DIR Diving Blog

Did a dive on the M2 out of Weymouth today. Weather was excellent, sea flat and visbility about 10-15m. The wreck itself sunk in 1932 during exercises and went down with all 60 of her crew. The submarine was unique as the worlds first undersea aircraft carrier. It appears that the hangar on the sub was opened while it was still underwater which lead to it’s loss.

Myself and Clare were both using 30/30 for the dive and I took a stage of 50 and 100 in order to get some practise using 2 stages. We descended to the wreck and found ourselves next to the conning tower and did a quick tour near the rear of the conning tower before heading forward. We did a circuit of the sub near the seabed looking at the hydroplanes, the bow, torpedo tubes, rudder and screws. We saw plenty of life on our tour including a huge shoal of fish just off to the right of the sub. Visibility was 10-15m so it was easy to pick out features and appreciate the shape of the wreck. Along the port side of the sub we came across a very odd object about 4m off the wreck on the seabed which was a sort of cylindrical metal object about the size of a drum from an industrial washing machine with some old line attached to it.

We ascended to a shallower level and went forward to the hangar. I swam into the hangar and was surprised at the huge mound of silt. I back-kicked out of the hangar and we followed the catapult forward to the bow before turning back. Clare found a lobster in the catapult and we saw Izzy wrestling with another. As we passed the conning tower I found a conger in one of the holes which was pretty sizeable. We thumbed the dive at 48mins as I reached minimum gas. As our ascent was underway we had gone up about 4m when I reached into my pocket for the smb and stupidly lost my watch. Given our proximity to the seabed and lack of depth I dropped back down, picked it up and we had another go at ascending now with 50mins dive time. I gas switched at 21m and we added a little time to ensure the gas circulated. Deco was quick in the deeper section as Clare was just using an 02 stage and next activity was onto back gas at 9m and I re-stowed the 50% reg before the 02 switch at 6m. Total dive time was 73mins.

I recently read a good idea on how to check if your drysuit is dry on the DIR explorers website. Having been rather damp at the end of my last dive I thought I’d try it. You turn your suit inside out, zip it up (last bit through neck seal) and then clamp off one arm and the neck seal. You do this using a pair of rulers and some bulldog clips. You then insert the garden hose in the remaining arm and partially fill the suit. Give it 20 mins then turn it over and identify any areas of moisture which would indicate small leaks. I gave it a try and pleased to find no leaks!

Well Sunday 23rd April myself and Fraser met up at Breakwater dive center at 10am. We were booked to dive the Salsette which due to Breakwater cancelling some dives we’d ended up diving only a fortnight before. That said it is listed as the best wreck dive in the UK according to Diver magazine. The wreck is a P&O liner 134m long which was torpedoed in WW2, it now lies in 45m of water about an hours boat run out from Weymouth.We got ready with plenty of time to spare and set off to the site. As we left the harbour it was a little misty but the sea was flat calm – as we passed Portland Bill the whole boat was stunned to see the sea remained like as flat as a sheet of glass. We made good time to the wreck and Andy (Goose’s skipper) shotted the wreck first time. As we looked at the shotline the whole boat started chattering as we could see the line stretching away below us. As we made a pass near to the line there was heated debate as to whether we could actually see the top of the wreck at 35m!

Slack was still about 1/2 hour away but everyone was so keen the whole boat got kitted up early. It was a mixed crowd and the first chap in was diving solo with a helmet mounted video camera! As myself and Fraser dropped in and started our descent I managed to get the lazy shot caught around me. I signalled to Frase who un-tangled me and we carried on to the bubble check a 6m with barely a pause. As we head down the line I make out the wreck clearly as we descend. We reach the wreck at 35m within 3 minutes still showing on my timer
and start off towards the bow.
The visibility is amazing – it was like diving in the red sea. We could see the wreck from the seabed to the starboard rail and could make out the seabed extending off away from the wreck. A shoal of fish were actually visible about 10m away from the wreck as well as a large quantity on the wreck itself. We headed along at 42m near the seabed peering into the wreck and pausing over various features such as the Capstans. Various bits of debris extend from the deck across the seabed. Fraser signals and asks me to slow down at this point and I realise I’m a bit keen to reach the bow. We pass the remains of the crane and pass another buddy pair going the opposite direction. We reach the bow and I swim out in front of the wreck and turn to face it. The bow is visible from the keel to the tip and huge shoal of fish is sheltering under it. Frase is hovering nearer the bow and I really wish I had a camera!

We turn round and head back along the wreck slightly shallower at about 40m. We pass the shotline and keeping going. I spot a pair of water tanks on the deck which look a little like small boilers and we carry on to the section damaged by the torpedo. The wreck is more broken up here and and we peer into the approximate area of the engine room. We carry on towards the stern and reach the deck gun I turn to face Frase and back kick away from the gun – apparently he really wanted a camera at this point as he reckoned it was a perfect photo! We swam past the stern and peer at the rudder and prop shaft. Again we turn and make our way back towards the bow. We move up to the starboard rail so we are up at abour 36-37m. We actually manage to reach the shotline again and just past it see the two inspiration dives from the boat bagging off to start their ascent. We carried on for another minute and then start our ascent at 39 minutes as I hit minimum gas.

Deco was smooth with no drama’s. At 9m we could clearly see the boat on the surface and take our time breaking the surface at 75 minutes. Deco was a bit chilly at 9 degrees but bearable. Having got back on board and de-kitted we were a little surprised to see the inspo guys surfacing after us – so much for optimised deco

Cracking dive with vis that rarely happens in the UK. Roll on a few more like this one!

This weekend I tried to get the sea water weighting of the scooter correct. Unfortunately it looks like water ingressed into the motor compartment. Not a drop in the battery compartment so it seems to have made it’s way in past the seal. Not a huge amount of water but it has had an effect on the relay.

