Lermontov on rebreathers

Just give me the three “R’s” any day – “Wrecks, Rust and Rebreathers!! (well two out of three R’s anyway!!)

There is no feeling quite like descending onto a sunken ship wreck and watching the superstructure coming out of the gloom. This is what I like to do every possible chance I get. The lure of a sunken ship wreck does it for me every time.

The trip started with a bang! Coming from Auckland heading down to Welington is a bit of a shocker when you have to drive! Many thoughts were shed thinking about flying and freighting the gear but at the end of the day we just bit the bullet and drove down.

The first dive is as always a bit of a shakedown, blowing off any cobwebs and re-orientating oneself to the wreck. She really is a beautie!! The first thing that I noticed was the viz. It was great! The last time I was diving in ‘Dirty Ol Gore!” the viz was about 2-4 meters. So 10 to 14m was a treat!

With the great viz around, this made life a bit easier penetrating the wreck. The ambient light streamed into the depths of the wreck making it quite picturesque. Not the usual pitch black scary monster dive it normally is when penetrating deep into the ship. The pool area was breathtaking. On so many dives beforehand I had entered this area and never noticed that there was a huge skylite above my head! I guess that’s what happens when there is a little sunshine and good viz!

Taking the all too frequent route down onto the promenade deck from the midships external staircase and along the long wooden flooring towards the stern I slipped into the port side pool area door. Simon accompanied me, armed with his Drager Dolphin I. It was great to have a fellow rebreather diver. It makes all the difference!! Once our eyes got used to the reduced ambient light we could make out each and every section of the skylight. Just then Alex and Colin entered through the stern doors into the pool area. A great sight. Another “Kodak moment” seeing silhouetted divers against the wreck outline with their torches illuminating the immediate superstructure they were pointed at.

After a few laps in the pool and a refreshing drink at the pool bar we ventured along the starboard side of the pool area. After years of sitting in the mud the Lermontov is slowly sinking into it inch by inch. My 100 watt battery pack torch beam was engulfed by the blackness as I pointed it along the partially submerged starboard promenade deck. Not today!! That was what we call a “sphincter factor 10” dive.

After a look around we slipped out and back down the promenade again. Being Simons first time there we stopped off and showed him the cinema, library, lobby and hairdressing salon. Ahhhh I immediately noticed that something was missing!! Some burglar had taken the harbours chair. I know who you are!!!

This ship really is a wreck divers delight. The good thing about the Lermontov is that you can have amazing dives on it and NEVER have to penetrate it! There is SO much to see and observe on the outside of the huge liner.

There were reports of an earlier dive team who left their reel in the wreck. After a small discussion I knew approximately where it was. Next dive we went in for a look. Entering through the main amidships doorway and down into the lobby the mission began! Remembering that the wreck is lying at a 90 degree angle on it's starboard side, everything is lob sided and becoming disorientated is very easy to do so the utmost caution must be taken. Also entering from the top also brings it's disadvantages. If you do not use extreme caution you will displace and stir up sediment, which will ‘rain’ down on you the deeper into the wreck you go! So it's tip toeing all round!! The beautie of having the breather is that there are NO bubbles, which means - no displacement of sediment off the ceiling.

On the descent I entered feet first. This orientates me with things and also more easier to control buoyancy. On the bow side of the lobby a beautiful staircase came into view showing the way into the lower decks. Opposite the staircase was a lift. If you were game to descend down the elevator shaft this would be a tight squeeze!!! Now, the staircase proved a challenge in the bodies natural spirit level. The biggest thing in entering wrecks like this is keeping orientation. Everything is skewiff!! Try and picture this…. With the ships floor at a 90 degree angle, that makes you ascend a little as you are descending down the staircase to the next floor. On top of this you are spiralling round through the floors. Enough to make you dizzy?? Now add pitch black, silt to boot and so quiet you can hear every heart beat (that’s always a good sign!!!) But bear in mind that this is deep into the ships gut. Even proper procedures and experience must not be enough. You need to be as sharp as possible and not to take unnecessary risks. I came across the white line at the exact point anticipated. On immediate observation I noticed that the line went directly down in-between the banister rail and not following the staircase route. This line must have been dropped as anyone who has any training in reeling off knows to tie off so if there was a siltout they could follow the line back to the opening. I followed the staircase down a level to the next deck. There was zero ambient light but my path way was illuminated by three helmet lights and my 100 watter AUL 14 battery pack torch so no shortage of wattage!

Loads of debris hampered the journey. Finally I got to the end of the line and it was tied off and cut. Obviously whoever laid the line had no regard for safety. Reason being that whenever wreck divers line off in a wreck they always clear up all their lines afterwards. This being to reduce entanglement and confusion with many lines around the wreck. I cut the line away gathered it up and headed back up and out the entry.

We spend the rest of the 5 days trip exploring more and more of the wreck. That’s the beautie of diving. You never get sick of it!! Especially when you learn a little bit more every time you get into the water!!

Safe Diving

Pete Mesley