Congratulations to Chris Hill who has successfully qualified as Dive leader on this trip!
The first dive of today was the SMS Brummer – a light mine-laying cruiser laying at 36m. The weather was overcast and cooler with a light swell. Similar to most of the German Fleet wrecks this was a dark wreck which makes photography challenging! Descending the shot line brought the divers to one of the six inch guns with its firing mechanism exposed. The bridge was identifiable, but other areas were very broken tempting the divers to identify every girder as a gun!
The second dive was totally different – the block ship ‘Goberanada Boris’ at a depth of only 16m. Because block ships are swept by tides the team was given a strict limit of 30 minutes bottom time. Visibility was incredible and in excess of 20m!!! (see the pictures). The wreck was rich in marine life – conger eels, wrasse and a very large lobster. Note to MarkR, buddy lines must be fastened at least at one end (Rob was offered a loose piece of string)!!
Unfortunately, the party became five following Wayne’s planned early departure – on the positive side Rob doesn’t get disturbed by Wayne’s midnight pillow(ck) talk, and, Aiden the cabin boy will have an easier life!
Paul’s Post-Dive Tours today took the team to the wonderful Italian Chapel (or ‘painted allotment shed’ according to Chris) and Churchill Barriers. These are feats of wartime engineering built by the Italian PoW’s, however the late Mr Rushton would have had them re-lay every course a lot straighter!!
NOTE – Video follows the photos at the end.
