SS Kyarra - Tuesday 18th April 2006 May 7, 2006
Posted by onthetrain in : Scuba Diving , trackbackIt’s Tuesday morning and as I ride my motorcycle to work I can’t help but smile. The sun is shining, there is a very gentle Southwesterly breeze and though it’s been stressful at work recently I know that in a few short hours I’ll be able to off load my woes and relax with a dive on the SS Kyarra. On days like this I never fail to give thanks for the fact that I live on the doorstep of some of the UK’s best diving. Living in Poole gives me the opportunity to explore a huge tranch of our underwater heritage in a swath of water stretching from the Isle of Wight in the East to the Isle of Portland in the West, all this without having to drive more than 10 minutes to Poole Quay. I take full advantage of this situation by being a member of no less than four dive clubs. This means I can choose my dives and get out at least a couple of evening’s midweek and at the weekend too.
Tonight’s dive is with Bournemouth Barracudas off the boat Sha King, skippered by Richard Styles. It’s a nice fast boat that can whip us to the dive site just outside Swanage in about 30 minutes. It’s a comfortable boat and, essential for us lazy divers, its equipped with a diver lift.
Swanage lies in a sheltered bay on the beautiful Isle of Purbeck. The area has miles of footpaths, bridleways and green lanes making it ideal to explore on foot, by pedal cycle or on horseback. The beach at Swanage, with its gently shelving sandy shore and clear water, has won the prestigious European Blue Flag award on many occasions. Amongst divers Swanage is best known for its pier and for the wreck of the SS Kyarra, which is the most dived wreck in Dorset. Swanage’s sheltered location, easy access and shallow water makes it a great favourite as a training location for dive schools from all over the South coast. This and the huge numbers of divers who visit to dive the many wrecks in the area mean that the pier is often crowded and parking can be a problem, especially on a sunny bank holiday weekend. Midweek however we invariably get the wreck to ourselves.
The Kyarra is a hugely popular dive and with good reason for this is an exciting and advanced dive. She can only be dived at slack water and is often busy at this time. Outside of slack water currents can reach 4 knots! Whilst not a deep dive don’t be fooled into thinking this is an easy dive. On a spring tide and in poor visibility this can be a very challenging dive indeed. Divers should check tide times carefully as some very strong currents can make diving hazardous in the area. On a high Spring tide slack water can be very short indeed. This can make it almost impossible to ascend a shot line. Skippers often prefer you to put up a delayed SMB at the end of the dive and drift off the wreck whilst doing your stops. Obviously this makes it imperative to agree a dive plan with your skipper and to stick to the plan! The short slack times often mean that wrecks like the Kyarra are very crowded, great care must be taken when deploying shot or anchor lines if other divers are already in the water.
Kyarra was torpedoed in 1918 whilst on a voyage from London to Sydney. The wreckage lies at a depth of 30 meters but in places rises up to 12 meters from the seabed, it is over 400 feet long. Divers frequently return with ‘treasure’ from the wreck Champagne, wine, vinegar and perfume bottles, complete with contents are frequently found. In recent years the wreck has given up gold & silver pocket watches, exquisite silver purses, beautiful silver candlesticks, bolts of silk and even a collection of First World War army cap badges. There are many opportunities to penetrate the wreck, but it is silty inside so, as always, it is imperative to lay lines, get suitable training and follow the correct safety procedures. I get a real buzz every time I dive this wreck, and I’ve dived it dozens of times. Tonight is no exception. As we approach the site I can see it’s only about 15 minutes to ‘slack water’. I tip a wink to my buddy and in moments we are both kitted and ready to jump. We have dived together on a few occasions and quickly built an understanding and trust. As I sit on the bench I can see the second of the two ‘pills’ on the permanent shot just below the surface. I know that in a moment or two we will be able to dive. I don my hood & mask, turn on my torch and make my way to the jump point. In seconds the klaxon sounds and I’m in the water, I hear a reassuring splash and a flood of bubbles and I know my buddy is with me. We reach the shot, nod to each other and exhaling we sink into the cold dark water. At just 9 degrees the water is cold enough to sting your face, but it passes by the time we do our bubble check at 6M. The tide is still running a little, but we are able to swim down the shot. Just a few moments later I can see a huge dark shadow looming, and suddenly there she is. The Kyarra!
At depth of about 15M I let go of the shot as I can see the wreck so clearly. I turn in excitement towards my buddy and see that he has a huge grin on his face. As we look across the decks you can actually see further than the beam of my powerful HID light, easily over 10M. There are some large silt particles floating, but its bright, despite the fact its almost 8PM. It’s also a low water slack, when visibility here is at its worst, and we have just come off a big spring tide.
The Kyarra is a big wreck, she is over 400 feet long, over 50 feet in the beam and although now collapsing more every year she still rises over 10M from the seabed in places. There are many places where the wreck can be penetrated, but beware, it is very silty inside and if someone starts digging for treasure near you visibility can be wiped out in an instant. On this dive my buddy and I are content to swim gently over the wreck around the huge boiler and eventually to swim off the wreck to check around the seabed for treasure lost by the weekend diving hordes. No luck today, but we do see plenty of new holes that have opened up over the winter. These will bear more detailed exploration when the water temperature rises and we can comfortably spend more than 45 minutes in the water without risking frostbitten fingers. Tonight we don’t want to spend more than a few minutes off gassing in the cold waters so dive time is somewhat limited. As she is such a popular wreck the Kyarra has permanent shots mid-ships and near the bow. On a spring tide it’s a good idea to take the skippers advice as to which shot to use. That way you can normally drift the length of the wreck and then change direction with the tide. Tonight we drop on the bow and as we drift towards the stern the first thing I see is a huge conger hiding in his hole. This was the first of many. On some evening dives we can be lucky and see the congers out hunting, but tonight it is a little too bright. As always the wreck is pulsating with wildlife, Wrasse, Bib, Pollack, Blennies, Crabs and Lobsters are everywhere. Of course dead mens fingers colonise many of the surfaces and I notice that cup corals are colonising some of the overhangs. I could happily have spent hours on the wreck but, with some reluctance we send up our DSMB and leave after about 40 Minutes. We start to ascend slowly, very, very slowly staring down in amazement at a wreck that rivals any I have dived when the conditions are good.
This is a wreck that always excites, a wreck that presents an ever-changing vista as she is slowly but surely reclaimed by the harsh winter conditions. A wreck in a state of flux. A wreck that must surely be on every divers ‘must dive’ list. A wreck so good that I have dived her another three times between starting and finishing this short article, a wreck that a few short days later gave up the rare treat of 20 Metre visibility on a south coast UK dive, but that my friend is another story.
Comments»
Very good report - makes me want to do this asap. I guess I’ll have to come down and dive it with you this spring/summer - as long as you promise to remember your lead
no worries chris. Your welcome. I’ll let you know what we are up to