The
Citrine and the City of Ghent were small coasters that
became wrecked close to Cadgwith within a five minute boat ride
of shore. The Citrine is the closest in approx 22m of water
a half mile from land and the City of Ghent being in 30m and
about a mile from shore. They lie in the main tidal stream from
the Lizard Point to Black Head and you can get unbelievable
visibility for British waters. They do need to be dived at slack
water particularly on a spring tide. The wrecks and the surrounding
reefs supports a great variety of fish life (pollack, pouting,
cod, ling, wrasse, bass etc) which in turn attracts many predatory
monk fish (anglers) and conger eels. The reefs
in the surrounding areas are a photographers dream being covered
with sponges, worms, starfish, urchins, and soft & hard
corals.
monkfish
lying in wait
for a meal on the Citrine
City of Ghent - 616 tons, 210 ft long and built
in 1953. Originally named Dalkey Castle. As the City of Ghent,
sailing from Dublin to Fowey in heavy weather on 15 November
1955 she first ran aground near Black Head and then drifted
to her eventual sinking position off Cadgwith where the lifeboat
picked up her crew. The City of Ghent now makes a beautiful
dive in just over 30m of water being small enough to swim around
in the time available at that depth. The hull sank upside down
and is still 'hull shaped' but collapses more with each winters
gales. The engine room can be seen within one portion of the
wreck. The wreck is difficult to pinpoint lying within a few
metres of a taller reef that has given it protection from winter
storms - and divers! This has resulted in it not being much
dived in recent years. (We regularly see dive boats from further
afield dropping divers in the area - completely missing the
wreck!)
