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Home | Historic wrecks | Maritime archaeology | Diving technology | Wreck team | The wrecks | Timeline | More
Introduction | Diver's log | History | More
The real dive story from Jason Gibb's logbook.
Dive 1
Aim: To locate the wreckage of the mystery wreck in Alum Bay
Dive time: 68 minutes
Max depth: 8.2m
Seabed: Silt
Weather: Calm, force 1-2 NE. Sunny
Boat HQ: Wessex Explorer
Sea temp: 17oC
Dive details: Bad dive. Bad viz. Bad teamwork. We descended down the boat's bow anchor line and hit the seabed with a puff of silt. From that point on it was a struggle. Silt everywhere (great for filming, not!), got tangled up in each others' umbilicals.
Miranda and I were following maritime archaeologist Garry Momber (who's more like a sea otter than an archaeologist). He'd dived and surveyed the wreck hundreds of times, so luckily knows the site well.
There's not much left of the wreck, lines of planks partially buried, metal fittings sticking out and a hawse hole where the anchor chain would go. I don't know how we're going to find out the identity of this wreck with so little to go on. Though I do know we've a lot of excavating work ahead. But having the Rev Gill (whose great granddad was on the Pomone) on the boat HQ makes me really want to prove this is his wreck.
Dive 2
Aim: Excavate the wreck
Dive conditions: As previous dive
Dive time: 40 minutes
Max depth: 7.0m
Dive details: Very exciting. I joined Garry's team of archaeologists excavating the hull – it was like a building site down there (but obviously meticulously planned and performed!). They were using an airlift – basically like a hoover, which sucks up the silt and sand and spits it out away from the site. Because it's driven by compressed air it's very noisy, like multiple small explosions underwater. Garry's colleague Julie and volunteers uncovered a large portion of the hull that has never been seen before. Doing any sort of work underwater, where you can't talk, is a real pain, but these guys were real pros.
Dive 3
Aim: Collect wood samples for dendrochronological analysis (dating using tree ring patterns)
Dive conditions: As previous dive
Dive time: 34 minutes
Max depth: 7.7m
Dive details: I've never dived with anyone like Nigel. He's the world's only diving dendrochronologist and he's a bit mad; one of those divers who just put their head down and go for it, completely focused, ignoring anything in his way. We made him use a full-face AGA mask, so Miranda and I could talk to him. But his bushy beard meant the mask wouldn't seal to his face. Air bubbles were streaming from his face – he was like a human jacuzzi.
Nigel managed to get one sample before he ran out of air. Let's hope there are enough tree rings on it for dating.
Dive 4
Aim: More wood samples
Dive conditions: As previous dive
Dive time: 56 minutes
Max depth: 8.2m
Dive details: The first wood sample was no good, so we went to get Nigel more. Nigel dived with a half mask (goggles) rather than an AGA, so he was more economical with his air and we could stay down longer. Several good samples – mission accomplished.
Dive 5
Aim: Measure hawse holes
Dive conditions: As previous dive
Dive time: 66 minutes
Max depth: 7.6m
Dive details: We wanted to compare the size of the hawse holes with the original plans of HMS Pomone to see if they match. Easy dive. Miranda and Garry are a crack team now. I felt very tired though. The constant diving takes its toll, even though it's very shallow.
Dive 6
Aim: Dive the Needles where the Pomone sank
Dive conditions: As previous dive
Dive time: 11.6m
Max depth: 45 minutes
Dive details: Now this is what I call diving. Drift diving in the strong currents of the UK are what diving is all about and it doesn't get much more like a roller coaster ride than at the Needles. The currents of the Channel and the Solent collide and there were 5ft high standing waves. A freak wave took out Damian the cameraman, who was on the RIB. He was OK but £20,000 worth of camera kit was destroyed. Archaeologist Garry misjudged when slack water was and when we went into the water it was like a washing machine. I had to cling on to rocks to try and get a good shot of Miranda and Garry looking at the 32lb cannon and the anchors we found. My fingertips are raw now. Luckily we weren't hard-wired to the surface so we could just drift with the current. Anyway, we saw a number of artefacts that could be off the Pomone, but nothing that confirms the identity of our wooden wreck. It's all down to tomorrow.
Dive 7
Aim: To prove the identity of the wooden wreck in Alum Bay
Dive conditions: Perfect
Dive time: 62 minutes
Max depth: 7.3m
Dive details: Now that a lot of the wreck is excavated and uncovered we went to take some measurements and compare them to the plans of the Pomone. Miranda and Garry are working great as a team now, and we dived with a minimum of fuss, and without kicking up too much silt. We found a bracket that could have been a Brindley bracket amidships. Then we made measurements on the exposed timbers. We were chuffed when Jeremy told us that the distance between the gun ports matched the plans. This is none other than the HMS Pomone, one of Nelson's finest warships. The Wreck Detectives' first assignment goes off with a bang!