S.S. Sphene and the Lobster catcher
It’s that time of year when we get the biggest spring tides, it also mean sthe smallest neap tides and we didn’t want to waste that. We had planned a dive to 60m on H.S. Rewa on either Saturday or Sunday or both, but as we got closer to the weekend the forecast wasn’t looking so keen so we waited until the day.
Saturday morning came and we were still unsure. Did we want to travel 26 miles on a RHIB in rough conditions and then have the dive cut short? Not really. I had planned 45 minutes at the bottom and relied on surface support in case of CCR failure, if it turned out rough I couldn’t rely on surface support finding me quick enough if I didn’t return to the shot line. So the safest bet was to wait until a flat day. Not wanting to miss the tides we ended up back on the old favourite, the Sphene. Sunk in 1946 in bad weather, it’s still a nice dive and a good place to find Lobsters. Even better with my new Lobster catcher!
We arrived on site on slack water, but there was going to be loads of time so there was no rush. We kitted up and rolled in. The visibility was looking good and we soon reached the bottom. It was rather disorientating as there were so many small fish I couldn’t see the wreck, I turned around and there was the boiler. The fish were small Bib or Whiting or both.
Soon I found a Lobster and pulled it out with the Lobster catcher with much ease, it was a little on the small side, so back it went. I then swam around the entire wreck and around the engine room, picking up a small brass flange for posperity. I then came across Sharky pointing in a hole at a Lobster, he had one in his bag and there a really nice sized one in a hole. He was low on gas and had clocked up some deco and had to go. The Lobster was well entrenched but with a little patience I caught it and pulled it out, I opened my bag to drop it in when I saw it was covered in eggs, so back it went.
I then went over to release the anchor and made my ascent. The Lobster was very tasty. After cleaning the flange up I found the word ‘SOUNDING’ on it, whether it was the face of a depth sounding gauge or made by a company called ‘Sounding’ I’ll probably never know.
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