Fishermen

Always dived with Fishermen over the years. Because divers always end up helping them out. We either clear or retrieve lost lobster/brab pots. Lift sunken carbs; or clear their propellers when they have gone over their own lines or indeed someone elses. Its a funny union be cause fishermen often blame divers when they have a bad day. They often think divers rob thier pots but in all my 44 years of diving I have never seen this or heard of a diver doing it.   Most of the guys I have helped have either retired now or in one case RiP. Another has left the islands. Even some of the boats are no longer on the water. I'll introduce a few from the past. 

This top image is Alec Hicks on board 'Good Will'. I knew his father first who was a boatman/diver for Roland Morris on the Colossus Wreck. Later I got to know his son here, Alec, and went out with him quite a few times, once even just for the ride. Alec worked everywhere-in amongst the islands and also out in deep water around the outside a good distance out. He was a serious fishermen. They all are but Alec spent a lot on his well kitted out boat. I also shared his woodworking shop for many years. Alec used to spend his winters in the workshop mending pots and nets and making new pots while I built staircases and such. He was always great company but sadly retired and now left Scilly. He was a local boatman before that. He ran a tripper boat called Kingfisher for years before getting serious with the fishing. He gave up the very lucrative holiday maker trade for smelly fishing.

This is Brian Jenkins & son aboard 'Curlew'. He was the very first fishermen I got to know over here. Brian is always ready with an old story about Scilly. He is a bit of a local oracle who features a fair bit in my book Wreck of Colossus. I have some nice memories going out with Brian on his old tub. He has long since retired and his old 1930's wooden built boat 'Curlew' broken up and burnt. He is very old now and cant get about much but his mind is still sharp as a knife. Brian often went by my boat when I was diving on the stern area of Colossus after I found that wreck site. Thats how I got to know him. His son now runs his own vessel and fishes the exact same spots as his father Brian used to. Mostly around the norrard rocks off Maiden Bower; castle Bryher; scilly rock; Mincarlo etc etc.

Another older fisherman I have helped in the past is Tim. Here is is aboard someone elses boat but his own boat was called Victory. He mostly worked out in deep water around the outside of the islands a a good distance off.  I think he has long since retired or scaled down what he does. Went out with these guys years ago, mostly to look after the boat while they went netting, then help to pull in the catch. The old ways were they set a net on a high tide near a brow of rocks. Then , when the brow covers the fish come to eat whatever gets washed over it. The fishermen then went along the nearby shore and made a lot of splashing in the water to force the fish towards their net. It was great to watch. Not seen it being done like that in a long time but was glad to get to see the old ways in operation.

Kitt Legg aboard Pioneer. Sadly no longer with us, so a bit sad I dont have a better picture of him. . This guy always worked out to the western rocks, St Agnes rocks; Annet rocks; Brow of Ponds; Bishop; Retarrier; and the Gilstone where the  warship Association wreckage lies. Thus I saw him quite a lot over the years working out there.  Quite often he would let me tie my boat up to his pot line when he worked anywhere near a wreck I wanted to look at out that way- of course, in return, I'd have to help him out if called upon. He lived on St Agnes and his son took over his boat for a few seasons after he passed away. But sadly now the Pioneer seems to be high and dry above Periglis bay  and looks to be set to be left that way to rot. but I could be wrong-I hope so anyway!  All very sad. Had some great days out there and seeing and mixing with them all. They being around on the surface while I was diving down below was kind of comforting-especially when I was out there all alone. They were all intrigued to know what it was like down under the places they worked. And if ever I found a new wreck I would tell them= "hey, you know that spot where you always fish by such and such rock?-well theres a wreck under there" It always stunned them to think they had no idea what they were actually fishing over all those years. Similarly, I would say to avoid a position if there was a big steel or iron wreck about- so that they wouldnt get their lines or nets stuck.

Nice guys all!
 

Colossus Carriage

One day back when I found the stern area of the Wreck of Colossus, I found a loose piece of wood. This bit of oak was about 4feet long, 6 inches wide and wedge shaped- Tapering from about 3 inches to about  3 quarters of an inch over its length. This wood I left out in the rain for about 5 years to see what would happen to it if it went untreated. One day I took it indoors and let it dry out for another year or two. Eventually I picked it up and decided to see if it was of any use. The surface had gone all black and wrinkled. So I scraped this wrinkled layer off and was amazed to find that there was perfect wood beneath. So I decided to make a small gun carriage with it. I made a few pattens to work from and discovered there was only just about enough for the job. The image below shows one end of the bit of wood before cutting the shapes out. You can see a blackened area which was an original slot in the wood. It is how the whole thing looked before I scraped the black wrinkled layer off.  The oak beneath is perfect old English oak. I am holding a plywood patten of one of the side cheeks above the piece.

