TRIP REPORTS
SWANAGE 2002
Listed below are the sites & wrecks we dived over the weekend and a little bit of the history behind them.
Swanage Pier
All of the above pictures were taken under the pier.
The structure of the pier itself is in two sections, a derelict
stretch of uprights to the south, and the now renovated complete part. Under the structure
depths go down to a maximum of seven metres at the far end, however the life you will
encounter is usually associated with greater depths. The shelter has encouraged a great
diversity of life including soft corals, cuttlefish, lots of crabs, dogfish etc.
Swanage Pier is also good from an instructor's point of view. A nice shallow dive in a
constrained and protected area with lots to see, and the added advantage of being able to
catch a shuttle out to the Kyarra between taking trainees under the pier. Everyone is
happy and the instructors don't need to miss a serious dive to help with a training day.
Under the shade of the pier, the usual shallow water-plant life is eliminated and the
pier-legs are colonised almost exclusively by animal life: anemones, hydroids, bryozoans
and tunicates. It's a fair swim to the end of the pier, 196m past 45 rows of wooden piles.
The grid arrangement of the piles makes it an excellent dive for the navigationally
challenged. The only complications are a couple of turns the pier makes on the way out and
the wider sections for boarding boats.
Restoration of the pier is ongoing, with piles being surveyed and splinted or replaced.
Chief enemy is the gribbleworm, which eats through the timbers.
Lulworth Cove
Lulworth Cove is a small, circular bay approximately 0.5 mile
across and enclosed by cliffs with a narrow entrance to the open sea. When a storm brings
in a swell, the waves at high tide reach the foot of the cliffs.
Underwater, depths run down to 6m, the deepest areas being in the centre and the eastern
side of the entrance. The sea bed near the shore consists of loose stones and rocks
covered in a variety of weeds. The central area is of clean, rippled, yellow sand. In this
area you may come across the odd flounder or small plaice.
Reasonable dive, lot of weed and kelp.
Peveril Ledges
Peveril Ledge 50 36.38N; 01 56.00W.
Located at the extreme southern end of Swanage Bay, Peveril ledge extends outwards from
the end of Peveril Point for a distance of well over 0.5 mile. The reef consists of
several parallel walls of rock that thrust out of the otherwise level sea bed. The upright
faces of rock, in places many metres high, form a vertical barrier across the flow of the
tidal currents. Especially when the tide is ebbing, this rock wall forces vast amounts of
water to rise and accelerate over the top of it. The result is a roaring barrier of
standing waves on the surface.
During periods of slack water the reef makes a brilliant and adventurous dive. Between the
vertical sections of rock are sheltered hollows where crabs, lobsters and fish shelter.
Depths in this area vary from 10 to 23m. Visibility can be excellent, reaching 13m at
times in summer. The best visibility is on high water slack. Tide times are distorted by
the peculiar double tide of Poole Bay and Swanage Bay. High water slack at Peveril Point
is 3 hours before high water at Dover. The shoreward end of the reef is not very good for
diving as it is near the outlet of the main Swanage sewer.
Good drift dive.
Royal Adelaide
In 1872 two ships set sail, the Marie Celeste on route from New
York to London and the Royal Adelaide bound for Sydney from London. On the 5th December
the Marie Celeste was discovered bereft of her crew, yet sailing uncallily along her
apointed course. In England on the 14th November the 235ft Royal Adelaide, one of the new
generation of huge iron sailing ships left port for Sydney. It is pure coincidence that
these two ships were at sea at the same time and that both were carrying large amounts of
alcohol. Had fate not taken a cruel hand, the two ships would have crossed routes.
On the 25th November a huge gale pushed the Royal Adelaide onto Chesil Beach, all but five
aboard were rescued by breeches buoy. Battered by the surf, the ship soon began to
disgorge her contents on the beach. The first items were dozens of gin casks, men, women
and boys drank the free booty. By dawn it is said no less than 20 people lay dead on the
beach due to exposure after falling senseless on the cold wet pebbles.
The Royal Adelaide was one of two sister ships {the other was the Royal Sovereign} built
by William Patterson at Bristol in 1865. The wreck is situated at the point where the
slope changes to being almost level. There are many other pieces of wreckage close to the
main hull and huge fordeck winch perched high up within the wreck. She now lies at 50
34.65N; 02 28.50W in 12-15m and makes a good shore dive {a bit of a hike from the car
park}.