J I M
01-04-04, 21:32
Don't know if any of you guys are interested in this but thought I'd pop down a few details about it ;) .
I work for the National Marine Aquarium which has been partly responsible for the venture. So I have been lucky enough to get a good veiw of it all :D .
I was out on Saturday on one of the Marshalling boats to keep the cordon in place when they were blowing her up. Well apart from the guy on the jet-ski who reckoned he didn't know what was going on and tried to "blast" across the middle with seconds to go :o !! Shame for him about the Police boat being a little faster than his jet-ski and the court summons it got him :lol: !!
The actual sinking was not that amazing as it was all over in a couple of minutes after waiting for an hour or so (there's plenty of jokes to be had there :lol: :lol: !!). The explosions were pretty good and she sunk as she was supposed to. She did start to roll to starboard but then came upright again just as she left surface :) .
The first divers on her were NAVY mine clearance divers to check the explosives had all gone off and also to remove the web-cams that were on her for the sinking. They then found she was full of trapped wind :wub: !! So still a little unstable around the bottom :wub: :wub: !! So diving was postponed for a further 24 hours beyond the initial 24 hour deadline.
I got to dive her on Tuesday amid heavy rolling seas and bright sunshine. There are three bouys attached to the wreck, Stern, Bow and midships. We decended onto the bow and then made our way round her all and into some of the access panels that have been cut and through the Helicopter hanger. Loads little details still remain and hopefully will? Although I think people may pull off one or two souvenirs :angry: .
Not much life on her yet but still a cracking dive :) B) .
The plan is now to monitor the colonisation of life and areas have been setup on the wreck to enable divers to return to the same spot to assess the growth. Also the bay she lays in (Whitsand) is to be setup as a voluntary no take zone backed by the local fishermen amongst others. It is hoped legislation can eventually be put in place to make it legal and not just voluntary.
I work for the National Marine Aquarium which has been partly responsible for the venture. So I have been lucky enough to get a good veiw of it all :D .
I was out on Saturday on one of the Marshalling boats to keep the cordon in place when they were blowing her up. Well apart from the guy on the jet-ski who reckoned he didn't know what was going on and tried to "blast" across the middle with seconds to go :o !! Shame for him about the Police boat being a little faster than his jet-ski and the court summons it got him :lol: !!
The actual sinking was not that amazing as it was all over in a couple of minutes after waiting for an hour or so (there's plenty of jokes to be had there :lol: :lol: !!). The explosions were pretty good and she sunk as she was supposed to. She did start to roll to starboard but then came upright again just as she left surface :) .
The first divers on her were NAVY mine clearance divers to check the explosives had all gone off and also to remove the web-cams that were on her for the sinking. They then found she was full of trapped wind :wub: !! So still a little unstable around the bottom :wub: :wub: !! So diving was postponed for a further 24 hours beyond the initial 24 hour deadline.
I got to dive her on Tuesday amid heavy rolling seas and bright sunshine. There are three bouys attached to the wreck, Stern, Bow and midships. We decended onto the bow and then made our way round her all and into some of the access panels that have been cut and through the Helicopter hanger. Loads little details still remain and hopefully will? Although I think people may pull off one or two souvenirs :angry: .
Not much life on her yet but still a cracking dive :) B) .
The plan is now to monitor the colonisation of life and areas have been setup on the wreck to enable divers to return to the same spot to assess the growth. Also the bay she lays in (Whitsand) is to be setup as a voluntary no take zone backed by the local fishermen amongst others. It is hoped legislation can eventually be put in place to make it legal and not just voluntary.