Hairy Clam Divers - Diving the Clyde - Wallachia & Cuirassier
Sunday 20th August 2006
Hairy Clam Divers - MV Hairy Clam
Troon Marina
The day started early with me meeting my buddy at 7am at the local services to move our gear into one motor.
Off we headed with Stewart driving and me talking gibberish.
The Clam is a privately owned 30 ft boat and not for hire, I had managed to get myself a dive on the condition I was ships cook for the day (oh and Stewarts usual buddy can’t dive for another few weeks).
The Clam is an ex Thames Police launch with the cabin extended by the present co-owners, she is very well equipped with modern GPS navigation equipment with lots of Clyde wreck data as way points & the Clyde wreck diving bible. She has a modern depth sounder, VHF marine radio, Radar thingy maboab and a large supply of medical quality O2 onboard.
Oh and a gas cooker with two ring hob, lots of tea and coffee and an open air toilet with built in botty wash (the Clyde!).
The plan was for the other divers to do the Wallachia which was a good 3 hours trip on the Clam from Troon Marina and for me to do the second dive only, so boat loaded up and ropes off around 8.30am.
We set off on a pleasant journey up the Firth of Clyde and at one point we had a small group porpoises or dolphins swimming in front of the boat.
The sea was calm and flat and the sun was shining, I was told I may even get a dive on the Wallachia as the conditions where looking very good, having never dived the Clyde before I was a tad nervous about this. I’ve got very limited open sea diving experience in British waters having only been out for four dives in the Sound of Mull. (The rest of my experience is a mixture of Sea Lochs, shallow coastal dives or holiday diving)
The Clam arrives at the dive site and waits on a Ferry crossing then drops in a shot line to the Stern with a 50% O2 3 Litre pony at 5 Metres attached as a hang tank.
We unleash the mighty A Flag and finish kitting up, the first pair drop in to the shot line (Jim & Suddy), Stewart & I kit up and we backwards roll of the Clam…
‘WALLACHIA‘ 1077nt. Iron Steamship Launched March 1883. Sank: Sep.1895 Lies at position 55 51 41N / 04 57 07W in general depths of 34m. Bow points north, average depth over the deck is 30m.
Wreck sits upright on a muddy seabed. Cargo included Whisky, gin, beer, acids, glassware and earthenware plus building materials and footwear. The raised fo’c’sle has a large winch on top and can be safely entered and exited by the two rear bulkhead doors.
As with any penetration of these wrecks, care should be taken as the visibility will quickly deteriorate to nil, as fining disturbs the silt. The gash of the collision in the starboard bow is clearly visible. There are also fishing nets entangled on this part of the wreck, therefore care is essential.
The foredeck has 3 holds, each deep with silt, although some interesting items of cargo have been recovered from these holds. The rear deck has 3 more holds and just aft the engine room lie the remains of the deck cargo of stannous chloride in earthenware jars.
Hazards include unpredictable current, depth and probable darkness. The wreck also lies close to the Wemyss Bay to Rothesay ferry route and the shipping channel to the west.
Good boat cover with lookout is essential.
Dive 1 (My Dive 79)
Run Time: 34 Minutes
Max Depth 30 Metres.
Independent 12 litre twin set.
EAN 32 In 200 Bar Out: 50 Bar.
AIR In: 200 Bar. Out: 190 Bar.
Stewart & I get to the Shot line and I am a little nervous as its my first dive in the Clyde & I am using new regs & a new suit, its also only my 7th twin set dive, I am a little light but get myself under OK and we go down the shot line with me following Stewarts glowing cylinders and fins in my torch light, out of nowhere the Wallachia is right in front of us.
Stewart and I fin along the deck of the Walalchia and I am concentrating on staying close and trying to work out what the twisted bits of metal are with the white and orange dead mans fingers are or used to be part of, I am not that impressed and cant get a picture of the wreck into my head.
We literally are only seeing at some points a metre in front of us and at good times around 3 metres of Viz, Whoever said the Clyde was dark really wasn’t kidding!
Average depth is around 28 metres while we fin along the deck to the bow and follow the structure back round.
Stewart pauses and shoves his arm into a hold full of silt trying to fish out any goodies. I let Stewart know I have a 100 bar left and we fin along the super structure past the cabins and up onto what we think is the stern, we cant see the strobe that is attached to the shot line and as Stewart is diving on AIR he is building some deco commitment up (whilst I am on EAN32 and have no mandatory stops showing on my Vytec).
Stewart signals me to do my dsmb, I reach into the pockets on my harness and pull out the blob then manage to fumble for another minute and cannot get the zip undone with the reel in the pocket (I think because I have put my weights into the integrated pocket behind my reel pocket). Stewart gets tired of waiting and to safe any more deco commitment swiftly locates his reel and blob, inflates and away we go from 25 metres, I gently hold Stewarts twin set handle and manage my buoyancy whilst we begin a slow ascent in the steady current.
