Our purpose is to provide project-
NASAC is affiliated to the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC Branch 2574). We welcome divers from all the training agencies. We do not teach diving, but we aim to develop members’ skills through specific dives and projects that will initially be based along the South Coast.
Club diving is run under BSAC guidelines and club members are required to be members of the BSAC. Guest divers are welcome on club dives and do not have to be a member of the BSAC, but must show proof of 3rd party insurance prior to diving with NASAC. Annual Membership (as of January 2026) - £7.00 per month or £70.00 per year one off payment.
Club members are required to be current members of the Nautical Archaeology Society.
Several club members are licencees of Protected Wreck sites, affording us unique project opportunities. Guest divers with archaeological interests are welcome to join in club activities. Follow NASAC on Facebook.
Our Club Officers
- Chair - Ray Dickinson
- Diving Officer - Mark Beattie-Edwards
- Treasurer - Chris Birkhead
- Boat Officer - Martin Davies
- Secretary / Membership - Sara Hasan - can be contacted on club@nauticalarchaeologysociety.org
- Marketing Mistress - Karen Moule
- Equipment Officer - Alby Hall
- Marine Champion - Alison Mayor
Why join the Nautical Archaeology Society Diving Club?
NASAC member Karen Moule has been a member of the Nautical Archaeology Society for the best part of 24 years with many of those years also as a member of the NAS diving club.
Why join any club? Surely a club with a core purpose that shares your own interest or hobby is a good enough reason.
If you have an interest in any of the following, then joining NASAC, could be the opportunity you’ve been looking for. Are you interested in:
- Our seafaring heritage with the triumphs and tragedies that happened over the centuries
- Our shipbuilding history
- Our Naval history – perhaps in sea conflicts worldwide
- Being a diver that wants to dive 'with a purpose’
- Returning to diving after the kids have flown the nest
- Local history
- Being a student of maritime archaeology, wanting to access protected wrecks
- Being a dive centre/shop that can offer your customers a unique dive experience
- Being a sailor with an interest is ships and shipwrecks
- Being a dive club, offering your members access to protected wrecks
- Archaeology in general
- UK history in general
When Karen joined NASAC she had been the Training Officer for a local British Sub Aqua Club dive club in Aylesbury. Having spend a few years taking novice divers into inland dive sites for 6 metre training dives to get student divers through their qualifications, Karen was so bored with it, that she considered 'hanging up her fins’.
Following a visit to one of the dive shows and 'stumbling’ across the Nautical Archaeology Society stand at the show, she realised it wasn’t quite the time to stop diving. If anything, it was the time to start – start diving with a purpose.
Karen had a keen interest in history, our seafaring past and the tragedies that had created so many shipwrecks – along with the allure of sunken treasure! Having spoken to the team from the NAS, it fired a desire to understand more about our maritime heritage, the different types of ships that existed, their evolution over the centuries, the different armaments and what the shipwreck 'crime scene’ could tell you about the ship itself and the circumstances of its wrecking.
Becoming a member of the Nautical Archaeology Society is something for divers and non-divers alike, but the affiliated diving club – NASAC – is just for divers; divers who have an interest in accessing protected wrecks and being with a bunch of people who share a common interest, and who have the added advantage of a range of skills and knowledge specific to maritime archaeology.
Being Portsmouth-based, with its own boat, NASAC has the ability to dive in a wide range of locations across the UK. It’s a small and friendly club with ambitions to grow its membership to include more students from Bournemouth and Southampton Universities, divers returning to the sport seeking a purpose to their diving, as well as other local diving club members who can join dive trips for a good day’s diving.
NASAC Calendar
If you are a club member and you want to have a trip, event or activity added to the calendar please contact Sara (Secretary) or Ray (Chair).
Forms for NASAC Dive Organisers
Remember that your Dive Plan and Risk Assessment must be submitted and approved by the Diving Officer prior to the dive. Mark, our current Diving Officer can be contacted on mark@nauticalarchaeologysociety.org
NASAC Projects 2026
Project Portunus
As a dive club based on the shores of Langstone Harbour, the Nautical Archaeology Sub-Aqua Club (NASAC) are delivering a project to support research aimed at restoring and sustaining the harbours.
