SCUBA April 2026 issue 164 | Page 36

Mark on BBC News, discussing the chamber pot( inset)

without bringing my underwater metal detector. There are many on the market – some are relatively affordable, while others run into the thousands. My go-to is the Quest ScubaTector. While not the cheapest at around £ 150- £ 250( depending on the model), they are reasonably reliable, and not too bulky.

Having used some of the high-end detectors, I’ ve found the Quest models light, compact and easy to use; they have a very good level of detection. It’ s all very well spending a fortune on detectors, but ironically these things do have a way of getting lost when you’ re at sea. You don’ t have to plan every aspect of your dive around use of your detector – they should be compact enough to clip onto your BC. By contrast, the higher-end models are so bulky they become the entire focus of the dive.

You also have to come to terms with the fact that visibility will be a distant dream. You’ ll spend many a dive wreathed in clouds of silt, wafting away centuries of sediment to investigate pings on your detector. Your buddy protocols need to be tight in these conditions.

Evenings and blown-out time can be used for research, identifying areas of seabed to search. Apart from the practical necessity of planning ahead, it’ s handy to keep the enthusiasm up in the inevitable dark winter evenings. The seabed is a huge place, so

harbours, slipways, piers and areas that have been in use for centuries are good places to start, but make sure you have permission to dive there.

Do bear in mind that you can’ t just excavate anywhere; proper permissions should be sought in controlled areas to make sure you stay on the side of the ethical angels.

Chamber pot of secrets

My hunting has yielded various finds on the Coronation and around Plymouth, some of which are featured below. Each one is a treasure in its own right. Many have been from the Protected Wreck of The Coronation( 1691) off Plymouth. Under licence and with proper archaeological supervision, metal detecting has helped to map the extent of the site, and continues to uncover further puzzle pieces.

One very notable find came in May last year. I was finning my way around the Coronation dive trail, joined by my everpatient dive buddy, Pete. In truth, we were checking the dive trail for the octopus that featured in last year’ s much publicised bloom. The trail is made up of ten station markers, and when we arrived at station six I took out my trusty detector to see if the recent storms had uncovered any new artefacts.

The Coronation wreck seabed moves regularly; we have observed the sand levels recede by a metre over the past two decades. Nature’ s excavation for patient divers!

While checking the station area, my detector started to indicate metal very clearly. This was in an unexpected location, the adjacent side wall of the gulley. I noticed it was reacting to a very smooth looking object, which turned out to be a pewter chamber pot. It was upsidedown, nestled in a small hole in the rocks. As my buddy Pete is usually filming with a GoPro, we managed to capture in real time the moment when it was discovered.

A surgeon’ s vial, circa 1800

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