Guides
St Abbs Harbour Shore Dives
Some dive guides break this particular site into several dives including the ‘famous’ Cathedral Arch, Big Green Carr, Little Green Carr, Broad Craig, Scotts Rock among others. Rather than split up the guide, I have decided to lump the dives together and let the reader decide what he or she wants to do when they dive.
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Latest Photographs
A shot of the sea-bed in about twenty five meters off the Harcarrs, its all flat rock, small gravel beds and short drop offs.
Mid-way along the site is an area of angular boulders which go further up the wall (?) they appear new, with very little life attached' but have been there over 30 years. Look carefully and you will find crustaceans among the jumble.
The rudders, these stand about 6m proud of the bottom of the vessel and are intact despite the explosive forces used to remove the phosphor bronze propellors which were located very, very close.
Typical geology, the surfaces are covered in Dead mans fingers (Alcyonium digitatum), the bottom being small vertical faces, rocks and large boulders....all very scenic and pretty in good vis!
One of my regular buddies, Hud coming out at the bottom, to be greeted with a flash!
Doesn't look much but this is the tip of a propellor, a close up shot!
By late summer the once bare stems of the kelp are little microcosms of weeds and small animals, the winter storms smashes everything up but twelve months later it's all back.
This can only be a section of keel as it is thick, wide steel that would have had no place on the upper part of the vessel
I was trying to show how much sand had been scoured out of the iste, you can see here that there is a section of shale wall that's maybe fifty centimeters high where there was no weed hence it was covered prior to the last storms.
The geology of the site comprises of small steep sided gullies, fissured into the reef
The bows of SS Breda, or at least the very front of the cut down bow section after she was wire cut to 28ft.
This is the main reason people dive the harcars, seals and lots of 'em! I'd ignored this pup for ten minutes so it was really up for interaction
A mast, again off into the gloom
And again from the 'inside' or maybe underneath. Now make sure you have a buddy if going under any tin-work to drag you out should there be a snagging event.
And here is the business end of a Seven Armed Starfish (Luida ciliaris) a bit of a prehistoric throw-back this monster!
Starboard side and the wreck is slowly disappearing on a flooding tide...
The deeper gullies have a thick layer of grit and sand on the bottom, possibly concealing 'goodies'
Drop in from Black Rock, swim North and the bottom starts off as fist size cobbles with occasional large boulders which are swathed in kelp.
Everywhere that you look the bottom isn't bedrock, it is formed from sections of ship.
A winch which is located on the flat seabed in about 14m, well on a flat area of ship! Take care swimming around this lump as it is festooned with rope, some maybe from attempted lifts whilst others are probably from lost lobster pots.
There is still some ordanance at the stern end so don't go banging things!!!
A pair of Lobsters (Homarus gammarus) arguing over a hidey hole and not a particularly good one, basically a rock over one of the cracks which run down the flat face of the South Side of beadnell Point.
Think that this is a Montagus Blenny (Coryphoblennius galerita) there were always plenty warming themselves on the steps. The fact that the seals are fed fish there and there will be 'bits' also probably attracts them!
Looking out from the Haven towards Inner Farnes, I didn't walk a long way down the beach because it was ghastly
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