The Building of Spike

We thought all you divers deserved a bit of a treat so we have had a new catamaran built by GRP Laminates
and South Boats on the Isle of Wight.

In our constant efforts to improve the service at Divers Down on Swanage Pier, we've had a South Boats Catamaran built. It was built in the factory of GRP Laminates constructed to an excellent standard and overseen by the highly skilled and very helpful Works Manager, Leon. The new boat is a metre longer than Skua and has have a large enough cabin to take all twelve divers. This has improved the comfort level when going out to wrecks a little further away or when the weather is not being kind to us.

the cabin under construction with the lads standing on the roof

The hull and cabin are out of the mould and in a speial hanger

and what about a GREY hull - sounds familiar!!! Standing under here feels like something out of Alice in Wonderland.

28th October 2010 - The first engine going to be fitted - 450 h.p. Iveco.

And the Rudders and steering gear are being fitted

The deck is going down and the chippy is considering his next move.
Should he put down the section where Peter and Leon are just
checking to see if there is enough space for a double berth!!!

Well, the cabin is now on the hull and it looks huge.

Out in the Solent and getting a little choppy.

You have got to be joking - The boat looked really big in the boatyard!!

We would like to thank Trevor and Rocket from Poole who turned out in abysmal weather to take us over to the Isle of Wight and escort us back in seas which were more than a little challenging.

Still the boat had a great test ride and before fitting out was sprinting at 30 knots!!

Spike has now been running out of the Pier alongside Skua and Swanage Diver for 2 years. We've now replaced the old Swanage Diver with a new Cat. Make sure to come check them out and go for a dive!