Seaford Ferry - 17th April

[Spider]

I had a fantastic dive yesterday (Sunday 17th) so just thought I'd share it with you all.

Two weeks ago, Rich and I were diving with Dive125 out of Eastbourne and the plan was to dive the Seaford Ferry. That day, there were fishing boats over the wreck and since we had some time to spare, Dave (the skipper) decided to go with the back-up plan of the Persania. We had a fabulous dive including seeing a gigantic conger.

Anway we were back at Eastbourne on Sunday for another attempt to dive the Seaford Ferry. We arrived for a very civilised 9.30 start and made use of the new extra kitting-up bench Dave had installed since our last trip. There's now plenty of space for twelve divers with assorted rebreathers, twinsets and stages.

The weather was warm and sunny despite an unfavourable weather forecast and the sea was fairly calm, which was just as well since the Seaford is about 20 miles offshore. We arrived on site and luckily the fishing boats hadn't ventured this far out.

Once kitted up we entered the water and were astonished at the crystal clear visibility and blueness of the water. Even at 45m a torch wasn't really essential and we had maybe 8-10m vis. There must be about 6m of height to the wreck amidships but it is more flattened towards the bow and stern. There are several portholes still to be seen with their glass intact and various bits and pieces including broken crockery on the deck areas. This was an English ferry operating between England and France which collided on its maiden voyage with a French ferry and apparantly the the dining room was on the top deck.

In terms of marine life we saw huge shoals of bib, several sea bass, a loster, various crabs, tompot blennies, conger eels and a couple of nudibranchs.

We left the wreck after about 25 minutes and did about 30 minutes of deco which was enough as the water was about 9 degrees.

Dave and Sylv provided warming cups of drinks and cakes and, once the rebreather divers finally surfaced, we steamed back into shore and some delicate manouvring got the boat into the lock at Eastbourne marina just before the gates closed.

[Diving Dude]

Well mate that's two things on my list you've just done, dive with Dave Ronan on Dive 125 the other the Seaford Ferry...................you barsteward
Whats the boat like?

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Diving Dude

Well mate that's two things on my list you've just done, dive with Dave Ronan on Dive 125 the other the Seaford Ferry...................you barsteward
Whats the boat like?

The boat used to operate out of Weymouth as "Our W" - it's an Offshore 125 so plenty of space and a tail lift. There's a large kitting-up bench down the centre of the boat and a new smaller bench at the back. Over the winter, Dave's smartened the boat up a bit and has installed a compressor so can do air and nitrox fills on board (he needs prior notice for rich mixes or trimix though). The website is www.dive125.co.uk if you want to see pictures.