A different dive trip was called for after our last week long dive trip to Gozo, so after a number of suggestions, Scapa, Tenerife, and Greenland, most interest lay in Normandy, France. So after much serching for UK boats who would do this location only one realy choice was available, Channel Divers. So arrangements were made, divers sorted, and the trip was on...
The Journey South
Well after several months planning and several changes to the planned group of divers, it was finally time to hit the road and head off in convoy down to Brighton.
The plan was to have a slow drive down on the Sunday, get to Brighton for about 4pm and load the boat shortly after, ready for a 7am steam across the English Channel the next day. Well as the saying goes, the best laid plans of…..blah, blah, blah.
Eight of us (John, Deb, Dave, Lee, Mark, Pete, Rob and the Doc) planned to meet at the Scotch Corner Hotel for 8.45am and travel on down to Weatherby and meet up with Phil, Bryan & Derek.
So at 9am sharp we set off down the A1(M) to meet up with Derek, Phil & Bryan, or so we though! Not 10 minutes into the journey we got a phone call from Bryan, ‘can you call at Derek’s house and get some of our kit’, ‘it won’t all fit into Derek’s car’. This despite assurances it would all fit, eh guys…
So the first pit stop came earlier than expected, and we arrived en mass at Derek’s house shortly after, to the surprise of his neighbours, so early on a Sunday morning. Needless to say, it was hot drinks all round and the odd toilet break for some, as we shared the kit amongst the other cars for the drive down.
So take 2; ...we set off again at about 10am and headed down the A1 with the expectation we’d stop again in a couple of hours for a comfort break and a bite to eat. All was well until we hit the A1(M)/M1 intersection at junction 44 when yours truly took a (right hand turn Clyde) with the intent of picking the M1 straight to the M25, whilst everyone else continued south on the A1(M) to the M18. (Note to self, never leave ya wing man...)
…It was a lonely, but uneventful drive down to Woodhall Services, but we all soon met back up and stopped for a break and a bite to eat…
So after admiring the various Ferrari cars in the car park, its was back on the road headed south and hoping to make good time. For the most part the weather and road gods smiled on us, unlike the poor sods who’s car was a fire ball at the side of the road waiting for the emergency service to come and put it out, or not.
Arrival in Brighton
We all made good time on the rest of the journey and by late afternoon we were all at Brighton marina eager to get on with loading the boat. Sadly this wasn’t to be. The weather forecast wasn’t good and although bright, it was very breezy (force 5/6 winds) and it wasn’t forecast to drop until around midday on the Monday. So no early 7am start for us, the Skipper (Steve) estimated it would be about 11am before we could leave.
So we loaded some of the kit into the boat and headed off to our digs for a quick swill (where the landlord kindly let us store all our cylinders in his front room to save leaving them in the cars over night). We were soon off out for a beer or two and something to eat, (after advising the Landlord not to smoke anywhere near our cylinders of 100% O2, in case they blew up). At least we didn’t have to get up early so an extra beer was on the cards. A good night was had by all as we sported our pink T shirts and wigs (well some of us) in the local pub.
Monday
So the next morning we all headed back to the marina, hoping against hope that we would get away for 11am. The winds hadn’t dropped and it wasn’t looking good, sure enough Steve said, no chance, at best it was going to be about 2pm more like 3pm. So we loaded the boat, parked our cars and did a bit of sight seeing and had something to eat as we waited, and waited, and waited….
By 3pm we were all chomping at the bit to get started, so much so, some team members had ressorted to homework. or drowning their sorrows. So after much uming… and aring… Steve said lets give it a go, so we headed out from the marina into a force 5 wind and what would turn out to be several hrs of very rough seas and more that the odd bucket of ground bait, wretched over the side. That’s enough for now about the sickness, here’s a bit about the boat and the divers.
The Boat
We had booked Channel Diver (a 36ft South Boats 36/11 catamaran) to take us across from <st1:placew:ston>Brighton to Fe’Camp and act as our dive boat for the 5 day trip. Details of the boat and skipper can be found here. http://www.channeldiving.com/Boat/index.xalterI think its fair to say we all were very pleased with the size, comfort and cleanliness of the boat and the great hospitality of the Skipper and his good lady Caroline. We all wished for such boats around our local dive sites. The boat has its own large compressor and never had a problem keeping our cylinders full. The only down side, was the lack of O2 on the boat for nitrox. It was as similar story in Fe’Camp, so we had to take our own in spare stages and cylinders. The consensus was that the boat could easily carry a J or two of O2 and still have bags of space.
The Divers
We had a good mix of divers and kit configuration with 7 twinsets (John, Debs, Rob Dave, Pete, Neath and Derek) and 5 CCR, (Lee, Dave, Mark, Phil and Bryan). All (well most) of who have been diving regularly off the NE coast and inland dive sites in preparation for this weeks dive trip. As a number of the divers were at sports diver level we were going to be working to a MOD of 35m.
