline) GUE Instructor Site Admin Pacman Champion! Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 1,541	St Dunstan - my favourite shallow wreck dive to date. Here's the report from my blog.... Thoroughly boring day out... Well you know that we DIR divers only train, we don't do proper dives, and we are miserable buggers who never have any fun... so there's nothing to report from our day out on Wey Chieftain from Weymouth. Any guesses who is on the boat? The first dive was the St Dunstan, a rather uninspiring wreck on paper, in just under 30 meters. The huge shoals of fish on the wreck really got in the way of our doing s drills, the excellent vis we enjoyed as we swam round it meant there was little chance of practicing our light signals and trying to catch lobsters buggered the trim so frankly we gave up the dive as a bit of a waste of time... Andy Carroll (And), John Kendall and Bob Cooper had real trouble squaring away their trim and kicks... so gave up and scootered around instead... OK - I can't keep it up. What a brilliant day out Mark Powell joined an otherewise GUE affair on Wey Chieftain III today - our team's last day of frivolity before Tech 1 starts. In addition to the scooter boys above we were also joined by Frank (e-aquanauts) and JustinF. The first dive, Mark came in with Al, Frase and I, and led us on a pootle round the wreck as he had dived it several times before. I totally destroyed any reputation I have (which is none) as a wreck diver by missing the boilers (they were apparently the biggest thing on the wreck) the engine room (we swam through it) the rudder - I swam over it - and two congers which were pointed out to me with swimmy hand signals and lights... I did manage to spot a lobster - although dismayed Fraser by christening it "dinner" - Frank and Justin were busy fighting other crustaceans in an effort to take them home to mum - but today they left empty handed. Well actually that's not strictly true - one edible crab attached itself literally to Frank and had to be shaken off - shame it landed on Justin's manifold Here's the team - with special guest Mark Powell A huge shoal of fish greeted us on the exit from one swim through and just as I thought the dive could not get any more cool - And, Bob and JK scootered past - JK doing a barrel roll (he owned up afterwards that he was actually only trying to turn right but it did look great ) Back on the boat after total overkill on the deco (slight mix up on the gases) Andy started to take the mick about our impending course. "Tech 1 tomorrow isn't it.... it's hard, that Tech 1" And finds it a bit hard going being pulled round the wreck on a scooter - imagine what he'd have been like if he'd had to swim... Dive 2 was to be the Bomdardon Unit - and the reason why I first booked the boat today. Having dismissed it as the most boring dive ever Frank had told me that it was great fun as a penetration dive - and that was what we had come back to do. Slight problem is that the skipper thought we meant the one in Weymouth bay - not Portland harbour and when we got to it - it was about two meteres high and inpenetrateable. So we had a long flat shape to swim around for a dive - with not much to see - and a large fishing net to one side. We hung around for a while as we figured that if one of the scooter divers made a mistake we could watch them scoring an own goal in the net... but it wasn't to be. I finally saw a conger in a hole - there was one free swimming too - but I missed that one - what a surprise Frank then gestured to Justin to tie off and we swam off from the wreck with Justin and Frank laying line for almost the full length of Justin's reel - over a flat sea bed. Pretty good job that there was not much to see as on the way back, you guessed it, I joined the Frank Bruce "mask is an optional extra" school of diving again. A nice touch this time was when I got back to the wreck he hit me with a stream of bubbles in a simulated failure too. Well I suppose it made the dive interesting Justin and I both bagged off (don't quite know why we sent up two but there you go) the bags were caught by the drifting boat above and pulled up. We let go and sat quite happily at 6 before ascending - the bags had been picked up on the surface. Another good day done- on an excellent boat with a great bunch of people. Justin and Frank Dinner and drinks for the whole team at Portland where we got to meet Howard, Jen and Davey Willo who had travelled down for diving tomorrow. Jen gave me her phone number to call her during Tech 1 (I don't mind tears she said ) and And continued with the spirit of the day..."Tech 1 - it's bloody hard that is" Thanks Andy - we feel so much better now My best days diving to date... __________________ Clare . "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions....Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great." Interested in DIR dive training? Always happy to chat/answer questions so get in touch via PM or visit www.dirdiver.co.uk

