Up next in 10
13 men lost their lives when this ship was struck in darkness, and for more than a century its final resting place remained unknown. In this film, a technical dive team descends to 85 metres to investigate and identify a long lost wreck now confirmed as the SS Express, sunk in 1918.
This deep wreck diving expedition captures the reality of exploration at serious depth, from the descent onto an unidentified target through to the moment key features reveal the ship’s identity. Powerful dive lights cut through the water to expose engines, structure and scattered debris across the seabed, giving a rare look at a historic WW1 shipwreck through real technical diving footage.
If you are interested in deep sea exploration, maritime history, shipwreck identification or advanced technical diving, this documentary follows the process of turning a century old mystery into a confirmed discovery beneath the surface. ⚓
More videos from this trip here - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSks_DrnduzXPw_otgJorg6_yKmQt44P7
More information about the SS Express - https://lostinwatersdeep.co.uk/ss-express.html
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Thanks to
* Kevin Heath - https://lostinwatersdeep.co.uk
* Steve and Barbrara Mortimer from the Gasperados Dive Team
* Bob Anderson - https://www.clasina.co.uk/
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*Highlights*
00:00 A Wreck Everyone Thought Was Gone
00:58 Why This Dive Really Matters
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
13 men died when this ship was smashed
0:03
in the dark. And for over a hundred
0:06
years, nobody has had any idea where it
0:10
was.
0:12
This is the SS Express, a small steam
0:15
ship lost off the Orcnes in 1918 that
0:19
has been missing ever since.
0:23
Our target for the dive is a wreck lying
0:26
in 85 m. It's about the right size and
0:30
is split into two. So, it looks really
0:33
promising. We're hoping to get the
0:36
evidence that will allow us to prove
0:37
beyond reasonable doubt that we have
0:40
found the SS Express.
0:42
To do that, we need to find three
0:45
critical clues. The first is a
0:48
distinctive two-cylinder compound
0:50
engine. We're also after hard evidence
0:54
of her cargo and the catastrophic break
0:57
where the hole was quite literally
1:00
chopped in two. If we find them, we can
1:04
say that we've solved a shipwreck
1:06
mystery that's been around for over a
1:08
hundred years. But more importantly, we
1:12
also provide closure to the local
1:14
community because these weren't just
1:17
anonymous sailors. These were members of
1:20
that community. They were brothers and
1:23
fathers and sons who over the passage of
1:26
time have not been forgotten. Their
1:29
grandfathers, greatgrandfathers,
1:32
great uncles. And today, if we identify
1:35
the express, we have the opportunity to
1:39
give those families the knowledge of
1:42
where those people are.
1:44
So why was it so hard to find? In order
1:48
to understand that, we have to go back
1:50
to 1918.
1:53
This was wartime, the first world war.
1:56
The North Sea and the area around the
1:58
Orcne was a front line. There was
2:02
convoys and supply ships and naval
2:05
vessels and submarines.
2:07
There was no navigation lights. All
2:10
there were were blacked out ships and a
2:13
whole lot of metal moving through the
2:15
same narrow dangerous water.
2:20
The SS Express was a slow cargo steamer.
2:24
The ship that hit it, HMS Grenville, was
2:27
an Mclass destroyer, fast, narrow, built
2:32
to cut through water at high speed.
2:35
The Express was on its regular cargo
2:38
route from Leath near Edinburgh in
2:40
Scotland to Kirkwall when just 12 miles
2:44
short of her destination she encountered
2:46
the Grenville. Now in peace time these
2:50
ships would never have been this close.
2:52
But in war they had to occupy that same
2:55
amount of blacked out sea. And the
2:59
physics mean if a,000 ton destroyer hits
3:03
a 350 ton small steam ship, that isn't
3:07
just another bump. It's a knife edge
3:11
acting like an axe cutting straight
3:14
through the seam steam ship. And that's
3:16
exactly what happened when the Grenville
3:18
hit the express. It didn't just damage
3:22
her, it chopped her in two. On board
3:26
were 13 men. mostly from Orcnes
3:29
supplemented by two Royal Navy gunners
3:32
and they went down with her. In 1918,
3:36
there was no GPS. There was no modern
3:39
sonar and no time really to figure out
3:42
exactly where they were. The war moved
3:45
on and the wreck of the SS Express
3:48
simply vanished into the North Sea. Now,
3:52
anyone who's watched any of my videos
3:54
will know that I love a good wreck dive,
3:56
but more importantly, I love the
3:59
opportunity to solve mysteries. And
4:01
that's exactly what this video and this
4:03
dive is all about. This is MV Casino,
4:08
which is a really well-known dive boat
4:10
in uh Scapplow, the Orcnes, but also
4:14
operates off the west coast of Scotland.
4:16
This is the 2023
4:18
Lost in Waters Deep Gasperados
4:21
expedition. So, a chap called Kevin
4:23
Heath is giving us information on dive
4:26
sites. The Gasperados dive team is run
4:30
by really by the Mortimers. So, Steve,
4:32
Barbara, Mortimer. They put together a
4:34
team which I was very grateful to be
4:36
included in that. and we headed up to
4:39
Scotland and we then went and spent a
4:43
week diving uh pretty much almost all of
4:46
them unknown wrecks. So this was the
4:49
first dive that we did. It was the first
4:51
wreck we identified, but we then did
4:54
dived on other wrecks. We found HMS
4:58
Host, HMS Negro, and then another wreck.
5:01
Unfortunately, we we not 100% we managed
5:04
to identify that one, but four days in a
5:07
row, Rick and myself descended onto Rex
5:09
that had never been dived before, which
5:11
was an incredible privilege. And I'll
5:14
put a link to those videos,
5:16
uh, if you want to go and watch some of
5:18
the other ones. Now, the thing that
5:20
you're probably observing is the dive
5:22
deck on Cina, which is absolutely
5:25
massive. This is a liverboard dive boat
5:26
as well, so so we actually spent the
5:29
whole time living on here. The cabins
5:31
are just in front of where that uh that
5:33
lady is. You can see there she's um with
5:36
with the camera. That is the emergency
5:38
access to the cabins which are there
5:39
under the deck. We had all the kit on
5:41
board the boat that we needed. So
5:43
there's a filling station down at the
5:45
right hand end which does not only uh
5:48
air and nitrox but also oxygen and try
5:52
mix as well. So it's an incredibly well
5:55
fitted out boat for this kind of
5:57
expedition diving. The other thing that
5:59
you can probably see is that we had a
6:01
great surface team as well. So the two
6:03
chaps on the right hand side um in the
6:05
daylow vests, they were our crew for the
6:08
week. Um so they basically managed the
6:11
deck, managed the filling, operated the
6:14
boat. What we also had is the lady with
6:16
the camera. Uh she was uh there to
6:19
document what was going on, but we also
6:21
had uh several members of the team. So
6:24
unfortunately Fran had been bent the day
6:27
before. So, her diving was uh was was
6:30
finished. You can see there she's just
6:32
helping me getting ready with my
6:34
scooter. Uh the crew were getting Rick
6:36
sorted, who's to my right, with with his
6:38
scooter. And we also had uh Will, who
6:42
unfortunately had been bent a month or
6:44
two before, so he was acting as kind of
6:46
like a support diver. But here we go.
