A Bugs Life!! More Fun Underwater.

                                                                                  

    

LOBSTER SERVED UP    WITH SCALLOPS   =  MY DINNER!!          

Monday was as perfect a day on the ocean as you are likely to ever see. Dead calm seas, sunny skies, air in the 70’s, a dive on the west coast on the agenda. What could be better?
  Heading out of Grand Harve for the first time this year, and making our way through the mine field of outer reefs that make up the west coast we set a course to our favorite spot to look for a brill or two. The tide was still very low with rocks sticking out everywhere.  Every time I head out on this side of the Island it always looks different. Having such a large tidal range of 10 metres makes a big difference between high and low tide.  As it was a really low tide the reefs seem to be everywhere just waiting for some poor boat to run a ground on them. After a 10-minute boat ride, we arrived at the spot and started getting kitted up, we were ready for some flattie action, with good reports of plenty of flats being caught on the Shoal Bank my hopes were high. Rolling over the side I was disappointed by the viz.  The last time I dived the viz had started to look more like pea soup, but now it has turned to mud with lights out at 25 metres due to the spring tides and plankton bloom.  As we descended into the briny depths in search of our prey we soon touched down onto a sandy/gravel bottom and started the hunt by brail over the sand waves as the viz was down to a metre or so.  Drifting down the bank in the tide looking for the tell tale sign's of that little bump in the sand and two green eyes sticking out looking at you never came.  Peering into the soup ahead of me I made out a small reef sticking out of the sand, drifting over it, there to greet me was a blue bug, poking its head out of a hole in the reef. Unfortunately, there was no way to get my hands behind him, so I perched myself on top of the reef and tried to stay as quiet as possible.Then I tried an old Guernsey myth.  I was once told that if you hum under water the lobster becomes inquisitive and comes out his hiding place to take a peek. It knew I was there, but was foolhardy enough to stick out its claws to take a look, so made a grab for them. Unfortunately, a clumsy grab,  the nipper claw came clamping down on my right thumb. Yeeeooow! Playtime is over! I pulled my finger away and held on, thinking they don't have much stamina. That delusion shortly got put to rest when it twisted the nipper away and gave me another nice squeeze. Argh, bug 2, Philski 0.  (Note to myself again)  Wear Kevlar gloves. So now I've spent 3 minutes at 20 metres' getting my ass kicked by a crustacean.  I had the last laugh when I finally pulled him out his hole and spent the next 5 minutes rolling around in zero viz trying to get him in my bag.  So the Guernsey myth was put to the test and worked.

Dive team:
Phil
Paul
Boat man  Len

Bottom Time 25 minutes
Depth 22 metres
Visibility 1/2 metres
Bottom Gas 32% nitrox

   Be Careful I know KUNG FU!!! Lobster for tea........

PS Brighton



The Brighton in happier times alongside the Albert Pier Jersey



The  picture is a painting of the P.S. Brighton by A. Meaden 

The Brighton was a paddle steam ship and belonged to the port of Weymouth, of 316 tons and 136 tons net register, and was fitted with engines of 140 Horse power. She was built by the Palmer brothers in Jarrow in Durham in1857 and had been for a short time running between Jersey and Shoreham.  She was 268 tons gross at launch and then modified to 316 tons by 1887, and was 193 feet long with two funnels. At the time of her loss she was the property of Weymouth and Channel Island Steam Packet Company.  She left Weymouth at 0.10 am on the 29 th of January with 24 hands and 23 passengers with 30 to 40 tons of general cargo bound for Guernsey and Jersey.  On leaving port there was thick fog, but as they passed Portland Bill the fog cleared, and the captain for a time ran the ship at full speed as there was a calm sea with no wind.  After a few miles at around 1 am, the point at which the two lights of Portland Bill became one, she set a course South by West and the patent log was set.  Shortly afterwards the fog thickened again and she reduced to half speed of 8 knots (the Brighton's top speed was 11 knots). At sometime the captain ordered the second officer to check the log and found it registered 37 miles, then at 6.30 am the log showed that the ship had run 48 miles. On reporting this to the master they came to the conclusion that they were a mile to the Southwest and  putting them level with the casquets reef  Alderney.  Because the Brighton was somewhat antiquated (she was now some thirty years old), there was no device to count her engine revolutions, and Painter the captain had only the log pulled behind the vessel to tell him the distance travelled.  He also had the sounding lead, but as was later maintained at the enquiry he made little and insufficient use of it.  Within 12-15 minutes of the log being checked and with the visibility down to 150 feet, lookouts shouted that they could see rocks on the port side, and then all around the ship. Painter gave orders to the master to stop and give full reverse, but before the way could be got off, the Brighton struck rocks.  Painter reversed the ship off, but she was already holed and the vessel was filling fast with water.  The master then ordered the boats to be put out and all hands to abandon ship.  After about 20 minutes of her striking her bow went under and her stern rose.  Passengers reported a big explosion from under the water as a boiler blew up, her stern stuck up out the water for a while at 45 degrees and then disappeared. She sank in over 48 metres of water after striking the Brayes reef, North of Guernsey.