Continuing the project begun by Southsea Sub-Aqua Club, project 'Portunus’, named after the Roman god of harbours and the crustacean family 'Portunidae’, will provide valuable data which can support research by national, educational, and community groups aimed at understanding the current status of the harbours’ underwater environment and inform regeneration plans.
Withern 100 Project
A new underwater archaeology project has been launched in Langstone Harbour by NASAC member, Riley Conway, to uncover the identity and story behind a century-old shipwreck, which coincides with Portsmouth’s landmark centenary celebrations in 2026.
NASAC Blogs
14.04.23. Greenwich and the Van de Veldes, by Karen Moule
The Van de Veldes – father and son Dutch artists from the late 1600s and early 1700s – came to my attention when Mark Beattie Edwards showed the drawing of the Klein Hollandia ship as part of the 'Digging for Britain’ programme in January this year.
When the weekly NASAC e-newsletter informed me that there was an exhibition of their art at the Queen’s House, at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich, I booked my ticket as I was intrigued to see more of their work.
Having studied graphic design as a teenager I have always been interested in art, and quite a variety of styles and periods, however always been very keen on maritime art as we had a lot of it on the walls at home as I grew up.
The leaflet blurb sets the scene for the exhibition very well: “Royal Museums Greenwich is the home to the world’s largest collection of works by the leading marine artists of the 17th century, Willem van de Velde the Elder and his son, Willem van de Velde the Younger. 350 years ago, the Van de Veldes moved from their home in the Dutch Republic to England, where Charles II gave them a working space in the Queen’s House. From their studio, father and son pioneered marine painting in Britain and established a taste for the genre that persists today. There are few collections of any 17th-century artist’s work – maritime or otherwise – as comprehensive as the Van de Veldes collection at Greenwich or as revealing about how an artist’s studio functioned at that time. The exhibition celebrates this extraordinary collection and its unique association with the Queen’s House, as much a site for contemporary art then as it is today”. 
The exhibition didn’t disappoint. The father’s core focus was on sketches and pen and ink drawings of maritime scenes – both everyday situations as well as battles. Using his own ship while drawing the scenes, he would sometimes struggle to get out of the way of the action in some cases (!) and you can see how close he was to that action as he often included himself and his ship in many of his finished pieces.
The son tended to focus on oil paintings of maritime scenes, either working up his own sketches or his dad’s into stunning paintings. 
In some of the long thin sketches of a battle or fleet there would be little notes in the margins to inform the finished work to follow of the wind direction, strength, sea state, the direction the ships were sailing, and often the names of the ships alongside numbers allocated by their masts.
It was a fascinating insight into their method as well as an opportunity to appreciate the finished pieces whether in oil or pen and ink. The most astonishing thing for me was the level of detail that the pen and ink drawings went into. I have included the main picture here and then a close up of two small sections of the drawing to show how much detail the father managed to capture at the time! Quite exceptional observational and recording skills.
If you’re into maritime art and history, I highly recommend visiting this exhibition and it’s on until 14th January 2024. And it’s free. I’d be very happy for a second visit!
If you’d like to join us in 2023 for some fun and adventures or would like more information about NASAC, including details about membership, please contact Sara on club@nauticalarchaeologysociety.org
09.02.23. When the TV joined NASAC to discover a wreck, by Karen Moule
NASAC member Karen Moule has been a member of the Nautical Archaeology Society for the best part of 25 years with many of those years also as a member of the NAS diving club.
Saturday 3rd September 2022 saw nine divers and a cameraman from RareTV set off to film what had been called 'The Secret Wreck’ from Eastbourne harbour and tell the story of this ship’s demise for the BBC’s new Digging for Britain series.
With gorgeous weather, flat calm seas, we waved goodbye to the harbour seals while Mark Beattie-Edwards briefed us on the day ahead. Terry, the cameraman, was a great addition to the team that day, and was impressive in his ability to nimbly manage to work his way around the boat taking all sorts of shots – drone views above the boat, the briefing, interviewing people as well as recording the action as we kitted up, jumped in, came out and de-kitted. 
