I found a few more old photos that tell a story of the sea, security risks and diving
Many years ago 1980s a group of Chelmsford divers were responsible for holding up the Royal Yacht Britannia sailing out of Weymouth harbour with a flotilla of small craft. A police and security launch tried to move the dive boat but with divers working hard on a wreck (Earl of Abergavenny) below on the seabed. It was considered not safe to move, much to the annoyance of the security services
All the diver and skippers names were taken but as the dive boat had been at the same position all week and the harbour master had been informed it was not our fault. The interesting thing was the day before there was a practice of just a few craft sailing out of Weymouth and no one thought to ask about our group. Next day after the security incident the local newspaper headlines read “Totally unconcerned divers delay royal yacht” it was not the whole story but that is the press for you
We all got some nice pictures of the Royal Family waving as we waved back. I would assume there were a lot of red faces and a lot of people got severe reprimand
