With an
itinerary that contained the Dunraven, two dives on the Thistlegorm and a night
dive on the Barge, it was always going to be a wreckish day.
I like the
Dunraven as a wreck. It's upside down which is unusual and strangely
picturesque. The challenge for me is always to get back to the liveaboard from
the wreck. I mean, how far can you make your air last? I reckon it is
entirely doable, though I have now failed twice. I should say that we never
failed because of low air, but rather we got bored of swimming along the Beacon
Rock reef into a current. As it was we
no more than about 60m from the boat. Easily done with 80bar.
Like the
Dunraven, I’d dived the Thistlegorm before. The last time I was with the
Zookeeper and remember not particularly enjoying the current or the penetration
into the wreck. On this occasion, I knew what to expect and so I was far more
comfortable on both dives.
The
Kingmaker had agreed to lead us in the penetration portion of the dive. It gave
rise to one of my heartiest underwater chuckles as he headed into a block
entrance and had to reverse out. In fairness to him, he actually did a pretty
darn good job after that initial moment, but I still gave him a few metres head
start throughout the dive in case it happened again.
The Barge
at night was a mixed experience. It’s a good site with lots of Morays,
Stonefish, Scorpionfish and nudis, but there were just too many people on it.
Our little group of 4 got split up and I took the decision to swim with Trist
out of the Barge and wait for it to clear. I think Hell's Kells & Royston
did the same thing, but went the opposite way, as we all reassembled ten
minutes later with no one else on it.
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| Dunraven |
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| Thistlegorm Locomotive |
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| Thistlegorm Gun |
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| Kingmaker & The Thistlegorm |
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| Fimbriated Maray |
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| Stonefish |
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