Voyager off the Tyne
By Nicola Faulks
Date of dive: 27 July 2025
Having organised our “off the Tyne” diving with Alan on board Spellbinder, going on the same trip with Bob on Voyager was a bit of a change. Alan after all these years retired from skippering so had handed his bookings over to Bob. We all knew of Bob, but had not sailed on his boat before.
We arrived to a clean, well organised shipshape vessel, with a clear briefing on what we were to expect with regards to stowing kit and getting ready for diving.
There was a mix of divers on board including re-breather divers, and open circuit, with all grades from ocean diver to first class diver. Once we were sorted out, we headed down river and out in to the sea.
The options for dives were a bit limited due to the spring tides and the fact that slack was either 7am in the morning or later in the afternoon. So first dive was the SS Pandora. A classic of the east coast, with lots of marine life to see, as well as boilers, propeller shaft and some big bits of engine and gearing. If you make it to the bow, this section is upstanding, and usually has a large shoal of fish associated with it.
There was quite a bit of current running from the bow to the stern, so quite a few people either stayed close to the boilers, so that they could refind the shot, or they went for it and just “bagged up” to come to the surface. My mission was to find the Jewel anemones on the propeller blade, and after a few minutes of searching – success!!
After a surface interval with a lunch of home made soup and bread, we motored over to the SS Hanne for the second dive. This wreck was bang on slack, which was great and meant the visibility was a bit better too. We were dropped on to the boilers and the engine block. From there we were able to find bits of the propeller shaft and engine blocks.
There were a large number of quid eggs on the wreck as well as nudibranches. On the seabed were some beautiful nodding hydroids (Corymorpha nuitans), they look so delicate, and are prone to having their heads eaten off by nudibranches!
Everyone enjoyed the second dive with the lack of current – we like happy divers.
After surfacing we headed back in to port, mugs of coffee and biscuits in hand. A few dolphins joined us for the ride which is always nice. Lots of happy divers and a lovely day out on a new boat Voyager, skippered by the very able Bob Scullion. 🙂