6:48
This is the moment of truth. You see
6:50
there, we've had the had the message. We
6:53
are in the water. You can see just to
6:55
the side there. What a massive vessel
6:57
Cina is. It's it's a brilliant diving
7:00
platform. You can also see conditions
7:02
are looking pretty good as well. So,
7:04
there's not too much of a swell when you
7:06
consider that we're kind of uh you 15 18
7:09
mi offshore. That's absolutely lovely.
7:11
The the boat have already got the shot
7:13
in. And uh so therefore, Rick and me, we
7:16
are we're getting ourselves there. And
7:18
this is where the scooters really help.
7:20
You can see there I'm just turning on
7:21
the GoPro on the top of the scooter. I'm
7:24
probably going to unfold the arms. There
7:25
we I'm going to unfold the arms in a
7:27
second as well to get the video lights
7:28
going. And uh for anybody or for people
7:32
who've never done this before, this is a
7:35
really really exciting moment of the
7:38
dive. So you've spent all this time
7:41
getting to the dive site. You know, not
7:44
just driving out in the boat, but also,
7:46
you know, for me, I've come from
7:47
Plymouth, so I've driven the length of,
7:49
in fact, most of us have. I've driven
7:51
the length of the United Kingdom to get
7:53
up to Scotland. Uh then there's all the
7:55
planning, all the talking about the
7:57
dive. And so when you actually get in
8:00
the water and you start going down the
8:02
shot line, it's an absolutely uh
8:05
incrediblely
8:07
exciting uh interesting moment of the
8:10
dive. So um you know, you kind of you've
8:12
got no idea what you're going to get at
8:14
the bottom. We think we know obviously
8:16
we've talked about it. We know it's not
8:18
a particularly big wreck. We know it's
8:20
probably got the the stern chopped off
8:23
and we know that it's got that engine,
8:25
the boiler and and you know, we're kind
8:28
of hoping there might be some cargo down
8:29
there as well. So, really exciting. Now,
8:32
you can see we haven't messed around. Uh
8:34
got the scooter is on the go and you
8:37
know, accelerating down to to the
8:39
bottom. For those of you who haven't
8:41
seen any of my other videos, this is a
8:43
really common thing that that Rick and
8:45
me got into the habit of doing. The
8:47
other thing you might have noticed is
8:49
the watercolor changing. So it started
8:52
off with um quite, you know, gloopy
8:55
green, but as we get below that layer,
8:58
you can start to see now it's becoming
9:00
really blue, and that's a good sign cuz
9:03
it means the visibility is likely to be
9:05
quite good at the bottom. Of course, it
9:08
will be dark. And the what I'm doing now
9:11
is I'm actually stopping to put my video
9:13
lights on. So, you know, it makes sense
9:16
to do them before you need them. Also
9:19
makes sense to do it when you're
9:20
relatively shallow so you're not
9:21
incurring a decompression penalty for
9:24
turning on your video lights. And you
9:26
can see there they are. They're they're
9:27
all sorted, although maybe not quite
9:29
positioned as I would like them. Up
9:31
ahead of me, you can see Rick. Uh you
9:33
probably see that his strobe is
9:35
flashing. Now, I I I think what it was,
9:38
there was something with his strobe, so
9:40
he couldn't turn it on once he got below
9:41
a certain depth. So he also got into the
9:44
habit of turning it on on the way down
9:47
so that by the time he got to his depth
9:48
it was all sorted. He could put it on
9:50
the shot line and you know everything
9:52
would be absolutely fine.
9:55
Hopefully you can see what I've talked
9:56
about now which is that the uh the the
9:59
viz is quite good. Um you can see Rick's
10:01
there ahead of me. It wasn't quite as
10:03
good as we had on some of the other
10:05
dives but you know this is still very
10:07
respectable.
10:09
The other thing I guess to mention is
10:11
you can probably see I've got the sheer
10:13
water overlay on this video. On the left
10:16
hand side there you can see uh the
10:18
depth. You can see the time. You can see
10:20
the set point. So the partial pressure
10:22
of oxygen I'm breathing. You can also
10:25
see that I'm using 1265 as my dilluent.
10:29
Now that works well uh for dilluent
10:32
flushes. It works well for narcotic
10:34
depth. It's you'd probably like a bit
10:36
more helium just to bring the the gas
10:39
density down. But as you can see, we're
10:40
using scooters, so there's other kind of
10:42
risk uh mitigating factors there. So
10:46
1265, you know, it's kind of my go-to
10:49
debt gas for this kind of depth. Now,
10:51
we're getting close to the bottom. As
10:52
you can see here, I've caught up with
10:55
Rick and then uh you can probably just
10:57
see the wreck is starting to kind of
11:00
come into view, which is a fantastic
11:02
moment on any dive. The worst thing you
11:04
want to do is get to the bottom and find
11:06
there is no wreck there. And that
11:09
happened on one of the other dives on
11:10
this trip. And you can uh I'll stick a
11:13
link to it. So if you want to go and see
11:15
what happens when you get to 90 m and
11:17
there's nothing there, uh that's that's
11:19
where it is. But of course, the first
11:21
thing to do at the bottom of any dive is
11:24
the the bottom of dive admin. So you
11:27
need to um
11:29
put your strobe on the shot line. You
11:32
need to check that the the cells are
11:35
reading slightly above the set point so
11:37
that you know that they are not current
11:40
limited. The other thing you need to do
11:43
is tie in the shot to the wreck. And
11:45
that's what Rick is doing in front of
11:47
me. So, he's got a thin piece of string.
11:49
He's tying it in. And that will just
11:51
make sure the shot doesn't get dragged
11:52
off. There's no current on this dive.
11:54
You can you can see that. So, it's
11:56
really unlikely to happen, but it's just
11:58
one of those things we do on every dive.
12:00
While he's doing that, you can see I've
12:02
just attached my strobes.
12:04
And I'm just going to go over and just
12:06
make sure that Rick is okay. Doesn't
12:08
need a hand. Um, of course, really
12:11
unlikely that he that he would, but you
12:13
know, just uh we we work together. We
12:15
stick together. In terms of where the
12:17
shot is, you can see it's off the side
12:20
of the wreck, so it's actually on the
12:21
seabed. There's a bit of wreckage down
12:23
there on the floor. There's also the
12:25
world supply of little fish as well,
12:27
which I guess is is kind of nice.
12:30
Having said that, Rick doesn't need a
12:32
hand, you can see that the waster is
12:34
still in his hand. So, it's clear that
12:36
he hasn't been able to do it. Almost
12:38
certainly, it's because he hasn't found
12:40
anything down there to tie it into. So,
12:42
you can see what we're doing now is we
12:44
are just moving the shot so that it is
12:46
closer to the wreck. And you can see
12:48
there there's plenty of bits of wreckage
12:50
that he can tie it on once we get to the
12:52
wreck. So, I guess it's a good job that
12:54
I did go over and check that he was okay
12:56
and that he didn't need a hand because,
12:59
you know, in this particular case, he
13:01
did. And almost every job underwater is
13:04
easier if uh divers work together. So,
13:08
there I am. You can see uh we we've gone
13:10
over to the wreck and Rick is going to
13:12
uh Rick is going to tie it in with that
13:14
thin piece of string.
