There isn’t another
wreck site like this, which is why it is visited by so many
divers every year. A group of divers from Belgium come across
three times a year to dive the Summer Isles and the Fairweather.
But
all this is at risk of being destroyed by the proposed development
of a cod farm 700m away from the wreck in Annat Bay. The farm
is designed to produce 2,000 tons of fish every two years.
Other dive sites around the country have shown to be adversely
affected by fish pens located nearby and this site will be
no different. Effluent from the fish pens will be equal to
that produced by 40,000 people and will wipe out marine growth
leaving a barren and desolate wreck.
Divers are privileged
in being able to visit the underwater world and outstanding
wreck sites such as the Fairweather, first hand, and many
people envy us. Yet when we report our findings of adverse
effects on marine life close to fish farms, our concerns gain
little credance from the experts.
Hopefully the Fairweather
will continue as it is today - a top dive site with plenty
of marine life. If you have never dived this beautiful wreck,
pay us a visit, you won’t regret it!
The Fairweather has her own section in
our gallery, both before
and after her sinking.
The
Fairweather V ran aground in 1992 at the west end of Annat Bay,
eight miles out of Ullapool . The hull was undamaged and she
was later pulled off the rocks by a local tug, the Finch. Water
flooded in through an open hatch and she sank in 30m of water.
The wreck now sits upright on a sloping sandy bottom, intact
and undamaged. Local commercial divers were called in to locate
her, while doing so they found the “