When a relatively new company Wreckspeditions put up an offer to dive the Greenock Dredger on a warm sunny night, myself, the Wylie Fox and Jester thought it seemed like a decent idea. As a result, we gathered up a further 5 divers to fill the boat. My buddy for the evening was Jim. We were planning for 30minutes at 30m on a 32% mix. The weather, as forecast, was ideal, and we headed out full of optimism.
As the last buddy pair to enter the water we were charged with making sure that the temporary shot line was free of any blockages. Once Jim and I hit the bottom there was already a fair amount of silt at the touchdown point, meaning I had a bit of a hassle moving the shot to a clear spot. My first attempt failed as in the gloom I didn't know I was dropping it into a second whole. Eventually, after a couple of minutes I felt I got it onto a spot that would be ideal.
With that Jim and I headed off to the stern of the ship looking for the prop and rudder, before sheltering from the current up the port side to the bow. At that point Jim was getting uncomfortably* low on air. So we began our staged stops 7 minutes earlier than planned.
It was a weird dive, particularly gloomy, as most Clyde wrecks are, but recognisable as dredger with the old hoppers still lying on the deck.
* He still had plenty, 80bar and a full pony, but we didn't want to push anyone's comfort limits.
No comments:
Post a Comment