The last voyage of the 450 ton Dutch coaster Lucy was from Barry to Norway with a cargo of calcium carbide. At midday on February 14 1967 the Lucy struckthe Cable, a rock at the south end of Jack Sound, and became firmly wedged.The last voyage of the 450 ton Dutch coaster Lucy was from Barry to Norway with a cargo of calcium carbide. At midday on February 14 1967 the Lucy struckthe Cable, a rock at the south end of Jack Sound, and became firmly wedged.
The Lucy remained on the Cable most of the afternoon, but with a rising tide the ship came free just as it was getting dark. The current carried the Lucy north through Jack Sound then west along the north side of Skomer Island. It eventually sank just outside of North Haven.
The bows have a good spread of plumose anemones, daisy anemones and hydroids, particularly on the railings and over the sides. Items of interest are a large anchor winch and the chain locker which is half full of silt. If you go inside it is extremely easy to black out the visibility completely. The fore mast has broken off in the distant past - its remains can be found resting against the reef at nearby Rye Rocks.
A brisk swim leads to a companionway which runs round the stern of the ship.Beneath the stern the prop shaft and rudder is a must, even though the propeller has been salvaged.
About half way along the superstructure there is a corridor that connects across the ship to the other side. Although dark, it is easy to go straight through this to the opposite side of the wreck. From the port side the first door on the left leads to a large cabin below the wheel house, probably the galley. On the opposite side of the corridor a silted cabin and broken bulkhead lead to a stern cabin, with an exit possible through a door at the starboard end of the rear bulkhead.
In the center of the cross corridor are two more doors. To the stern steps lead downward to the crew's cabins, but the way is blocked by silt. Forward leads to the engine room with a small gallery looking down on the heavily silted main part of the engine room. Sometimes light enters through an open ventilation hatch to the port side of the funnel.
Still in the corridor, the last set of doors before exiting the starboard side lead forward to a toilet and sternward to a cabin which connects to the stern cabin through another collapsing bulkhead.
My favorite option for surfacing is to ascend the anemone covered mast to 15 metres and release a delayed SMB. This is OK for a no stop dive, but the best option for more than 5 minutes of decompression is to return to the buoy line at the bows.