Report by Julian Avis
Our first trip out on the club boat this year, the tides this weekend give us a nice long slack and the weather is bright with very light winds. A quick breakfast before getting the boat ready. Just the four of us on the boat today Tim, Bryan, Stuart and myself.
We got our dive kit on the boat, a quick engine check before putting the boat in the water. The run out to the wreck site was fast on a near flat sea.
After dropping the shot on the wreck Stuart and Bryan went in first, after a dive time of 52 Mins they returned to the surface and we picked them up.
Tim and I went in next, as we went down the shot line we lost the light at 10 metres and hit the bottom at 24 metres.
After sending the shot line back to the surface Tim and I had a look around to see if we could find a point of reference to know what part of the wreck we were on. We must have been just forward of the bridge at the start of the dive and made our way forward from there. With only a metre or two of vis in total darkness it was hard to make anything of the lumps of metal all around us, but we did see a lot of sea life – whiting, pollock, wrasse, a plaice and a smooth-hound.
After 35 mins we ended up at the bow of the wreck where I sent up the SMB. After a slow ascent up to 6 metres and a 3-minute safety stop we surfaced with a dive time of 45 mins.
Back on the boat we all decided to give the second dive a miss as the vis was so poor. A slow ride back to the marina, wash our kit and the boat, then off home until the next time.