I found a diagram of how to construct a late 18th century carriage then, scaling that down to suit the iron gun I was given, I set about cutting out the individual components.  Two side cheeks; two axels; 4 trucks; 1 front transom; 1 gun bed; 1 pig; and a quoin. As are laid out below.

    

Pig Bed & Quoin.

Then, after putting it all together, and making holes tor all the ironwork I carved these latin words on the front of the transom- MATERIA CAPTUS EX NAVIS COLOSSUS which roughly translates to- Material taken from the ship Colosuss.  

I then sent the carraige away to a friend who made all the iron parts for it like- the bolts to hold it all together like the axels o the side cheeks; the trunnion straps which hold the gun down; and the litch pins to hold the wheels (trucks) on. He also added a few rings for where the ropes that move a gun about should go.  The iron gun itself was a gift from another friend.  All the iron bits can be seen in the images below. So now, ever since, I have had an actual part of the ship inside the house. One of my prize possessions and a fabulous reminder of the wonderful time  (2 years 1999 &2000) I had on the site before all the toss pots turned up to spoil it. I later made a full size gun carriage out of a big bit of local elm and it now stands outside my house in the front garden, but thats another story............

 

Cita Telegraph.

Gibson image of Cita with salvage vessel 'Scavenger' astern of her.

The MV Cita container ship was wrecked here on Newfoundland point south side of St Marys island 6th March 1997. She was on auto pilot at the time and her crew asleep. Someone had turned off the auto pilot alarm, so that when she was due to change course noone knew because no alarm sounded. The man in charge in the bridge was asleep in the captains chair at the time. The crash woke him up. Later, after they got all the rest of the crew off safely, the captain wanted to stay aboard in case he was needed if the vessel could be towed off the rocks. My wife was listening on the sea radio and could hear him refusing to leave. Then all of a sudden the vessel lurched a bit underneath him and began her slow slip back into deeper water. My wife heard the panic in his voice when he shouted over the radio mike for them to come and rescue him. He was got off safely and slowly but surely, over time, the Cita slipped away into the deep. It was most odd. One moment this vast vessel was still showing above the waters surface- but by the time I saw her in June that year she was gone. 

Cita telegraph still in place on the bridge

Scavenger

  I was on holiday in the Islands in June that year and found myself tangled up in the salvage for a few weeks.  I was aboard salvage boat called 'Scavenger' which can be seen in the top picture astern of the Cita. The crew were Mac Mace the skipper/diver and John Williams his number one diver. Myself and a friend called Terry Perkins joined them that June. It was all just a bit of fun, for Terry and I, if truth be known. We were gifted silver coins from the Hollandia at the time-because without a commercial ticket, we couldnt actually be paid for our time. The work was a bit dangerous at times but a real hoot on the whole.  We raised car tyres, grave stones, tools, all orts, oh and the ships spare propeller blade which currently stands outside the Belrock hotel on St Marys-just down the road from where I now live. You can read about this saga in my book 'Wreck of Colossus'. We were mostly working stuff out from the holds of the Cita and from inside the stern locker, as well as from around the outside of the wreck on the sea floor. But when the work was done I went for a swim around the bridge which was in shallower water at the time. There I noticed the Telegraph still being in place. I then returned aboard another boat with some tools and removed it. It took a couple of longish dives to get it. It was situated in about 25meters as the ship had turned right over onto its side. In other words- as I went into one side door of the bridge- the other opposing open door was facing the sea bed. I remember seeing a seal frequently looking up at me from that deeper doorway as I worked to remove the telegragh.

Here I am aboard, Moonshadow going back to St Marys harbour with the Telegraph. When we got back the skipper of Moonshadow gave me another nice coin off the Hollandia as a swap for the telegraph. He then kept it in his shed for years and did nothing with it. One day I went to him and got it back. Here it is below all cleaned up and painted and on display at home.

Fight for the Schiller.

A few artifacts I found on the SS Schiller Wreck. 

