M483 Sark

Hey guys and gals what a awesome week of diving.


Laurent Jehanne from St Malo anchored in

It took a while for the summer winds to settle down this season.  It has been exciting even though the weather has not been ideal.  Record numbers of Turbot and Brill have stuffed every cavity and nook of the inshore sand banks and offshore reefs.  Check out the cornucopia of captures and discoveries from this summers dives in previous posts.
It's time to change the scenery and head out for a wreck dive.
 Diving a shipwreck is one of the most exhilarating and challenging activities you can try. Thousands of military vessels, and cargo ships lie waiting to be explored on ocean floors across the planet. The M483 minesweeper off Sark today was awesome. 
                                       

    Day trip aboard the Margeret K charter boat to dive the M483. Then on to Dielette for moules et frites and a couple of Pelforth beers.

 

 After getting blown out more times than I would like to count in recent years I got a very nice dive today.

We pulled up at the harbour at 8 a.m. The weatherman had called for warm temperatures and they couldn’t have been more correct in their assessment. It was 20 degrees outside at midday and the water was like glass. Every few minutes you’d see a small swell slide under the boat; but other than that, it was smooth as glass. Our plan is to do one dive, having a bottom time of 25 minutes at 52 metres with an average depth of about 48 metres or so, and then to finish up the dive in about 55 to 60 minutes after completing decompression.  On arrival we were beaten to the wreck site by an old friend Laurent Jehanne from St Malo who I haven't dived with for years, we had a quick catch up before it was time to kit up. It sure was nice to make my way to the line without having to fight the usual current found on this wreck. As we descended into the depths, it was apparent that this was going to be a dive to remember. At 30 metres, I could see the wreck clearly. She sits in 52 metres of water and rises to about 43, but here, I was looking at the entire wreck! Coming down the line I was greeted by the business end of the large deck gun which we were tied next to. I make it to the bottom and the rest of the group is right behind after Nick and Nathan tied in the shot. After taking an extra minute to adjust my gear, I catch up with some of the group and head inside the larger bomb blast opening that sank this ship, (see previous post M-Class Minesweeper M483)  to explore the interior where I have been several times, before spending 10 minutes of my bottom time exploring the ship's innards. On the seabed, Matt sat on the bottom on his knees and snapping video after video. I couldn’t wait to see those shots! I knew that they would be good with the 15 metre + of visibility today.



Happy divers after an adventurous day on the ocean.
 Great vis little current.
Awesome day!

We were planning on only doing one long dive and as this was my first time diving the stern section in a while, I wanted to take a little time to explore around the 105mm main gun before moving on toward the bow.  Looking down into the wreck there are ammo boxes still full of live shells that are best left undisturbed. I took several minutes to soak in the view then proceeding to the bow which was going to be a decent swim away. Navigation was simple as I followed the port side railing passing a depth-charge mortar and a small rectangular section of superstructure which still covers the ladder down to the boilers. Finally arriving at the bow I squeezed in through a door to do some penetration. It was quite eerie inside as I worked my way in and came across the ships head still with the bath and urinal in place. This was turning into a great dive, but my time to turn back came far too quickly. Exiting the wreck and working back to the shot, I met up with JP as he was making his way home to the surface. I spent a few last minutes digging around in what was once the bridge area and came across a sailors rubber boot and an old life jacket before I finally headed up. After our ascent, our day ended up with moules and frites in Dielette     

Dielette 
 

 

Perhaps next time he will pack some Red Bull