Cultureshock

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Video transcript

Shipwreck, surely a word to strike fear into the hearts of sailors and raise a sense of ghoulish anticipation from land lovers hoping for a good disaster story.

But while the Titanic is perhaps the most famous shipwreck story of all time, there have been countless others. Most involving everyday ships and their crews. Vessels and people now long forgotten.

Much like the small hand built model of a yacht called Skye lurking at the back of a storage room in a local museum.

As a diver I’ve come across the remains of many shipwrecks, most now unrecognisable as ships, simply piles of wreckage lying on the sea bed. The names of these ships and their crews and their stories now forgotten. Much like the yacht Skye.

Diving on an underwater shipwreck can be a moving experience. Thoughts turn to the various bits and pieces of wreckage and to pick up an artefact that you know was last handled by one of the crew, possible only moments before the vessel went down can be an eerie experience.

Seeing the model of the yacht provides similar thoughts. Who actually built it and what were his thoughts as the model neared completion and of course will we ever know?