Some times you end up diving places you normally wouldn’t dream of jumping in. Members of Strömstads Sportdykarklubb spent this weekend at Styrsö Havsbad for our yearly dive camp. The location was new to us, and a good base for accessing lots of good dive sites.

The visibility turned out to be very, very poor. Disappointed we returned to base after a really crappy morning dive and discussed our options. We ended up doing a comfortable dive in the afternoon. Like in logistically comfortable. No lugging, no boat ride, we just jumped in from the pier at Styrsö. What we hoped would be rocky terrain turned out to be a slope of mud and sand. Visibility three meters or less. Another disappointment.

Then, suddenly the wreck of a small boat appeared out of the fog. An approximately 15 feet long open boat, quite overgrown. At last, something else than mud! With bright sunlight above I immediately started imaging compositions with the bow, a diver and the sunball in the background. I turned, waiting for my buddy. He never came. I saw a glimpse of his light and signalled with my own light to show my position, but it was too late. We had lost each other.

I took one picture of the wreck and headed back. Following the mud track, I caught up with the others within a few minutes.

Not a big deal, but it was the highlight of a day of nothing else. And who knows, I may have been the first to dive on that wreck. Yeah, that thumping sound you hear is me banging my fists on my chest. I, the explorer.