Dive team:
Phil
Nick
JT
Paul.. Boat man

Bottom Time 20 minutes
Depth 48 metres
Visibility 5/6 metres
Bottom Gas 20/30 Tri Mix
Deco  50%

After yesterdays dive on the M483, I had the bug again for wreck diving and couldn't pass up on the opportunity to head out of St Peter Port and blow some bubbles.   I will never tire of diving these living time capsules, when I had the opportunity to visit the Brighton  I felt the spirit of adventure stirring.

Today the wreck lies on the North coast of my home Island Guernsey. Our line took us straight onto the starboard paddle wheel.  I could just make out and see the steel remains of the port paddle-wheel illuminated from behind by other diver's torches.  The two wheels were almost as wide as the ship, and while the port one still looked impressive, the less well-preserved starboard wheel required a bit more imagination to visualise.  Further forward was the base of the stack. A few circular openings here revealed a monster of a conger hiding from our bright lights. The little wooden bridge had disappeared and I saw only the metal boiler and engine workings connecting the two paddle wheels together. The hull protruded a metre or so out of the white sand on the starboard side due to the sand built up, and on the port side a good 3 metres due to the scouring affect of the wreck. Like most of our wrecks they are shrouded in shoals of pout and home to our best known beastie, the conger eel. The Brighton was no exception with a monstrous shoal of pout, I sat there watching them for a minute or two. Looking back down onto the wreck I spotted the tale of a nice bug sticking out under a piece of wreckage and wedged deep inside a piece of tubing. Catching it involved completely silting out the surrounding area and coating myself in rust. "BUG VS DIVER" (Note to myself), Must be quicker on the draw. Lost the battle with the beast and went home hungry. With bottom time running out and with a 48 metre profile a fair amount of decompression will have been accumulated and I didn't want to hang around doing deco for long in 9 degree water, so it was time to return to the shot line and make my ascent to my deeper stops and do some hang time.  Not much more to tell, just a nice, moderately calm day on the ocean.  Getting back at 5pm was a treat, so off home for a nice Sunday tea of a good old Guernsey recipe of Bean jar and french bread that Jen had made.                                                             

                                          

                                   A Cheeky stowaway found on board  Poses for a photo. 

                                                        We nicknamed him Steven 

                                                             What you lookin at






    

Steven (Seagal)



Just had to take this photo... As we were loading up to head out this fishing boat came in from Sark with a load of sheep and lambs aboard

  


Mint Sauce

 

M-Class Minesweeper M483

The M 483 Minesweeper (Minensuchboot) was built in the 1940s by N.V. Boele's Scheepswerfen & Maschinefabriek shipyard located in Bolnes, The Netherlands as a minesweeper or escort vessel for the Kriegsmarine.

Construction was transverse frame of steel construction, which was partly welded, this vessel also had eleven watertight compartments and a double bottom with hard chine foreship and tug stern. The superstructure, Bridge etc was armored up to 10 mm in thickness. The propulsion system installed in these vessels was the two vertical three cylinder triple expansion engines. And when used as minesweepers the Kabel Fern Raum Gerat (KFRG) system was employed, which used generators producing 60 V, 20 kW to power the magnetic sweeping gear.

This vessel went on to serve in the 24. Minensuchflottille during World War II.

