DiversInc

On the friday morning at 11.30 I began the long journey down to Pentewan , Cornwall where I would be staying for the weekend arriving at Pentewan village at 18.30pm very tired but looking forward to  good weekend's diving .

I checked in at Sal diving centre who were running the hard hat course I booked two years earlier but circumstances prevented me from completing it earlier .

Afterwards I check in at my accomodation before seeking some food and drink before resting up before an 11am start on the Saturday.

On Saturday morning I arose early as I was excited about diving in old fashioned navy hard hat diving equipment later that day.

Meeting up with Sal my instructor I watched a video and completed the paperwork before making my way down to Mevagissey harbour where my first dive would take place.

Arriving at Mevagissey harbour I was taken back by how beautiful cornwall is but then it was my first trip. Sal gave me an participant tour of the equipment and explained what we would be doing.

I was diving second so I helped Sal put the equipment together with help from Bill and few willing helpers and then we carried the safety checks for the dive could take place . Everyone was taking pictures and asking questions I felt like a celebrity put the equipment together and had my picture taken a few times . 

Dress the diver was a different dive experience and normally you do it yourself but this is not possible so you have to help them put on the heavy and stiff suit which is 70 years old and gets much heavier when wet ... just doing this builds up a sweat!

Then adding the other equipment : knife , weights , breast plate before finally putting on the helmet before the obligatory photograph . Finally the diver standing wearing 15 stone of equipment plus their own weight  then helping them to the water before they slowly descend into the deep.

Roughly twenty minutes later or so the diver came out and then it was my time to dive. I was really excited although slightly nervous ....

Now it was my term to be man-handled into this suit and it was a hot day I was sweating before I even been diving then slowly I made my way to the water before making my descent although it was weird diving without my regulator , mask and dive computer.

Slowly I walked along lending forward slightly to balance the weight although I was breathing quite hard throughout the dive . After 15 minutes dive time I slowly made my way out up the steps back to the harbour side for more pics by the spectators ..and sat down and realised I had dived the way the navy used to dive upto until 1990!  

After a hard days diving I went with friends and went to the pub for a drink to celebrate and some food and some hours later it was time to return to the B&B.

Sunday morning I was able to relax as I wasn't diving until the afternoon so had time to explore and chill out on Pentewan beach .  After lunch I had to be at Sal Dive , Pentewan for the second and final briefing before my dive later that afternoon at high tide at 5pm . Once we arrived at the harbour I had to set up the equipment under supervision before carrying out the safety checks and then dressing the diver before sending them on their way. Then I was on the intercom talking with the diver which is a strange to do when diving ...before moving onto dealing with the air line and monitoring where the diver was by looking for the bubbles and watching the line move along the sea bed . After thirty minutes the guys hand pumping the air were looking on their last legs so we told the diver who came up to clapping and more pics. Now it was my turn I was doing the specialty course padi standard orientation which I had to complete to pass the challenge . Sal briefed my task to put a flange together with nuts and bolts in the shortest time possible although the dive time was estimated at 30minutes min.

Slowly I made my way to the water weighing at 28 stone and looking forward to getting into the water and getting down to diving .

Slowly I walked although walkway before jumping off and slowly making my way down to the sea bed five metres below. 

Walking around this time was much easier as I gotten use to the weight on the first dive the previous day . After ten minutes exploration it was time for the task slowly I made my way to the harbour side and awaiting my task being lowered into the water inside a sealed bag to make it harder whilst talking with the guys top side and hearing the air bellowing into my helmet and watching my language as I was loud speaker .

Sal told me your time starts once you open the bag but I was standing up so that meant getting down but how to do this ... simple fall down its the simpliest way .. i was glad no one had pics  i can imagine people would have been killing themselves on seeing them on facebook. So I emptied out the bag and slowly started to work in a logical order which isn't easy when you feel like your cooking but I  worked hard and completed my task only swore once ...before the feeling I have done .. I have completed a life's dream finally . Once my task was done I had to make my way back to a ladder and rest as I was really knackered at that point before learning the hard of ladder bouncing but that's another story . Once I reached the top the ladder I slowly made my way up the steps before dressing and having a large soft drink to celebrate . I cannot thank the guys and gals at the centre for their support and encouragement . I enjoyed myself so much I am going back to dive with them in October but on the modern stuff this time .

What a great wee wreck! The SS Paris II was a French cargo ship utilised by the French Navy during WWI. It lies not far from the shore near Kemer in south west Turkey on the Mediterranean side. This area is known as the Turkish Riviera and it's not hard to see why. The beachfront is adorned with 5 star hotels most equipped with exclusive golf courses, whilst the beautiful green sea is populated with sailing boats, jet skis, catamarans and pleasure cruisers; a real summer paradise.

The dive boat a converted fishing dhow, was operated by a local company and comprised mainly of day-trippers doing some snorkelling or an introduction to scuba. There were only 6 divers so it meant we would get the Paris to ourselves. That was a bonus although, it's noteworthy that divers are a secondary income, most of the efforts are concentrated on the snorkelers and tri-divers, with the company flogging them souvenir DVD's at the end of the trip. Still the food was OK and we got a fairly decent pre-dive briefing.

