At 9.30am on the Fourcault, not just one but two dive teams assembled to take on the arduous task of exploring the Alderney wreck. Their mission is to raise possibly one, but hopefully two cannons from the Elizabethan vessel.
Under the guidance of the dive ship's captain Pim de Rhoodes, the larger of the two teams (mostly made up of Belgian divers) surveyed cannon three, the weapon they believe will be the most accessible part of the ship's arsenal.
Meanwhile, a two-man team comprising of British divers Phil Donaldson and Russell MacKinnon focussed on their intended bounty; a musket, which they located, tagged and secured on a previous dive in 2007.
"There's a frustrating amount of sand down there at the moment," explained Phil Donaldson. "We know where the musket is, but the visibility is so bad."
Underwater excavation in sand is a tricky business, and a lot messier than any land dig. The Alderney dive is made even more difficult by the strong currents surrounding the island, which can fill excavated areas with new sand within hours. These strong currents also limit the divers to two or three dives a day, in what is called slack times between the tides changing. This means that an artefact spotted in the morning could easily be covered in sand by the afternoon.
Fortunately the divers can clear an area quickly by turning their propeller units (or scooters) onto the sandbanks. This effectively blows the sand away from an area. However, the downside to this method is that it makes visibility even more limited.
More encouraging news emerged with skipper Pim de Rhoodes: "One of the cannon is visible and identifiable from the tags that we put in it last year. It's also pretty clear that there are other artefacts underneath it that we can bring up."
One by one the remaining divers returned to the Fourcault, to be lifted back onto deck by one of the ship's crane hoists. Once everyone had dried off and freshened up, it was time to debrief and prepare for the day's second dive.
The plan is to split the divers into three teams. The first team will survey cannon one, located Northwest of the intended target.
Their job is to use cannon one to get an idea of how cannon three can be raised. The second team are charged with locating, excavating and raising the musket, and the third team will try to determine where the ship's ballast is buried. Excavation leader Mensun Bound explained the strategy for this: "If we can find the ballast, then we'd have the centre of the wreck. It still feels very much like we're playing around the edges of this wreck at the moment."
In spite of improved visibility, the next find took everyone by surprise; efforts to recover the musket lead to the unearthing of what is thought to be a soldier's breastplate, and a perfectly preserved apostle (or powder cask - a small receptacle that contained a charge of gunpowder).
As the day draws to a close, there still remains the mystery of the missing musket. But Mensun Bound remains confident that it's within reach: "We're centimetres away from it. We'll raise the musket and more importantly, we'll raise the cannon."
An air of optimism from our experienced excavation leader, and one cannot help but think this crew is on the verge of unearthing something very special.
Published: June 2008