Malin Head probably the best wreck diving I have done!!

We started our 6 days of diving with the wreck I most wanted to do, the conditions were perfect so it was off to the Justicia 30 miles out to sea. The Justicia was a white star liner, she sits in 70m of water upright with her bow being the main attraction. The shot was just behind the Bridge which has collapsed down into the hull. Just forward was the bow sat upright as if it was still ploughing its way through the sea with the anchors in place and the deck hand rails intact. A truly amazing sight. Going back to the shot I travelled across rows of perfect portholes all clinging to the hull, passing these I came to her massive boilers. 30mins done it was time to be heading back to the shot. Hanging at 6m with the rest of the gang we had a visit from a 1.5m Porbeagle shark, it swam behind the guys on the deco station then back towards me. It came to within 2m of me then turned and headed off. It doesn't get better than this.

Day 2 we were of to dive the Empire Heritage she was a freighter nothing special, until you see the cargo that she was carrying. Sherman Tanks, Earth moving Lorries and other war goods. She sits in 66m and the vis was a good 20m like the day before. The shot was just in front of a row of boilers. I could see her mast which looms above the wreck a good 15m and at the base of this I caught a glimpse of my 1st tank. In some places they were piled 3 high like a childs toy box just tossed aside. 30mins gone and time to head up. Decompressing on the deco station I glanced down into the blue and there was a 2m Porbeagle just swimming around beneath us. What are the chances of that 2 cracking dives and sharks on both.

Day 3 The Roscommon another freighter this time the cargo was crockery, Lino and cable. Not quite as glamorous as the Empire Heritage. The selling point of this wreck was another intact bow with anchors in place. She was in 75m and another cracking dive.

Day 4 UB89 a German WW1 submarine. I had watched a video of divers on her the day before and new what to expect. I was not disappointed most of her pressure hull is gone exposing the inner hull which in places has disappeared over time giving you good views inside her torpedo room and engine room. This has to be the best sub dive I have done.

Day 5 HMS Audacious one of HM finest battleships. She is upside down in 65m vis was the poorest of the week at 10m!! We were diving her gun turrets today, these are truly massive and the shells that they fired are bigger than a 15ltr cylinder. You could spend a whole week on this dive and not see all the sites.

Day 6 HMS Audacious the stern. The highlight of this is the propellers and rudders which are all still in place. The hull is broken and entering the wreck is easy some of the other exposed sites are the Clarkson Cases these are about 1.5m tall and .5m wide they were used to carry cordite and are made out of brass. This was a great dive to finish off our week just the sheer size of the wreck makes it a special dive.

I have to say a big thank you to Michael our skipper and Heather his wife who looked after us in the B&B a warmer welcome you would find hard to find. I have booked again for August 2011 for more of the same and to do some of the deeper wrecks.

Cheers

Diving Malin Head

I have just finished diving some of the wrecks off Malin Head, which has been a truly amazing week. We dived classics like the Justicia, Empire Heritage and the Audacious and some not so well known wrecks of the UB89 and the Roscommon. The visibility ranged from 10-25m with the water temperature being 9 degrees on the bottom and 15 at the decompression station. The group was made up from guys from the UK and Ireland and all but 1 were diving Inspiration rebreathers. Depths ranged from 62-78m and bottom times were 25-35 minutes with total bottom times averaging 2 hours. If the cracking wrecks were not enough we also had the company of a Porbeagle Shark on the 1st two dives swimming around us on the deco station. We dived off the boat Rosguill skippered by Michael McVeigh and stayed at Michael and Heathers B&B The Fisherman's Cottages in Downings. I can not praise Michael and Heather enough for the welcome and generosity we received while staying and diving with them. I have booked again for next year so that says it all. I will write some more about the diving in the next week. Picture above is of the Gun of the UB89 a 2nd WW german submarine.

UK Wreck Diving Trips

There are still places left on two of this years UK dive trips. Both trips are in September and they are.