The wreck itself sits on a level keel and the deck is reached at 30 metres. There's a shotline fixed at the stern, which affords an easy decent. Although the guns have been removed there's still gun turrets on the fore and aft deck and you can penetrate the hull from the main deck which has worn away to the metal structure. It's only 65 metres long, so you can easily explore the full wreck and still have plenty air left. The viz though was only about 5 metres max. There wasn't much current, but there was still a lot of floating sand, so I imagine that this was the norm. However you can still clearly read out the name which makes for a good photograph.

Anyway, marks out of 10 – I'd give it a 7. Although small, it's a wreck with a whole lot of character. I felt a real affection for her and would relish the opportunity of doing it again. If you're ever in the Antalya region, make a point of diving this wreck. You won't be disappointed.

Below is an account of the sinking.

Commanded by Captain Rollin, the Paris II was attached during World War I to the Syria 7th Cavalry Company. Its mission was to patrol in coordination with the Alexandria and prevent the Turks from refuelling German submarines between Marmaris and Anamur. On December 13, 1917, the Paris II and the Alexandria, maintaining the distance that separated them, were cruising off Cape Agva. To the east, lighters from Antalya were casting anchor in a bay of the same name.

Suddenly the Paris II lookout signalled that he had spied a lighter in the bay. What happened next was told by Captain Rollin as follows:

"When we reached the north-western entrance to the harbour I gave the order to lower the boat with the purpose of capturing the lighter. As the boat headed toward the vessel it directed machinegun fire at the shore.

At 11:25, just as the boat reached the vessel, there came a fearful explosion on the starboard side of the bridge. One of the bombs exploded in the coal hold. This was followed by a rain of bombs, rifle and machinegun bullets.

The first two enemy shots had taken out the radio and the 75 calibre guns on both sides, so only the 100 calibre gun at the bow was in use. The shell that hit the command centre split it in two.

Trying to reach the tip of the cape, I turned the rudder to starboard but noticed that we were heading in the port direction. When the munitions dump in the stern exploded, fragments of metal flew through the air and the rudder locked up completely.

The damage was great and enemy fire continued as a fire raged. Because the rudder was locked the ship described a circle in the water. All our guns were out of action, so we couldn't defend ourselves, and the stern of the Paris II was slowly sinking.

The crew, almost all of them wounded, were waiting for the captain's order to abandon ship, and all I could do was to assist in saving them. I gave the command: 'Everyone jump in the water.

Further Information on the Paris II

It's been a while since I've posted as you may have noticed.  However after a period of prolonged hibernation, I hope I can find the time to contribute over the next year.

Despite being particularly busy over the last few months, I've still managed to get some good dives in.  In January Jim Mac and I drove down to Capernwray, (also known as Jackdaw Quarry) in Kennet.  It's just over a 2 hour drive from Glasgow down the M6 into Lancashire and not far off the motorway.

Capernwray is a great set-up with a dive shop, parking, air fills, licensed restaurant, toilets and changing facilities.  It was a Tuesday and we virtually had the place to ourselves except for ROV training which was taking place.

On the first dive we managed to do 'The African Queen', a small plane and one of the helicopters.  However it wasn't without incident.  Both Jim and I use Scubapro regs and almost simultaneously both of us began to freeflow about 20 minutes into the dive.  We surfaced and after some adjustment we carried on for another 25 minutes.  The viz was about 10-12 metres and the water temperature was 4 degrees.

During the surface interval we had some lunch in the restaurant before kitting-up for our second dive.  On the second dive we were piloted by trout and perch and we also saw some large solitary sturgeons and pike.  I also noticed the thousands of fresh water mussels attached to every surface.  During the second dive we did 'The Cave' and 'Gypsy Moth' before heading for 'Shergar' and 'Lord Lucan'.  

The water temperature had dropped to 3 degrees and the viz had zeroed to about 2 to 3 metres.  The water had began to go a kind of cloudy.  It reminded me of wallpaper paste when mixed with water.  I didn't realise at the time, but that was ice starting to form.  Despite being only a few metres apart, Jim and I both lost each other on our second visit to the 'Gypsy Moth' on account of the failing viz.  As I began to fin in his direction the inevitable happened.  With the freezing water temperature my regs had started to freeflow again.  I successfully made it to the shore and met-up with Jim, only to discover he had suffered the same fate.  

So on the drive home we discussed changing our regs to something more suitable to cold water.  Jim has changed to Apex.  However it's still on my 'to do' list.  Despite the freeflow incidents, (which actually provided a good opportunity to put our training into practice), both of us had a great couple of dives and will definitely make a point of returning.  Unfortunately for us the 70ft Hawker Siddeley 748 passenger plane hadn't been submerged and was still on land being prepared.  But hey!  That's just one good reason to return.