The SS Schiller sank here in 1875. Its a very tragic story and there's a very good book about it entitled- 'The Victorian Titanic'  A few of my artifacts appear in the back of this book. (More on that below.) I have gathered all sorts of things from this wreck over the years including portholes and some large gold coins like the ones in the picture above. This small collection has a long tale to tell. I found most of it while working the wreck with a guy named Dave Mcbride. When I surfaced with a few of the silver items Dave's face was a picture- he was clearly very disappointed that I did so well while diving with him that day. As a result of his obvious disappointment, I offered Dave all my finds as they had come from a particular spot he liked on the wreck. He told me to dig there and I'd had a lot of fun finding the items but I really didn't want to upset him so reiterated the offer. However, he again foolishly refused to take them and it clearly ended up festering inside. A few months later, I put the artefacts all on display in my local museum and went on diving the wreck from time to time, with everyone else, not thinking there was anything wrong with that. Not once did I see the exact spot again where Dave had been working. Its not that kind of site. There is no ship to to see to speak of. Its utterly smashed to smithereens and scattered among hundreds of large boulders. Hardly anything is recogniseable down there aprt from a part of the prop shaft. Its very difficult to tell where you are as a result of this.  One just mooches among the boulders picking bits up as you go around. 

Buckled Silver toast rack. (Bares the liners Eagle Emblem)

Shortly after the items went into the museum, I got a letter from Dave,- (who actually lived next door to me at the time!)- suddenly stating that he was 'salvor in possession' of the wreck and that i was not to dive the site any longer. Consequently, I popped next door to confront him in an attempt put this silliness to bed. I knew this had always been a free wreck to dive, as everyone here was diving it at the time, even the local and mainland dive charters regularly put their customers on the site. Its what I call a "bus stop wreck" but one that occasionally gives up the odd interesting item. One of the other local divers that showed me where the wreck was told me that, years ago, he had also shown Dave where the wreck was too, so it was not like he had discovered it. On his door step Dave said I was "Advertising" the wreck by putting the artifacts in the museum. To me, this sounded a bit paranoid but there was nothing to say to that in return other than that- I was sorry it upset him but it was too late now. The items had been declared and the action taken.  Personally I could not see any harm. I then left knowing that I had now, unbelievably, fallen out with my neighbour over a few artifacts he had previously refused to take from me when they had been genuinely offered to him at the time!

Thimble with the name Elsa engraved in a cartouche.

A christening gift to Elsa who died in the wrecking.

I continued to visit the wreck with others from time to time amazed that someone would drop a friend for a few old wreck items-but theres nowt queer as folk!  One day another letter arrived, this time from the self important Richard Larn OBE; it came recorded delivery through his expensive London solicitor. The letter basically claimed that everything I had from the wreck was his by legal right. He basically wanted me to take everything from the museum and hand it all over to him. I was also told- never to go out to dive the Schiller again without his express permission. And that he held legal sway over the site. Both statements were false but now the truth was emerging. I had previously been dealing with the oil rag when I needed to be talking to the mechanic. Thus, I went up to Mr Larn's house to talk to him instead. I asked Mr Larn if his actions were a bit over the top and tried to make him see sense that anyone can dive this free and open wreck site for all. Truth be known-I wasn't really that bothered with the Schiller but my brother and friends liked to dive it at the time. I could easily have walked away from the wreck  but when I expressed the opinion that 'it wasn't his wreck to claim' - he got angry and said something like -"if you go out there again my solicitor will place an injunction upon you".  

Ornate silver travel sewing kit above and below it opened up

Needles were kept in the bottom and cotton on the spools under the thimble on top.

Well his threats were like a red rag to a bull. Instead of just caving in my east London gob opened and this came out- "Well crack on my old china, coz Im heading out there right now!" Well after that we fought over the site. Him to stop me and me just being bloody minded. To cut a long story short, the Receiver of Wreck also ignored Mr Larns claims to the wreck, and so too my artifacts, by taking the action of handing legal title to them all over to me. This single action broke his flimsy ill thought out "legal"claim to the Schiller, and everyone lived happily ever after. 😂

Silver ware like spoons bare the initials NLB. (Becker family)

Sadly the Schiller controversy didn't end there. The artefacts spent 15 years on display until the then curator of the museum, to my mind was a very stupid woman who should never have been given the job to begin with, decided to kick my other two displays- (HMS Colossus & Wheels Wreck)- out of the museum.  I felt she was just being vindictive because she had recently lost one of my schiller gold coins then in her care. Naturally, I had complained to the trustees and the museum found me another coin as a replacement.  Shortly after my other displays were given the boot-I took the Shciller items too, as I no longer trusted they were in the safest place to be. 