13:16
Now, sometimes people go, "Isn't it
13:19
awful that you're leaving all that
13:20
plastic down there with that bit of
13:22
plastic rope?" And you know what?
13:24
[laughter]
13:25
Um, I kind of I guess I might understand
13:28
why that's the case, apart from the sea
13:30
is absolutely full of plastic. All of
13:33
these wrecks are covered in bits of
13:35
rubbish, bits of nets, all sorts of
13:38
things. So, frankly, I don't believe
13:40
that one little piece of string is going
13:43
to uh make any difference whatsoever,
13:45
but it's also an important part of our
13:49
um it's part of our system. It's part of
13:51
our safety system. We need it to make
13:53
sure the other divers can get onto the
13:54
wreck. Okay. You can also see there's a
13:57
massive piece of troll net there hanging
13:59
off the side of the wreck. And one of
14:00
the things with this wreck, like pretty
14:02
much all wrecks, is that it is covered
14:04
in all sorts of, you know, lost fishing
14:06
gear and all that kind of stuff. if you
14:08
just learn to live with it and avoid it.
14:11
Now, the other thing uh for any of you
14:14
who've watched my video about
14:16
identifying shipwrecks and what you do,
14:18
then the very first thing you want to do
14:20
on a shipwreck is understand the
14:22
orientation. So, which way is the bow?
14:24
Which way is the stern? And that allows
14:27
you pretty much always to to get your
14:29
head around the wreck. Now, I haven't
14:33
quite done it at this moment in the
14:34
video, but to save you all uh a bit of
14:38
uh stress, what I've done is I've
14:40
actually come up through the brake at
14:42
the rear of the wreck. So, what I've got
14:43
my torch on at at the moment, that is
14:46
the starboard side of the wreck. And
14:49
what I'm going to do is I'm going to
14:51
start moving forward along the starboard
14:54
side. So that orientates you to the left
14:57
is the kind of main bit of the wreck.
14:58
Although I'm kind of just turned around
15:00
a bit to look at it there. And we're
15:02
going to see the engine in a little bit.
15:04
And then later on in the video when I
15:06
come back here, you're going to see the
15:07
brake really clearly and you're going to
15:09
see the prop shaft. So it's actually a
15:13
really good bit of evidence that
15:15
supports the story that this is the
15:18
express cuz we're going to see where
15:19
it's chopped. You probably just see down
15:21
to the left hand side there, that's a
15:23
kind of a hatch. So that would have been
15:25
into the rear cargo hold. Off to my left
15:28
hand side here, that is the engine.
15:33
And you probably just heard me saying
15:35
two cylinders there. So you once again,
15:38
another great piece of evidence and
15:41
something that we've established really
15:43
early on in the in the dive.
15:46
Most compound engines have the low
15:49
pressure cylinder, the big one towards
15:51
the stern, and the high pressure
15:52
cylinder towards the bow, which is
15:54
exactly the layout we've got here. In
15:56
front of that is the boiler. That circle
15:59
down there, that is the base of the
16:01
funnel. So, this is a really small ship.
16:04
All these things are really close
16:05
together. You can also probably see
16:07
there's a load of port holes down on the
16:09
right hand side because of course
16:11
although we can see the engine and we
16:12
can see the boiler now they would have
16:15
been all covered over by the super
16:17
structure. So this area here is is in
16:20
the middle of the ship. This is where a
16:22
lot of the crew quarters would have
16:25
been. This area that I'm at now this is
16:27
where the the bridge area would be. It
16:30
would have been, you know, above the
16:32
boiler forward of the funnel because
16:34
obviously you didn't want the smoke
16:35
blowing into the bridge. This was coal
16:38
powered. It was coal powered steam ship.
16:41
So, of course, it would have, you know,
16:42
been quite dirty, produced a lot of
16:44
smoke. In front of me there, you can see
16:46
another uh hatch. So, that would have
16:49
been the opening into the forward hold.
16:51
Once again, you can see there's port
16:53
holes and stuff down here. So, this is
16:56
where all the superructure has collapsed
16:58
down. As we're going to see later on,
17:00
some of it's collapsed outwards as well.
17:10
>> You probably heard me talking there. I
17:12
said that's a lamp. So, that is, you
17:14
know, some sort of um paraffin lamp. So,
17:17
it would have been used. That one's
17:19
looks as though it was on the starboard
17:20
side. So it might have been a starboard
17:22
marker because it was wartime that
17:25
wouldn't have been lit in front of me
17:27
there. That is uh the winch. So that
17:29
would have been the cargo winch used for
17:31
lifting stuff in and out of that forward
17:33
cargo hold because of course these days
17:36
all that stuff is um on the shore. Ships
17:40
don't by and large have winches for
17:43
getting stuff in and out of cargo holds.
17:45
Back in this day though they they had to
17:47
do it all themselves. up there just to
17:49
the left hand side where I've just
17:51
shining my torch. That's the capston. So
17:54
that would have been used for lifting uh
17:57
the anchor up and down. You can see
17:59
there's some mooring bolards up here. So
18:01
this is the the bow of the of the SS
18:04
Express. And I think we can call it the
18:06
SS Express. Now we have seen uh we've
18:10
seen the the cut at the back, although
18:12
later on we're going to see it really
18:14
closely. We've also seen that uh
18:17
compound engine. We know that the wreck
18:20
is in the right place cuz this is where
18:22
we're diving. We know it's got the
18:25
single boiler. So, it's and we know the
18:28
right length of course as well. So, um
18:30
and and also we know that it's in two
18:32
bits as well. So, this is all really
18:35
really strong corroborating evidence
18:37
that this is the Express. And now that
18:39
we're diving on it as well, we can see
18:41
it's the right era. it's a steam ship,
18:44
all those kind of things. So, if you
18:46
have enough corroborating evidence, you
18:49
can eventually say with a really high
18:52
degree of probability that we are on the
18:55
on the wreck that we think it is. So,
18:57
this is this is the bow area. Again, you
19:00
can see that what I'm doing is looking
19:01
onto the seabed. And the reason is
19:03
because I know any number of people who
19:05
found bells just off the side of Rex.
19:08
So, I always like to have a uh a good
19:11
look and just to kind of make sure. You
19:13
can see the bow is uh slightly over to
19:15
the starboard side, slightly resting on
19:18
the right on its right side. You can see
19:20
there there's a load uh there's a load
19:22
of hull and as I go down it, I'm going
19:24
to be going back towards the engine
19:26
area, back towards a bridge. I'm going
19:28
to be having a a good peer through and
19:31
to see what see what I can see. Um,
19:35
slight spoiler. We don't find any really
19:37
good uh brass stuff on this. So, there's
19:39
no uh bridge gear or or none that we
19:42
found.
