Objective and Background
Swanage, Dorset in the UK has always had an important place
in my heart, especially for diving. Swanage was where I first learnt to dive at
the age of 16 and is where I always return to when there is a personal course
that I want to take to expand my experience.
Swanage was that kindled my love of wreck diving, with the
Kyarra being the first large and significant wreck I ever dived. I still return
regularly to dive the Kyarra but this time my brother and I want to go with the
intention of using the new video set up. To try and capture the Kyarra’s
magnificence over 3 dives. (Let’s hope the viz is good!!)
(For the history of the S.S Kyarra visit http://www.sskyarra.com/)
The Kyarra now lies between 24m and 32m depending on tides.
It is usually dived twice a day at slack tide using DSMB for the drifting
ascent as the tide really starts to run. Viz is typically best at high spring
tide and worst at low spring tide. Boats run from Swanage Pier with a couple of
options to choose from and air and nitrox fills available on the Pier from
Divers Down the oldest UK diving school.
Thursday 05/04/2012
9pm - Final kit preparations and plan finalisation, pack
car, charge torch (Lights for Me 7XPG) and set dive computer (VR3 OC and CCR
Trimix). For information only the plan settled on is:
30m
---------40min-----------32% Nitrox
6m-----------8min---------100%
Oxygen
Friday 06/04/2012
6.45am – Get up and prep for the day
8.30am – Car packed and off we go. For a bank holiday,
traffic seems light and it looks like it will be a good day until problem 1!!
The Tom Tom decides to freeze and thinks that for the whole journey we are
still in Redditch. Never mind we know the route well. After a couple of hours
all is well and we stop for the obligatory coffee and rest stop. We set off
again and all is still good until we hit the bank holiday traffic of people
looking to enjoy the Dorset Easter. An hour delay and much cursing of Sunday
drivers, on a Friday, and we are off to finish the journey.
13.30pm – We finally arrive in Swanage to the sight of a
peaceful sea and glorious sun, though slightly chilli. Our first bit of luck,
there is space to park on the Pier. We unpack, catch up with a few of the local
divers and instructors and get an idea of conditions. We grab a burger and
chips, have a walk around the town and then head to the pier to load to boat.
15.30pm – Gear loaded, without the camera for the first
dive, and we now find that we are the only divers on the boat. I wonder why!?
So our private charter sets out with a couple of tag along boat riders and a
dog.
16.00pm – As we head out we make final preparations to of
our gear and get into our suits. Finally kitted we arrive slightly earlier than
planned. We now have to wait for the slack to allow the shot buoy to pop up and
mark the wreck. We wait….5….10….15….20 mins. Almost half an hour of waiting and
now feeling quite sea sick the sea finally releases the buoy and we get ready
to enter the water.
16.40pm – As we pull down the shot line the current is still
running strong. The viz is down to a couple of meters and as we descend the
light quickly disappears. By 10m I have to put on my torch or be plunged into
complete darkness and easily lose my brother and we are still on the shot. We
finally reach the wreck at about 23m and start the tour of the dive. We start
to slowly acclimatize to the low light and the poor viz. I’m just glad that we
both have good torches otherwise you could have easily found yourself alone on
a hump of wreckage in the dark. As we slowly move around the wreck, almost
navigating by touch, we both have to carefully check our gauges for depth as we
have no visual reference and it is impossible to judge our position in the
water. We float about bumping into various bits of wreckage until we finally
give in and call it a day. Ian starts to put his DSMB up using its built in
inflator bottle. The seal leaks like a fountain and only a dribble of air
actually finds its way into the SMB. After a moment of trying to fix it we
decided that we won’t be able to do it here and that there is enough air in the
SMB to provide a reference line and so let it go. We ascend to our 6m stop
which is amazing as there is enough actual ambient light to turn off the
torches. We have no actual deco to do as we cut the dive short but for good
measure I switch to my 100% Oxygen while we do our 5m, 3min safety stop. We
finally reach the surface and get back on the boat. Like all good dive boats
once we are de-kitted we are presented with a hot chocolate for the boat ride
home.
18.00pm – We disembark, load the car and head off to our
accommodation for some good food and hope for better tomorrow.
Actual Dive Details (VR3 Dive Computer)
25m
---------35min-----------32% Nitrox
6m-----------3min---------100%
Oxygen
Saturday 07/04/2012
Dive Plan
28m
---------35min-----------26% Nitrox
17m ----------2min-----------26%
Nitrox
6m-----------5min---------100%
Oxygen
7.00am – We arrive at Swanage Pier to be greeted by grey
skys and a blowing wind. We decided that due to the previous days viz that we
would cancel our third dive and put the filming off to our next trip. We had a
full English breakfast, walked down the beach and had a coffee. Feeling fortified we headed back to the pier.
9.00am – I got my cylinders topped with air to give me a 26%
mix. We decided that this would be fine due to the shorter dive plan and that
the deco wouldn’t be too long.
10.30am – We load our gear on to the boat and things are already
looking more promising as the skipper has managed to fill both boats for the
dive trip, always a good sign. The weather has already started to improve and
all the signs are there for a good dive. We arrive at the dive site about 5min
early and just wait for the slack. With the time to spare we discuss the
potential of a new building material made of Sea Gul droppings and that the
skipper is in the wrong business with his dislike and frustration at divers and
their kit damaging his new shiny boat J.
10.50am – My brother and I enter the water first to test the
conditions for everyone else. We hit the shot and the current is only running
slightly. As we descend it is obvious that the high spring tide is paying off
and the viz is much better. Even as we hit the wreck at about 25m there is just
enough light to see without torches. We set off for our tour. The dive was much
more enjoyable and the Kyarra started to release some its magic. Large schools
of fish which call it home are visible and making the dive fantastic, and at
least this time you could once again tell that this was once a ship. The time
passes quickly and uneventfully, even the SMB decided to behave itself on this
dive. We made our ascent, completed our small decompression obligation and then
waited on the surface for the boat to pick us up. We had our well-earned hot chocolate
and headed for shore.
12.30pm – We get back to the pier unload and head into town
for some of Swanage’s amazing fish and chips. After a full lunch we settle our
bills, say our good byes and head for home. I now just look forward to our next
Swanage trip and getting some filming done and also our up coming week of
wrecks in Scapa.
Actual Dive (VR3 Dive Computer)
28m ---------30min-----------26%
Nitrox
17m ---------2min-----------26%
Nitrox
6m-----------2min---------100%
Oxygen
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