1 December 1942
The Minesweeper M 483 is commissioned.

1942
The Minesweeper M 483 becomes operational with the 24. Minensuchflottille.

15 June 1943

The Minesweeper M 483 is sunk after being attacked by Allied aircraft at 0614 hrs, near the Channel islands.

On June 15th 1943 263 squadron with the support of 8 spitfires from 616 squadron and 8 spitfires from 504 squadron undertook an early morning roadstead which took them to a few miles NE of Sark. In the ensuing encounter RNZAF pilot R.J. Simm of 616  Squadron was shot down in Spitfire VI BR319 YQ-C, RAAF pilot M.T. Cotton of 263 Squadron in P7000 dropped his 2 x 250 lb bombs and sank the German Minesweeper M483 before being himself shot down.

Draft Surfat report: Lee-White (Red1), Wood (Red 2), Cotton (Blue 1), Ridley (Blue 2), 10/10 cloud at 1500, TOA 0620, 49 28 N, 02 17 W, 4 warships steaming NE at about 8 knots followed by an armed trawler. Ships 1 and 2 were abeam of each other about 60 yds apart, ships 3 and 4 in same formation about 150 yds astern. Ship 5 was perhaps 700 yds astern of the others. Ships 1 and 2 were identified as M class minesweepers, Ships 2 and 4 were two funnel warships very like the escort vessel (Geleiteboote).  All port beam attacks, 8 x 250, GP,11 secs, results not seen because of 11 secs delay. Excellent attacks on ships 1,2,3,4 by 8 Spits of 616 Sqn antiflak. Claims : Ships 1 and 3 claimed Cat 3, our losses: 1 WB Cat E, Max Cotton missing, believed killed.// An armed, escorted shipping recco had been ordered to take off at first light on 15 June 1943 to recce the CI shipping lanes. The 4 WB 263 led by Lee-White t/o Warmwell 0543 and joined up with 8 Spitfires antiflak of 616 and 8 Spits escort cover of 504, over Warmwell below 200 ft. They flew just above sea level with 616 and S/L Lucas leading, then the Whirlibombers in line abreast with 2 sections of 504 in line astern on each side of them. Flying west of Casquets and turning left to the east when 2-3 miles NE of Sark, they saw a convoy of 4 small warships followed by a smaller ship steaming NE about 4 miles NE of Sark. After a series of attacks by 616 Sqn during which the WB saw very good concentrations of cannon-fire entering the warships. The WB bombed ships 1 and 3, 2 M-class minesweepers, in a straight approach at sea level from the port beam. Red 1 and 2 do not see how their bombs could have missed ship 3, but their explosions were not seen owing to the 11 seconds delay-fusing. Blue 1 (Cottons) bomb splashes were seen by Blue 2 (Ridley) amidships on the waterline of ship 1. Blue 2 made a similar attack on ship 1. Flak from the warships was very intense, and accurate. A Spitfire of 616 was set on fire by it and the cockpit of PO Cottons a/c exploded in flames just over the top of ship 1, probably hit by a 40 mm shell from ship 2 which was (as was ship 4) a 2-funneled ship like a small destroyer, probably a Geleitboot. Cottons aircraft disintegrated as it hit the sea. It is not thought possible that he could have survived. Blue 2 a/c received a glancing hit on the fin (Cat B). WBs then reformed with their escort and RTB, where they landed 0650. The WB following the memorandum of S/L Warnes did not use cannon, but Blue 1 used CCG.

Shot going in

Wreck showing on sounder

Dive team....
Phil.
Mike.
Nick.
Dave... Boat man

Bottom Time 20 minutes.
Depth 52 Metres
Visibility 5/6 Metres
Bottom Gas 20/30 Tri mix
Deco 50% Nitrox 


