Duo-Divers

When you get to the sandstone bedrock there are quite a few areas where there are 'small' gullies with undercut sections, surprisingly there are very few lobsters in the cut-backs but a few under boulders!

Another of my regular buddies, Donzo coming out at the bottom, to be greeted with a flash!

Arty-farty shot of the wall with kelp waving in the current, I think that the cotrrect terminology is atmospheric?

The stern section of Mistley has been really scoured with an extra meter of depth now available, with all of the solid stuff exposed there has been a significant amount of non-ferrous scrap shifted this year

In the centre of the top deck as you swim back towards the funnels there are only the occasional uprights left, not sure how long before everything starts buckling.

You will certainly get a few chances for 'davit' shots on the wreck, with lots pointing inboard which shows that lifeboats weren't launched in the minutes before she sank, hence the large loss of life.

This is a section of I guess superstructure where the plate has long since been bashed/rusted away. There are plenty of bits like this around the site but this one, at the inshore end of the main gully, is odd-ball as it 'sits up' meaning that any photos can be a bit more interesting.

The vis was crap which meant that I was unable to get good shots of wreckage, nut the dirt in the water meant a huge amount of filter feeders were 'out' such as Dead Mans Fingers (Alcyonium digitatum), the shots were a bit atmospheric but came out okay I think....

Looking along the wreckage of the Mistley, you can see the ribs or joints on the bottom.

Side shot all done and pre-mounting.

Dropping down, with a stone floor and walls the vis is uaually very good

A Sea-Hare (Aplysia punctata) these large nudibranch come in a variety of colours, depending I think on what they have been eating.

I - And after lots of investigation into various oils I opted for high quality Danish Oil rather than Tung oil or similar

A part view of the plans of SS Somali! Showing the 'special cargo' area which is relevant on a few fronts.

Every little helps....... these guys set up shop in 1879 so that is the earliest date for the mystery wreck

Plates and spars towards the stern of the wreck, this time with a diver in the background

A bored Hud doing deco

You can get inside one boiler and in sunny weather get shots through the perforated section

This is the 'type' of bottom which I was talking about, formed from loads of worm tubes, it's quite soft and sandy so can feel crunchy if your buoyancy control is poor.