Silverware so far found on the site has either the owners initials upon them- NLB - or they carried the emblem of the German Liner company- an open winged Eagle over the letters DTDG that owned the Schiller.  As below.

 

Mud Shoes.

As reported in an earlier post from a few months back, I made a return to that spot off Mersea Island where I have been finding Roman pottery. So far I have discovered 3 complete roman pots there as well as lots of broken pieces. Well the spot is about half a mile off shore and can only be reached at low tides. Well last time I was there I almost got into trouble by getting stuck in the mud. Now that kind of thing happens time to time and when I was a younger man I took it in my stride but now I am 60 years old its a tad more difficult to deal with. Its dangerous out there on the mud and even though I have a lifetime of experience larking off mersea, I still get into trouble. Well instead of not going, I decided it was time to change tack and make myself some mud shoes. (pictured above) Well I went back to visit my mum on the island recently and took my new shoes to try them out. They worked really well and gave me a lot of confidence to go most places. A tweak here and there to reduce the suction but on the whole a success. The only other thing I learned was how much my leg muscles hurt after using something new like these. I found muscles hurting for 24 hours afterwards that I never knew I had. 

Sadly I never found any more pottery, or anything else but the day was bright sunshine and most enjoyable just being out there and trudging around. The terrain where the potter was found had changed dramatically. Where there were gulleys in the mud where the pots were found, those gulleys had filled back in again. Maybe next year the gulleys will return for a while. Who knows! But I was surprised to see such change in such a short period of time since I was last there. The only man made things I saw were large pieces of aluminium from an aircraft that must have blown up overhead from during world war2's battle of Britain.  Interesting but not really my kind of thing. 

Anyway, all the pots have now been conserved and given to the mersea museum. The rules with such things is to inform the antiquities finds scheme of the items recovered-this I did with colchester before conservation but never got a reply. The pots were then immersed in deionised water for 3 months and this water was changed periodically about 4 times. The pots were then dried out slowly in a cool dark place before taking them to the mersea museum last week.

Above is an image of a Mersea Island sand bank. There are a few of these off mersea and these are safe places for anyone to walk on when the tide is right out. It was on these sand banks that I cut my teeth as a nipper inadvertently getting myself into mud larking and finding things. From that humble beginning  I found diving and thus to shipwreck hunting. It all started on these sand banks. I have always loved it out there-and whenever I came home with an old bottle or clay pipe or bullets from the war my mum used to say things like-"thats lovely dear but dont bring the muddy thing in here" None ever understood my childhood fascination with finding things- but they do now tho!!
 

Gloucester Wreck

Gloucester Wreck

Sealed bottle. May have been owned by royalty

 Went to see the Gloucester shipwreck display in Norwich. The ship sank in 1682 and is just my kind of shipwreck-"a proper wreck" -as I always call them. The display was really good with a good fly over video of the site. There was also a nice video of how the divers searched for and found the site. So nice to see them getting the recognition they deserve-a rarity in todays world where archaeologists take over and usually cut the finders out by just writing a footnote like -"discovered by local divers" -a real cop out of a statement usually written by anyone with an agenda to push.

Bottles being conserved in deionised water

Among the many old iron cannons the divers recovered many artefacts including 150 valuable wine bottles-some still containing wines or spirits. These are all the more valuable because the context is known and Royalty was aboard when the vessel sank. lovely!! It was nice to see that they use deionised water to conserve the bottles. This is something I always use as it stops the bottles from flaking. Only deionised water can disolve and flush out the chlorides that get inbeween the glass layers and force them apart if left there. I have found a few old onion bottles in my time but none are pre 1700 and the forms of bottles from just 20 years earlier are so different in form. They are a distinctive uniform shape in the 1680's whereas post 1690 they get more random in shape like the makers didnt care any more.

Another reason for visiting the display is that it is a wreck that sank within 2 years of my Wreck of the Phoenix and others Im diving for of the same period. It was nice to see similar artefacts and compare finds. I also learn more about my wrecks from such displays. I visit these types of things all the time, been doing this for years which is why I am able to identify and date objects like bottles, pottery, clay pipes and all manner of shipboard objects. Im always learning about dating anchors and cannons as its so useful when you find a new wreck. its going to displays like these and reading books and diving in general that made it possible for me to date and identify many of the wrecks i have found over the years...... and hopefully more in the future too.