HMAT Warilda - A rather outstanding Dive

[Paul Oliver]

Having been scheduled to dive the HMAT Warilda, a large Australian Liner converted to Hospital ship, Torpedoed in WW1, in May as part of Le Dude Plongee Trip which was blown out I kinda jumped at the chance to dive her off of Ivan’s boat Michael Mary when Blanaid told me there was a trip on. Even better the Dude could not get permission to go..


So after getting up at 5 it was off to Littlehampton with a very hot day forecast. Meeting up at 8 we left for the 35 mile trip out across the Channel on a perfect flat calm sea, as there were only 7 of us on this roomy boat we had lots of room to sprawl. Ivan welcomed me as the lift breaker onto his boat, and then explained all the ingenious systems involving block and tackles and capstans to get the lift working if someone happened to break it on this trip.

About 2.5 hours later we were on site with Our W (Dive 125) also on site. They had a shot in and it was already slack. The water was that awesome deep clear black that promises outstanding viz. unfortunately we then had an engine problem, which turned out to be a lost propeller. Just as well Ivan converted the boat to twin engine and twin prop’s some time ago.

Me and Blanaid had a cunning plan involving 30 min at a max of 48m, as although the wreck sits in 55m it is very intact and 10m proud. So in we went, with a bit of lightening approaching. I promptly got tangled up in the buoys and Blanaid untangled me, so off I went down the shot. At 30m I could see the divers on the wreck but was on my own. After a bit of a wait and some rope pulling I could see Blan approaching so carried on down.

Very soon I had the wreck laid out below me, very reminiscing of some of the Britannic footage. Hitting the wreck at 45m with 15-20m of Very light viz and no need for a torch other than to look into the ship.

I had chuffed a bit of air at the start but got my breath back and settled down as Blan joined me. Most of the divers were behind us under the shot so we headed off along the top towards the bow, dropping down to 48m as we moved into the Torpedo damaged area. We then moved up a bit onto the forward area, and then carried on a fair way to the bow section which is on its starboard side. Having had a look at the net covered anchor we looked down through the bow section and could clearly see the seabed at 55m below us, despite the masses of fish trying to block our view.

Turning around we headed back staying high above the damaged section and getting back onto the deck, moving past the shot line and carrying on towards the stern. There was a big old net in about the middle and I changed direction a bit to pass above this as we were drifting down a bit as we followed the deck angle.

Just past the big old net Blan made some strange signals to me, as I am quite used to annoying women I thought she was pissed off with me over something, but it was apparently her way of saying she thought that was the gun. Soon after this she found a huge Porthole, and banged it about a bit before we gave up on it, it was far too late in the dive to mess about with brass.

It was time to bag off now, and very conveniently there was a nice high point on the wreck in front of us, so we moved to the top of this and started to send our DSMB’s up. At this point I had problems with mine as I had lost the slide on my Delayedaid DSMB and was improvising rather badly.

Despite having my reg in the bag it was not going up as I had a fold in it. Blan’s was up though so sticking to the schedule I binned mine and started up her line, unrolled DSMB in hand.

Moving on up to my Gas switch I started this, but when I turned my stage on I had a mass of bubbles, so turned that off, tightened the 1st stage up, then turned it on again, no bubbles. So swapped regs, I then got a full breath of water, so swapped back, purged the stage reg, took a breath off of my backgas reg, after swallowing a full mouthful of seawater, then got onto the stage bottle properly. At about this time I also managed to flood my mask somehow, then I let Blan who was at 21m know I was still on her line by kicking her from 18m (I am rather tall – dontyaknow).

Having resolved all this I finally got me blob sorted out and the rest was rather uneventful, apart from the lightening flashes lighting up the dive. We did a bit of extra deco, as we are diving again tomorrow and onto the boat.

The trip back took a while on one engine, and we had a good chat about the dive and a doze. On getting into Littlehampton I was just thinking the only way we could have improved the dive would have been to have Chasey there filming it, when a boat went past and Chasey was shouting across at us and waving a bell.

A rather outstanding day out and dive.

[Diving Dude]

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

...... I promptly got tangled up in the buoys ................I had chuffed a bit of air at the start........................................ I had problems with mine .............................. improvising rather badly........................ I had a mass of bubbles........................................ got a full breath of water.......................... after swallowing a full mouthful of seawater.................................... I also managed to flood my mask somehow.................. kicking her from 18m

Kin 'ell sounds like Blan had a wonderfull time

l suppose it's my turn tomorrow.

[Paul Oliver]

Yup, in many ways it was a bog standard dive

We were alright on the wreck, it was the bits at either end that were a pain

[Debs]

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

I am quite used to annoying women

Cheeky bugger!

I see you are now not just breaking lifts but boats as well

[divegyrl]

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

unfortunately we then had an engine problem, which turned out to be a lost propeller.
The water was that awesome deep clear black that promises outstanding viz.

Chris dropped in and rescued the prop, upsetting Skip, the boat dog with his own lifejacket! He dosen't like divers or swimmers, jumping in the water....... I think he is a RNLI rescue dog!
The water actually looked like mercury, that shimmering intact way it does, beautiful, just as the storm approached...... the temperature dropped and I thought I was having 'visual disturbances' until a large blat of thunder rent the air!
Getting kitted up in the rain was a welcome relief from the sunshine, and I LOVE the sun!

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

Me and Blanaid had a cunning plan involving 30 min at a max of 48m,

my DO set me a depth limit of 45m!

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

as although the wreck sits in 55m it is very intact and 10m proud. So in we went, with a bit of lightening approaching. I promptly got tangled up in the buoys and Blanaid untangled me, so off I went down the shot. At 30m I could see the divers on the wreck but was on my own. After a bit of a wait and some rope pulling I could see Blan approaching so carried on down.

