Editor's Note: Be sure to check out video of the bell's retrival.
Rick Stanley and his wife Debbie were in a bit of discomfort just after lunch last Tuesday.
The two were regretting eating a large meal of cod and capelin at the home of their Isle aux Morts hosts, Wilfred and Vera Seymour, as they suited up to dive on the wreck of the Staalbas.
The ship was a Norwegian fishing vessel that sank in 1974.
Their afternoon dive was just a quick trip down to the ship to retrieve the ship's brass bell, which the two had pried from the wreck earlier that day.
"I'd say the reason it wasn't gone was because it was too hard to get out of the wreck. It had fused to other parts of the ship," said Mr. Stanley as he prepared to dive.
The Stanley's own and operate Ocean Quest Adventures in Conception Bay South. They were diving in Isle aux Morts as part of the Atlantic Canada Challenge - a yearly tour where divers are escorted across Newfoundland to various dive sites.
Mr. Stanley said the ship is in great condition, resting upright in about 55 feet of water and listing only slightly to the port side. The site is just a few hundred metres off the coast of the community. He said it has become a natural reef for all sorts of aquatic wildlife, especially wolf fish.
"A lot of parts on the ship are still there - navigational lights, flares. We even found the compass," he said.
The Staalbas sank on July 2, 1974 after striking a rock outside Isle aux Morts harbour. All 19 crew members escaped without injury.
Mr. Stanley dove on the wreck last summer. He noticed that the ship's wheel was already taken by a previous diver, but spotted the bell. He mentioned it to Blanford Billard, Isle aux Morts' community development assistant, and told him to keep it under wraps with a promise to return and retrieve it.
On Tuesday he fulfilled the promise. He and his wife suited up aboard their zodiac, dove to the bottom, and re-emerged about five minutes later with the bell.
"It's a beaut," he exclaimed as crew members helped pull the bell aboard the boat. The bell's clapper was still attached, and Mr. Stanley took the time to ring it for a camera crew that was filming the recovery. Mr. Stanley documents all his dives on film for his own personal records.
The former skipper of the vessel, Staale Remoy, gave his blessing to retrieve the bell when contacted by Mr. Billard.
"When I wrote the letter, he was tickled pink," said Mr. Billard
Mr. Remoy asked the divers to retrieve a doll he had purchased for his then-newborn daughter just before the ship sank.
He provided instruction on where to find it in the ship, but Mr. Stanley said the bridge had been damaged by fire and the doll had not survived the flames.
Mr. Billard also had to contact the province's archaeological department to get clearance to retrieve the bell. They provided lots of information on how to restore and preserve the bell.
The bell was covered in corrosion and barnacles. Mr. Billard said it will be cleaned up by first immersing it in fresh water and then a chemical bath.
The plan is to put it on display in the proposed Newfoundland Dog Museum and Harvey Sea Rescue Interpretive Centre. It may find a home in the Isle aux Morts town hall in the meantime.
Mr. Stanley believes Isle aux Morts could develop a diving industry given the town's name and history. He said in getting divers to come and explore the waters off Isle aux Morts, they will have to be discouraged from retrieving "trophies" from ships.
"It's nice to leave stuff. This bell will be a bit of an underwater teaser, but we have to leave things to create an underwater museum," he said.
reporter@gulfnews.ca
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