19:44
There could be loads of reasons for
19:45
that. One is it might have been iron.
19:48
So, it might have been cheap and
19:50
therefore just rotted away. Um, it could
19:52
have been trolled. So the bridges on
19:55
these things were relatively flimsy,
19:57
often wooden, and therefore, you know,
20:00
if a net snagged it, it could easily be
20:03
pulled off. So it could be somewhere off
20:05
to the the side of the wreck. So a
20:07
couple of different things could have
20:09
happened to it. But the number of
20:11
divers, the size of this wreck, if there
20:14
was a major thing like a telegraph or a
20:16
helm or a compass bowl, then I'm pretty
20:20
confident that we would have we would
20:22
have found it. and and there was nothing
20:24
like that seen on the wreck. I didn't
20:25
see it. Nobody else saw it. So, I think
20:28
we can say with a pretty high degree of
20:31
certainty that the bridge gear isn't on
20:33
here.
20:35
We also loads of people had a good look
20:37
around in in the engine area as well and
20:39
there was no sign of a builder's plate
20:41
or a maker's plate either. So, um you
20:44
know, who knows where that is possibly
20:46
buried. Now, to give you an indication
20:48
of how small this wreck is, I'm already
20:51
back at the stern, and I'm coming back
20:54
in to through the brake. And in a
20:57
moment, what we're going to see is the
21:00
uh the hatch for the rear cargo hold.
21:03
You'll see the kind of combing and stuff
21:05
around it. What we can also see, I think
21:08
there on on the uh inside is quite a bit
21:11
of coal. So, this would have probably
21:14
been the the coal bunker has kind of
21:16
spilled out a bit towards the stern.
21:18
There you go. There's the the hatch
21:20
cover that I I talked to you about.
21:23
And if you remember um quite at the
21:27
beginning of the dive, I found a bottle
21:28
and I put the bottle on the side. That
21:30
that bottle is off to to kind of the
21:32
right of where I am now. But there's
21:35
also a few other bits and pieces in
21:36
here. You can probably see my hand going
21:38
out and I think I'm going to get another
21:40
bottle from in there.
21:42
I'm going to I don't bring it into the
21:44
camera, so you're not going to see it. I
21:47
don't know why that is. Maybe I couldn't
21:48
actually get it. Maybe I I got
21:50
distracted by something else. It's
21:52
something sometimes a bit difficult when
21:54
you're uh when you're going back over
21:56
these videos. This was quite a while ago
21:58
now. I've done a lot of diving since
22:00
then, and you can't always remember the
22:02
particular details of what's happening
22:04
on a dive. So, this in front of me there
22:07
is the engine. But what I've seen down
22:09
here, you can see beneath that net is a
22:12
port hole. It's one of those things when
22:14
I first started doing this kind of
22:16
diving. I would see a port hole and I'd
22:18
get super super excited because they're
22:21
kind of one of those, I think, iconic
22:24
things. All divers, you know, like port
22:26
holes. You know, that they use as um you
22:29
see them in pubs and you divers like to
22:32
have them in their houses and all that
22:34
kind of stuff. So even though I've seen
22:37
I don't know hundreds thousands of port
22:39
holes now I guess on Rex there's there's
22:41
still always something about them that
22:43
makes me that attracts me to them. So
22:46
you can see that one there I I tried to
22:48
pull out and when we come back around in
22:49
a minute you'll see that I did get it
22:50
out a bit more and so you'll see a bit
22:52
of a bit of a look at it. Now at the
22:55
time I had no idea what this is. I've
22:58
gone back and I've looked at my video
22:59
footage again and I still really have no
23:02
idea what it is. So, if anybody out
23:04
there knows [laughter] what that is, I'd
23:07
uh I'd be interested to kind of get your
23:09
thoughts. I guess can't see it
23:11
particularly well. It doesn't come out.
23:13
And part of the problem with the way
23:15
that I record dives is because I'm
23:18
trying to do a whole load of stuff at
23:20
once. It often means I don't get the
23:22
best quality video footage. So, you can
23:24
see that my main torch in my left hand
23:27
is is just super bright. So, whenever I
23:29
look at something and I put it on it, it
23:31
kind of burns it out, which is is one of
23:34
those things that I'm I'm kind of I'm
23:37
aware of and I know it's something I
23:38
need to do better. Now, there you go.
23:41
There's a there's a big old lobster. Um,
23:43
probably bit surprised to see its home
23:46
being invaded by these strange beasts.
23:48
But anyway, it's uh it's still down
23:50
there. It presumably is enjoying the
23:52
rest of its life. You saw that port hole
23:54
a moment ago, the one that I was trying
23:56
to pull out earlier. And I'm now back on
23:58
really the the starboard side of the
24:00
ship. I'm just kind of taking my time
24:03
having a good look around in this area
24:06
just to I guess the right hand side of
24:08
the engine. You can see the the hull on
24:11
the right hand side. Now one of the
24:12
interesting things we'll see in a bit is
24:14
the superructure from this part has abs
24:16
has actually collapsed outwards. So when
24:18
I go on the seabed off this uh side in a
24:22
bit, you'll see uh you'll see that
24:23
superructure there. It's got some more
24:25
port holes in it and everything. There's
24:27
So, but we're still uh to the rear of
24:29
the the engine. So, that's the uh the
24:32
hatch that goes into the rear cargo
24:34
hold. And you can see I'm just having a
24:36
a good look around here in the in the
24:38
cargo hold to see what I can find. And
24:42
bingo. You can see I've just spotted
24:43
something there. It's a uh a bottle. In
24:46
fact, quite probably difficult to see,
24:49
but there's a few bottles. There's at
24:50
least two there in the torch beam. So,
24:53
I'm going to go down and have a pick
24:54
them up. Some people get really excited
24:56
by bottles. Absolutely love them. I'm
24:59
told if you know what you're looking at,
25:01
you can tell when they're made and all
25:02
those kind of things. The thing that I
25:04
can tell about this one is that it's
25:06
actually got a cork in it. And the cork
25:09
still seems to be still seems to be
25:11
okay. So, um, you know, that's
25:13
interesting potentially. Therefore,
25:15
whatever is inside there is still uh
25:18
drinkable. You can see I'm just having a
25:20
fiddle around with the cork. [laughter]
25:22
See what it's like. That's uh that's
25:24
quite exciting because you know what
25:25
would you be carrying uh on a ship going
25:28
from uh Edinburgh to to Ornne. Uh who
25:32
knows you know potentially that could be
25:34
beer I guess looking at the bottle you
25:36
know maybe maybe wine. I I don't know
25:39
what else you would carry in a bottle.
25:41
I've kind of chucked it down and then I
25:42
think I'm having a bit of regret. I'm
25:44
going to get it back. And the reason is
25:46
because I can feel on it that there are
25:49
raised bits. So, there is something on
25:51
that bottle in terms of a um some
25:54
letters or something. And I'm going to
25:57
be a bit of a uh a bit naughty here.
