Diving MV Dara

We went back to the Dara last Friday in the hope that the good viz might have survived from the week before. This would have been counter to most previous experience but you never know. We were delayed leaving the slip when Mike Anthony failed to carry out an adequate “butty check” (ouch) and had to nip back to his car and retrieve his lunch.

On the way we were pleasantly surprised to find the sea almost flat calm and on hooking the wreck the current was almost non-existent. Sadly but predictably, this didn’t translate into good viz – it was pretty murky down there. Before we even got into the water a turtle came to the surface, took a couple of breaths and went back under. Although the spectacular clarity of last was missing, we did see an anemone with a couple of clownfish just forward of the promenade deck and a shoal of baby barracuda. There was also some booty – a long length of stainless steel chain that some boat must be upset about losing.

During the surface interval, both the sea and the current had picked up considerably which did nothing for the conditions underwater. Scope for exploration was limited by the current but some net cutting at left the wreck in a slightly better state than we found it but a sustained effort over a period of time will be needed to clear the entire wreck. Janette suggested a monthly net-cutting trip and that sounds like a good idea to me. Call that a belated New Year’s resolution.

A warm welcome to Davidson, making his first dive with us – we trust he’ll be making plenty more!