Bianca C, Reflections

BIANCA has been 51 years this week, at least when you count only the days on the bottom of the ocean. She is one of the worlds most magnificent ship wrecks, that should be on every divers bucket list who feels a lust for rust. We had our first date 15 years ago, when we started Aquanauts Grenada. It was love on first sight. Very little was known in the diving community about this sunken treasure, "the best kept secret" of some techies. Back then parts of the bridge still have been standing and we could watch the "dance of the eagle rays" through the windows. We created the "Titanic of the Caribbean" and many divers have come since to see it. The last year has been tough on the old Lady. Just after the 50th birthday celebration, the mast fell down. Since then the ship has been changing dramatically. During the last 2 month the whole starboard side has collapsed. The smoke stack sits now at 50 meters upside down on the sand. The bottom of the pool is at 135 feet. Decks have crumbled and safe penetrtation is almost impossible. The majestic bow is still standing and still blows my mind every time I'm sitting on the bottom looking up. This is "my cathedral". She still is a great dive, but better stay outside and enjoy one of the worlds largest wrecks and the wonderful marine life around. The eagles are still dancing.....

51 years "Bianca C"

It's now 51 years ago, that in the early morning 7.00 am of October 22nd 1961 an explosion woke up the people of St. Georges. Looking out of their windows they could see the giant Bianca C, that was anchored outside town on fire. Everybody who had a boat went out to help to rescue passengers and crew of the ship. As common with cruise liners, they did not manage to get the rescue boats down. Back then Grenada had few hotel rooms, so Grenadians offered their homes to the stranded people, gave them food and cloth. So this was the end of a ship, but the beginning of a tradition of hospitality that still lasts today. The ship burnt for 2 days until she finally sank on October 24th at noon. HMS "Londonderry" came from Puerto Rico but could not safe the ship, only managed to tow it away from the port. She sank in a perfect spot, just 50 meter deep, not far from Whibbles reef. Nature must have taken over quick. Here in Grenada coral grows fast and pelagic fish know how to navigate these wrecks. Bianca C has been one of the best kept secrets of Tech divers for many years. When we dicovered Grenada 15 years ago, one had barely heard about this treasure. Imagine, a 600 ft cruise liner within recreational diving limits and nobody knows... It was the time of the Titanic, so we called her the "Titanic of the Caribbean". We got writers from dive magazines from all over the world to Grenada and made it the trademark of Grenada diving. Thousands of divers have come to dive her, experience the sheer size and marine life around. A must on a wreck lovers bucket list. During the last year she has come of age now. The fire and the sometimes strong currents have taken their toll. Hallways that we used to run through with scooters have collapsed. Just a couple of weeks ago the whole starboard side broke down. The funnel with the big C on his side sits now at 50 meter upside down in the sand. While this all sounds sad, she still is a great wreck. The stern is still up and the majestic bow is "my cathedral". I've been there with many famous photographers, but nobody has "nailed" the perfect shot. So there is still work to do! If Bianca is on your bucket list, better come soon.

Nautilus Lifeline safety radio and GPS About three month ago a group of divers got lost in Grenada while diving one of the "Atlantic Wrecks". The wrecks are world class diving, but due to location can be done only in calm weather and around tidal currents. It was not a good day to go out there and I don't know if the shop they dove with did not check the weather forecast or if the guest pressured them to go. We choose to dive on the protected, leeward side of the island that day and this was bad enough. While down at Shakem it got almost dark as a night dive. When that happens it's probably time to go up, even if it's early in the dive, so we did. We just had enough time to run for shelter to the next bay when hell broke loose. Surface visibility around 10 feet in the rain, winds around 45 to 50 miles per hour and big thunder and lightning. As things calmed down a little we received the "mayday" call from another boat, out at Hema, that they lost 4 divers. We headed towards shore to drop passengers before heading out while another dive boat that had nothing to do went out straight. At the time they had drifted already for 90 minutes and where miles away from the site. The small diveboat wasn't even near and with no flybridge could not see much anyway. Luckily one of the divers had a Nautilus Lifeline. After trying with no success to raise his dive boat via VHF, they hit the distress button and the assisting boat could locate them immediatly via GPS. Chances for finding them without the Lifeline would have been small at best due to the existing conditions. We 've been one of the first supporting the Lifeline idea when it was introduced at Dema. It took a while for them to deliver, but since last DEMA they are available and we got some for the our shop. Especcially for rebreather diving, where because of the nature of the dive a permanent float is not practical, it put's your mind at ease. Unfortunately out of our 3 units, 3 failed due to manufactoring problems (guess, made in ch....). Still, the company is making a great effort, replacing them w/o hassle and hopefully will succeed to provide us with a tool that makes our beloved sport safer.