Wreck
and Rock in Manorca - Text By Ron Mahoney
Images: John Lee & Angus Turnbull
Turning
out for a week’s warm-up diving
at five-thirty in the morning on a cold
and rainy day in early March didn’t
exactly fill us with joy. However in a
little over two-hours we’d be on
the Mediterranean island of Menorca where
the sun would be shinning across a clear
blue sky and flat calm sea.
We
wanted to get a good weeks diving in to
blow out the cobwebs and get us ready
for the UK season to kick off. We’d
chosen Menorca for a number of reasons;
firstly I’d dived there before and
knew that there were at least four wrecks
in the 40-50m range, cave systems in 65m
and a rather nice wreck at 96m. Secondly,
the sea temperature at 12 degrees (roughly
through the whole water column) would
mean we’d be using our standard
British summer equipment. The third reason
was that at this time of year you can
get some quite brisk winds and we knew
that we’d always be able to get
in somewhere no matter what the weather
was doing.
We
were staying at Cala en Forcat on the
western end of the island that is a booming
resort town during the summer but while
we were out there it was as quite as a
church mouse. Knowing this we had hired
a car that allowed us to nip in and out
of the large port of Cuitadella where
numerous bars and restaurants remain open.
Having
unpacked and fettled our kit, our first
dive was a quick shake-down in the bay
at Cala en Forcat. A gorge leads out to
an open-water drop off of around 25m directly
in front of you a huge rock pinnacle rises
from the seabed to just a few meters below
the surface. Although the Med isn’t
tidal there was quite a current running
and after following it out and around
the bay all three of us were glad that
we could dodge into the cover of the pinnacle
and make our way back to the gorge. It
was a long dive and a good fin back and
as the three of us surfaced we looked
back and forth at the other. Our general
state of health wasn’t brilliant
(we were knackered) mind you the previous
nights Vodka & Redbull antics were
probably as much to do with this. From
here on in we were off the pop and on
the water!
Our
first real dive was to be on the wreck
of the Malakoff a popular wreck with the
summer divers but one that you need plenty
of time to explore. The French-owned cargo
steamer had run onto the cliffs near the
Cap D’Artruix lighthouse on the
2nd January 1929. She was nearing the
end of a voyage from Madagascar and was
bound for Marseilles with a mixed cargo
of sewing machines, china dinner services,
pig iron and cement. Her Captain, M. Quemper
had given orders to go astern from the
cliffs, but the ship was lost. Many of
her crew were asleep and went down with
the ship. The remaining twenty-seven of
the forty-one crewmen aboard, together
with two officer's wives took to one of
the ship's lifeboats but all were lost
in the whirlpool caused by suction as
the ship foundered. Two of the crew were
eventually saved after enduring six days
without food or water adrift at the mercy
of the storm in a small yacht that the
Malakoff had been towing. Another six
crew including the First Officer were
saved by the Cap D’Artruix lighthouse
Keepers at considerable risk to their
own lives after having drifted all night
in the rough weather clutching the keel
of a capsized ship's boat.
The wreck now lies not far off-shore and
has been heavily salvaged, viewed from
above or as you descend the wreck she
forms more of a wreck shaped reef than
a discernable ship; however dropping onto
the seabed in 40m and things look much
different. From the front of the wreck,
the anchor chains still falls away from
the bow on one side where you can look
up to about 5-6m of solid hull. Swimming
along the port hull you see the plates
bent outwards like banana skins were the
salvage took place and plenty of debris
still lies out on the white sandy bottom.
Looking
up from the seabed you clearly see that
the wreck has become the home to a massive
amount of marine life. Thousands of damselfish
tower ever higher to as far as you can
see. Weaving in and out of the vertical
beams of the steamship a large shoal of
barracuda and dentex make their presence
felt. Swimming towards a low area in the
side of the wreck you start to move into
the remains of the cargo – hundreds
of bags of now hardened cement. They have
formed holes and cracks from which dozens
of moray eel peer out, slowly opening
and closing their mouths as they gaze
upon a divers light. The wreck really
is an underwater photographers paradise,
there are several opportunities for dramatic
shots of the wreck from the seabed to
close up work on the myriad of marine
life that now makes the wreck home. Diving
the wreck with twin 10’s and a 7li
side-mount meant that you could have a
decent forty minutes on around and through
the wreck before you have start up.
We
motored back to the quiet cove at Cala
en Forcat it seemed like we had the place
to ourselves – probably because
we did! Although the sun was shining during
the day, the nights were pretty chilly
and it was nice to have the a real fire
to sit in front of and plan the next days
diving.
Our
second wreck was a salvage barge that
lies in 42m straight out of the port of
Cuitadella, the old capital of Menorca.
The barge was a salvage platform with
a large crane at its centre. The crane
was removed after the barge sank and now
leaves the large rectangular hull lying
on a sandy seabed. Once again as it is
the only thing around the barge has been
colonised by the locals. You couldn’t
describe the outside as pretty it is basically
a box with mooring bollards around it,
not very exciting there, but a number
of the hatches leading down inside the
barge are open and you can easily slip
inside and work your way around either
the port or starboard engine compartments.
On our dive we noticed a large scorpion
fish sat on top of a switch box, its large
eye following you while the rest of its
body remained rigidly still. I think the
scorpion fish make brilliant subjects
as they just sit there posing endlessly.
Returning into the bay at Cala en Forcat
I had seen one come into a group of fish
we were feeding amneonies to. It swam
up and scattered the small fish before
settling itself down on the rock. It wasn’t
interested in any of the bits I might
offer and as soon as the small wrasse
forgot he was there and came back in the
huge white mouth made sure it was a fish-supper.
