circuit side mount , with divers hailing from the UK , Australia , Czechia , Germany and Italy . Not a bad place at all to spend a week diving , eating and sleeping .
Andy and I , along with everyone else , soon fell into a pattern . We had a lazy first day , taking our time to check all our kit after the long trips everyone had to get to the town of Runavik , where we ’ d be docked for the week . The first couple of wrecks were small fishing vessels that were remarkably well-preserved . Their features were clearly discernible , with glass , wooden decks , portholes , light fittings and deck fittings still easily identifiable . For an Italian expat raised on a diet of UK wrecks , I was stunned by the state of the vessels , as it is rare to see a wreck with so many details still pristine on a normal dive . Our team focused on photographing the vessel , leaving it ready for its next visitors in some unknown future .
Things became real for me on Day 3 , when we dived our first truly unknown wreck at 50m ; all we had was an image on the echo sounder and a mission to photograph what we could in order to aid its identification . Down we went in groups of twos on our shot line , leaving a cluster of eight strobes to aid us on the way back . Here we were , laying eyes on a wreck previously untouched , unseen and unknown to most people alive on the surface .
The wreck was suitably moody , frozen in time and greeting us with sights of its fishing hardware still visible . Looking up from time to time , I suitably impressed by the team ’ s coordination in their focused scan of the boat , diligently looking for any clues as to its origin while – I am sure – taking in the feeling of diving an unknown wreck .
On our return , and in consultation with Hazel , we concluded we had found the sailing fishing sloop TN34 , which sank in the early 1930s . The excitement on deck was palpable , and made the expedition all the more real to all of us . This wasn ’ t some random holiday ; we were generating knowledge for the community . We were diving unknown grounds . In Helen ’ s words : “ We are putting a full stop to unfinished stories .” I was raring for the list of other ‘ probables ’ that Hazel had in store for us .
Hidden histories
Hazel kept the momentum up . Our next wreck was located in 76m of water ; this time we knew the identity of the wreck , and knew how few people ever laid eyes on it . With the exception of a group of
Andy Wrigglesworth peering into the wreck of the fishing vessel Bugvin
international divers a handful of years ago , this wreck had never been thoroughly explored . The team calmly prepared for a dive on the Olshana , a 65m long Russian freezer trawler which sank in 2007 . Andy and I spent some time reviewing the plan , squeezing as much time on the bottom as we sensibly could .
As we free-fell down the shotline , the upright wreck slowly emerged from the darkness around the 45m mark ; it was
Starfish on a loose porthole from the Bugvin
Sealife claiming portions of the TN34 Volunteer
Wheelhouse of a stillunidentified fishing vessel
Broken hull of an unidentified boat
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