Diving on Skin Deep out of Weymouth on the 1 & 2nd Sept we plan to dive the Avalanche in 50m and the Salsette in 45m both classic UK wreck dives. The cost is £45pp a day.

Diving out of Plymouth on Red Alert on the 17, 18, 19 & 20th Sept we are planning to dive wrecks in the 60-80m range. The cost is £400 per day for the boat divided between the divers.

If you are interested in booking on these trips then please give me a call or email me.

Cheers

Kevin

Unicorn - Tile Wreck

Diving last night out of Plymouth. The dive site was a 28m long freighter that was carrying a cargo of red roof tiles. She sank in heavy seas when her cargo shifted causing her to take on water. She lies in 53m on a muddy/silty seabed. The wreck is very broken with the highest points being the tip of the bow and the boiler. We descended through clear but plankton filled water but as we got deeper so it became darker even though it was a clear sunny evening. Reaching the bottom I was greeted by the bow which is about 3m above the sea bed, setting off along the port side the site is littered with tiles, amongst these there are numerous Conger, edible Crab and Squat Lobster. Around me there was a large shoal of Bib and Pollock swimming just beyond the confines of the wreck site. I followed the wreck to the stern where the steering gear and rudder lie and just beyond these is a large winch that has fallen free of the wreck. I then started to make my way back towards the bow via the starboard side but due to the amount of divers on the wreck the visibility was starting to deteriorate and by time I reached the bow it was down to zero. I decided to call it a day and made my way back up the shot line with 20 mins of stops to do. This is a cracking little dive but would be better with a max of 6 divers.

Hatt Rock

Diving today out of Plymouth. Our first dive was Hatt Rock a dive I first heard about 12 years ago and have been trying to get on since then! Approaching the dive site the surrounding sea bed is in 62m then you hit the reef which rises slowly to around 48m then sharply to 27m (The Hat). The shot was on the top of the reef but right next to the drop off. I descended to 48m through a shoal of Pollock which seemed to be swimming around me for the 25min I stayed at this depth. I swam over a patch of rough ground made up of large flat rocks which housed between 15-20 small Conger Eels. Ascending up the 20m wall which makes the sides of the Hat was a mass of colours blue, purple and pink which was large patches of Jewel Anemones, shinning my torch over these was just a wonderful sight. Once on the top of the reef I explored until I had done 40min, racking up 15min of decompression, it was time to ascend. What a dive it was well worth the wait.

Not content with one amazing dive we then went on to dive the Eddystone Lighthouse reef were I spent 60min under the water. Two of the best reef dives in the UK in one day. Result!

Thanks Danny and Dave

HMS Untiring

Diving today out of Plymouth on the wreck of HMS Untiring a submarine. She was sunk in 1957 by the RN as a sonar target and lies intact in 55m sat upright with a slight lean over to starboard. The visibility was around 10m but it was fairly gloomy and dark due to the large amount of Plankton in the water, so a torch was needed. She is covered in Plumose Anemones and is a mass of colour and life. We spent 25 minutes on the bottom with a total run time of 60 mins it was a cracking dive. Coming up we could see the sun on the surface from 20m. Water temperature was around 11 degrease so it was pleasant enough for the run time. Diving again on Wednesday night out of Plymouth on something in 65m all good build up dives for our trip to Malin Head at the end of June.

Red Sea

Just got back from another cracking week of diving in the Red Sea. Weather was unreal 42 degrease on the hottest day. Spent the week running an Open Circuit Trimix course for a lady from Australia. She had a great week in which we dived on Trimix on 3 days with the deepest dive being 56 meters. Her and her husband are planning a trip to Vanuatu an island off Australia to dive the President Coolidge in 2012. Guess who wangled an invite? Looking forward to getting back out there soon as the sharks are starting to come back, I heard stories of a 3m Tiger in Tiran and an Oceanic White tip around the Thistlegorm whilst the boats were moored up over night. It gets better and better.