Once again I venture boldly into the unknown, well Portland harbour anyway. The plan, to dive the Countess and Aeolian Sky out of Portland harbour with Scimitar Diving charters.
On turning into the car park it was immediately apparent we had unknowingly arrived at what is a perfect set up for future “Rib Aways”. Within 20 meters of car park, we had a launch site which is apparently free, yes I said free, a cafe which supplies a decent bacon sarnie, a dive shop for all those items you don’t really need but hey, you’re on holiday and finally a filling station.
Having sorted out the dive schedule with Sarah from Scimitar we had an hour or so to chill out and slowly kit up. Again I don’t mean to boast but my kit is already superglued on so I’m permanently, “ready for action”, so to speak.
Just as I thought Piers would cease to amaze me, he managed it yet again. To get on the Aeolean Sky charter Ricky ,Paul, Chris and myself had to book 3 months ago. The last three and a half spaces which, we were told, we were lucky to get. Since then the charter has been fully booked. Piers brought his kit on the off change of doing a shore dive, when we were out. However, surprisingly someone dropped out. So not only does Pier get in on the dive but he also managed to get it for half price! ! Only Piers.
Anyway back to the diving. The conditions could not have been better, all the way along the pebble ridge the sea looked like glass with ethereal wisps of sea mist dotted about in the distance. The first dive was the Countess, which I believe was an old barge, which had, come away from its mooring and grounded right in front of the harbour wall. The trip from the launch to dive site was under 5 minutes, which must be bonus for the Charter Company. With reference to future “rib away trips” , it also provides and excellent bail out dive site when other sites are not possible and a great dive for the novice. The barge lies in about 12 meters and has permanent buoys on the bow and stern. Dropping down on the wreck it became apparent that we were not going to have a good viz day. I think this wreck is rarely silt free, but with a massive plankton bloom as well, the light filtration was minimal. Having said all that the barge provided some excellent swim throughs, made more exciting with the low viz conditions. My buddy according to Rick was particularly proficient at reducing the viz to zero as he waded through the hull with all the delicacy of a scallop dredger. I did notice during the surface interval a subtle hint from Ricky that perhaps Mr Phillips should attempt a slimmer profile when penetrating silt laden wreckage ….oopsy.
I must admit I really enjoyed this dive despite the viz. Having careered through the hull to the stern ,on the way back we decided to concentrate on the macro life living on the deck. I found a beautiful little indigo nudibranch on a coil of chain, however by the time my buddy had the camera ready we were back in silt city again, oh well.
After an hour surface interval we were back on the Cutlass heading the 10 miles out to the Aeolian Sky. As you can see from the photos I decided to take charge of skippering the boat, which I did admirably well or was it simply on auto steer mode. What a great device, maybe we should get one for Neptune to save all those roundabouts we seem to hit on the way to Lundy. Having dropped the shot Piers , Paul and myself were first to jump in. My earlier reservations about the viz were unfortunately correct as it steadily got darker and darker until we literally bumped into the superstructure of the Sky.
The Aeolian Sky was a 10,165 tonne Greek cargo ship, which went down in November 1979. Amongst her cargo was more than a million pounds in Seychelles rupee bank notes supposedly stored in the sick bay, most of which are still missing. The plan was to dive the super structure accommodation block with particular focus on the treasure laden sick bay. On the surface looking at the “Diver”, wreck tour picture with the handy numbered itinerary this seemed quite a simple task. However in the pitch-black soup we found it almost impossible to get our bearings. Due to the scale of the wreck and the unfavourable conditions, positively identifying any of the features in our dive plan was difficult.
Is it possible for a 9-inch solid plastic doll to suffer from narcosis? I’m not sure, but as we made it to the sea bed at about 30 m I remember thinking wow a cannon! ..what a beauty. Now I’m no maritime archaeological expert but I’m pretty sure they no longer fit heralded bronze cannon to modern cargo ships. Hmm OK probably a bit of the funnel structure.
Luckily we had come prepared for dark conditions and were “well tooled up”, with torches. Piers had his Kowalski, which generates a massive beam where as my buddy prefers to go for the multi-torch option. Although the Kowalski beam is comforting in such a dark environment I’m not so keen on having my retina burnt out, followed the resulting orange glow of night blindness every time the owner decides to illuminate the inside of my mask. Maybe I’m just falling down the slippery slope of “grumpy old diver”, ho hum. After 30 minutes of bumbling aimlessly around this enormous structure we decided to make our ascent , rupeeless, back up to the stunning conditions on the surface.
Back on board, we were treated to a hot drink and a surprising collection of retro confectionery. Orange Club, Breakaways and Blueriband biscuits, all we needed were some Wagon Wheels, Marathons and Mint Viscounts to complete the set.
One of the more rugged looking members of our charter, who’s body was adorned with Yakusa style tattoos and those funny large earrings which make the earlobe expand came back on board rather white faced confessing that he was “shitting himself down there.” When the crew asked why , he said, “ cos it was so black.”…… Diving is such a great leveller.
Did I enjoy the Sky dive? I have to say even though it badly lit, with little viz, I think I did. The sheer size of the wreck has left me with a need to go back and dive it again, possible three or fours times to do the whole site. It would certainly be a good dive for those yellow suitcase types who could really spend a long time investigating the now crumpled hull sections.
A big hand must go to Scimitar diving who provided excellent service combined with a relaxed approached to what can often be a stressful environment. The Skipper thought I was particularly amusing as I was banded around the boat like a cheap e-bay doll. We have also found a potential new rib away site and considering the plethora of wreckage out of Portland a whole new area of exploration.
The apres dive sessions left me stuffed rather unceremoniously in my buddies regulator bag overnight,. However in the morning there was much talk of Tequila and embarrassing “dad dancing” combined with what looked like a couple of category A* hangovers so I was quite glad I stayed in. Thanks to Ricky who did all the driving, and Chris, Piers and Paul for what was a great diving weekend. Bring on the next trip.
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