The opportunity to dive the wreck of the Russian cruise liner “Mikhail Lermontov” came up, so I jumped at the chance of some more hours exploring her dark and silt covered decks. Setting off from my home on the Thursday, I caught the ‘Interislander’ vehicle ferry “Arahura” in Wellington to set sail on the three hour crossing to Picton in the Marlborough Sounds, South Island.
My station wagon car was loaded to the gunnels with dive gear. I had my AP Inspiration rebreather, Silent Submersion underwater scooter, various cylinders, and a set of open circuit dive gear, just to name a few of the things taken. After spending a few hours in Picton sightseeing, I met up with our 60ft charter boat “Affinity” which was berthed next to the ferry terminal and proceeded to load my gear aboard. When all the divers and crew were aboard, we set off down the picturesque Queen Charlotte Sound to moor for the night at Ship Cove (so named because Captain James Cook used the site as an anchorage during various expeditions whilst exploring and mapping the New Zealand coast line). That night I took the time to sit outside and reflect on the good times I‘d had with my dearly missed dive buddy Nigel Lees as Affinity swung gently on her anchor in the slight breeze. The water was still and stars twinkled brightly in their reflections off the water’s surface.
At sparrows fart (or first light to the uninitiated), our skipper Brian pulled the anchor and we headed to Cape Jackson where almost 20 years earlier the Mikhail Lermontov collided with a reef that resulted in her sinking. On the mid tide, Brian took Affinity over the actual bit of reef that the Lermontov hit showing up at 6m to the top using the depth sounder. About an hour later we were in Port Gore, the final resting place of the “Rusty Ruskie”. The wind had got up and was howling off the steep flanking slopes of the natural harbour, but we managed to secure the mooring over the wreck.
Divers spent the next three days acquainting themselves with the 578ft long ship, exploring areas such as the swimming pool, gymnasium, and medical quarterdecks, the bow with it’s cargo hatch, the bridge, and even the chain locker. The Rusty Ruskie lies on her starboard side in 37m of water and this can prove a real challenge to get your head around when moving through the internal decks of the ship.
I dived with Pete Mesley and we had both dived the Rusty Ruskie together before, so we visited a few areas within the ship that we were very familiar with and found a few new spots too. The first thing we noticed was that the marine life had significantly increased around the ship. I even heard red spiny lobsters cracking away from within the interior.
In no time at all, everyone had logged up a many hours on the Lermontov and it was time to head back to Picton to catch the ferry back to Wellington. This had been a great trip for all.
Friday, February 2, 2018
Monday, January 1, 2018
Advanced wreck course
My weekend consisted of swimming around a rusting ship sitting in 32m of water off the Tutukaka coast. I was diving the HMNZS Waikato as part of an advanced wreck diving course run by Pete Mesley (instructor and all-round good guy ). The rebreathers were fitted with side-mounted tanks and long hosed regulators for open circuit bailout. In addition to this redundant air system, we carried extra lights, reels and cutting tools.
The first dive was spent adjusting to the new configuration of gear. I usually carry my redundant bailout slung from my harness, so having it on the rebreather case was interesting due to the extra width on my back. This became all the more apparent when squeezing through narrow spaces only to be abruptly halted as the unit hung-up on things. Gentle backing up freed me and allowed second attempts on passing the obstruction. The laying and tying off of line was also a skill we practiced throughout the dive in addition to anti-silting finning techniques. Christian Blaschke, my course dive buddy, had to put up with the occasional fin in the face as I laid line around the helicopter hanger of the ship. Oops!
The surface interval passed quickly and we got straight into skills on the second dive. Pete got Christian and myself to lay line and then swim back in silt-out conditions (lights switched off and eyes closed to simulate the silt-out). This was real test of communication, but being on rebreathers, Christian and myself could actually talk to each other throughout the task whilst supplementing the communication with line tug combinations and body squeezes. Surge through the hanger made it particularly exciting when passing corridor hatchways, usually with the result of being sucked out of the hanger bay and spat back into your buddy seconds later!
