Sea Palling, Norfolk

by Cambridge SAC

Due to the driver of the launch tractor at Weyboune withdrawing his services, we looked for a new North Norfolk venue. We decided to try Sea Palling and ended up organizing 4 trips to this location. These were in June, July, August & September 2003.

Location
On the North Norfolk coast, just south of Haisborough … roughly half way between Cromer and Yarmouth. Best route from Cambridge is A14/A11 then A47 around Norwich then the A1064 at Acle, then the B1152, Finally the A149 to Stalham where Sea Palling is sign posted. Journey time from Cambridge is 1.5hrs or 2 – 2.5 hrs if towing a boat.

Facilities
Unlike Weybourne … there are public loos! Parking either in the council car park near the beach or Beach Rock leisure is cheaper at 2 pounds/day although this is for boat towing vehicles, it is usually possible to buy a parking ticket.
Most important … there is also a cafι and pub so no problem here for food and drink either. Unfortunately … no local compressor, so take enough full cylinders.

Launching is easy …. There are 2 tractors so even when it gets busy, there is not too long to wait. Cost is 15 pound/boat launch & recovery. The tractor drivers don’t seem to mind early starts or late finishes provided you let them know. (Phone numbers at the end of the article). The tractors have hydraulic lifts so no more winding jockey wheels!

There are offshore breakwaters, so launching and recovering boats is fairly easy for most wind directions. East & West cardinal top marks show the correct opening for entering and leaving the shelter of the breakwaters. Note – the next opening to the North should never be used as a sand bar runs from the shore to the breakwater! Buoys mark off the boat/jet ski areas from the swimmers, so please stay in the area designated for boats … this avoids ugly rows on the beach! Yes .. and we do have to share the beach with jet skiers too!

All the sites were wrecks but there are loads at depths from 18 to 40 metre plus. One club that we met claim to have dived over 100 wrecks from this location! Last year, we dived 5 wrecks over the 4 trips, these were :

Small unknown at max depth 25 metres.
The Artemesia at max depth 25 metres
The Ems at max depth 35 metres
The Corchester at max depth 28 metres
The Walkure at max depth 26 metres

Slacks depend upon location but approximately HW Immingham + 4.5 hrs and – 1.5 hrs. Currents are strong on Springs, so all our trips were planned for Neap weekends. Slack duration is only around 1 to 1.5 hrs on neaps.

Wreck information

Small unknown: This has a single boiler and is well flattened. We did retrieve the remains of a door with brass lock. The door was obviously burned in a big fire on the ship. There is also a large steam gauge but this has no inner bits so we left it for future visiting divers.

Artemesia: This was a big steamship, 6500 tons, built in 1920 she sank in 1941 after being bombed. Although flattened there is plenty to see. It has 3 boilers and lots of remains around the engine room. There are also miles of pipes along the length of the wreck. There was lots of fish life with many big cod and ling hiding inside the wreck. This is an excellent dive. The wreck is also festooned with fishing lures … loads of nice stainless steel bass perks to salvage if anyone is interested!

The Ems: Roll on – roll off ferry, built in 1978, sank in 1981 after a collision. This is a big wreck with the top at 17 metres, seabed at 35 meters. It is a big structure and extreme care must be taken if you dive this one especially in low viz. I would recommend using a distance line if you venture to the bottom. The ship was being used as a freight transporter and the cargo was containers and lorry trailers.

The Corchester: Steam collier, built in 1927, sank 1956 after a collision. She was 2374 tons and has 2 boilers. She is now well flattened and spread over a large area but there is a lot of fish life and interesting bits to explore. She must have been one of the last if not the last steam ships to be wrecked off this coast.

The Walkure: We saved the best until last. What a fantastic wreck dive this is. She was built in 1896 on the Clyde and was launched as the ‘Conway’. She was a 1900 ton steel hulled sailing ship which then became the Walkure. She ran aground on the Haisborough sand bank and sank in 1911. Her cargo is interesting – general household goods, motor cars (yes – motor cars), sewing machines, tinned food and paint. The hull of the wreck is fairly intact and is an amazing sight. The bow section is wedged into the sand bank, the stern section is clean. The rudder is still there .. so is the bowsprit. The wreck is covered in barrels and we found stacks of rusty enameled cookware, old baths and some bottles. Viz was around 8 metres. Mast posts and some deck timbers have survived. Most of the wreck is at an average depth of 16-18 metres, the top is at 13 metres, so you can descend to the stern to inspect the rudder and the magnificent counter stern then ascend and spend the rest of the dive inside the hull.

Organising a trip
For launching, phone Beach Rock leisure on 01692598000. There are several campsites nearby, we stayed at Waxham Sands Holiday Park near Horsey. phone 01692598325. This has lots of space ….

We learned the following :-
* Only takes 2 hrs from Cambridge (bit longer if you are towing)
* The tractor driver really is grumpy but reliable!
* Facilities very good ... parking, loos, hot food and amusement arcade
* Breakwaters shelter the launch/recovery area
* Slack water approx 1 hr before calculations from tide diamonds
* Currents are stronger here than off Weybourne, 1.5 knots on neaps ... so slack is essential for wreck dives.
* Good diving...... viz mysteriously went from 0.5- 1 metre on first dive to 3-4 metres on second dive.
* We found 2 wrecks from chart, successfully located and dived them and everyone had a good time!

Cambridge Sub Aqua Club

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