Plymouth 26/27 April

[Steve Jones]

This was a trip organised by Steve M, and I am simply the guy who took the place of Nick (Polaris) Chipchase, who decide that on a trip a few weeks back that it was Ok to go from 60 metres to the surface, without any stops.

We had 4 marks that we wanted to look at, but as one of them was a few miles further on this reduced it to 2 marks. After some discussion on the Saturday we decided on the one which was an "unknown with no magnetic anomally"

Yes I know we were being greedy and hoping for a treasure trove but it wasn't to be. Ash (show no fear) went in first, closely followed by me (what the fuck is going on )

Got to the bottom and the viz was great, about 15 metres I would say. But then again it was difficult to judge as there was no wreck, but I could clearly see from one sand dune to the next. I had a look around and left the bottom at 15 minutes. No excessive deco as the depth was only 55 metres.

After the short dive we decided to ping the other 2 marks in readiness for the Sunday dive. Both looked good and we planned for the longer of the 2 wrecks, one was 35 metres long, the other 55 metres.

So Sunday arrived, again with virtually perfect sea conditions. The wreck that we had selected was listed on the Hydro reports as possibly the Havbris, a Norweigian ship, en route from Newport to Honfleur, which was sunk in 1917. The report said she was upright and intact so it looked good. Other than this bit of info we didn't have the opportunity to check out anything else about the wreck.

Surprisingly there were no takers to go in first after the first day, so the assembled divers decided to throw in some "cannon fodder" to check it out first. (ME)

Viz was pretty shitty between 6 and 33 metres depth with lots of snot (technical term) in the water but cleared up below this.

As I approached the "upright" wreck I though...Ash is gonna love this it's a fcuking sub. Checked the shot was well in and sent up the bag, by this time realising that it was upside down. So the hydro report is wrong then. The shot was on the port side reasonably close to the bows as it turned out. I went towards the stern, and found a place to get inside where there was a gap on the seabed (62 metres), a lot of sand had been built up here so now room to have a good look around, so came back out.. Up over the top of the wreck still heading for the stern but now on the starboard side, and very close to the stern found a huge hole, which looked like torpedo damage. Then around to the stern to find it completely missing, just a gaping hole with the prop shaft sticking out and everything covered in primose anemones.

After a spell inside here I went off to the bows, passing a couple of other divers on the way. The bows were nothing special, although I did see a big lobbie. After thinking about supper, my next though was "you haven't got a pot big enough Steve"

Back to the shot and left the bottom at 28 minutes.

Back home and checking Neil Maws book, the Havbris is shown as being torpedoed on the starboard side, with the stern blown off by the explosion. So it looks like this is the correct name for this wreck, and the size also matches.

Steve

[Dr T]

sounds like a fun weekend steve

ash

[daveb0000]

Originally Posted by Dr T

sounds like a fun weekend steve

ash

So thats why steve want's you to be a tosser, so you can go in first and see if they are on the wreck

[Dr T]

fine with me coz if not i still get wet !!

a

[daveb0000]

yeah but then they motor over to the next mark while you help them kit up and make the tea..............................sorted top plan, just wish i had thought of it

[Dr T]

i aint one of these namby pamby 50m+ one dive a dayers...

and neither are you......ahem mod3....

[daveb0000]

Originally Posted by Dr T

i aint one of these namby pamby 50m+ one dive a dayers...

and neither are you......ahem mod3....

Don't know what you mean

[Steve Jones]

Originally Posted by daveb0000

So thats why steve want's you to be a tosser, so you can go in first and see if they are on the wreck

That would mean 2 Ash's on the same boat, scary.

Steve

[Dr T]

need 1 ............ take 2


ash

[Steve Jones]

Originally Posted by Dr T

need 1 ............ take 2


ash

Agreed, we can always dispose of the excess one.

If we dispose of the last one to get back on board then you will be safe.

Steve