I like to start this dive by descending the anemone and hydroid encrusted wall on the north side of Maen Voes to the rocky seabed at 14 metres. Following a north-east compass bearing it is just a few minutes swim to the broken hull of the Mohegan. I like to start this dive by descending the anemone and hydroid encrusted wall on the north side of Maen Voes to the rocky seabed at 14 metres. Following a north-east compass bearing it is just a few minutes swim to the broken hull of the Mohegan.
Turning towards the stern, the first really recognisable piece of wreckage is a bent shaft projecting from the wreck with broken blades on the end, presumably the propeller shaft, though it looks a bit thin for a 7000-ton ship.
You won't find a rudder here, because the Mohegan lost its rudder on the Vase rock half a mile to the north before being swept on to Maen Voes and sinking in its current location.
Now turning forwards, you can get involved in foraging beneath the jumbled plates in the hope of finding souvenirs or take a leisurely tour. Bottom time is unlikely to be a problem as the wreck is mostly between 22 and 26 metres.
If you follow the approximate centre line of the ship you will soon come to the remains of the engine, about half of which projects above the general level of the wreckage. When the tide is running the current runs almost directly along the length of the wreck, so gorgonian fans growing perpendicular to the current provide another convenient navigation aid.
Forward of the engine are three huge boilers. This is roughly where a dive would start if you took the time to play with an echo sounder and drop a shot line. Swimming above these you will see breaks in the skin of the boilers and also notice that the middle boiler is in fact two smaller boilers back to back.
Just forward of the boilers you will notice a huge rock that actually overhangs the wreck. From here you have a choice of staying on the wreck, or having a look at some really pretty rocks and anemones on the reef above the wreck.
Just forward of the overhang is a small cave that can be fun to swim through. From the cave I like to follow the reef up past a shelf at 12 metres to a window in the rocks at just less than 10 metres. This window and the gully behind it are absolutely plastered in anemones.
It is easy to follow the reef westward back towards the starting point on Maen Voes. The trick is to stay on the vertical north sides of the rocks. Back on Maen Voes, a crack in the north face full of plumose anemones provides a convenient location for a safety stop.
If you would rather see more wreckage, from the stern of the Mohegan follow a compass bearing to the south-west until the depth is just less than 18 metres. Then follow the contour in a roughly westwards direction and you will come to the remains of the Spyridion Vagliano, a Greek steamship of 1,100 tons which went down in 1890. All that remains are the hull plates and a broken boiler.