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For more than five decades, David Eynon has explored the waters around the Falkland Islands, locating, exploring and documenting many of their historic shipwrecks. In this exclusive interview with the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, David reflects on a lifetime of diving, from homemade wetsuits and horseback journeys across Camp to the thrill of discovering wrecks that no one had explored before.
Arriving in the Falklands in 1970 as a Camp Travelling Teacher, he quickly combined his love of diving with a fascination for the Islands’ maritime history. Over the years he has helped establish the first BSAC branch in the Falklands, taught others to swim and dive, worked as a commercial diver and documented his experiences in his book Beneath Falkland Island Waters.
We asked David to look back over more than sixty years beneath the waves.
How did your love of diving begin?
“I should start with who inspired me. Two people. One was an Austrian diver called Hans Hass who produced some of the first films underwater. Although they were black and white, the images he produced excited me and made me want to go underwater. I think I was around eight at the time. After came Jacques Cousteau and The Silent World.
I was keen on swimming and had just bought my first mask, snorkel and fins, so I went into the water. I met a couple of other guys, joined the local swimming club in Exeter and at weekends swam and messed around in the sea around Exmouth and Dawlish. Great times, and I met other young guys with the same mad outlook on life.
When we were allowed, we joined Exeter BSAC and from there we really got into diving. I hitchhiked all the way to London and bought my gear from a company called Collins and Chambers. I had already made my first wetsuit when I was 14 from a kit from another company called Sub Aqua Products. I used plenty of talc powder to help it slip on!
I became one of the youngest qualified divers in the BSAC. We made numerous dives around the Devon coast using small local fishing boats. No fancy RIBs in those days.”
“I would do it all again tomorrow as we had so much fun and the diving was out of this world.”
What were those early years in the Falklands like?
“I came to the Falklands as a Travelling Teacher on a two or three-year contract. What a great job and a wonderful set of people that I met.
I travelled mainly by horseback and, of course, that was not without incident. I was bucked off a number of times, especially when I was being shown what not to do!
My beat, as it was called, consisted of one farm which had three outside houses with families. I spent two weeks with each family, left the children work until my return and moved on to the next house. The horse journey to one of the farms took over two hours and later on I had one house on another farm that was five hours’ riding.”
“Wonderful and out of this world. The memories will remain with me all my life.”
Dave had already shipped his diving equipment to the Falklands by sea freight, arriving just in time for his first holiday in December 1970.
“During my first couple of months in the Islands I made contact with a guy who was working on a contract with a company engaged with communications. We became good friends. He also had some gear and between us we purchased a small compressor and some extra equipment, including a lot of wetsuit material and glue.
Of course my job came first, but I made sure I had some time to do some snorkelling and proper diving.
What a wonderful world down below, especially when you knew you were the first down amongst the sea life and wrecks. My first experience with diving seals was a wonder. I felt such a slow coach when I watched them gliding with no effort and then suddenly accelerating past you in amongst the kelp beds.”
“What a wonderful world down below, especially when you knew you were the first down amongst the sea life and wrecks.”
How has diving technology changed?
“Diving technology has indeed changed since I started diving in the 1960s. Homemade wetsuits, twin-hose demand valves. I still have some of this gear in store.
Some of the gear was poorly designed. The wetsuits were not very watertight, the fins and masks were not the best fit and there was a lack of charging facilities.”
When Dave left the Falklands in 1973, he went on to study for a degree and spent his university holidays working for commercial diving companies, including the large French company COMEX.
“I worked mainly in the North Sea on various ships, drill rigs and platforms. It was a varied workload but exciting and very enjoyable. The money was good too!
Of course, the commercial diving equipment was another experience: full-face masks with communications, hot-water suits, video and still cameras and some fantastic work boats.”
More than sixty years after he first started diving, Dave has seen enormous changes in equipment.
“Now, looking at the changes made with dive equipment such as single-hose regulators, lovely warm drysuits and much better designs of fins and masks, I am lucky to have experienced the vast changes made in diving technology and also lucky to have dived on so many virgin shipwrecks. Being the first person to locate and survey a shipwreck is very special and memorable.”
Better boats have also opened up new possibilities.
“Having a small and flimsy inflatable or small local and slow boat that was only available in the 1960s and 70s did not help us in our ambitions to dive on some sites. Now we have some fantastic RIBs, and this season I will be using my 27ft Targa boat from Stanley to carry out some exploration dives and ROV surveys around Port William, Berkeley Sound and hopefully further afield.”
Which wrecks have stayed with you?
“I have been very fortunate and perhaps lucky in locating many shipwrecks which have never been dived on or explored before. The initial search, by asking locals what they know, is in itself an adventure and, of course, it feeds the imagination. Even better if someone has a photo of the ship before she sank.”
The first shipwreck Dave and his fellow divers located was the John R Kelly, wrecked on the rock which took its name. Today the site is known as Kelly Rocks in the Port William area.
“It was all that you could imagine. It was easy to get to and was only in 12–15 metres of water.”
Another wreck captured Dave’s imagination for much longer: the Conquimbana, wrecked on the Tysen Patch in Falkland Sound.