26:01
Well, kind of naughty, maybe not
26:02
naughty. The uh the policy on this whole
26:05
trip was no take. So, we we weren't
26:08
going to bring anything up. Not that it
26:10
would have been illegal to do so, but
26:12
because that is the skipper's policy on
26:14
the boat. He doesn't want artifacts
26:16
coming up, which is absolutely fine. So,
26:19
uh you will see later on this video I do
26:21
put some bottles in a bag and I do um I
26:26
do start to bring them up. Um they don't
26:29
they don't stay on the surface. They
26:32
actually end up back on a wreck. So, but
26:34
what it does do is give me the
26:36
opportunity to have a look at them and I
26:38
can So, that's the reason I know that
26:40
this bottle has got muans written on it.
26:42
Unfortunately, I don't have any imagery
26:45
or video of that, so you're going to
26:46
have to take my word for it.
26:48
Mccuran's is still a beer that is uh
26:51
drunk in the 21st century, but at this
26:54
particular period of time in 1918, it
26:57
was brewed in Edinburgh, which is very
27:00
close to close to Leath where this uh
27:02
vessel departed from. So once again,
27:05
that's not a complete smoking gun, but
27:07
it's a really good, I think, indication
27:10
or it's a good connection, another
27:12
connection, another piece of evidence
27:14
that suggests this wreck is the SS
27:17
Express. I'll be honest, I don't think
27:20
we need it. We got plenty of other
27:21
pieces, but it is, you know, it's
27:24
another thing. Helps build up the
27:25
picture. Now, there's something going on
27:28
here. I'm not entirely sure what it is,
27:30
but in a moment you're going to see my
27:32
string bag on the floor on the right
27:34
hand side. So, I suspect what I'm trying
27:36
to do is get it out of my pocket and
27:39
then I drop it. My uh string There it
27:41
is. You can see it falling down to the
27:43
bottom there. My string bag has got a a
27:45
a clip on it, a brass clip on it that
27:48
makes it negatively buoyant. So, I think
27:51
yeah, as I say, I think I tried to get
27:52
it out of my pocket for whatever reason.
27:54
I let go of it and it's dropped down to
27:56
the seabed here. This is off the uh side
27:59
of the wreck, the starboard side. So,
28:01
you can see I've got those two bottles
28:03
in my hand. Going to get my string bag
28:05
and I'm going to put them in there. And
28:07
then later on, I'm going to find another
28:09
couple of bottles as well. As I say, I
28:12
they, you know, I bring them up to far
28:14
enough so I can have a look at them and
28:16
then I drop them back on the wreck. So,
28:18
if anybody wants um these bottles,
28:21
that's that's where they are. If I'm
28:23
brutally honest, I'm a bit gutted about
28:24
that because I would have liked to have
28:27
kept them. Obviously, I'd have declared
28:28
them and all those kind of things, but
28:30
but hey, that's uh the skipper that's
28:33
the skipper's policy.
28:35
You know, it's not one I agree with, but
28:37
it is his policy. And I think
28:40
uh as courtesy, as
28:44
um you know, it's the right thing to do.
28:47
we we'd had this discussion before we
28:49
did any of these dives and he said
28:51
that's a policy and we're all like yeah
28:53
fine okay we're all we're all going to
28:55
stick with that. So it is it is what it
28:58
is. [laughter]
28:59
Frankly on this trip this isn't by far
29:02
this isn't the worst thing that I'm uh I
29:04
was disappointed to leave down there. If
29:06
you've not seen my video about diving
29:08
the HMS Negro, we found the bell on the
29:11
HMS Negro and it's it's a beautiful
29:14
size. It would have been trivially easy
29:16
to bring it up to the surface.
29:17
Personally, I would have liked to have
29:19
seen it in a museum or whatever, but
29:21
hey, it's still down there. Now, what
29:24
has happened here is you can see that
29:26
I've managed to get that bit of um the
29:28
the sort of draw cord for my bag with
29:31
that brass clip that I mentioned on
29:33
earlier on somehow wrapped in my
29:35
scooter. And this shows, I think, one of
29:38
the challenges when you're trying to do
29:39
lots of things at once. So, if you think
29:41
about what I'm doing on this dive, I am
29:44
trying to take videos. I am trying to
29:46
operate a scooter. I am trying to put
29:48
things in a bag and and also I'm trying
29:51
to you know remember the dive and have a
29:53
good dive and you know keep an eye on my
29:55
buddy and all those kind of things and
29:58
and you know those things are not always
30:01
mutually compatible which is how come
30:04
you know stuff happens like like has
30:05
happened there. Where I am now is you
30:08
can just see the boiler is off to my
30:10
right hand side. This the um I'm on the
30:13
starboard hole. So the seabed is off to
30:16
my left hand side. I'm going back
30:18
towards the stern. Now you can see
30:19
there's a couple of port holes there. Um
30:21
we've seen those earlier on in the video
30:23
when I when I moved forward. What I'm
30:25
going to do now is is just drop onto the
30:27
seabed. And I think when I went to pick
30:29
up that bag, I I spotted some other
30:31
bottles down there. Now somebody's
30:33
flashing wildly over there. I don't know
30:36
why
30:38
they've obviously spotted something. Um,
30:40
I've been there already, so I'm going to
30:42
leave them to it. We've got all the
30:44
other divers on the wreck. Now, it is a
30:46
small wreck and therefore, you know,
30:48
there's not much room. You can see I've
30:50
got uh some tor in my torch beam there.
30:52
You can see there's some more bottles.
30:54
So, for me, you know, we're starting to
30:56
see evidence of the cargo. So, if I
30:58
talked about if we, you know, we look
31:00
back to the three things we said we
31:02
wanted to see on the dive. Oh, the other
31:03
thing I've just seen, if you probably
31:05
saw, there was an open port hole there.
31:07
And if you think about port holes open
31:10
into ships, this is on the outside of a
31:12
ship. So, this is the bit that I off to
31:14
my right is the bit that I mentioned
31:15
earlier. A bit of the super structure
31:17
that's fallen outwards. You can also see
31:20
with it various bottles and um other
31:23
bits and pieces. That one there, I
31:25
think, is uh was made of clay. There was
31:28
a few of the glass ones around on the
31:29
seabed. There's uh there you go. there.
