Sussex Diving Club
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Sussex Diving Club |
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Falmouth Holiday 2000 |
« | Prologue | Volnay | Vase Rock | Rock Island Bridge | Manacles | St. Anthonys | »
"The parts have arrived, they can do it on Wednesday". The call we had all been waiting for. The power tilt mechanism on the Humber/Johnson had failed several weeks earlier and our first attempts to have it fixed had been thwarted. The boat had been duly taken to Aquatech Ltd of Lancing in April for repair (and a tune-up service), but they’d been unable to work on it until the parts arrived and there’d been various delays in getting them delivered. Now it seemed with only a week and a half to go till the Falmouth holiday we would be able to get it repaired in time.
The boat was recovered on the Sunday evening and delivered to Aquatech ready for Wednesday. Then things started to go wrong. The mechanic began working on the boat but was unable to disassemble the power tilt mechanism which was seized in place and the senior mechanic (Gordon) wouldn’t be back till next Tuesday – two days before we were due to leave for Falmouth.
The only good news was that they were able to work on the engine over the weekend to balance the carburettors and look into the over-oiling problem.
Come Tuesday with both mechanics working, the power-tilt was finally taken apart, only to find that some further parts were needed. Calling-in some favours, Gordon managed to locate the parts in Havant and sent someone down to pick them up by hand. They then worked on the engine through the Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. We got the call on the Wednesday afternoon to say that the boat was fixed and we could pick it up.
The BWM/Yamaha was used for diving on the Sunday morning to dive the City of Waterford and again in the afternoon to dive the Miown. It was then recovered from the water ready for transport to Falmouth. The engine had been serviced a few weeks earlier and was running well.
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About half the party had elected to drive down on the Thursday so that they could dive on the Friday. The boats were launched from the slipway in Falmouth and driven by sea to Porthkerris – a pattern that we were to follow for the next few days. We had arranged moorings in Falmouth so that we wouldn’t need to keep taking the boats on and off the trailers.
The first dive was on the Volnay – a 4,600 ton steamship, which hit a mine off the Manacles in 1917. She was brought into the shallows but foundered at anchor of Porthkerris point. She now sits in 21m and is well broken-up and scattered over a wide area. Still makes for an interesting dive, lots of lead shot from the anti-personnel mines scattered over the seabed and the occasional brass shell-case can be found if you're prepared to dig for them.
Then we hit our major problem. On the way back from Porthkerris to Falmouth the BWM/Yamaha developed an engine fault and would only fire on two cylinders. It ended up having to be towed back into Falmouth.
With the rest of the party now arrived we had about twenty people wanting to dive and having only one boat serviceable created a bit of a problem. Rob and Dave took the morning of to look at problem with the engine but were unable to fix it without parts – which we couldn't get hold of. The rest of us made our way to Porthkerris.
First dive of the day was a chance for the new arrivals to explore the Volnay.
Then in the afternoon we dived on one of the outer reefs of the Manacles. Vase rock rises from a general depth of 40 meters to within a few metres of the surface. There are step drop-offs all round with masses of plumrose and jewel anemones covering all the rock surfaces.
The plan was to dive one of the wrecks in Falmouth Bay called the N.G. Peterson. However strong winds from the Southwest made it difficult to get more than half a mile offshore, so we stayed diving the inshore sites. For most people this meant the chance for everyone to do a second dive on the Volnay.
Last dive of the day was on the Rock Island Bridge, an American steamship which was involved in a collision off the Lizard in 1920. She was towed in to Porthallow Cove and then beached in the shallows of Helford River. She fell over onto her starboard side, attempts to right her failed and she was finally broken up by explosives. All that remains now are broken up bits of wreckage, but nevertheless a safe and interesting site for all grades of diver. There are even a few scallops to be found amidst the wreckage.
Jack drove the boats back to Falmouth and as he got out the boat, found out whether his mobile phone would float! It didn't, so now lies somewhere in the depths of Falmouth harbour.
A good weather forecast and good tides made it a great opportunity to dive the Manacles. First dive of the day was on the Mohegan, a 7000 ton passenger liner that hit the Vase rock in 1898, which tore off her rudder. She then steamed on and hit the Outer Voices, which is where she lies today. Now lying in 20-25 metres, there's a mass of plates and broken spars all over the seabed and two massive boilers now form the highest point.
Second dive of the day was on a small reef near the Morah Rock. Also the place that the Lady Dalhousie an 1800 ton steamship, hit in 1884 – but there were no traces found by any of the divers.
Last dive of the day was on probably the best site of the holiday. Raglans reef is on the outer manacles and like the Vase rock rises from a general depth of 40 metres to within a few metres of the surface. But unlike the Vase this consists of many peaks and valleys in the rock, each one covered in a myriad of colours. With Ballan Wrasse, Cuckoo Wrasse and various smaller fish swimming round, the rocks covered in anemones, it was like swimming through an underwater garden.
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Then in the evening we all had a barbecue outside one of the caravans. Anton's caravan was chosen as being the flattest and by luck also had an outside light. A groundsheet, some tables & chairs, a portable gas barbecue and we were in business. Everyone brought their own food and drink and a good time was had by all.
Jack and Colin returned safely having spent the day diving Falmouth harbour looking for lost phones.
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Last day of the holiday and the weather turned against us, blowing up from the East. Some shelter was found in the lee of St Anthony’s Head, which is where we did our final dive. A sandy bottom in 12-14 metres.
The boats were taken out the water on the Wednesday morning and made ready for the trip back to Brighton.
All in all, we had a great weekend's diving despite the poor weather and problem with the boat. Thanks go to everyone that helped make the trip a success, those that towed the boats, those that picked them up from Falmouth, the boat handlers, dive marshalls and special thanks to Anton for organising the trip.
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