Report by Bryan Stone
Gascony – Divernet Wrecktour 26
Not sure if a Friday counts as mid-week diving, but with tides and weather improving as the week went on, definitely the best choice. Despite giving people at least a week’s notice, only myself, Jenny, Andrew and Steve Burgess signed up. Andrew kindly arranged for the Boathouse Café to open slightly early for breakfast. Good move.
We had a good trip out on relatively flat sea, arriving on site nice and early to shot the wreck. A huge lump was immediately spotted, and having checked a couple of times, the shot was dutifully deployed. As we headed back towards the shot to confirm that it was on the wreck, a head appeared from the water!
Shot and seal
A seal had decided to join us, and stayed around for the next half hour as we waited for slack, then sent Jenny and Steve on their merry way. No further sightings were made, so we can only assume he was stalking our divers.
After 20 minutes or so a blob was spotted, and shortly after Jenny and Steve safely recovered to the boat. Unfortunately, the Caribbean levels of visibility recently experienced had reduced to the normal 3-4 metres, with a fair bit of silt in the water.
Andrew and myself then descended, and after moving the shot from a hole in the wreck (excellent placement, even if I do say so myself), had a pleasant 45 minute dive. There was a large amount of fish, congers in almost every hole, and lobsters and crabs freely roaming around. We reached the bow section, and as the current was picking up, decided to ascend.
Back on the surface, the shot was easily recovered with the assistance the lifting bag, and we headed back to the marina.
As we headed back up the Arun, we were called over by a fisherman who ‘had a bit of rope wrapped around his prop’. Could we help? Jenny volunteered to drop in and have a look, and eventually managed to remove enough rope to run back out to the wreck! Well done Jenny, and a donation was accepted for club funds.
The boat behaved fine, and having overcome the slight disappointment with the reduced viz, everyone had an enjoyable day.