The Crossing
Yes were back the to sicky bit, … the crossing was rough (very rough some would say), and the winds didn’t drop much until the journey was all but over. Suffice to say a few divers turned a shade of green, then grey, and back to green again. But our boat was well up for the task, ever with all the kit we were carrying and at about 9.45pm local time we pulled into Fe’Camp harbour to the great delight of us all. We quickly all hurried ashore and headed to our digs a 10min walk away.
Accommodation
We had booked rooms at a local hotel called the D’Angleterre http://www.hotelangleterre.com/indexgb.html These were basic, but clean and tidy and were close to the harbour and local pubs and restaurants.
The Diving
There’s a good choice of diving available around Fe’Camp, but it’s a little too far East to do the main D-Day wrecks along the Normandy beaches. It would be at least a 70 mile each way trip to reach the main beach wrecks. That’s said there’s some very interesting wrecks (large and small) from both world wars to have a good look at around Fe’Camp, all very much unpillaged.
The Biggest issue when diving off this coast line is the tides, spring tides can be as much as 9mtrs higher than neaps, so timing is critical. Slack water on low tides are hard to find, and the water just slows, turns and then starts running, so wreck choice is important for obvious reasons. That said, dive times were never shorter than 45mins and often clocked over the 60 min mark. So now to the important part, the diving.
Day – 1 Monday, Blown Out
This should have been a dive on the way into Fe’Camp, but because of the bad weather and late start it had to be binned, however the normal option is to do a deep or shallow dive either in the <st1:placew:ston>English Channel or on the approach to Fe’Camp. Had the weather not been against us we would have done a dive on the approach to Fe’Camp.
Day – 2 Tuesday, Dive 1, The Granville
Our first dive was the Granville, which lies in 34m of water. She was sunk on the 13th June 1940, after being hit by Germen shore batteries close to the town of St Vallery en Coe. The ship burst into flames, the crew abandoned ship and the Granville drifted until she eventually sank in her current position. Viz was about 7mtrs with lots to see and the conger eels are many and massive. Sadly throughout the trip very few underwater shots were taking, so you just have to take our word for it when new say they were all very good.
Day 2, Dive 2, The Ikeria (WW1 Merchantman)
This ship was en-route to the battle of the Somme, when she struck a mine and sank 4 miles offshore, she stands some 15mtrs high in a depth of 27mtrs and is 460ft long. This wreck is huge, it has large open areas of superstructure to explore, the bows are broken off and point to the sky. The superstructure is intact along the length of the wreck, with large access areas to explore. The marine life is amazing. The ship was carrying Horses and munitions and today you can clearly see the boned remains of the animals, which are scatter around the holds and Bows area. Viz was about 10mtrs and you could easily dive this wreck several time and still not see it all.
Day 3, Wednesday, Dive 1, Congas
This was an unnamed wreck (know only as the Congas) due the large quantities of Bass and Conger Eels. It sits in 34mtr of water and stands up to 8mtrs high. For sure this wreck lives up to its name, I’ve never seen so many Congers and they are very big, many as big as 5 foot. All divers commented on the proliferation of life on this and other wreck.
Day3, Dive 2, HMS Hussar
The second dive was the HMS Hussar. There are two British minesweepers, HMS Britomart and HMS Hussar, both sunk on the same day whilst minesweeping off Cap D'antifer, mistaken for the enemy by British rocket firing Typhoon planes, they were sent to the bottom and now lie at a depth of 33metres. HMS Hussar is more of a twisted wreck, with her stern blown off, she twists her way forward to her bows, which is again upside down. There are very large holes to look inside & explore.
Day 4, Thursday, Dive 1, Wreck No80
This was another unnamed wreck known only as No80. This was another 30+m wreck with lots to see both in terms of the wreckage and fish life. Viz again was good, 5m + with pleanty of fish life.
Day 4, Dive 2, UJ1433
This was a German patrol boat UJ1433 which was sunk on the 28th August 1944. She sits almost upright with a list to starboard, and is virtually intact, although it is beginning to loose some plating. Its amazing to think that this wreck is less than a mile offshore and is only in 21mtrs of water and makes for an amazing dive. There is loads to see and do, penetrate into the galley where allegedly the pots and pans are still on the shelves or into a hold which is full of wine & beer bottles. Large sea Bass swim through the wreck looking for their escape as the divers explore into her depths.
Day 5, Dive 1, Granville (part II)
This was our return trip to the UK so we decided to do the Granville again, to shorten the time on the boat during the crossing. Once again a very nice dive with good viz.
Night Time Eating & Entertainment
A strange feature of Fe’Camp is that after about 10pm everywhere seems to close down? On a couple of nights we took a stroll around the town to digest our meals and stretch our legs, only to find the streets deserted, very strange,perhaps they knew we were coming? The Food was generally very good and we spend much of time in one pizza restaurant which was one a couple of minutes away from the hotel.
Breakfasts
If you like sweet pastries, the Fe’Camp is the place for you, there are more shops than you can count selling all manner of sweet pastries to tempt you. If not then there are one or two good café’s which will do good breakfasts, coffees and teas.
