You should check out the East Coast of the UK. Last year I dived on a
wreck  - which turned out to be 4 (four) wrecks on top of each other.
Found a WW1 / WW2 ? sub last year complete with live torpedoes sitting
just out from the bow. Got a 450 foot luxury liner sitting half a
kilometer from Felixstowe beach.  Got armoured trawlers, cruisers, more
liners, destroyers, frigates, submarines, fishing boats, yachts, cargo
carriers, etc, etc, usually with lots of fishing nets laid on top. Some
are marked on the chart - most are not.  The nice thing is that these
wrecks are very rarely dived, because of the difficulty of the diving
and the local conditions which dictate you must be ready to dive with
minimal notice - low, variable viz (good viz = 1.5m), nasty
unpredictable tides, very changeable weather etc. Its difficult to plan
dives - you just look out of the window in the morning, if it looks ok
and the forecast checks out, and the tides check out, you go get the mag
out and go a wreck-hunting. In addition, there are very very few
commercial hard boats diving from the East - its all privately-owned
Ribs and the odd privetely owned hard boat.

Granted, the wrecks are not deep - most being within 50m - but they are
difficult to dive on. However, when you get on a wreck that you know
that very few have dived on her (if at all), and you can swim along,
find bells, telegraphs, port holes, telescopes etc etc, it makes up for
all the logistical problems.

There's one guy I know who finds it unusual if he comes up from a dive
without a bell! As for brass portholes, how many can you carry? There's
only so many mirrors / windows / tables etc that you can make from them.

And No, I'm not saying that the East Coast of the UK is THE best wreck
diving area of the world. I'm sure there are comparable areas all over
the world.  If you know of such an area, you are lucky. Me, I know I am
fortunate to be able to dive this area. I've dived many countries and
areas, but still enjoy diving my cold, mucky, dark, murky, unpredictable
bit of sea that I have 9 miles up the road.

Dive safe....

 - Helen

 ----------
From: s.foster@ic*.ac*.uk*
To: techdiver@aquanaut.com
Subject: Re: To Thomas A. Easop
Date: 19 June 1997 07:56

>Florida is the Artificial Wreck capital of the world. It works out well
>for everybody. The maritime world gets rid of its garbage by sinking it
>off Florida and Florida divers get an improvement in the quality of their
>dive experiences.
>
Thanks Roderick, although I'm sure Jeoff would beg to differ.

Jeoff, seems like there's some disagreement between you boys on what
constitutes a wreck. You guys really should get your stories worked out
before telling us to come and dive real wrecks in Florida. Is there an
abundance of real wrecks, or are they all fishtank material? Never seen
a
goldfish wearing a helmet, are they Hogarthian?
Can we have something more substantial than
"our-stuff-is-best-you-dumbass"
type replies. I want statistics, like say the number of real wrecks
within
a 20 mile radius of Ft. Lauderdale. As an example there are over 200
located, diveable wrecks within the same distance from Brighton, a town
on
the south coast, south of London. Many more have yet to be found...

Steve



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