New Wreck in SwanageI'm sure you'll be delighted to know that Swanage has a new wreck! A perfect training dive, she sank in 2001 and lies in 13m. She's intact (apart from the bows - we never found them) with a few holes to poke about in but nothing serious to get lost in. The location is on the GPS, but she's easy to find: Set out from Swanage Pier towards Old Harry. As you leave the beach on the left and get closer to the cliffs look out for a small white bouy. That's her. A word of caution though: You are right at the point where the big motor cruisers see Swanage, get excited and forget what those little blue and white "A" flags mean. Surface slowly. If you're on the RIB be ready to wave both arms in the air and get between them and the divers. Even more exciting! It was Shona's first RIB trip with the club. Over to you Shona... First RIB-Trip with HellfinsArriving back from holiday late at night on Thursday and having to sort and pack gear for diving and camping on Friday morning I really did wonder if it would all be worth it - It totally was! Despite a few minor hiccups early on (GPS not working on Saturday, a leaky reg and a hired tank with no air in it) all went well. It was great to see these minor things sorted out with no shouting or grumbling and everyone got to do all their dives. At the end of the first day Gretel and Mike got roped into helping out the boat yard, diving down to find one of his moorings in return for a free go with the tractor. They also recovered an anchor for him. The theme continued on Sunday, when Mike found and recovered another anchor on one of his dives, so the club RIB now has a rather nice spare! Ian and Sid [who gracefully bowed out of a place on the RIB - ed/] dived off a hard-boat from the pier on Saturday and found a "new" wreck. They couldn't say exactly where she lay, but promised to help find her if they were allowed back on the RIB on Sunday. Find her they did! She's a small trawler lying on her side in 12m. Not only is this a nice little wreck to look around but she's teeming with fish. Following the shot to the wreck Jenny and I ended up in the middle of big shoal of Bib. They had absolutely no fear at all! Every hole and opening we looked in was filled with fish! It's odd looking into the hold of a trawler and seeing it full of lazy, happy, swimming fish. The wreck also showed us lobster, plaice, john dory , crabs (mating), anenomies, cuttlefish and more wrasse and bib than you could shake a stick at! I've been on lots of RIB dives but this was the most fun and hassle free I've done. The company was great: everyone was there to dive and have fun... and we did! The weekend ended with the Red Arrows doing a fly-by after our last dive and Nicki arriving armed with tons of Rolos and biscuits just when we needed them most!! Mmmmmmm. When’s the next one Sid?!! |