We stop at 6 metres for 5 minutes and then 3 metres for a couple of minutes then we surface. The Hairy Clam has spotted the blob and in she comes towards us.
With Suddy at the wheel (Tommy & Steve had gone in when Suddy came up narced), Suddy picked us up with some expert like seamanship, bringing the clam around to us, hooking our kit on to the lines and letting us fin round (without wings and cylinders)the back and up over the climbing frame (prop guards).
Into the Clam we go and bring out kit in over the side.
I get the Sausages and bacon out the packets and get cooking, Stewart is on board, Jim is on board and we start getting the kettle on, Steve and Tommy Surface later just as the last of the sausages is ready for eating, Steve is barely on board and I’ve given him a roll & sausage into his hand.
I feel a bit of a numpty after not being able to get my reel out my pocket (It was in this same pocket a couple of weeks ago at Eyemouth and I managed ok).
Preparation for dive 2.
After the bacon and sausage rolls, I move some gear around, tucking my torch battery pack neater into the side of my wing, tightening my rear strobe to stop it floating around, have decided I don’t like the long hose on my air cylinder and I really need to get the cylinders manifolded and using a single mix.
I also don’t like the pockets on the IQ pack or maybe I need to get them sewn differently and not use the weight pockets.
Dive 2 was to be the wreck of the ‘CUIRASSIER‘ 54nt Steel Steamship. Launched 1860. Sank: July 1894. Lies in position 55 43 33N / 04 57 48W lying on a steep slope 250 metres north of the Little Cumbrae Lighthouse. Depths range from 30 to 36m bow to stern. The wreck is well broken up with the only recognisable part being the aft section from boiler room to stern.
Dive 2 (My Dive 80)
Run Time: 19 Minutes
Max Depth 35.1 Metres.
Independent 12 litre twin set.
EAN 32 In 50 Bar Out: 30 Bar.
AIR In: 190 Bar. Out: 50 Bar.
Stewart & I rolled off the clam first this time, the sea was a bit more choppy this time and we had planned to hit the water and go straight under, meeting at 5 metres and then head down to the wreck.
This time I was far too light with my 4kg of weight & I couldn’t get under at all. Stewart was down and after a few minutes he came back up to get me on the surface.
I signalled to the clam that I needed more weight and had to fin back to meet them from the shallows beside the shore line.
Inflate wing & deflate wing on the surface trying to get under.
I got another 2kg of weight from Stevie and Tommy (they had decided not to bother with this dive so where providing boat cover.
After I got the extra weight in my pocket I got under with some hard fining (you can tell what’s going to happen cant you? – common sense is wonderful thing) and I was breathing off my other jetstream this time, it was like a burst balloon, but after finally getting down I didn’t want to let Stewart down, whilst writing this I can hear the dodgy song macho , macho man! Playing away in my head meanwhile I am actually thinking I am a proper ballbag! I thought the reg would be OK a bit deeper. We stay close together and drop down the steep slope bumping almost head first into the wreck at 34 Metres.
I’m convinced Stewart is a master navigator but he tells me later it was just luck.
Anyway we have a wee guddle around the wreck and I notice I have around 90 bar of air left. We have only been under the water for about 7 minutes!
I show Stewart and we start fining back towards the steep slope and shoreline
At 25 Metres Stewart deploys his dsmb and starts to reel in, once again I just stay close and control my own ascent. Suddenly Stewart taps me on the shoulder and points to the reel falling to bits and line spooling everywhere.
Instead of deploying my own reel and dsmb like any well disciplined diver would I forget all about even the existence of these items and just attempt a free water ascent, we get to 6 metres safely and in a controlled manner whilst trying to keep out of the tangled line. I am either distracted or far too light and after about 30 seconds at 6 metres I rocket towards the surface, trying desperately to pull the line and stay close to Stewart but start dragging him up at the same time!
I let go of the line and accept the fact that I am lucky enough to have no mandatory deco showing and hoping that I can get away with a fast ascent from 6 metres if I take it easy on the surface.
A while later Stewart surfaces.
We are being chucked about on the sea now and wait for what seems like forever for the Clam to come and pick us up.
Stewart heads to the Clam first and has to get the guys to untie his legs and remove the tangled line from him.
Fins off and wing off he heads round the back of the boat and gets onboard.
I climb aboard and then we go pick up Jim & Suddy.
It turns out I dragged Stewart up towards his ceiling as he was holding the other end of the line, he kept his head together and no thanks to me he completed the stops.
Lessons Learned:
Never ever use new kit for the first time in the open seas, a nice environment like a sea loch or muddy puddle really does have its place.
The Buddy system has its place but I relied in my opinion far too much on my buddy’s skills rather than my own to get me out of trouble.
That is not the way to dive & I wouldn’t want anybody to do it to me.
I luckily got away with an uncontrolled ascent.
Buoyancy control is one of the most important skills and all divers should practice till they can’t get it wrong and do not relay on luck.
Wreck Site info: http://website.lineone.net/~reivers.sac/clyde_wrecks/wreckpage.htm
