I have to say that when the alarm went off just before 5am, and the world was dark and freezing cold, the last thing I wanted to do was go diving. Heading off to Brighton we met 9 other divers who all admitted to feeling somewhat less than enthusiastic about the prospect of a rough ride out and poor visibility. 

We were diving with Channel Diving out of Brighton and were due to dive the Aristos. The Aristos was a Greek cargo vessel which was built in 1937 and floundered after a collision with the Linde and sank 16 miles off Beachy Head in 1967 in 60 metres of water. She was carrying general cargo and was some 5189 tons. She sits bolt upright and very ship shape.


Courtsey of South West Mafia

The ride out was a bit bumpy with a few holes in the sea which made the kit dance, no matter how well it was tied off. At one stage the boat came to a halt when Steve had a problem with one of the engines. Opinion on board was that it was probably a rope round the prop and one of the CCR divers on board smiled at me and said this was a job for a prehistoric OC diver. Ahhh.....I had to admit that I was diving twin 15s as they were all I had left with mix in. Unfortunately, they were left over from a France trip and at 13/60 were a bit light on O2 for surface swimming so I was to enter on my 50 per cent bottle and switch at 6 metres on the shot. Not a lot of help for rope wrestling at the surface  initial initial;" /> Led to a lot of jokes after the dive about my narcosis level.....

We got to the site after steaming for only a little more than an hour and started to kit up. My heart sank when I grabbed my drysuit to find that it had ice crystals all over it, after a dive on Friday and I felt like canning it there and then - but hey ho - how bad can it be?

I struggled to get in to my kit as I was on the far left of the bench and had nowhere to put my stages. Al helped me as much as he could but the lack of space meant that I was left with my harness dragged down over my arm rather than sitting on my shoulder - with no way of putting it right until the weight was off in the water. The burden of the 15s and the two stages was not making my day at this point.

Soon enough, Steve called that he was ready for people to get in and I made for the right hand gate, hoping that as soon as I got in I could sort out the position of the stages which were dragging me back. Unfortunately, whilst hanging on to the gate, the boat hit another hole and the deck went away from my feet, with me landing complete with stages on my back.

Well it did at least mean that I could get the harness up over my shoulder! I considered just slithering forward and nose diving over the side, but two strong guys (still don't know who) dragged me to my feet and I shouted to Steve that I was OK to go - I don't think I quite said get me off this damn boat - but I was thinking it.

Al had been over at the other gate, so took a second or so at the shot line to check that I was OK after falling and happy to continue. We went down to 6, I switched off my 21 meter bottle and we set off down the shot.

It seemed no time at all before we could see the lights of two other divers on the wreck. Far from the poor 1 metre or so of viz we had been warned about, we had 3 to 5 metres - and a cracking good wreck lay out in front of us.

We were dropped in roughly two thirds of the way back along the ship, towards the stern and set off - dropping over at first to admire the intact hull standing a relatively impressive 15 metres proud - then back to the deck for a poke around. Swimming back towards the bow we swam by some intact promenades, calling out for swim throughs but as the way out was unclear we stayed firmly outside. 

I found a porthole which had fallen off the side of the wreck, complete with glass. I considered lifting it but was relatively convinced that it wasn't brass so, unable to be bothered with the hassle, I put it down again. 

We carried on, passing the break in the wreck which was inflicted during the collision, and up to the bow. I love hanging off bows of intact wrecks, it's my Titanic moment - and this one was impressive with a large Admiralty anchor still hanging in situ. I grinned at Al who gave the universal double OK that divers give when it's a good dive.

We had discussed keeping the bottom time short due to cold water and the prospect of getting cold on deco. However, the depth was a little less than we thought it would be so the deco limits we agreed were reached after 33 minutes on the wreck - a small bonus. 

I thumbed the dive and we set off for uneventful deco, which I padded slightly in case I had bruised my shoulder when falling on the boat. Coming up to find Steve waiting patiently by our bag was rather nice and getting out was a damn sight easier than getting in. 

A little more drama occurred when one of the other teams got out. One of the guys had sustained a head injury when CCR met scalp but went diving anyway. Upon getting out it was apparent he was still bleeding. Everyone rallied round to help dress the wound, and tend to the diver when he got a little faint - chocolate always helps.

So, all in all, a good day with a mixed boat of UK divers taking the piss and helping each other out. You never know when a good dive will happen - something I'll remember when my alarm goes off at 4:15am next.