I woke up early. The boat was quiet. I sneaked on deck to see Rathlin passing by. Strangely enough I felt much better that morning - still couldn't face breakfast though. Yes, I checked my kit again, but realised that everyone else was doing the same. As we passed between Inishtrahull and Malin Head, I realised that I was excited. As I listened to the safety and dive briefings I knew I could do it.
We jumped into the water for our first dive on the wreck of the Empire Heritage. Within seconds of submerging I had lost most of my fear. Under the constant Atlantic swell the waters were a deep sapphire blue. Blue! We dropped down the line, tagging off on the lazy shot on the way. From 30 meters we could see the divers finning around the wreck beneath us. Dropping down, my anxieties completely gave way to curiousity. We were at 64m in diver heaven! The wreck - the Empire Heritage is fascinating; It was sunk by enemy torpedo as it was nearing the end of its voyage from New York to Liverpool with supplies in 1944. The wreck and seabed is littered with the remains of its cargo. The vessel was a massive 170m long and we didn't see that much of it (cue jealousy of those divers with zeps). The life on the wreck seemed in proportion, with every cod or conger being the biggest I had ever seen! I had given Damien my camera as I feared that I would be stressed with task loading but I couldn't not take pictures here - the conditions were perfect. Damien laughs that I just couldn't dive without it. We made our way around the mid-ships area (a veritable graveyard of Sherman tanks) and around the rows of boilers before Damien insisted we made our way back to the shot line. I really didn't want to leave but our bottom time was up. On the ascent there was big smiles and WOW signals all round. the forty minutes of decompression passed without any boredom or discomfort - I positively reveled in the experience. Back on board the atmosphere completely changed - the nervous introspection replaced by an excited buzz.
During the following week, we were spoiled with a further five dives. We were so lucky with the weather - which is not very reliable in the area. The Empire Heritage was followed by two spectacular dives on the HMS Audacious, two dives on the Laurentic and a breathtaking dive on the Justicia. The details of the wrecks and their demise are well documented elsewhere, I can only enthuse about my experience. This was diving at its most spectacular. The wrecks are awesome in the true meaning of the word, not only their colossal size, but their solemn, dignified beauty reflecting their place in history. It is hard to pick a favourite - the Empire Heritage outclassed the Thistlegorm; the Audacious dwarfed any Scapa Flow wreck and, had I dived the Titanic itself, I don't think I could have been more impressed than I was by the elegance of the Justicia's bow. Unfortunately I know that we barely saw these wrecks - there is so much to explore! I'm afraid that my memories might well turn me into a techie wreck diver after all!