SS Cushendall
22 August 2010
We pitched up at Stonehaven harbour today expecting to have to call off the planned dive 5 miles out due to marginal sea conditions. Offshore we could see white crests breaking atop a large swell. Trust in the forecast I thought. This is as bad as it will be - it can only get better....
We nipped out the 5 miles offshore to the wreck of the SS Cushendall, a 626 ton, old fashioned 3 masted steamship built in 1904 in Troon. She was bombed and sunk by German aircraft off Stonehaven on 29 June 1941 and now rests in 58 metres.
We shotted the wreck at the stern as large swells broke over the side of our dive boat -and once kitted up rolled over the side of the boat and started the descent. It was a long way straight down but from about 10 metres off the bottom the wreck swam into view - sitting perfectly upright. On my Aquazepp underwater I was able to get round the whole wreck from stem to stern and survey it in detail - I'll be writing about this wreck in a future book.
After a short 20 minutes on the bottom our divers met back at the bottom of the shot line and unclipped their individual strobes from the down line. 40 minutes later our heads broke the surface - the seas had indeed settled as forecast. Another stunning day out on the water.
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