A recent visit to the beautiful Isle of Islay, provided an opportunity to undertake some land based wreck hunting. Islay is blessed with an abundance of shipwrecks around its coastline, not least because of its exposure to Atlantic storms, but also its location close to the main shipping routes to the Clyde, Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin. The … [Read more...]
The Real Price of Fish
This is the title of a book first published in 1991. It was written by George F. Ritchie and records the loss of around 300 Aberdeen trawlers between 1887-1961, this averages out at about four a year. This fact is even more poignant when on many occasions it was not only the vessel that was lost, but part or in some cases the whole crew. We have … [Read more...]
First Dive 2023
First dive of the year was last Sunday. With beautiful conditions on the surface we broke a thin sheet of ice as we left the berth in Kip Marina, glad I had my dry gloves with me. Dive plan for the day was the wreck of the mighty Akka off Dunoon, followed by dives further south on the Wallachia and in Wemyss Bay. We arrived on site in blazing … [Read more...]
A Case of Mistaken Identity……….
We have been adding more wrecks to the Clyde area in recent weeks, concentrating on the outer Firth of Clyde and south of a line between Turnberry and Pladda lighthouses. With the advent of portable GPS units and more powerful fish finders, the lower Clyde was a focus for divers during the late 80’s and early 90’s. There were a good number of … [Read more...]
Clyde Magnetic Mine Mayhem
The sinking of the Ardrossan steam trawler Ethel Crawford sparked a three month search covering 1,000 square miles of the Clyde estuary in April 1945. The trawler had been fishing 5 miles south west of Ailsa Craig on the 20 April when she was blown in half by a German magnetic mine, killing all ten crew. Less than a month later, … [Read more...]
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