wreck

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VANESSA (PROBABLY)

The Vanessa, or at least what we *think* is the Vanessa, is a real favourite of ours when we're diving off the Cornish coast. It's not a grand ocean liner, but this little 5.5m cabin cruiser, sitting upright at 29m, has a quiet charm that’s hard to beat. Dropping down, you’ll find the wheelhouse largely intact, and we love to poke around where the dashboard would have been, imagining the last moments before she went down in '81. It’s completely colonised now, a soft blanket of plumose anemones and dead man's fingers transforming the fibreglass hull into a living reef. You'll often find conger eels tucked away inside the small cabin, their heads peering out, and we’ve seen some surprisingly large lobsters sheltering beneath the stern. For divers who appreciate intimate wreck encounters and don't mind a bit of a treasure hunt – figuring out what’s what on such a small, encrusted vessel – the Vanessa is a brilliant pick. It’s perfect for a second dive when you want something a bit more relaxed but still genuinely interesting. We’d suggest going on a slack tide, as the visibility can be excellent then, really letting you appreciate the details.