Well, it was another beautiful day to be out. I was worried that the visibility would not be so wonderful due to the recent double Noreasters, but I didn't care, I needed to get out and dive. As we broke out of St Peter Port we headed East to the back of Sark. We were off for our 1 hour ride to the M483. Once we arrived on the wreck the wind and the seas started to pick up but not enough to deter us. My dive buddies for today were Nick and Mike.  As per usual I was geared up and tapping my toe waiting for word that the pool was open.                                                                                                                                                                          Once we were anchored on the wreck, I splashed to find the surface visibility to be only about 3/4 metres which was less than I expected, but once we got to about 40 metres down I could see the wreck come into view. The visibility cleared up to 5/6 metres and it was a little dark due to the start of a plankton bloom starting early with the unseasonal warm weather. The water temp on the bottom was a nice warm 9 degrees and the maximum depth I hit was 49 metres, with the sea bed at 53/54 metres. Mike on Gulf Stream anchored us right on the wheel house or whats left of it after a  2x250 Lbs bomb had hit just forward of where I was, which couldn't be more perfect as you could see right down into the hull of the ship. I quickly got busy foraging around in the carnage of twisted metal and armoured plating. Making my way forward and swimming over the bow a small-calibre anti-aircraft gun still points skywards searching for its target after 60 years of being on the seabed.  Taking a closer look at the breach you can still see the magazine of bullets still loaded.  Moving back towards the shotline we found lots of steel wire cabling, fuse boxes and other artifacts. This must be some sort of generator or electical room which is now largely filled with fallen debris.
 I agree with the repotrs that this is the area of the 483 that had a heavy hit from those 250Lbs bombs, it does appear she was hit hard with a grippling blow.  Nick and I worked our way back to the bow and the ascent line. After almost an hour of dive time we boarded the boat.   The wind was still blowing a  good 4 from the North and we had a sloppy boat ride back to the harbour.

Double Session... Wind? Really?

It's been flat. Dead flat. No wind what so ever in the last month. I'd like to be optimistic about the up and coming forecast, but there's nothing in it to give me the buzz I'm looking for. Spider's have built spider webs all over my kit and a mouse has made a nest in my board bag due to it being so dead. It's been toooooo long waaaaaay to long. Honestly, I think I can go without sex longer than I can go without wavesailing. Only kidding..... get your minds out the gutter. But over the last few days a stirring in the trees as the wind returns to the west coast. Everybody is pretty stoked to get back out on the boards and get their mojo pumping. I've been spending the last few days surfing and recovering from a stinking sore throat that just refuses to go. So it was kill or cure as it was time to dust off the cobwebs and hit the beach.

Day 1..... Not a lot to report. It seems as if the wicked witch of the west is here. As I headed out to work this morning I took a drive by past the beach to check out the conditions at 6.45am (yes that's 6.45am) and some of the boys were already in and sailing.(Now that's what you call keen). By the time I finished work the wind had dropped a few knots and was up and down like a yo yo. The mind is funny I did see a few nice peelers out there, and I've been in worse, but the breeze really wasn't doing it for me. Encouraged by the waves, I headed out with Simon, who was on his second session of the day and dropped in on a few nice lumps that were coming in on the reef. Called it a night as the wind dropped further and ended up heading home to do some couch surfing and started writing this post.

Day 2..... Part one. Now that's more like it. ................. Mojo back.

Lets rock. Pick up truck all loaded and ready to rock and roll from last nights antics . Cross off with a nice little swell pushing in. By the time I hit the beach a few of the Vazon crew had already hit the water and ripping down the line, which took the guess work out of which sail to rig. Tide was still pretty low and on the push, looking pretty windy and full power on the face with the usual drift out. A rigging frenzy followed, kit flying in all directions and managed to rig in 10 seconds flat. A frenzy of fun was on its way as I was about to hit the water, but not so, for poor old Matt (El Presidente) who was walking up the beach in pieces, splinters of carbon and a totally trashed sail trailing behind him. A nasty encounter with the shore break saw the end of that rig. Hitting the water it soon became clear that it was way off shore and making the waves hard to catch. It was great dropping in on the set waves with the spray firing of the tops causing a great rainbows in the blue skies. Plenty of action going on with some nice lay down bottom turns to full on forwards off the lip. Had a good hour or two of down the line then called it a day as the tide became to high.

Long board session.....part two. Time to swap the wave board for my long board and hit the water again for part two of Fridays fun. I've been dry for too long. The tide had pushed in, the swell had picked up and the wind had eased making T'others the spot of choice. Headed out to the line up on my 9'2" for a really fun afternoon of logging and trying to hang five. Felt great to get out on the long board again. OH.... YEAH, two surf/sail days in a row, soon forgot about the crazy day at work...