While a good weather forecast has spurred some of the team into optimism about the dive, excavation leader Mensun Bound remains mindful of the dangers this wreck presents.
"The site is extraordinarily difficult to work on; there are currents that can run up to seven knots, which is faster than I can run. It's not deep down there, but it is 30 metres down, which is deep enough."
Sadly for the team, the litany of diving dangers doesn't end there. The sandbank in which the wreck is embedded is constantly buffeted and reshaped by the strong currents.
"The sand bank is in a constant state of flux, changing almost day to day. As you are excavating, the sand is backfilling the area you've just worked on and it's quite discouraging. If it wasn't for the archaeological importance of this wreck, I'd have given up years ago."
That importance lies in the weaponry already found on the ship, and its potential link to what remains on the seabed. In 1992, Mensun and a team of divers brought up all manner of artefacts, including muskets, armour and numerous other items an Elizabethan soldier might have carried.
The big achievement of that mission though was the raising of one of the ship's cannon, which provided valuable insight into Elizabethan military capabilities. If the gun was part of a set, instead of the traditional hand-made singular construction, it would shed light on growing emergence of British naval supremacy.
"We have a few Elizabethan guns elsewhere in the world, but they are all singular constructions," Mensun explains. "If these cannon are part of a weapon system, which I think they are, it demonstrates our professionalism in developing these weapons. This gun represents a totally different type of warfare at sea - the beginning of broadside warfare."
The anticipation of the dive has gripped the crew and day three approaches with high expectations of lifting a series of intriguing artefacts from the sea floor where this famous wreck now lies. The crew is left to hope that the good weather will stay around a few more days to allow this fascinating mission to finally begin.
Published: June 2008