Bottle Wreck – Wessex Archaeological Society
It was good after having been blown out so much recently to, at last, load the boat and set out to the Bottle Wreck. Having decided to dive on the afternoon slack, a leisurely late breakfast prior to leaving was enjoyed. We got to the shot too early for slack (!) so dropped in the shot (bang on the pipes we were to find – well done Andrew & Dave) and just waited.
Unfortunately, the sun was hiding and a cool breeze meant that Olivia got cold in her wetsuit even before diving so it was agreed she should not dive. Mark & Dave went in first. After a bit of a delay – Dave’s mask strap snapped when he started to descend so had to return to the boat to get his spare out of his pocket – they descended. A blob appeared and they returned to the surface after 30 mins reporting that the shot was well placed but the tide had still been running a bit. Viz was 3-4m so better than on the last outing!
Andrew & Jenny then went in and had a good dive on slack. As usual, the Bottle Wreck was full of life – every pipe had either a crab, conger eel, lobster, blenny or prawn in it, and there were plenty of lobsters just walking around. A large shoal of bib swam over the whole pile of pipes. Once Andrew & Jenny were back on board, the shot was recovered and back to the Marina.
Bit shallow at the river entrance so over the side and walked the boat over the sand bar. As the Marina was closed the boat was left on the pontoon and Andrew & Jenny fuelled and recovered it the next morning.
