YO-HANCHA
From Swanage to the Britannic
This month , Yo-Han interviews another fellow BSAC member – one of our foremost wreck divers , Rick Ayrton
Where do I start when introducing Rick Ayrton ? An early adopter of the rebreather , he ’ s been diving deep and exploring wrecks for many years . While he ’ s been doing that , he ’ s also been taking fantastic photos of them , shots that I appreciate more and more as I keep failing to replicate them ! He ’ s known in some circles as a ‘ legend ’ and I ’ m honoured to call him a friend . He ’ s now a published author , having written a book about his participation in an expedition to dive the ‘ Everest ’ of wreck diving , HMHS Britannic , which lies in the Kea Channel , in the Aegean Sea . Rick was kind enough to grant me an interview .
Yo-Han : What got you into diving ? Rick : I ’ d always gone snorkelling and sailing on family holidays . One of the places I went sailing from was Queen Anne ’ s Battery in Plymouth and I was intrigued by what was underwater . That , coupled with the legendary Jacques Cousteau ’ s documentaries , led me to learn how to dive . My first ever sea dive was under Swanage Pier .
Y : Why the fascination with wrecks ? R : Wrecks capture my interest as I like the historical side of it . It ’ s very easy to dive without knowing the history , but when you know the names of the crewmen and where they came from , it brings it home that there were real people doing a job at the time a ship sank .
Nowadays , it ’ s very exciting to dive a wreck that ’ s never been dived before . There aren ’ t so many of them around anymore ! Last year we dived one U-boat and confirmed its identity and another U-boat that was possibly dived for the first time . Before we dived it , common knowledge held that it was a World War Two wreck , but when we dived it , it was clearly from the First World War .
Y : Do you like going deep or is it just because it enables you to see wrecks ? R : It enables me to see wrecks ! If I could find an undived wreck at 20 metres , I ’ d be there like a shot !
Y : How much of a gamble was it booking onto the Britannic Expedition ? R : It was a big gamble . The weather meant it could have just meant one day of diving ! As it turned out , the weather for a Greek island in May was unseasonably cold , but very calm .
Y : What was the local diving support like ? R : We used Kea Divers , who had supported previous Britannic expeditions , so they knew what to do . We also had a Greek technical instructor called George Vandros , who was very organised . He made the expedition as safe as it possibly could be .
Y : What preparations did you make to get yourself dive ready for the expedition ? R : Too many quarry dives during the winter , but needs must !
Y : How do you move around with 120kg of equipment ? R : Once you ’ re in the water , a lot of the weight is nullified by the buoyancy . The main issue was the drag , but because we were using scooters , it wasn ’ t a problem .
Y : Did you just dive the Britannic ? R : We also dived the Burdigala and the Patrice . The Burdigala is an absolutely stunning wreck and deserves recognition as a stunning , upright and intact shipwreck . It ’ s arguably a more interesting wreck than the Britannic .
Y : What makes the Britannic the ‘ Everest ’ of wreck diving ? R : The combination of its depth ( nearly 120m ), its history and its links as the sister ship to the Titanic .
Y : What was it like when you first saw the Britannic ? R : That was an amazing moment . I was at 60m on the shot line when I first saw the wreck . I was blown away by the size of her . I could make out the rows of port holes and the cutaways where the bridge is located , which immediately enabled me to orient myself on the wreck . �
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