November 29th, 2005, 01:17 PM	#7 (permalink)
Tricky(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Reading, Berkshire Posts: 555	Quote: (Originally Posted by DanE) ...City of Waterford from Brighton... That's another one I did earlier this year that I'd like to do next year. __________________ "I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant." "Make me one with everything" said the Mystic to the Hamburger vendor. UK Diving Forum Sryth: A Free Online Text RPG Join the Adventure! Fallen Sword: Free online RPG

November 29th, 2005, 04:50 PM	#8 (permalink)
fraser(Offline) "I'm only late on your timescale" Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Kent, UK Posts: 463	Hi mate, Don't bother with Dive Kent unless you like scrabbling around in 1m viz on a good day. Dive Sussex and Dorset are good books to have, especially given your location. I like the Pentrych out of Littlehampton, there are dozens of nice wrecks further around off Portland/Weymouth. We tend to dive there a lot so as I suggested get yourself along on a few dives there next year. The Pomeranian is a great dive but best explored on mix as it is at about 34-6m. I dare say nice Auntie Clare will organise a trip to Plymouth or two as mentioned there are some great wrecks there. And HMS Scylla :D If you like the Stanegarth you'll love that I'd like to get on the Persier and Rose Hill... Quote: (Originally Posted by Tricky) The M2 is a good one. Really? I thought it was like a bigger version of the sub at Stoney Cove - no penetration makes subs rather dull IMO. Cheers, Fraser. __________________ Damn it feels good to be a gangsta Last edited by fraser; November 29th, 2005 at 04:52 PM.

November 29th, 2005, 12:36 PM	#4 (permalink)
rooster(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 61	Hi Jonathan Head a touch further West and add the James Eagan Layne to the list The Bretagne (Torbay) is also a very nice dive. Regards Roy

November 29th, 2005, 12:43 PM	#5 (permalink)
JohnKendall(Offline) GUE Instructor/DIRX Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 1,100	Quote: (Originally Posted by CHG) St Dunstan - my favourite shallow wreck dive to date. I'd quite like to go back to the St Dunstan and do it without the scooter. It was a really nice little wreck, and I'd love to have a nose around inside it. J

November 29th, 2005, 01:03 PM	#6 (permalink)
DanE(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 11	You're spoilt for choice, really. A couple of liners are easily accessable from Eastbourne. The Gascony and Shirala from Selsey or Portsmouth. Also HMS Northcoates, HMS Sapper in that area. Teapot (aka Brigitta). HMS Leopold is fantastic. City of Waterford from Brighton. The list goes on. The Mullberries are a stunning dive in 10m of water. The Valentine tanks from Poole are good and shallow (<15m?) The Betsy Anna from Swanage. I'll stop there, I think you get the idea. Pick up copies of the Dive x (where x is Sussex, Dorset, Hampshire and Wight, Kent) and plan away dan

November 29th, 2005, 05:09 PM	#9 (permalink)
Tricky(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Reading, Berkshire Posts: 555	Quote: (Originally Posted by fraser) Really? I thought it was like a bigger version of the sub at Stoney Cove - no penetration makes subs rather dull IMO. You can always penetrate the hangar Seriously though, there's something about it that fascinates me. It's quite a short dive for its depth though - I covered all of it in a total dive time of about 45 minutes, having planned for an hour. I was lucky enough to be in the first pair to dive it that day though and managed to avoid the crowding that you sometimes get on the wrecks round there. __________________ "I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant." "Make me one with everything" said the Mystic to the Hamburger vendor. UK Diving Forum Sryth: A Free Online Text RPG Join the Adventure! Fallen Sword: Free online RPG

November 29th, 2005, 05:16 PM	#10 (permalink)
PBrown(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Wiltshire Posts: 198	Quote: (Originally Posted by Tricky) Seriously though, there's something about it that fascinates me. It's quite a short dive for its depth though - I covered all of it in a total dive time of about 45 minutes, having planned for an hour. I was lucky enough to be in the first pair to dive it that day though and managed to avoid the crowding that you sometimes get on the wrecks round there. P555 is nice, perfectly upright (due to the frame it sits in) and looks how you expect a sub to look, bit deeper though, 45m OTTOMH. Moidart & Alicia Craig are also good dives (~35m). cheers, Paul