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MFV AFRIKANER – 30/12/2011

The last tech dive for 2011 was upon us and after several days of strong south east, we were expecting great conditions. As usual however, this was not to be the case and as we headed out to Robben Island, the water got browner and browner.....

Ever hopeful that we would encounter a thermocline, we headed down the shot through the 2m brown muck. Much to our surprise however at 9m it suddenly opened up and we were greeted with good viz. This good viz continued all the way to the bottom, although with the dirty surface layer, it was very dark.

The shot had landed inshore of the main wreckage, so we headed off to the bows. It is amazing to see how the bows have simply sheared off the hull and equally puzzling to understand why they are in the position that they find themselves? Two noticeable features at the bow wreckage are two massive air intakes, that at one stage would have been on the deck. From there we headed back to the stern section and up onto the main section of the wreck. After 25 minutes at 50 odd metres it was time to go, and with a temperature of 9C, that was fine. On the ascent the viz was good all the way up to 9 metres again, at which stage it got really dark, albeit that the temperature rose by 3 degrees – yippee, as AF was getting particularly cold.

Thanks to all our support crew that have assisted in helping us accomplish seven tech dives during 2011. Your continued support is greatly appreciated. We are already planning our first tech dive for 2012, which should be the Gemsbok, however due to the Mozambique trip in January, it looks like we will only get to dive her in February.