Why dive wrecks like Andrea Doria

[Peter69_56]

Because

It's

There.

//

To me it's about the story. I dive wrecks on a regular basis and I'm not the kind who just goes rummaging around looking for trinkets. Well... actually I do but I use them to fill in my story of the wreck and just give the stuff I find away to people who like collecting it. To me the story is far more interesting and finding something on a wreck that says something about a passenger or crew-member, or about what the ship was doing, or how she got there (in cases where we don't know much about it) is absolutely fascinating to me.

You'd have to stick me with a cattle prod to motivate me to go dive around in a cave because a cave is just a big empty dead space full of nothing but wrecks are like moments of human history frozen in time.

I get the same feeling around old castles. They're just big piles of rocks to most people, but I can walk around in ruins all day long building up a mental picture of what it must have been like to live there. I could also dig around for hours and days looking for anything used by the people who lived there because it's a direct line to the past and it has meaning to me. I once nearly piled an old Roman catapult stone that I found into the back of the car on vacation in Italy. If it weren't for the fact that it was too big to handle and the objections of my wife who even after I told her what it was said, "uuuh... so what?", then it would be on display in my living room right now. I mean, to this day I just can't understand how someone could NOT want a Roman catapult stone in their living room!

I really should have become an archaeologist but pragmatism and time have conspired to drive me into a less interesting, albeit better paying, career. Probably if you don't have a passion for rediscovering the past then wrecks will just be junk to you.

R..

I agree totally and have the same feelings when I dive wrecks, or look at historical sites and buildings.

 

[bl6394]

Going on a charter to the Doria this July. Hope the weather is kind to us.

Why? As many have already answered. Because it is there.

Dive safe,

Bjorn

 

[mddolson]

I am a wreck diver.
I have not dived the Andria Doria, though I probably would have if given the opportunity some 10 years ago.
I have dived the Empress of Ireland, which has been named the K2 of wrecks. RMS Empress of Ireland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is cold 4°C (38°F) , not as deep, (140ft) & dark, visibility less than 10 feet.
Diving a historical wreck is a lure that many of us share. It's history it's an exploration, & with proper training an acceptable risk.
But I do agree, no wreck is worth your life.

Mike D