31:31
In fact, there's a there's a lovely one
31:33
that had um Schweps written on it. Also
31:36
had some form of logo. Um I've tried to
31:40
find out whether there was a Schweps
31:42
bottling plant in Edinburgh or something
31:44
like that, but I've I haven't had any
31:46
any joy. So, that doesn't provide any
31:50
great connection. What it was though was
31:51
[laughter] a really lovely bottle. And
31:53
even though I'm not especially keen on
31:55
them, uh it would have been nice. But
31:57
anyway, there we go. And and this I
31:59
think shows really well that that bit
32:00
off to the left that I was just looking
32:02
at there. That shows how that bit of the
32:04
ship has folded outwards. For anyone
32:07
who's keeping an eye on my uh dive
32:09
computer, you could see you can see that
32:11
my run time is about 24 minutes and my
32:15
uh TTS is up about 92. TTS for those who
32:18
don't know, time to surface. That means
32:21
I've got uh 92 minutes of uh well
32:24
effectively decompression, although it
32:25
does also include the the time to to go
32:28
up. Our run times on this uh expedition
32:31
were about 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours. So I do
32:34
have longer if I want to. You can see
32:38
once again really clearly that bit of
32:39
the wreck that's folded out. There's
32:41
another port hole just in the right of
32:43
the screen now. And there's the other
32:45
one that is on the left. So I think
32:46
those and those ribs that you can see
32:48
there, those are on the inside of the
32:50
wreck. So shows really clearly how that
32:52
bit has has broken outwards and then
32:54
fallen over the side. Now I think that
32:57
makes me suspect that maybe the bridge
33:00
might be out here. So what I'm doing is
33:02
I'm just having a look around and see if
33:04
there's anything that that looks like it
33:06
might be the bridge. I think the bridge
33:07
would have sat on top of that or maybe
33:09
slightly forward of it. So, you know, it
33:11
is potentially here. You know, there's a
33:13
telegraph or or something like that.
33:15
But, as you can see, nothing nothing is
33:18
showing, which is uh a bit
33:20
disappointing. But hey, you know, that's
33:22
that's the way it goes. Sometimes you
33:24
get really good results. Other times
33:26
there's just a whole load of seabed,
33:29
which is which is what we've uh we've
33:32
got here. So, you can see I'm heading
33:35
generally towards the stern of the
33:37
vessel. So, the hull is off to my right
33:39
hand side. This is the starboard side as
33:41
I think I mentioned. Oh, there a few
33:42
more bottles and stuff there. So, um,
33:45
you know, there's a ton of a ton of
33:47
stuff down here. You can see there's
33:48
there's loads and loads of of stuff
33:50
there. So, whether they were cargo or,
33:52
you know, potentially, I guess they
33:54
might have been, you know, part of the
33:55
galley or something. There's cat shark
33:57
down there on the left hand side. And
34:00
yeah, so this is going towards a stern.
34:02
And and one of the things I'm going to
34:03
do is make a really uh interesting
34:06
discovery. So, the first thing is
34:07
there's a there's a really clear break.
34:09
And you can see it there just at the
34:11
sort of top of the screen. Not
34:13
particularly well, but there's a really
34:16
clean brake on this wreck. And the other
34:18
thing is what I've just shining my torch
34:20
on there. That is the prop shaft. So,
34:24
that is obviously the bit that connects
34:26
the engine to the screw. And the fact
34:28
that it is lying there completely
34:30
exposed on the seabed with no sign of
34:33
any of the stern. [snorts] and and when
34:36
I turn around, you'll see that there's a
34:38
really clean break. I think this once
34:39
again really supports this theory that
34:42
this is the express and that it was cut
34:45
in two by the by the Grenville. It's
34:48
it's really obvious. It's you just don't
34:51
get wrecks like this unless there's been
34:55
some catastrophic uh event.
34:58
You can imagine the the Grenville going
35:00
through the uh the hull of the express,
35:03
severing almost all of it, apart from
35:06
perhaps some of the bit that was under
35:07
the water. The the drive shaft is
35:10
obviously a really um solid part of the
35:14
uh of the ship.
35:17
That bit maybe survived and then, you
35:19
know, broke away during the sinking.
35:22
And that's why we can see what we've got
35:24
here, which is the drive shaft on the
35:26
seabed. the really clear brake. No sign
35:28
of the screw, no sign of the stern.
35:31
So once again, this is more evidence,
35:35
more corroborating evidence with the
35:38
fact that this wreck is what we think it
35:40
is. So I'm now heading back up onto the
35:42
main bit of wreckage. You see there's
35:44
another diver with me there. I'm not
35:46
100% certain who it is, but this is this
35:49
is now coming on. And you can see the
35:51
kind of the tears I think in the in the
35:54
in the wreck there. And once again, this
35:56
shows how narrow the wreck is as well.
35:59
So, you know, that's the full width
36:01
basically in front of me there. You can
36:03
see uh the left and and the right of it.
36:05
So, you know, it is it is a small wreck.
36:08
And then as I come up, there's a another
36:10
sign of kind of humanity there. So, on
36:13
the left hand side there, that is a
36:14
toilet. You can also see there's
36:16
something there that I've just got my
36:17
torch on, which looks like a a plate of
36:21
some sort. It looks like a that looks
36:23
non-ferris. I I don't know why I don't
36:26
take that out, but but I don't. I think
36:29
maybe it's because I'm I'm quite close
36:31
to the end of my dive. Maybe it's
36:33
because I've got that bag full of stuff
36:35
and I don't want to get it snagged on
36:37
anything. Who knows? But I'm I'm coming
36:39
up onto the wreck. There's another diver
36:41
there. I think that's Steve. Um uh
36:44
obviously leader of the gasperados whose
36:47
whose project this is.
36:49
He's obviously found something down in
36:51
there. That's that hatch combing that
36:53
we've seen a few times or that hatch
36:55
that we've seen a few times before. The
36:58
engine is, as I'm looking at it now,
37:00
slightly to my left. The beer bottles
37:02
came from, I guess, just behind me. It's
37:05
a really tiny wreck. There's another
37:07
diver there that I think is is Paul. Um,
37:11
I don't know what he's having a look at
37:12
down there, but clearly, you know,
37:14
there's something something [laughter]
37:16
of interest.
37:18
Can't be that interesting because he's
37:19
he's left it alone. So this is
37:23
also towards the end of my dive. You can
37:25
see there my TTS is up getting close to
37:27
two arrow arrows. There's a nice little
37:30
edible crab there. The shot line is just
37:32
over the other side of the wreck. So
37:33
this is, you know, really close to where
37:36
I I started the dive, which is exactly
37:38
where you want to be at the end of the
37:40
dive. I think I'm going to go over there
37:42
and just have a quick look and see if
37:43
Paul did spot anything particularly
37:46
good. There isn't anything there, so
37:49
that's going to be left alone. I'm
37:52
really starting to think now that I need
37:54
to be uh getting up. But it's always
37:56
difficult this stage of a dive because,
38:00
you know, you've it's been a great dive.
38:02
It's been absolutely fascinating. I've
38:04
seen all those different things. You
38:06
always want to stay down a little bit
38:08
longer. Uh what I do have on my computer
38:11
that you can't see here is um a a delta
38:14
5, which is uh how much more uh decco
38:19
you're going to need to do if you stay
38:21
down here for another 5 minutes. And you
38:24
look at that and it starts to show some
38:26
scarily big numbers at this point. So
38:29
you it's there's always that thing in
38:31
the back of your mind which is the
38:33
longer I'm down here, the more I'm going
38:35
to pay, the more deco I'm I'm going to
38:37
have to do. You probably saw the at the
38:39
base of the funnel which is off to my
38:42
right hand side. You might say, "Well,
38:43
where's the funnel then?" Well, funnels
38:46
are, you know, a they're made of really
38:47
thin metal. They don't need to carry any
38:49
weight. So, they often uh either rot
38:53
away or get pulled away cuz they stand
38:55
well above the wreck as well. So, if the
38:56
bridge is gone, chances are the funnel
38:58
will have gone with it as well, either
39:00
by
39:01
um that process of being pulled off or,
39:04
you know, they just corrode away. This
39:05
thing's been down there for 100 years.