The barge can be pretty well done in twenty
minutes so in the decompression penalties
aren’t that great leaving us time
for a second dive in the renowned cavern
system of Pont en Gil. Marv’s big
RIB soon has us back to charge cylinders
and get ready for this spectacular dive.
In
the afternoon we headed through the arch
in the cliffs that leads to the sheltered
bay where a Menorcian snorkeler had taken
a deep breath and dived down to the dark
water and swimming inside and so discovering
one of the most fascinating dives on the
island.
The entrance to the system is via a small
quite tight passage of about ten metres
length. Once through this the passage
floor drops away and over to your right
is the blue glow of the exit out to sea.
The fresh water that helped form the cave
creates haloclines and at this time of
year the fresh water was quite noticabley
warmer than the saltwater. The main passageway
into the cave is actually only covered
with rock for a short distance before
it forms an underground canal with a maximum
depth of around 15m. Surfacing you can
see fantastic rock sculptures and stalagmites
in the main chamber.
It
is possible to leave the water and explore
the dry cave but on this occasion we just
took photographs before dropping back
down. From the main chamber the we sandy
floor of the cave narrows slightly (still
wide enough for three divers side by side)
and you find some of the underwater stalagmites
that wouldn’t look out of place
in an Alien movie, the smooth white deposit
is unique to the touch.
Fining
further back into the cavern you eventually
come to the shallow beach at the end of
the dive. There is no need to lay a line
in the cavern (unless it is for practice)
as it is one way in and out, the sandy
floor also settles quickly if accidentally
stirred up.
Before long you see the faint blue glow
ahead that guides you to the main exit
out of the cavern. Once outside it was
a short swim through across boulder-strewn
seabed back into the bay from where the
dive started.
The
weather had been very good to us so far
and the continued absence of any wind
meant that our next dive would be on the
notoriously fickle north coast to once
more visit the wreck of the cargo ship
the Francisquita. The five hundred ton
general cargo ship had been on a voyage
to Barcelona when she sprang a leak back
in December 1952. She couldn’t manage
to limp the short distance around to coast
to Cuitadella and the locals had photographed
the ship slowly succumbing to the sea
from the nearby cliffs of Punta Nati.
The
wreck now sits upright in a depth of 50m
and stands proud by about 10m to the top
of the funnel. When we arrived on site
it was a little grey and overcast but
even with the low light, having entered
the water we could clearly see the wreck
from about 20m down.
The
wreck is a typical layout for a post-war
freighter, bridge and accommodation to
the rear and the holds up front. We initially
started taking photos around the bridge
area before moving towards the stern,
swimming along the companionway. On a
previous dive I’d filmed two of
the largest groupers I’d seen in
the Med who lived in and around the bridge,
they were a pair of massive fish, I wouldn’t
like to guess how old they were, but sadly
they haven’t been seen for several
years. Although the light was dull, it
was still possible to see both ends of
the wreck from amidships giving at least
25m visibility. The accommodation was
easily be entered by dropping down into
the first hold and swimming back on yourself
and up, as all that now remains are the
ribs that held the bulkhead. There were
a few tight squeezes between some of the
beams and along the passageway but nothing
too uncomfortable. At the end of one of
the corridors is another opening that
leads down into the engine room.
This
is quite tight to manouvre into (clip
your stage cylinders outside) but dropping
down into the undisturbed interior of
the engine room is well worth the effort
as large machinery, gantries and numerous
gauges and switchboards remain intact.
Swimming
back outside, the bow can also be reached
within safe gas limits on an extended
range dive and is well worth a good look
around especially inside the chain locker
that once again was inhabited by a large
scorpion fish. We swam back from the bow
and started our ascent to join the shotline
at 32m and carry out our deep stops.
Although the water was a relatively cool
12 degrees, the excellent visibility lead
to a stress free dive and I still had
100bar left in the twin 10’s after
surfacing from an excellent 80 minute
dive.
Our
last dive was at the opposite end of the
island near to Mahon on the wreck of a
large trawler called the Santa Clara Santi
that sits upright in 47m of water. As
we loaded the boat up we could see that
the wind had finally picked up and we
were glad it was only a short ride out
to the wreck. There was a nasty choppy
sea running so we got down quickly and
the wreck was soon in view and at the
risk of repeating myself again, it was
on a bright sandy seabed, teeming with
marine life etc.
The
Santi was the smallest wreck we had dived,
small but perfectly formed and a twenty-minute
bottom time saw us go round the wreck
and then have time to spare going back
to the area’s you wanted to have
a look around in. I entered the bridge
and then swam down the corridor looking
to see what else I could find. I entered
what I think was a smaller storage area
– too small for a fish hold, before
rising up through a hatch and coming out
on the deck near the stern. Apparently
lying some way of the stern is a WWII
American jeep that was being carried by
the Santi – why do they always tell
you this after you’ve surfaced?
Reflecting
on the week we all agreed that we’d
certainly achieved the aim of blowing
away the winter cobwebs. We’d also
made sure our kit was in A1 condition
and we were ready for the season back
home. Looking at the week from the point
of view of cost, it was no more expensive
than staying in a B&B on the south
coast and paying for a day boat, only
you knew you would be in the water each
day!
Logistics:
Flights:
Monarch have a scheduled service from
Luton that flies on a
Saturday during the off-peak months
Dive
centres Dive packages to suit can be arranged
by a number of centres
on the island, however you need to check
availability out of season. For this reason
we used a combination of:
Simon
Townsend at REC-N-TEC
www.rec-n-tec.com Tel: 0034 618 326 711
-and-
Marv
Moss at Mtech www.menorcatech.com
Tel: 0034 646 96 44 48
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