Slupsk Shoal - an account of a weekend trip

This time we took the location known as ‘Slupsk Shoal’ as our target. By midnight we were all supposed to be on board a vessel with the evocative name ‘Nitrox’. We gathered 12 people for the trip, but for various reasons only eight of us reached the assembly point in Darłówek Wschodnie.

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We set off from Gdynia in two cars with Adam and Radek. On the way, we visit a new company on the market – Centrum Nurkowe divespot.pl, where we fill up the kits and decompression gases. The whole operation went very smoothly. All thanks to the facilities offered by divespot’s compressor room. Without wasting time unnecessarily, we filled the cylinders… without taking them out of the car. All thanks to a suitably long hose from the compressor. The last step is to refuel the cars and we are ready to go. In good spirits, we set off straight to our destination.

We were the first to arrive at the shipyard where M/Y “Nitrox” was moored. After repacking our stuff on board and putting the cars away, we decided to use the remaining time and go out on the town. A short walk where we ate pizza and did some shopping, followed by a return to the ship where we met up with the rest of our group. A chat over tea brings the day to a close.

We left the harbour at 2:00 in the morning on Saturday. We went to the first wreck during our expedition – “Papierowiec”. We reached our destination around 9:00 a.m. The sea was extremely rough that day. While we were clearing the equipment and jumping into the water, everyone felt a little uncomfortable. Fortunately, we didn’t have to pay homage to Neptune.

The wreck of the “Paperboy” rests at a depth of 40 m. We conduct the dive in pairs. Among us there are two people with scooters, and two more are taking pictures. We spend 30 minutes in position. After coming out of the water, everyone feels much better and is ready to eat a hearty breakfast. We arrived at the next location quite quickly, so during the break between dives we caught cod, which was great fun and gave us a lot of fun.

The next wreck on our route is the “Steamboat”. It is situated a little shallower, at a depth of about 30 metres. There is excellent visibility below, and the wreck itself looks very nice. You can find a perfectly preserved steering wheel, leaning against the side of the vessel. A few metres behind the wreck we come across a huge net stretched three metres high. The meshes of this dangerous trap are almost intact, it must have rested here for a short time. We swam along it on our scooters quite a considerable distance, but still did not find its end. Of course, dead fish and a huge number of jellyfish were entangled in it all along its length. Apart from the net, we found a lot of cod sheets hooked on the wreck. A few of them we unhooked for the crew of “Nitrox”. Of course, when unhooking them you have to be very careful not to pierce your glove in the dry suit.

I consider the diving to have been extremely successful. Everyone came out of the water very satisfied. The wreck is relatively small, no more than 20 metres long. We went around it several times on scooters. After returning on board, we exchange opinions, clarify the equipment and secure the tags. The sea is exceptionally rough that day and it is constantly rocking, making it difficult to move and carry the equipment. After stripping out of our wetsuits and changing, a delicious vegetable soup was waiting for us. However, the swell was so strong that we poured it into plates outside the mess hall. It was not without adventures and at one point a huge pot with soup fell into the mess under the influence of the tilt, and part of the soup landed on the floor. Fortunately, despite the heavy loss, there was enough soup for everyone.

For the night we moored to the harbour in Ustka. On site the cook – “President Kazik”, served us a real Polish dinner – pork chops with potatoes and beets. After the meal, the whole team went to the bar, for a dive chat over a pint of beer.

The next day we arrive at the first position “XXX” at 9.30 a.m. It is a small wreck on which we decided to do a photo shoot. On Sunday morning the sea was already a little calmer, and after the first dive the surface of the water was already completely flat. We had three hours until the next dive. This time was spent in the mess hall planning our next activities underwater.

The second shipwreck of the day is the “Sulphur Ship”. The vessel is 100 m long and located at a depth of 17 m. Out of habit for deeper dives, we dived vertically down using scooters and unfortunately this time the sudden appearance of the bottom surprised us a bit. I failed to brake and hit the sand with quite a big impetus. Well, a man learns all his life. The wreck itself is upside down, with fractures in several places. While sailing around the wreck we find holes through which we can get inside. Unfortunately, I inadvertently forgot to charge the torch battery and the light ran out in the middle of the dive. The size of the wreck and the shallow depth at which it rests caused unexpected problems with the partner system. The scooters proved to be too fast and immediately after the dive we split up. By the end of the dive we met and lost each other several more times. The dive was shallow enough to avoid decompression.

After the dive everyone set off to pack their gear and dry their suits before returning. We had about 2 hours drive to Darłówek. During this time we packed our bags, ate cod and took some souvenir photos. We were there exactly at 5 p.m. so we were able to cross the sliding bridge right away. After mooring, we efficiently repacked our things to the cars. We were still 3 hours away from home. I consider the whole trip as very successful, and the place as one of those worth visiting again in the near future. There are many more interesting wrecks in the area of Slupsk shoal which are worth seeing.

Source and Photo: Divers24