News
Mission to trace 20 shipwrecks
The last they saw was the crew huddled together in the wheelhouse, a crewman signalling for help with a torch into the raging black night.
All efforts to save the 11 men – two were aged just 18 – proved futile with the lifeboat unable to get close and the winds so high that rockets attempting to get a line aboard from the cliffs above were blown back.
The last message from the Skegness shortly before 3am was: “Calling all stations”.
Nothing more was ever heard.
Now divers from Scarborough are setting out to explore the wreckage of the trawler, which was on its way home to Hull when it ran aground at Speeton in September 1935.
In all they are setting out to record 20 wrecks.
They include the British merchant steamer, the Ella Sayer, which was torpedoed by a German U-boat in April 1918 and three other as yet unidentified vessels.
Many because of their age, battering by the elements and salvage expeditions in the past, are little more than heaps of plate.
Some have only the boilers and engines left standing.
But Anne Morrison, founding member of the newly-formed South Bay Scuba Scarborough branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club, says it is important to capture what is left before it disappears.
The club is encouraging divers of all levels to take part in the project, which involve dives in relatively shallow waters up to 20 metres deep.
The Fred Everard ran aground at Ravenscar in 1965, with its cargo of paper, after being caught in a gale.
A salvage operation went bust having recovered little of the wreck which lies in a rocky gully – meaning even today there’s plenty for divers to explore.
Anne, 62, who is also treasurer and membership secretary, said it was an important mission to record details of the wrecks.
And many divers from across the country had expressed interest in helping through social media.
She said: “Some of these wrecks are quite well dived while others are only visited on very rare occasions.
“There’s a surprising amount of life on them and the depth means everybody can put their names down to take part.
“We want to record any notable features, the size of the wrecks, their position, orientation and condition.
“All the information will be carefully recorded and given, together with any photography and video we obtain, to Scarborough’s Maritime Heritage Group and used to enhance a display they are putting together later in the year.”
While membership of many sports clubs and associations are falling, the new club has proved hugely successful, thanks, Anne says, to Facebook attracting divers from across the county and beyond, including a fire crew from West Yorkshire and people from Huddersfield, Cleethorpes, Hull and Nottingham.
She said: “I’ve been diving 29 years and I like any kind of diving, deep, shallow, trips away. People see how active we are on Facebook and they join.
“We are absolutely amazed at how well it has gone. We already have 82 very active members made up of people from all walks of life with one thing in common – a love of scuba diving.”
The survey has been made possible thanks to a £1,150 grant from the BSAC Jubilee Trust, which supports interesting and worthwhile scuba diving projects.
News of the grant came months after club members were awarded a £10,000 Sport England grant which they have used to buy the club’s own Mitchell 31 dive boat.
Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
News
Dive Worldwide Announces Bite-Back as its Charity of the Year
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
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MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
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