I’ve spoken to Rich Walker the UK Gavin dealer who reckons I should be ok but should swap the relay. I’ve actually been 1/2 planning to move to the European style relays for some time now so this gives me a bit of a push.

Well just back from a weekend in Weymouth at Breakwater dive center. Bit of a varied weekend. Spectacular diving on the sunday made up for some dissappointment on the saturday.

On the saturday we were due to dive the wreck of the HMS Boadicea. I volunteered to get up early on saturday morning to put our sets in for a fill to make sure we were first in line for our mix fills. Getting three sets of 18/45 gave us a good opportunity to try the new team trimix analyser.

We got kitted up and were all onboard Goose and away at the correct time. We’d just rounded Portland Bill when a Mayday call goes out on the radio. Turns out it was Top Gun – one of breakwater’s other boats and they’d had a fire in the engine room. Our skipper Andy accelerates up to maximum speed and we race towards them. Weymouth lifeboat is launched as well but we were already on route. We arrive on site and all is well – basically they’ve just lost the engine. At this point it becomes apparent our dive is binned which leads to a boat load of despondent divers. Top Gun’s divers didn’t get to do their diver either although they did get above the site of the M2! We transfer the 6 divers from Top Gun onto Goose and head back to port. Needless to say Breakwater refunded the dive but it wasn’t much consolation. It was force 4 seas (little bumpy) but very diveable so everyone was gutted. Andy was apologetic and it wasn’t his fault. A Mayday call must be responded to no matter whose boat it is.

Andy the skipper next to Goose

Breakwater did offer a discounted harbour dive which we went on so the day wasn’t a total bust. Both Clare and Frase used bottom stages but I’d luckily brought a twinset of 32% in case we got blown out. We had a nice dive on the Countess and took the opportunity to try a few things out. Clare lept in with 3 stages on just to see if she could physically stand up on the boat and was chuffed it was doable. Not much to say about the Countess – it’s a nice wreck but I’ve dived it a few too many times now.

Sunday dawns and the weather if anything is better than saturday. We all board Goose with Andy skippering again and head out to the Salsette. We had booked the U772 but ended up getting bumped onto a different trip due to lack of numbers. Still we were keen to do anything at this point and the Salsette is a nice dive. The seas were flat calm – better than the day before and perfect diving conditions with lots of sun and clear skies. We reached site, shotted the wreck and leaped in on time.

We descended to the wreck doing the normal bubble check etc and set off along the deck towards the bow. Fraser was leading the dive and he took his time. Vis was about 7m and there was loads of ambient light. I actually found I could see both the starboard and port rail of the ship using ambient light alone. We headed onward peering into the holds and seeing some fish life in residence. We came across the crane which points up from the deck and gave us a stunning view. We also came across a smaller boiler which Fraser later reckoned was some secondary system. We rounded the bow and hung motionless in front of it taking in the entire front of the wreck and anchor. It was a really impressive image. We turned round and headed back along the deck back the way we came but a shallower depth to try and see a few more details. We made it back past the shotline and kept going – it really is a massive wreck.

At 39 minutes runtime we thumbed the dive and started our ascent. Deco went to plan and smoothly. I must admit 8 degrees still feels a bit cold. I’m looking forward to the shallower stops warming up over the coming months. We broke the surface at 75 miniutes exactly to plan.

The sun was shining at the surface and we made it back on board to hot chocolate and ginger biscuits! As Fraser’s first trimix dive since he got back to the UK it really was a cracking result. However two mix dives would have been a distinctly better result.

Have to say thanks to Andy for skippering and to the team for the diving

Fraser is now back in the country so we went to Vobster for some warm-up dives before the planned trimix dives next weekend. It was really funny kitting up as I overheard two guys chatting who said “Look it’s the DIR quarry diving club”. They were wearing CDG t-shirts and then proceeded to dive in the quarry – talk about irony! These days I’m amused by people who frown on quarry diving. Personally I go diving and enjoy it whether it’s salt or fresh. I think it’s much safer to play with new equipment and emergency drills in a quarry as the sea is a less forgiving environment. And with the Bristish weather quarries are a way of live if you want to get a dive in no matter the weather.

Dive 1 and we started with just twinsets and single stages of 50%. We started off with a descent down to 3m for valve drills and s-drills – all filmed on Clare’s new video camera. At that depth the water is now 8 degrees which felt positively pleasant compared to the 5 degrees in the past months. After the drills were complete we ascended, swam out to the shotline for the boat and began our descent. Once at the bottom of the shot we went for a swim round. I pulled an OOA on Fraser and it all went fine. We swam round the boat, wheelhouse and crushing works before moving back towards the wheelhouse. Along the way thumbs was issued and we started up. Ascent and gas switch went fine. Frase didn’t particularly enjoy it – I think he was surprised he was a bit rusty.

Dive 2 and more of the same this time with 3 stages rather than just one. Drills followed by swimming off round past the plane and off past one of the far platforms. Mark couldn’t get through the plane as he had two chest clipped AL80’s! Cold was setting in so thumbs were issued. I found the ascent fine but it still wasn’t coming together for Fraser. Long swim back and Clare decided to test us by simulating unconcious diver. Bit of disagreement resulted!

Dive 3 and we were running short on time so we did valve drills and headed off past the blockhouse and onto the plane. Mark had some hassle with stages and ended up swapping regs several times. Not a drama as he was within the MOD on both stages but he did end up on the wrong one. We did another ascent with gas switch and re-stowing stages.

Overall I had a lot of fun. Having had an enforced break from diving due to exams it was really nice to go for a dive. I also enjoyed having a play with the video and seeing myself on film doing a valve drill – it’s been a while and I always find it an excellent tool for learning.