The next day started with a bumpy boat ride out to the wreck site. Christian decided to "can" the diving for the day (he was looking very ill) and chose not to do the dive. Pete became my dive buddy and we made our way down to the wreck. After spending a period of time laying line and doing silt-outs procedures, we set off to explore more of the wreck. Pete asked me to lead, and while I was tying off the line in an access to the engine room the surge really got up so Pete called the penetration. Just as I untied the second to last tie-off, a huge surge rushed through the access and spat me out of the guts of the ship (most kewl!!!). Pete joined me as I reeled in the last of the line, then we ventured off and did a turn about at open circuit bailout on the long hoses.
The small boat that took us out to the dive site was jumping about in an increasing swell, so we quickly cut a course back to Tutukaka harbour. I found a few guys sitting up front and they all appeared to be suffering the early effects of sea sickness. In no time at all I was telling them my favourite story about someone being sick after eating spaghetti and how a long string of it came out of their nose. Sure enough, the guys on the boat turned a strange shade of green and looked very uneasy… my work was done.
The last dive of the course was planned and a penetration from the stern of the ship to the engine room was conducted. Line was laid, tie-offs selected and fastened, unique features memorised, and Pete finally turned the dive with a simulated silt-out. Lights switched off and eyes closed, Pete communicated with me constantly alerting me to his whereabouts and well-being as I reeled back through the ships interior. Yay! Upon completing the task, we went for a tour of the ships bow and guns that now lie torn and separated from the ships main superstructure.
This was amongst one of the best diving courses I’ve done to-date.
The first dive was spent adjusting to the new configuration of gear. I usually carry my redundant bailout slung from my harness, so having it on the rebreather case was interesting due to the extra width on my back. This became all the more apparent when squeezing through narrow spaces only to be abruptly halted as the unit hung-up on things. Gentle backing up freed me and allowed second attempts on passing the obstruction. The laying and tying off of line was also a skill we practiced throughout the dive in addition to anti-silting finning techniques. Christian Blaschke, my course dive buddy, had to put up with the occasional fin in the face as I laid line around the helicopter hanger of the ship. Oops!
The surface interval passed quickly and we got straight into skills on the second dive. Pete got Christian and myself to lay line and then swim back in silt-out conditions (lights switched off and eyes closed to simulate the silt-out). This was real test of communication, but being on rebreathers, Christian and myself could actually talk to each other throughout the task whilst supplementing the communication with line tug combinations and body squeezes. Surge through the hanger made it particularly exciting when passing corridor hatchways, usually with the result of being sucked out of the hanger bay and spat back into your buddy seconds later!
The next day started with a bumpy boat ride out to the wreck site. Christian decided to "can" the diving for the day (he was looking very ill) and chose not to do the dive. Pete became my dive buddy and we made our way down to the wreck. After spending a period of time laying line and doing silt-outs procedures, we set off to explore more of the wreck. Pete asked me to lead, and while I was tying off the line in an access to the engine room the surge really got up so Pete called the penetration. Just as I untied the second to last tie-off, a huge surge rushed through the access and spat me out of the guts of the ship (most kewl!!!). Pete joined me as I reeled in the last of the line, then we ventured off and did a turn about at open circuit bailout on the long hoses.
The small boat that took us out to the dive site was jumping about in an increasing swell, so we quickly cut a course back to Tutukaka harbour. I found a few guys sitting up front and they all appeared to be suffering the early effects of sea sickness. In no time at all I was telling them my favourite story about someone being sick after eating spaghetti and how a long string of it came out of their nose. Sure enough, the guys on the boat turned a strange shade of green and looked very uneasy… my work was done.
The last dive of the course was planned and a penetration from the stern of the ship to the engine room was conducted. Line was laid, tie-offs selected and fastened, unique features memorised, and Pete finally turned the dive with a simulated silt-out. Lights switched off and eyes closed, Pete communicated with me constantly alerting me to his whereabouts and well-being as I reeled back through the ships interior. Yay! Upon completing the task, we went for a tour of the ships bow and guns that now lie torn and separated from the ships main superstructure.
This was amongst one of the best diving courses I’ve done to-date.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)