Storra & Caleb Sprague - 3/4 Sept

[jptaylor9]

Dived from the "good ship" Nauticat this weekend, operating from Eastbourne. Both days we were away around 10:15, so not a early start . Steve does leave on time, so get there, as he has to go through a sea lock that operates on a 30 minute schedule & if he misses the lock, he'll miss slack! So for me, it was a quick 1:45 down the A22.

Both wrecks were about 48m to the sea bed, although I did get 51m on the Caleb on the stern. Did about 45mins bottom time on both days, so total run time was a little over 100mins, after O3 flush at 3m. Using a dil of 20/22; was some "air topped" Trimix from a mate who had had to dump a 12L twin set as the manifold was leaking; well I got 8 decent dives from the mix i scrounged

Both wrecks upright. The Storra was mined/torpedoed near the bows, whereas the Caleb Sprague was hit near the stern. In both cases these sections are broken away & lie at a different angle to the rest of the wreck.

Excellent viz on both dives & water temp. was 18C.

On the Caleb Sprague, I immediatelly went astern & over the collapsed bridge to were the wreck colllapses to the sea bed. When i did this wreck a few weeks ago, I thought that was it. But, Steve had said there was rest of the stern section a stort distance away with a gun on it. I wanted to get back to the main section, so I took a 2nd small reel & reeled off. Didn't really need to, but it's a while since I reeled off, so worth practicing. Anyway, found the stern & saw the gun. Returned to the main section & did a circuit to the bow & back, before bagging off. just before I started my ascent, found some 1/2" machine gun bullets, although the belt had long since rotted away, thought about bringing a few up but in the end decided to leave them. Steve had position the boat so I could ascend from my last stop & swim directly onto the lift. What about that for service

Met YD'er Finbar.Taylor on the boat.

JT

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by jptaylor9

Dived from the "good ship" Nauticat this weekend, operating from Eastbourne. Both days we were awat around 10:15, so not a early start . Steve does leave on time, so get there, as he has to go through a sea lock that operates on a 30 minute schedule & if he misses the lock, he'll miss slack! So for me, it was a quick 1:45 down the A22.

Both wrecks were about 48m to the sea bed, although I did get 51m on the Caleb on the stern. Did about 45mins bottom time on both days, so total run time was a little over 100mins, after O3 flush at 3m. Using a dil of 20/22; was some "air topped" Trimix from a mate who had had to dump a 12L twin set as the manifold was leaking; well I got 8 decent dives from the mix i scrounged

Both wrecks upright. The Storra was mined/torpedoed near the bows, whereas the caled Sprague was hit near the stern. In both cases these sections & broken away & lie at a different angle to the rest of the wreck.

Excellent viz on both dives & water temp. was 18C.

On the Caleb Sprague, I immediatelly went astern & over the collapsed bridge to were the wreck colllapses to the sea bed. When i did this wreck a few weeks ago, I thought that was it. But, Steve had said there was rest of the stern section a stort distance away with a gun on it. I wanted to get back to the main section, so I took a 2nd small reel & reeled off. Didn't really need to, but it's a while since I reeled off, so worth practicing. Anyway, found the stern & saw the gun. Returned to the main section & circuit to the bow & back, before bagging off. just before I started my ascent, found some 1/2" maching gun bullets, although the belt had long since rotted away, thought about bringing a few up but in the end decided to leave them.

Met YD'er Finbar.Taylor on the boat.

JT

Nice report, I've done same wreck from same boat but didn't get the advice about separate stern section so will have to go back ;-)

Ian