The Fleetwood Motor Trawler Site

The Boston Seafire was sunk by scutteling on the 19th October 2008 near Whale Island, Whakatane. New Zealand and will be used as a dive wreck

Hi guys, name is chris and i am involved in ecological monotoring of the vessel. It was wonderful to be able to dive and see it resting on the sea floor. Within a week of it on the floor, fish species in numbers have already been recorded inside my surveys.
Amazing dive and wicked time working with the crew getting it ready for scluttling

yes Alan that is possible and yes i have underwater photos 2o min after she went down as i was used to hook up the descent lines to it, if you email me on chris_goblin@hotmail.com i can email you a set of photos that i have collected and i will also be monotoring it ever two weeks for the next year so photos will be available.
I no it is a shame ships end up on the floor but it i would much rather them be used as dive wrecks for us dive communtiy to enjoy rather than being sunk 1.5km off cape pallicer.

Yes no problem, yes i do have a sweet job, well not really a job yet still in study but it is still a wicked adventure.
Yes every dive is different especially at this stage as growth is still developing. As my progress changes i will keep you informed i also do intense study on the Taioma wreck situated further up the coast as well.

Hey Alan, I’ve been working a bit with Chris too, as I’m involved with the Trust that sunk the Seafire. I also dived on her just after Chris on the day of the sinking. It was amazing. It was a great sight to see her take a dive to the seafloor. We all look forward to watching her attract marine life. The company I work for will be taking divers out there to dive on her this Summer. I’ll send some pics if I get any good ones.

My first ever voyage to sea was on this ship. I was 11 years old. I went with my Dad Robert Sumner who was the Mate (Second to Skipper) . It was an eventful voyage.
We sailed from Fleetwood in August 1966 and as I remember it was a brisk day i.e. a bit choppy. I was stood on the bridge as we left port taking a bit of spray to ward off the sea sickness but to no avail. I was sick before I got to Wyre Light (Fleetwood people know where I mean).
Anyway an hour or two later we were passing the Isle of Man and I had begun to find my sea legs (I think I remember the cook recommended Jacobs Cream Crackers to settle my stomach, which I welcomed).
Then we passed Radio Caroline, which as a child I listened to on my transistor radio.
We sailed up the coast between Ireland and Scotland and I remember my dad pointing out the distilleries among the stunning landscapes.

Interestingly, the window that is shown on one of the pictures on the whaleisandtours web site was the very one that I looked through to see Radio Caroline.

We passed St. Kildas and was amazed by the bird life.
Then we started fishing.

I couldn’t believe the colour of the sea as we cut through it. It was clear blue green.
When the nets were hauled the bird life was stunning with Gannets everywhere picking up fish that had escaped the net and seagulls arguing over who’s was who’s.

Not sure if I should say this but I was helping with the fish as they were dropped on deck after opening the cod end. I was then gutting fish on deck. I remember I was gutting a cod that was bigger than me, at 11 years old.
Anyway, to hear that the Boston Seafire has been scuttled in New Zealand I was initially saddened, particularly after seeing the photos of her sinking, as it played with my childhood memories, but then I realized that she was an old ship and ready for the last phase of her life.

I hope all those who dive on her have good, safe dives and treat her with the respect that she deserves.

Hi Guys,
Recently dived the wreck in fairly poor viz but i wanted to add some of the above pics to my website as a mini article.
Can you give me permission to use the surface pics of the seafire?
Thanks

I worked on this boat