SS Kelloe 25-08-07

After 2 previous failed attempts at the Kelloe we felt we had to nail this one. Our first attempt on 23 June 2007 had zero visibility so we didn't know where we were. Our second attempt using what we thought were a good set of co-ordinates found nothing but a very shallow reef and no sign of any wreck. It's also the first time that I have really felt the affects of nitrogen narcosis.

Today was to be our day. We had revised the co-ordinates referencing them to a number of sources. At the co-ordinates we could "see" the wreck on the bottom finder. A rise from 49m or so to 46m marked the boiler. We dropped anchor and set everything up. Tide was outgoing but the viz looked good. Looking down at the deco set up I noticed that the anchor rope was caught up in the deco and the cross over rope was a bit tangled. I was ready before Wayne so dropped down to the deco bar to sort it out. It took us a few minutes but then all was ready and dow we went. At the bottom we saw the anchor was hooked into the reef and there, not 10m away was the wreck. Just to be safe I attached my reel to the anchor and ran it out to the boiler, leaving it there on top of a piece of the wreck. The boiler is large, and in good condition. We swam on past the boiler and found part of an engine and beyond it a large anchor, on it's side, sticking up from the sand. Lots of other wreckage around behind the boiler. There was very little fish life on this wreck, quite different from all the other wrecks that we have done.

We recorded our maximum depth of 50.1m (see pic), before heading back to retrieve the reel and return to the anchor. We have been using a lift bag to raise the anchor and tried it again this time. Wayne started to inflate it but his occy started to free flow. Before we knew it the anchor was rising quickly and the rope with it. I had been hanging onto the rope and as the anchor rose, the loop in the rope closed on my hand. The lift bag didn't even seem to slow down as I started to be dragged up. I quickly unraveled myself from the anchor rope. This however left us free floating at about 40m. Above us we could just see the anchor rope so we slowly ascended towards it. At 5m we swam along it's length until we found the deco bar.

After a lengthy deco stop of 17 mins we surfaced, overjoyed that we had dived deeper than we ever had and nailed the Kelloe. Dive 346 at a maximum depth of 50.1m, using 27% Nitrox with a bottom time of 13 mins and a 17 min deco.