Gwynfaen and The Meath
Another good weekend for the Sub C Divers. This time Dave arranged the Saturday 6th, and this was to launch from white cottage Caernarfon and trek across to the Lynn peninsula. We were looking to dive the wreck of the Gwynfaen off Porth Dinllaen. A fantastic opportunity for some boat handling down the Menai, down the coast of the peninsular shrouded in mist looked stunning. A long trek of approx 17 NSM saw us arrive at the wreck site only to find conditions not too favourable for an exposed wreck.
Time for plan B… We found a better spot and a cracking dive (a 23/ 24 M scenic dive). Some massive spider crab, scallops, and usual suspects on the sea bed. Good for the guys not too familiar with the conditions and great skills with DSMB’s from mid water deployment
Then dropped into Ty Cock inn for dinner, before making the trek back. (What a lovely sunset!) and hatch a plan for the Sunday. Also great for someone else to plan and put together a good days ribbing and diving
on Sunday.
This left Nick, Chris and myself and there’s been a nagging wreck that I’ve been wanting to do as it’s close to my site, The Meath. Chris and Nick had to be away by dinner time, so I checked the tides. If we got up at 05:00, launched at 05:45 we could dive the Meath, then get back on the slip by 10:30. The theory was great… but 05:00, REALLY… COME ON !!!
Club diving, plan the dive. Oh yeah, one other problem with the Meath. It’s right next to the shipping lane at Holyhead where the sea cat and ferries come very close. All things considered, it was a unanimous “let’s do it”. 05:30 hrs found us launching the rib on the slip, the tide was so low, but patience was the key. We picked our way through the rocks on the rib and into the deeper stuff.
Out to the Meath. As payback, we found it immediately and shot it. Great, what to do now for the next 2.5 hours? We tied off on a nearby marker and awaited our time.
In the interest of safety and good practice, We clarified times of ferries etc with harbour control and also informed the coastguard of our dive intentions, they were happy with our plan. “make sure you keep your dive flag up” was good advice as the ferries passed so close by!
The wreck was as expected, dark, murky, and silty but big pieces and fragments. We heard the sea cat pass by but we had no issues.
What a cracking dive! Lobsters, pollock, wrasse, conga eels, lots of old lobster pots and plenty of snag hazards (fun!) 45 mins later we were back on the surface. Great plan and great dive had by all. Sometimes, you just gotta make things work.