After untangling Paul, I promptly tangled myself in the same line! so a bit of juggling and my reply on the rope (BSAC & SAA have different pulls me thinks!) later and I was on my way down. At 30m I saw Paul waiting for me at 45m on the superstructure......... WOW, this was going to be a brilliant dive.....

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

Very soon I had the wreck laid out below me, very reminiscing of some of the Britannic footage. Hitting the wreck at 45m with 15-20m of Very light viz and no need for a torch other than to look into the ship.

I had chuffed a bit of air at the start but got my breath back and settled down as Blan joined me. Most of the divers were behind us under the shot so we headed off along the top towards the bow, dropping down to 48m as we moved into the Torpedo damaged area. We then moved up a bit onto the forward area, and then carried on a fair way to the bow section which is on its starboard side. Having had a look at the net covered anchor we looked down through the bow section and could clearly see the seabed at 55m below us, despite the masses of fish trying to block our view.

It was amazing, this looked like a ship, there is so much to see, I wish I knew what all the bits were called! I kept getting excited about pieces, but as Paul is from Mars & I am a Venetian, we had problems communicating! We could look through the wreck and see the seabed, I understand how Jean Reno headed 'into the blue' (granted in a movie) but there is a certain alure when it is so clear!

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

Turning around we headed back staying high above the damaged section and getting back onto the deck

The decking was still in place!

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

moving past the shot line and carrying on towards the stern. There was a big old net in about the middle and I changed direction a bit to pass above this as we were drifting down a bit as we followed the deck angle.

I kept thinking that the flashes I was seeing were from strobes, then I remembered that there was a pretty big storm 'topside'
Just then all the guys from R W all seemed to arrive...... Dave Burke was in the group and recognised me, (I wonder how?) as I did him, he finned towards me to shake my hand, I shook it and then grabbed him for a big hug and YBOD

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

Just past the big old net Blan made some strange signals to me, as I am quite used to annoying women I thought she was pissed off with me over something, but it was apparently her way of saying she thought that was the gun. Soon after this she found a huge Porthole, and banged it about a bit before we gave up on it, it was far too late in the dive to mess about with brass.

I thought that my signals are reasonable, although I should know from trying to communicate with Juz (another Martian) that men just never understand! Think I need wet notes! The banging of the porthole was to get his attention! I also had a giggle moment when I thought how upset someone would be to know that I had left a number of portholes!

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

It was time to bag off now, and very conveniently there was a nice high point on the wreck in front of us, so we moved to the top of this and started to send our DSMB’s up. At this point I had problems with mine as I had lost the slide on my Delayedaid DSMB and was improvising rather badly.

By the way, I LOVE my BUDDY DSMBi!

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

Despite having my reg in the bag it was not going up as I had a fold in it. Blan’s was up though so sticking to the schedule I binned mine and started up her line, unrolled DSMB in hand.

Moving on up to my Gas switch I started this, but when I turned my stage on I had a mass of bubbles, so turned that off, tightened the 1st stage up, then turned it on again, no bubbles. So swapped regs, I then got a full breath of water, so swapped back, purged the stage reg, took a breath off of my backgas reg, after swallowing a full mouthful of seawater, then got onto the stage bottle properly. At about this time I also managed to flood my mask somehow, then I let Blan who was at 21m know I was still on her line by kicking her from 18m (I am rather tall – dontyaknow).

Paul & I have different deco schedules, my VR£ gives me deep stops that his Vytec hate, so we are used to going up at different ascent rates. We get together round bout 6m though. He IS tall, and he was wearing BIG fins!

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

Having resolved all this I finally got me blob sorted out and the rest was rather uneventful, apart from the lightening flashes lighting up the dive. We did a bit of extra deco, as we are diving again tomorrow and onto the boat.

I had already dived 2 40m+ dives on Saturday and Sunday, so adding the extra 15mins was a really good idea in my mind. We had another big dive again on Wednesday, so staying in the water was not a problem, it was warm, the sun was shining, we had an awesome dive........

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

The trip back took a while on one engine, and we had a good chat about the dive and a doze. On getting into Littlehampton I was just thinking the only way we could have improved the dive would have been to have Chasey there filming it, when a boat went past and Chasey was shouting across at us and waving a bell.

A rather outstanding day out and dive.

It was an amazing day, I know that I smile a lot when I dive, (it has been mentioned!) the Warilda dive wasa big, big, big grin day!

[sexydivebuddy]

[Ivan]

Just to let everone know that with the outstanding service of Hamble Propellors pulling out all the stops I'm now back in full operation.

Ivan.

http://www.michellemary.co.uk

[Finless]

Sounds like a great dive! I was supposed to dive the Warrilda on the way over to Fe Camp with Stve/Nauticat a few years ago but the weather madi it too dangerous to diving in between the shipping lanes so we missed it - although we did get to dive the Lan Franc on the way back - brilliant viz but really dark ....... I can only inagine what the Warrilda must be like with ambient light.

Once again, I am jealous and p'd off with my own lack of diving activity. Keep the reports coming as I take much vicarious pleasure in reading them.

It seems like so long since I've had a dive that I'll need pool training soon .

[Paul Oliver]

Originally Posted by Ivan

Just to let everone know that with the outstanding service of Hamble Propellors pulling out all the stops I'm now back in full operation.

Ivan.

http://www.michellemary.co.uk

Good News and a big up for Hamble Propellors

[Diving Dude]

So not only does Paul break lifts he breaks propellors as well.