39:07
All that salt water is never going to be
39:09
good. This is the port side of the
39:11
wreck. Another, you know, port hole
39:13
there. Various other bits and pieces,
39:15
you know, all sorts of all sorts of
39:17
things. And there you can see I think
39:20
that is that is Rick. And that's me
39:22
saying, "Right, you know, I've got 127
39:24
minutes of TTS. Even when I accelerate
39:26
it with my uh by changing the P2 to 1.5,
39:31
that's still going to, you know, be
39:33
quite a lot of deco. So, it's time for
39:36
us to go up. And you can see my strobes
39:39
just off to the left hand side there.
39:41
Just having one quick look, I think, on
39:44
the seabed. Although, you know, I have
39:46
been past this spot. So, if there was
39:48
anything there, you would imagine that
39:49
I'd have seen it. Rick, I'm not 100%
39:51
certain why is going to the bottom of
39:54
the uh going to the bottom of the shot.
39:57
Maybe he he left something down there. I
39:59
don't know. You can see how crowded this
40:02
wreck is. Now, there's a couple of other
40:03
divers there. You can see a few more
40:06
strobes. There's my double strobe. You
40:08
can always tell mine. I put the the
40:10
green tape on them. There you go.
40:11
There's Rick. He's he's at the bottom
40:13
there. I don't know. I should probably
40:15
find out what he was doing down there.
40:17
But I said, "Let's go." And he headed
40:19
down to the bottom of the bottom of the
40:21
the seabed. So, what I'm doing now is
40:24
I'm taking my strobes off, but I'm also
40:26
just waiting for him as well, just to
40:28
make sure that he's okay. And as you're
40:31
going to see in a minute, he does. There
40:33
you go. He's coming back up again. So,
40:35
whatever he was doing, all is well. I'm
40:38
struggling a bit to get my strobes off.
40:40
But once again, that's kind of probably
40:43
because I've got that bag in my left
40:45
hand and the torch in my left hand. They
40:48
do kind of take up a bit of finger
40:50
capacity.
40:52
But there you go. Strobed it off. And
40:54
what I always do is I've got a clip on
40:56
my shoulder that those get clipped onto
40:58
along with my tag when I when I get
41:00
there when I get to the lazy.
41:02
So there you go. I've got the bag and
41:05
what I'm going to do now is what I
41:07
normally do, which is uh I scooter
41:09
scooter upwards. Just waiting for Rick
41:11
to get his uh his strobe off.
41:15
You probably seen had a had a quick look
41:17
down on the wreck. You can see there's
41:18
some other divers there. That diver on
41:20
the right hand side is probably close to
41:22
the bow.
41:26
There's another diver just above me. I
41:28
think that's Steve getting his uh shot
41:30
line off or getting his strobe off
41:32
rather.
41:33
So, this is kind of the end of the dive.
41:36
If you watch my other videos, you'll
41:37
have seen sort of similar things to this
41:39
happen a lot of times. As I'm coming up
41:42
now, I'm turning stuff off. You can see
41:44
I'm turning off the video lights. I'm
41:46
just keeping an eye on Rick, who's who's
41:47
down below me. There's Steve, who I
41:50
mentioned earlier. And I think one of
41:51
the nice things is now that I've got
41:53
[clears throat] my video lights off, it
41:54
gives you an idea. There's actually
41:56
quite a lot of ambient light down here.
41:59
And also the visibility is pretty good.
42:01
So those are all uh those are all really
42:04
nice things. Now, when you're diving at
42:06
this depth, once you're done, you don't
42:09
want to be hanging around at the depth.
42:10
So you can see there Rick, he's uh
42:12
scootering up towards his first deco
42:14
stop. And I'm going to do exactly the
42:16
same thing as well, which is we're
42:18
getting getting up as quick as we can.
42:21
Not quite as quick as we can. We're
42:22
getting up quickly while still um you
42:25
know relatively safe safely. So the we
42:28
will get ascent alarms on this, but it's
42:31
it's kind of our policy is to is to you
42:34
get off the bottom kind of half the
42:36
distance to your first deco stop and
42:38
then bring everything back under under
42:40
control. So So that's what we've done.
42:42
You can see me about 50 m there. First
42:44
deco stop is is 39 and we're kind of
42:48
making some nice steady progress up
42:50
towards it. Still got the bottles. I'm
42:52
gonna have a look at them. Um you know
42:54
when I actually get a reasonable amount
42:55
of deco although unfortunately I don't
42:58
have that on video. You can see as we
43:00
ascend there Rick is uh all the gas is
43:02
being vented from his loop. For those
43:05
who don't dive rebreathers
43:08
you on the way down you have to put gas
43:10
in the loop to keep the volume so that
43:11
you've got enough to breathe in. But
43:13
then when you come up, that gas expands
43:15
and you've got to vent it. It those that
43:17
should be the only time that gas comes
43:19
in and out of a rebreather loop, apart
43:21
from the small amount of oxygen that you
43:24
consume in order to stay alive. And I
43:27
think what this is one of the nice
43:28
things there, you can see me uh looking
43:30
down. Just having a quick look at my
43:31
bottles, but if you can see me looking
43:32
down there, you can see Steve well below
43:35
us there. And I think that shows, you
43:37
know, for me anyway, how quickly we've
43:39
got up to our uh, you know, to to to
43:42
nearly our first deco stops. And, as I
43:45
say, that is going to um help reduce uh,
43:48
decco.
43:50
The other thing that helps reduce deco,
43:52
as many people will have seen me done do
43:54
many times, is that uh, I put my P2 put
43:59
my set point up to 1.5. And you've just
44:02
seen me do that on my uh rebreather
44:04
handset on the left hand side. And I'm
44:06
going to do it on my sheer water shear
44:09
water now. And when I do that, you'll
44:10
see it happen on the the overlay. And
44:14
once again, you can watch the you can
44:16
literally watch the TTS drop now. So
44:18
here we go. There we go. This is me
44:19
starting to um to change it. I'm going
44:22
through the menu into the dive setup
44:24
menu. And once there you go. You can see
44:26
I can edit the high set point and change
44:29
the set point to 1.5, which now reflects
44:32
what I've got set on the handset of my
44:34
rebreather. And when I do that, you're
44:36
going to see the TTS drops. It's already
44:37
gone from 128 to 121, and it's just
44:40
dropped down to 113 there. So, that's
44:43
saved me about 15 minutes of deco. Not a
44:46
vast amount, but it is quite nice to
44:49
have it. The other thing that's
44:51
happening is I've got to the lazy shot.
