Rotterdam

8. 2021-06-20 D0814 Rotterdam
8th dive of the trip.
On Sunday morning we dived the Rotterdam. This is fairly deep, bottom at 35 m, but still doable with 28% Nitrox, not quite justifying Trimix usage.
Me and Rupert dived as the last pair. It was fairly dark, and visibility not so great. The shotline was in the middle of the small ship and we dived around the entire wreck easily in 30 min mostly at 30 m depth. We switch to 50% deco tanks at 21 m, and did slow ascent stopping every 3 m and doing 5 min deco at 6 and 3 m.
The identification of this wreck is not 100% certain, but it is assumed to be the brig Rotterdam from Holland, that was carrying a cargo of coal. It is known to have sunken 18.9.1891 as the nearby pilots had noticed it hitting rocks and sinking very rapidly. All of the crew perished and after sinking some objects washed to the shores. It is 35 m long wooden sailing ship in good condition. Some details can be seen such the ship’s bell and the steering wheel.
After the dive there was lunch and we headed towards L’ Esperance.