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Baygitano

Depth 21m, no more than 6 metres high on sand

This is a wreck of a well-flattened steamer, lying approx 1.5 miles due South of the Cobb at Lyme Regis. The only parts of the wreck which stand up are the boilers, engine and the bow section.

From the bows, a large part of the structure lies to the West of the main wreckage - standing up 5-6 meters off the seabed. It is possible to enter this section through a hatch coming with plentry room inside for two divers to explore and turn around. The only exit is back through the entry hole so don't attempt this in poor vis.

Swimming aft of the bow is an area of flattened decking and the collapsed port hull. There are numerous deck fittings and holes to drop into and rummage around. Continuing on, you will come across the front of the two main boilers, which have rolled slightly to the East. Behind these lie a single auxilliary boiler which is broken up.

Immediately behind the Auxilliary boiler lies the upright engine. This is leaning to starboard, with the final LP cylinder broken away revealing the LP piston. The engie is covered in life and is usually plagued by shoals of Bib.

The wreck appears to stop at this point, but if you line-up the crankshaft of the engine and swim directly astern, over a sandy seabed, you'll pass within sight of two large water tanks and then pick up the prop-shaft tunnel. Aft of here is one of the stern masts which lies across the tunnel stretching out East over the seabed. The wreckage here gets more substantial with deck fittings and hull features.

Soon the well flattened stern looms up and the wreckage appears to end. There are few obvious features to see apart from the rudder. If you stop in the stern area and look carefully at the wreckage, you'll start to see shapes of the 14pdr shells which served the ships gun. The gun may be in here somewhere, burried under the wreckage.

If you swim off to the starboard side seabed, you'll come across bits and pieces from the rigging, and eventually pick up the end of the stern mast. One of the features out here is an area of gunwall with handrails sticking vertically out of the seabed.

The vis on this wreck is generally good with 10m the norm in the summer months. The wreck can be dived at most states of the tide and is sheltered from Northerly winds up to a force 5. The depth on the wreck is a uniform 21m at High Water, as it lies on a fairly flat seabed.

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