The weather forecast was marginal but the skipper gave the go-ahead, so a small group of Dacorum Scuba’s hardiest divers travelled down to Eastbourne for the first club sea dive of 2024.
It was calm in Sovereign Harbour, but less so out at sea. A good bit of skippering from Dave Ronan, Dive 125, ensured a relatively flat platform for kitting up. Eventually four of the nine divers who signed up to the trip got in the water to dive the large wreck of the liner Oceana, sunk in 1912. The water itself was clear, but held a collection of large clumps of snotty plankton, so the viz was poor and the light subdued at 25m.
There was plenty of wreckage, a few tantalising treasures to see (bottles, non-ferrous metals), and a fair bit of life about, including a tiny white nudibranch on the massive boiler, lobsters, spider crabs and shoaling fish.
The second dive was cancelled by mutual consent as the wind continued to blow.
Thanks to dive organiser Andrew.
