Quote: (Originally Posted by Andy M)
Can I assume that these have been declared to the Receiver of Wreck?
Not to rain on your parade, but I am fed up with people taking stuff off UK wrecks and ruining them for everyone else (who don’t take stuff off wrecks). The stuff that gets taken invariably sits rotting in someones garden shed or in the garden. Why bother taking it in the first place, let others see it where it was found.
You are of course entitled to your opinion and to be honest personally I don’t even own a lift bag as I have never found a lobster big enough to warrant one
. My personal jolly is trinkets I like china and glass. I got a soup tureen on this trip (but I haven’t finished cleaning it up yet) and it will be in my little display cabinet soon. Even if I found a bell I would give it away it just doesn’t interest me.
However some of the boys on the boat are tooled up and only have eyes for brass. You might not like this but I would point out we paid over £500 for the hydrographics for these dives and all but one were un-dived wrecks. We then paid £56 per day for the privilege of transporting a decent boat around to do the gig. This is just not happening in this area. These are wrecks that we are breaking new ground on. No one has been denied seeing these artefacts as no one has been willing to put the effort in to dive these blips and find out if there worth it.
Ripping stuff of the Thistlegorm is a crime but I can’t agree with you on this sort of diving. The brass boys put a lot of risk, time effort and money into finding these wrecks and ripping off brass. I do the same so I can experience diving something no one has ever dived before. IMHO Those that take advantage of our efforts and do the dive as a jolly for £30 shouldn’t complain to much about the missing artefacts.
To put your mind at rest all artefacts will be reported to ROW.
ATB
Mark Chase