Penzance August 15th to 19th 2005

The trip was organised by Brod Mason and we were booked aboard Fred Buckingham's new Pamela P. The boat is an aluminium cat and is 40 feet long and 17 feet wide. It has a huge cabin 13 feet by 12 feet. This boat was well overdue as Fred was expecting to take delivery in March this year, so we were the inaugural trip. The rest of the team comprised, Steve Chaplin, Megan Clarke, Rich Meese, Barbara Holgate, and Steve Jones.

We were staying at 2 B&Bs in Morrab Road, The Sabego, and the Woodstock, while Steve and Megan stayed in a self catering apartment.

We met up on the Sunday evening at the Lugger Hotel on the seafront for a beer and to discuss the plans for the diving the following day. We had to be at the boat for 8:30 for a 9 o'clock departure to go to a wreck called the Slaatero, also called locally the "umbrella tree wreck" as that was one of the transits that were originally used.

When we left the harbour conditions were perfect, hardly a ripple on the water. These conditions were to prevail for the first 4 days of diving.

Monday: Slaatero, Max depth 60 metres, Bottom time 27 minutes, Run time 79 minutes, Viz 10-12 metres

The Slaatero was 1,017 tons and was sunk in 1917 while carry coal.

The viz was quite poor on the way down but improved below 40 metres. I stopped just above the wreck as I did each day to attach my strobe. Fred got the shot close to the 2 boilers and from there Rich and I made our way astern along the prop shaft to find the 3 bladed prop still in place. There were a lot of congers on the wreck and as we made our way back past the boilers again, there was one which was free swimming. Some others went on towards the bows but just past this point we turned and came back up the shot instead.

Back in the harbour most of us did some blending for the next day before returning to our respective B&Bs and then meeting up in the Sir Humphrey Davy for beer and a meal. Good value here and really nice food.

Tuesday: John R Park, Max depth 55 metres, Bottom time 25 minutes, Run time 77 minutes, Viz 12-15 metres

The J R Park was a liberty ship that was traveling in convoy TBC 102 in 1945 when she was torpedoed by U399, at this time she was travelling to the US from Southampton, via Swansea. She weighed in at 7,104 tons.

We had a ropes off time of 8:30 on the Tuesday, however Fred called to say that Pamela P was stuck on the mud and so he had towait until 11:30 before he could refloat her. The new boat obviously needed more water than the previous one.

The wreck is broken into 3 pieces and for this dive we decided to do the stern area. She lies on her starboard side and Rich and I dropped down onto what looked to be a gun placement, and a gun nearby. There is also a gun right at the stern, still on the deck. After going inside we went to the broken area of the wreck then back to the stern. This area looks quite "pointy" and at first I thought that we were on the bows instead, however it was then possible to see the prop shaft, albeit the prop is no longer in situ. Just under the stern there was a large ling swimming around.

Back in the harbour, more gas blending for some of us, a switch to the second twin set for me, and for Rich and Brod a trip to Dive Action in St Kaverne to get trimix.

Wednesday: Kilmaho, Max depth 62.5 metres, Bottom time 25 minutes, Run time 77 minutes, Viz 12-15 metres

The Kilmaho was a steamer that was torpedoed in May 1917 by UB20. She was 87.17 metres long, by 13.11 metres wide. She sits upright and the shot was close to the 2 boilers. Just forward of these there is an upright condenser. Then as you move to the stern there are a lot of railway lines, and then many shell cases for the 12 pounder that she carried. Rich and I then dropped off off the stern and found the 3 bladed prop still attached. From there we got back to deck level where Rich spotted a porthole lying in the open. We didn't have a lift back with us so I decided to tie it to the shot line which was only a few metres away. What I hadn't noticed was that there was a conger close by who was quite aggressive. It went for my hand once and even when I pulled away followed my hand for a while before Rich distracted it. I continued to tie up the porthole but it went for me again getting too close to the "wedding tackle" for comfort, so made a quick job of tying to the line. After all this the porthole had to be worth it, but unfortunately it fell out on the ascent. More about this later.

That evening found us at the Sir Humphrey Davy again, Rich engrossed in the football on TV, England lost 4-1 to Denmark. But I still managed to keep a straight face.

Thursday: Kilmaho, Max depth 62 metres, Bottom time 8 minutes, Run time 30 minutes, Viz who cares!!!

A return to the Kilmaho mainly to try and find the porthole, this time with a lifting bag. As we went down the shot it was vertical and so the bells should have rang. So what did we get when we got to the bottom...the seabed at 62 metres. It was possible to see the rut that the grapple had carved as it was dragged. We followed this for some time but eventually turned back and came up the shot. This was Barbara's last day on the trip as she was making her way home to get ready for a trip to dive off Northern Ireland.

Friday: Kilmaho, Max depth 58 metres, Bottom time 27 minutes, Run time 78 minutes, Viz 12-15 metres

The conditions had taken a turn for the worse today and there was quite a big swell in the sea. This time the shot was over the boilers. Rich was off towards the bows, I attracted his attention and we made our way past the condenser and boilers towards the stern, and there it was ..."Rich's porthole". This time he tied it up and I passed him my lift bag. He filled it and sent it on its way to the surface. (Actually at this point I should have waved goodbye to it, as it was the last time that I saw it. It probably didn't remain upright in the swell and the air escaped allowing it to go back to the bottom.) On all the previous dives Rich and I had come up the shot line and then bagged off at 6 metres. However on this dive as we were some distance from it, and time ticking away, (we were already 2 minutes over the dive plan), we bagged off from the wreck.

So there you have it, great weeks diving and almost got a trophy.

All that remained was a trip back into the harbour during which Fred saw a sunfish, so we stopped for people to take some pics. Brod was kitting up to get in the water when the boats prop got a little too close and the fish swam away. Then after packing the car I "looked forward" to a three and a half hour trip home. Well except that it eventually took me 5 hours due to various hold ups.