What is the draw of wreck diving?

[SWAMPY459]

Some people like ketchup on their baked potato and sour cream on their french fries.




dive and let dive.

 

[Colliam7]

Some people like ketchup on their baked potato and sour cream on their french fries.

OK, this is a great summary! I happen to like pizza without tomato sauce or cheese - just the crust, plenty of garlic, onions and olives, and some meat. I like Worchestershire sauce on popcorn. And, I like a post dive snack of jalapeno pepper slices, atop a Ritz cracker with crunchy peanut butter (with beer and a cigar). To each their own.

 

[Tigerman]

Well you're just crazy...

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Well you're just crazy...

Or pregnant...or both.

 

[OkByMe]

I have spent my time aboard ships and spent hours wandering around above and below decks. Diving a submerged ship gives you a perspective that you can't get short of a bosun chair ride. No ladders to climb, touching the hull at the waterline, hovering above this and that. Gravity puts a limit on all activity above water.

 

[WhiteSands]

Thanks for all the input. Will try reading up on some of the ship's history before diving my next wreck, may help me appreciate them more.

Seeing the posted video, I realized that wrecks preserved in colder waters look different from wrecks in warm waters (which are overgrown with coral so it isn't as easy to see the original form and parts of the ship). The visibility is also much better. So far all the wrecks I've dived are in warm waters, and they are overgrown with coral and visibility is generally poor.

 

[lowviz]

Thanks for all the input. Will try reading up on some of the ship's history before diving my next wreck, may help me appreciate them more. ...//... I realized that wrecks preserved in colder waters look different from wrecks in warm waters ...//...

I'm going way, way out on a limb here. Speaks to why no real North Atlantic wreck divers (I'm small change) discuss their adventures on this board. Let's keep an open mind and discuss 'preserved'. On of my most favorite wrecks is the S.S. Mohawk off the New Jersey (USA) coast. (There are at least five 'Mohawk's) This particular wreck is a mind-bending junkyard. It was initially 'preserved' through the use of 16,800 pounds of dynamite. Then it was wire-dragged. Was as also mistaken for a submarine in WW2 and depth charged, that doesn't count, that was a mistake.

Things are different here. We scour ship remains for anything that tells a story. I recently recovered a brass cage lamp base from a huge concretion. Scrap metal value $2.35USD. The manufacturer, city, and state were clearly cast into the base. Hours of research, much local history and many cool surprises stemmed from that little bit of information.

Really nice neighbors only two houses over from me share the last name cast into the base. Now they are into the history and research too. The cage lamp base is theirs now. Here is a sanitized email:

Hi XXXX,
A bit more info about that cage lamp bottom:
Cage lamp: Authentic Vintage Brass Ships Passageway or Engine Room Light
Found a reference to the manufacturer’s building: search google for XXXXXXXXX then go down to the 6^th hit, a book by XXXXXXXXX.
I recovered the base from the S.S. Mohawk: Scuba Diving - New Jersey & Long Island New York - dive Wreck Valley - Dive Sites - S.S. Mohawk Shipwreck
That dive was off the Sea Lion: WS_FTP\Atlantic Wreck Diving\scrap book
Have fun with it…
Dennis

Yes, it is all about history, mystery, and PEOPLE.

-mostly, the people. Both those who've passed and the living that keep this sport alive...

Dennis

 

[Dr Dog]

Cave I can understand. Caves are such beautiful natural structures and I love diving in swim-throughs.

Swimthroughs are not caves...Not even close, they are not even caverns, they are swim throughs..No different than a covered slide at an playground.

Other than the population of fishes which seem to love them, and occasionally the rich macro found on them, wrecks almost always seem so gloomy. They seem to have death written all over, with many sharp protrusions ready to rip you to shreds. Urchins also seem to love growing around them.

Interacting with marine life is what draws me to diving, seeing life in a different way, seeing how it starts and thrives in the craziest places, you know what lives in a cave? Silt

I would like to understand the appeal of wreck penetration or even wreck diving, in the hopes that I may learn to appreciate it.

Wreck pen is not much different than cave, except a wreck is not going to be around forever...Sure it has its own dangers, but so does diving, and we were all able to overcome those...for the most part..Kind of the same reason I want to climb mountains, because they are there

 

[rivers]

I enjoy diving wrecks, but the thought of diving in a cave holds no draw for me. To me, a cave is just some wet rocks, and I'm not particularly interested in geology. Im quite happy watching cave videos that others have made. It works for me. Wrecks, however, are completely different. I enjoy history, and always have. So to me, diving on a wreck is taking a step back in time. There are many wrecks scattered around the UK coast that went down during WW1 and WW2. To see where the torpedos struck, to know they are war graves. It's not something everyone gets to see. But I find it fascinating and exciting. They are also constantly changing. I've dived a few wrecks numerous times. Every dive on them is different because they can and are affected by the elements. Everyone dives for different reasons.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'm not interested in wrecks. If that's where the group is going then I'll tolerate it and find something to make me happy. On the other hand I'd love to dive caves . . .just not enough to put in the work required to get the training sooo . . .I'll just keep trying to get the most out of the dives I do and hope it still thrills me for many years to come.