HAVING FOUNDERED JUST A FEW MILES out from Lossiemouth, the steel-hulled trawler Unity is virtually the house reef. The seabed is at 24m, so the Unity is accessible to all divers who have progressed beyond basic open water qualifications.
As with the vast majority of the Moray Firth, there is no
current or slack water to worry about, so the Unity can be dived at any
state of the tide, either as a quick trip out for a single dive or as a
convenient second dive on the way back in from a deeper wreck.
There is usually a buoy attached to the bow, so this is where our tour begins (1).
Or rather, this is where the real tour begins, because the
first thing to look out for when diving the Unity are the famous Moray
Firth dolphins, riding the bow wave of the dive-boat on the journey out
from Lossiemouth.
Anyway, back to the wreck. The railing around the bow is mostly
intact, and both the railing and the bow itself are covered in
anemones. At 20m, this is the shallowest point of the wreck.
What little current there is concentrates a cloud of fish about
the tip of the bow. Also centred here is an old tyre set as a fender -
an arrangement not out of place on a working boat like the Unity, though
it amazes me that old tyres are still used as fenders on far posher
ships.
I suppose that any trendy modern purpose-built alternative would end up looking like an old tyre anyway.
Further back on the starboard side of the bow, the railings
have collapsed inward. At the centre of the deck, a diagonally set
square base (2) is the mounting point for a small anchor winch.
Behind this, just before the forecastle steps down to the main
deck, a circular hole marks where the forward mast would have been.
Like many other fittings, the steps were removed when the Unity
was stripped in Lossiemouth before the hull was towed to the breakers'
yard. Fortunately for us divers, the Unity foundered under tow, so the
final breaking never happened.
Over the side of the bow and about level with the base from the
anchor winch, each side of the forecastle is pierced by a small
porthole (3), with another old tyre set as a fender at the back of the forecastle.
Behind the forecastle, stooped hatches lead back inside (4), though there is nothing to see other than accumulated silt.
The hatch cover from the first hold is slid forwards, leaving
the hold open. The second hold is also open, with no sign of the
associated hatch.
As in the forecastle, silt is beginning to accumulate in the
holds, though ribs from the hull are still showing through.
A heavy H-shaped frame is set diagonally on the deck between these two holds (5), the base from part of the catch-sorting and processing machinery.
A set of three parallel pipes leads from here and out through the gunwale on the port side (6). Decaying ropes are tucked in beneath the gunwale most of the way aft.
The wreck is rolled slightly to port so that the port main deck
is a metre or two closer to the seabed than the starboard side. Towards
the aft of the main deck, this brings the port side almost level with
the seabed.
Across the wreck on the starboard side, an engineer's vice,
similar to any that would be found in a home workshop, is welded to the
starboard gunwale (7).
Continuing aft, the third and last hold is also open, with no sign of the hatch cover.
A tripod mast that has fallen across the deck hinders access to the hold (8).
It would originally have stood against the front of the wheelhouse,
with the two shorter legs bracing it against the wheelhouse roof.
The wheelhouse was removed so that the engine could be stripped
from the hull, leaving a big hole where the wheelhouse and engine used
to be (9).
Dropping down inside the vacated engine space, a generator is still mounted low on the starboard side.
Behind the engine space, an intact section of cabin roof spans
the hull, though leaving space for access forward and aft on the
starboard side.
Partitioned off at the port side is the perennial diver's
favourite sight, a lavatory, with a small porthole to provide light and
ventilation (10).
The cabin forward of this lavatory on the port side was still
intact when the Unity sank, but the outer wall and roof have now fallen
outward and come to rest on the seabed.
Behind the cabins, the spreaders for the trawl stand on either
side, solid pillars with the tops canted out and pulley blocks hanging
from the ends.
The centre of the aft deck is marked by the outline from where
the base of the trawl winch would have been bolted in place.
The stern has sunk into the sand further than the bow, but the
list to port leaves just enough space to get beneath the starboard side.
As would be expected on a ship stripped prior to breaking, the propeller had been removed before the Unity sank.
A little way forward, and the vent for the engine-cooling water is exposed just above the seabed.
At the final point on our tour, although unlikely to be the end
of the dive, a 10cm rope is tied to the starboard spreader and floats
off for several metres before breaking.
Already covered in big plumose anemones, I suspect that
eventually the weight of accumulated silt and marine life will bring
this down to the seabed.
The Unity is only a small wreck, so even a no-stop dive will
give time to swim the length of the wreck and back to the bow with
plenty to spare.
With no current to worry about, ascent is easy via the buoyline at the bow.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment