By Jamie Vaughan & Rob Corby
Eight of Marlin’s finest headed to Plymouth for two days of diving with InDeep. The sun was shining, the wind had dropped, and after several weeks of poor weather, the weekend was shaping up to be something special.
Everyone gathered at the marina at 08:00 (even Joe!) ready for a 09:00 ropes off. Once the kit was loaded, everyone was aboard and the boat briefings completed, we headed out for our first dive.
Photo Credit: Fiona McMahon
Dive 1 – HMT Elk
The HMT Elk was an armed trawler that was requisitioned as a minesweeper during the Second World War. In 1940, she unfortunately found one of the mines she was searching for and now rests in 30–35 metres of water not far from Cawsand Bay.
We descended down the shot line and were greeted by 6–8 metres of visibility, plenty of light and a gentle current that quickly washed away any silt disturbed by the divers. Although a relatively small wreck, much of the main structure remains upright. The decks have largely rotted away, creating some excellent swim-through opportunities.
Marine life was abundant, with plenty of lobsters, conger eels and a huge shoal of bib that you could easily lose yourself in. At the end of the dive, we returned to the shot line and ascended to the waiting Panther.
Dive 2 – The Coronation
After a well-earned pasty and a relaxing surface interval in the sunshine, we kitted up for our second dive of the day – the Coronation, a protected wreck for which we had permission to dive, kindly arranged by InDeep Diving.
Lost in 1691, the wreck lies in around 15–20 metres of water, again not far from Cawsand Bay. Although the wooden structure has long since disappeared, the cannons and anchors remain, providing a fascinating glimpse into the past.
A diver trail has been mapped out around the site, taking visitors on a circular tour of the surviving artefacts. The first anchor I encountered was so enormous that it took a few moments to realise exactly what I was looking at. I actually had to back away from it to appreciate its full size.
Following the trail, we discovered massive cannons, each easily three metres in length, along with a second huge anchor and several cannonballs. After nearly an hour on the bottom, we deployed our DSMBs and made our ascent to the surface.
After a well-deserved and excellent meal at the Clovelly Bay Inn, we rounded off the evening with a few drinks at the Borringdon Arms before retiring to our accommodation for the night.
Day Two
Day two began with a leisurely 09:00 ropes off as we headed for the Eddystone Reef. We followed a series of gullies and boulder fields, progressively descending to a maximum depth of 41 metres before slowly making our way back towards the highest point of the dive at around 18 metres.
This was a particularly impressive dive, with around 12 metres of visibility allowing us to fully appreciate the reef’s dramatic topography of rocks, pinnacles and winding gullies. Although the sponges and anemones were still in the early stages of growth at this time of year, there was certainly no shortage of marine life.
Species recorded included Dead Men’s Fingers, Red Fingers, Common Urchins, Boring Sponge, Yellow Staghorn Sponge, Pink Sea Fans, Devonshire Cup Corals, Candy-striped Flatworms, Potato Crisp Bryozoans, Seven-armed Starfish, Gravel Sea Cucumbers, Orange Sea Squirts, Ballan Wrasse and Cuckoo Wrasse.
Our dive lasted 60 minutes, with a water temperature of 12°C.
Following a surface interval and our return towards Plymouth, our second dive was on the James Eagan Layne. We descended onto the bow via a temporary shot line. Since our last visit, the wreck has opened up considerably, and it is now possible to enter both the chain locker and sections of the bow itself.
Visibility was around six metres, meaning the wreck was not quite at its spectacular best. Nevertheless, there was still plenty to explore. Adjacent to the boilers on the starboard side, we found what appeared to be a condenser. We also relocated the stern section, which lies separated from the main body of the wreck, where visibility improved noticeably.
To cap off the weekend, we were treated to an impressive sighting of a John Dory. The dive reached a maximum depth of 22 metres and lasted 64 minutes.
After two fantastic days of diving, excellent company, and some long-awaited sunshine, Plymouth once again reminded us why it remains one of the UK’s premier diving destinations.