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 Lots of dive planning for Day 3 |
Day 2
By Keith L
On to a battleship, the Kronprinz Wilhelm, for the first dive, these things are HUGE. The massive upturned hull starts at around 16m and this steel wall just drops off into the depths to the sea bed at around 40m. To see anything (apart from a big steel wall) on these boats you have to get down to very nearly the sea bed and start poking around underneath.
As it turns out, we all followed the shot down and went down the wrong side, to the "not very interesting" side - but it was still a magnificent dive all the same. A bit of minor wreck penetration is required, but the main holes are tens of feet wide and with 10m viz the way out can be easily seen. I (KL) was diving with Alasdair, we spent most of our time at around 37m for a (roughly) 35 minutes bottom time and 11 minutes of deco on the ascent. All of the pairs are running deco to some extent, you need it to get the best out of this type of dive.
Second dive of the day was a "shallow bimble" on one of the block-ships, the Tabarka. Maximum depth was 14m, average around 10m - several people commented that this was the best shallow dive they have ever done. Due to the strong tidal nature you spend all of the time inside the wreck, with no silt and 30m (at least) viz this is not exactly a problem. We entered via a hole at seabed level (the wreck is upside down) and worked our way the entire length of the boat occasionally wriggling through a bulkhead rib to get to the next section. Highlight was definitely the breathtaking boiler room - three massive circular boilers about 3m in diameter each. The engines and the crankshaft are there on what is now the ceiling and the prop shaft can be followed back. The ascent was "fun", the tide was running at well over one knot, those on the tech nitrox course decided to practice bagging off and a fairground type ride ensued as the DSMB screamed out nearly horizontal with a diver in hot pursuit.
All in all an excellent days diving, the weather has deteriorated with a slight increase in the wind (from a flat calm) and a few spots of drizzle. The trip is a huge success with the whole group enjoying themselves, we're looking forward to some more great diving.