“I organised a week’s expedition in 1972 with George Betts, who I taught to dive. We were on the local cutter owned by Chris Bundes. Well, the weather was so bad that we only managed one dive and we were not successful in locating the wreck. It must not be forgotten that the Tysen Patch was a long kelp reef over one mile long!”
Dave organised another expedition after returning to the Falklands with his family in 1981. With fellow ex-Camp Teacher Richard Stevens, he stayed on Great Island for nearly three months before eventually locating the shipwreck.
“One of the attractions in looking for this wreck was that it had a cargo of copper ingots which would go a long way to financing my expedition. Unfortunately, only 27 ingots remained on the wreck, as I later found out that a lot were recovered about a year after the disaster. Well, we went back to Stanley for a break and before we knew it the Islands were invaded by the Argentina, and we never got out to the Tysen Patch again until 1985.”
“The excitement of being the first person to locate and explore a particular shipwreck is a feeling that is difficult to explain.”
Is there one moment you will never forget?
“There are many moments that you cannot forget in over 60 years of diving. With regards to the Falklands, it would have to be the first dive and the finding of the John R Kelly, closely followed by our adventures in trying to find the Conquimbana in the Falkland Sound.”
But Dave also remembers the people he brought into diving.
“From a more personal point, it would be forming the first BSAC in the Falklands with a guy named Geoff Douglas and teaching people to swim, then dive. This gave me a lot of pleasure and, of course, gave me some buddies to dive with.”
His years as a commercial diver also left their mark.
“The time spent in the diving industry and diving commercially for a living was a great experience. I met some great people from all walks of life and whilst we did have some dangerous moments, everyone worked for the company and the team. I do miss that time.”
What makes the Falklands so special for divers and maritime historians?
“For me, the history of the Islands and its maritime element has given me a wonderful time of my life. John Smith was a good inspiration and very knowledgeable. Another man named Karl Leellman also helped me in my research. I enjoy reading about the many people who voyaged to the Islands, the explorations they made and what they left behind, which as you can guess was one or two shipwrecks! It is cold-water diving but provided you have the right gear then all is well. Diving in wetsuits in the 70s sometimes did not fit very well and trying to get the dive cylinder filled also had its moments. But when you are young and half mad then you just get on and enjoy it.”
“Diving has been my adventure in life.”
What inspired you to write Beneath Falkland Island Waters?
“My book covers the majority of my time, nearly 48 years, diving and exploring around Falkland waters. It’s cold-water diving at its most exciting, especially with the seals and penguins also in attendance. Also, being a very keen photographer, I wished to show the beauty that can be found amongst the kelp beds and wrecks. Besides taking many still photos, I have also managed to make a 30-minute video, and this will soon be available. My book took a bit longer than planned, but I hope that what I produced will encourage other divers to dive and enjoy the Falklands and add to the knowledge that is slowly being produced.”
If you could take someone on one dive, which wreck would you choose?
“A very difficult question to answer, as I am sure there are still some wrecks yet to be found that would make my top three. At the moment, and because it is fairly easy to get to and is not in too deep water, the John R Kelly would be my choice. Although diving on the Seal and Billy Rocks is exciting.”
What do you find most fascinating about the Falklands' shipwrecks?
“I always love the stories that are passed down and how the ships were wrecked, who was in command and the human heroism and suffering that always occurred. Every ship has its own personal history: where it was built, the voyages that it made, the cargo it was carrying and the composition of the crew. The excitement of being the first person to locate and explore a particular shipwreck is a feeling that is difficult to explain, but I have been very fortunate to be that person.”
What advice would you give to younger divers?
“My advice to those younger divers who are just starting on their underwater adventures is: do as much research as possible. This in itself is exciting and when you find your first wreck you feel on top of the world. My advice is, in the first instance, enjoy the dive, try not to disturb anything and keep a record of what you find, either using your camera or video equipment. Once the first exciting dive is finished and you have a good record of what you have actually found, then any following dives can be enjoyed by the dive team as you begin to explore in a much more controlled way.”
“Do as much research as possible. This in itself is exciting.”
Is there anything still left to discover?
” I have a few areas I still need to explore and hopefully find the wreck where it should lie. This year I shall concentrate on a couple of areas and if we find anything then, like I have always done in the past, I will let people know what we have found. As you know, the technology, especially the equipment to explore under the ocean, has changed. Remote operated vehicles (ROVs) have improved over the years and I have two which I will be using this season. The Falklands is cold-water diving at its best.”
“The Falklands is cold-water diving at its best.”
About Beneath Falkland Island Waters
David Eynon’s book, Beneath Falkland Island Waters, records nearly five decades of diving and exploration around the Falkland Islands. Combining underwater photography, wreck histories and Dave’s own experiences, it offers a unique personal record of the Islands’ underwater heritage.
For anyone interested in Falklands maritime history, diving or the stories hidden beneath the kelp, it is a fascinating record of a lifetime spent exploring the Islands’ waters.
With thanks to David Eynon
The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust would like to thank David Eynon for sharing his memories, photographs and lifelong passion for the Islands’ maritime heritage.
The preservation of Falklands history depends on the dedication of many people over many decades. We are delighted to celebrate Dave’s contribution and the remarkable record he has created of the Islands’ underwater heritage.