44:53
I'm not the last diver up. You can see
44:55
there's quite a few tags on the uh on
44:58
the shot on the the lazy shot there. So,
45:00
I'm going to come in and I'm going to
45:02
take mine off. The last diver when they
45:05
remove their tag will release the lazy
45:07
shot and we will all then drift in the
45:10
current together so that the uh we're
45:13
not hanging on and also the boat knows
45:15
where we are. It's a process that works
45:17
very well. If you've not seen my video
45:19
on it, I I do have a separate video and
45:21
I'll put a link in into that and you're
45:22
welcome to well, if you want to know
45:24
more about the Lazy Shot and why it's
45:26
such a good system, works so well for
45:28
us, you can you can see it on that
45:29
video. You can also see there I finally
45:32
got around to turning off my strobes.
45:35
And from now on in it's just going to be
45:37
a case of doing the deco, doing that 112
45:40
minutes of deco. Further up, I have got
45:44
my Kindle, which I'm going to uh to read
45:47
on this dive. And I can't remember what
45:49
book I was, but it certainly helps pass
45:51
the time. So, I've jumped forward again.
45:54
You can see now I'm up at about 27 uh
45:57
meters. And the reason I'm showing this
45:59
bit of video is because I quite like
46:01
this phase of the dive. So, what's
46:04
happened, you can see uh there's Rick in
46:06
front of me. And you probably also saw
46:09
just a moment ago below me there are a
46:11
load of other divers. I really like this
46:13
phase of the dive when you can see the
46:15
whole team is is kind of slowly coming
46:17
back up again. You can see everybody's
46:19
there doing the deco. The the lazy shot
46:21
is vertical. So, one of those divers has
46:23
released it. We're now in the current.
46:25
I'm not on the lazy, you know, I'm not
46:27
holding on to it. I'm just kind of
46:29
neutally buoyant off to the side,
46:30
chilling out, watching the um watching
46:34
the other divers. And you can see there
46:36
they're all venting their loops as they
46:38
come up. And I talked about that earlier
46:39
on. The other thing you might see on my
46:42
wrist there, which is probably worth
46:43
mentioning, you see I've got my
46:44
computer, but then below it, I've got
46:46
that little uh that black thing, and
46:49
that was the controller for my heating
46:52
system. At this point in time, I was
46:54
using something called a thermal vest.
46:56
The thermal sat underneath my dry suit
47:01
and the batteries were were were
47:02
underneath my dry suit. The batteries
47:04
were integral to uh were underneath.
47:07
Now, some people get really some people
47:09
don't like that. They say it's a bad
47:11
idea. You should have the batteries
47:13
outside your dry suit because, you know,
47:15
batteries can um you know, go on fire.
47:19
Sometimes they don't behave very well if
47:21
they get wet. Um the thermolution system
47:23
didn't didn't do that. Um and I think
47:27
the reason it didn't do that is these
47:29
systems were designed for use by um
47:32
surfers and people who got wet all the
47:35
time. So, you know, they were actually
47:37
designed for that purpose.
47:40
What they were also was a really good
47:41
heating system. I I actually really
47:43
liked it. Unfortunately, the batteries
47:45
had a weakness, which was the cable
47:48
going into the top of them. Um became
47:50
disconnected from the batteries. So,
47:52
unfortunately
47:54
went bust.
47:56
So, um what happened to that system is
47:59
eventually the battery, one of the
48:00
batteries died. You couldn't get a
48:03
replacement. So, my thermal has gone um
48:06
and is no longer is no longer, you know,
48:08
it's not something I use. I've replaced
48:10
it with a a similar system by a company
48:12
called Heat Venture. Um I don't know if
48:15
there related to thermal at all, but
48:17
they make um a similar sort of system.
48:19
So, the batteries uh are designed for
48:21
use by snorkel by yeah, snorkelers and
48:25
surfers and people who actually spend
48:27
time in the water. So, I've never heard
48:30
of anybody having an issue. I like it a
48:32
lot. And if you you know if you're
48:35
diving, you can see here the water's 12
48:37
degrees C. I've I've been in the water
48:40
for nearly an hour. I've got just under
48:43
2 hours to do and I'm a big wuss. So, I
48:47
do like my heating systems and at some
48:50
point very soon I'm probably going to
48:51
turn it on and that will be really nice.
48:55
So, for those of you who like a bit of a
48:57
closer look at my deco profile, here's
49:00
the download from uh sheer water. You
49:03
can see there fairly steady descent onto
49:06
the seabed there. I mean, you can see
49:08
all the stuff that you've seen so far.
49:10
You can see there we go, you know,
49:12
starting to leave the bottom coming up
49:14
and then somewhere up, you know, quite a
49:16
decent ascent rate. Somewhere up here
49:19
you're going to see uh you've probably
49:20
just seen in fact the switch from 1.3 to
49:23
1.5 P2 and the benefit that gives you
49:26
there. That's about there. Not sure
49:28
what's going on with my buoyancy
49:29
somewhere in the middle there, but it's
49:31
uh it's not so great. And then
49:32
eventually I get up onto the trapeze and
49:34
stuff. Do all my deco at pretty much at
49:37
6 m. I think I was reading a book at
49:40
that point. And then the last little bit
49:41
come up and all good. But no couple of
49:45
minutes extra for the wife and kids this
49:46
time. Not entirely sure why that might
49:48
be, but anyway, it's what happened. And
49:52
you can see now just getting to the end
49:54
of the dive. Loads of other divers on
49:56
the shot line, come up to the surface.
49:59
And one of the lovely things about the
50:01
lazy shot system. And you know, diving
50:03
with a boat like Cina is when you look
50:05
around, there you go. You can see it
50:07
there on the surface waiting for you.
50:10
And you know there's going to be all
50:12
sorts of good things on board in terms
50:13
of uh people to help you, people to help
50:16
you get kitted and then of course you
50:18
know all the other facilities like lunch
50:20
and you know dinner whatever time it is
50:22
and then you know your nice bed at the
50:24
end of the day after you reviewed all
50:26
the excitement. And one of the great
50:28
things about this dive is there was
50:29
plenty of excitement as well. It made
50:32
quite a big impact locally. You know as
50:35
I said at the beginning these were not
50:37
just uh anonymous sailors. These were
50:40
people with real connections to the
50:43
local area and those people, you know,
50:45
their relatives. They were really
50:48
pleased to know that they uh the ship
50:50
had been found and that, you know, the
50:53
mystery had been solved. So, being
50:55
involved in that was just absolutely
50:57
awesome. It was a fantastic result and
51:00
the beginning of several days of
51:03
absolutely epic diving and a trip that I
51:07
will never forget. I was so pleased to
51:09
be involved with it. If you'd like to
51:11
see some of the other dives that took
51:12
place on that trip, they're in the
51:14
middle of the screen now. There's an
51:16
entire playlist of them. Uh I hope
51:18
you'll enjoy watching some of those as
51:20
well. And I hope you've enjoyed watching
51:22
this one. I hope you've enjoyed seeing
51:24
the process in action. But for now, if
51:28
you'd like to drop us a comment, leave
51:29
us a like, obviously subscribe if you
51:32
haven't done so. I'm Dom Robinson, deep
51:35
wreck diver, and I very much hope to see
51:38
you on the next one of my videos.
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