Above: Lee, Alex and Karen being briefed on the boat in Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne
There were several objectives to achieve. First and foremost was to enable Martijn Manders, Head of Nautical Archaeology in the Netherlands to see a bronze cannon in situ on a wooden shipwreck. To date he had only seen bronze cannon after they had been recovered. Sara and Mark were going to recover a couple of artefacts for closer investigation and conservation; and Lee, Alex and myself were going to do some cleaning.
In order to confirm the age of the shipwreck a large piece of wood, ideally one of the main uprights that were side by side along the length of the hull, would need to be cut off and taken for dendrochronology (tree ring) identification. As the edge of the hull was just visible from the seabed, the wood nibbling critters in our UK waters had already started to nibble the tops of these posts, so our job was to clear some of the seabed on either side of the hull to enable a subsequent diver with an underwater chainsaw to cut several inches of the wood and recover it to the surface. This depth of wood would enable the first few centimetres to be discarded due to critters nibbling through the important tree ring path, but enable a full tree ring pattern below, which would give us the best chance of confirming when this tree was felled to build this ship. 
Above: The area of timbers chosen for dendrochronological sampling (c) Martin Davies InDepth Photography
We had to remove shells and stones, and then the scrubbing brushes came out and we literally were scrubbing away the harder packed sand on the seabed. Although the three of us were practically shoulder to shoulder, as soon as we started this activity, we couldn’t see our own hands let alone each other! After 20 minutes of 'cleaning’ we floated above our dust cloud and signalled to go and have a recce around the rest of the wreck. As well as an amazing mass of both bronze and iron cannon, there was also a wealth of marine life, which due to the good hiding places on the wreck site had enabled lobsters and crabs to grow to enormous sizes. The shoals of fish were pleasant companions as well as spotting conger eels, again of all sizes and in greater quantity than I’ve seen on a single site.
Above: Video of Gun 6 on the Klein Hollandia wreck (c) NAS
The end results of the day can be seen on BBC iPlayer, Digging for Britain, Series 10, Episode 4, and this story starts at just over 10 minutes in. All of the objectives for this dive were achieved. Martyn was over the moon at seeing so many bronze cannon, various interesting artefacts were recovered. It’s worth mentioning that when I say I have 40 bar (in this shot), that was after the dive, not before I went in!
Above: Karen's starring role on Digging for Britain
You can watch the episode here on iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0dm8056/digging-for-britain-series-10-4-mystery-shipwreck-and-a-roman-army-camp
As you will see from the programme, the wreck, that had been discovered in 2019, now has a name, the Klein Hollandia, a Dutch ship, which was part of the Smyrna fleet. The historical accounts suggest that on 12th March 1672 the British provoked the Dutch who were trying to stay out of a fight. It would appear that we fired on this ship, which was trying to get away and stay afloat, throwing heavy goods over the side, but sadly sunk taking many sailor with it. It could be that this act was the catalyst to the start of the third Dutch-Anglo war of the 17th century.
There is still much to understand about this significant wreck, so the Nautical Archaeology Society is continuing to work on this wreck to find out more about it. As a member of NASAC, you could come and join us and get involved. Get in touch with Sara here to become a member: club@nauticalarchaeologysociety.org
26.01.23. Annual regulator servicing, by Alby Hall
Ever wondered what happens when you send your regulators in for a service? Find out from NASAC Member and service engineer Alby Hall.
Like a lot of us, Mark Beattie-Edwards uses Apeks regulators and as a professional diver is obligated to ensure that his equipment is in date for servicing. So on a blustery and wet Saturday morning at Fort Cumberland whilst replacing the gauge on the compressor Mark announced he had a 'present’ for me and promptly presented me with his 3 Apeks regulator sets.
Once disentangled, I photographed them individually to ensure that once reassembled the hose configuration would be the same as received.
I then set about stripping them down, for this; a few special tools are required, such as a pin spanner to undo the first stage dry seal end cap and diaphragm. In addition to a bespoke second stage front cover removal tool. Otherwise, its Allen keys, spanners and tweezers/'O’ ring picks.
One of the DS4 first stages and TX 50 second stage regulators stripped down minus the service items. The service kits include valve seats, 'O’ rings, filters and diaphragms but does not include second stage diaphragm or mushroom valves. 
Once stripped, the items are 'cleaned’ using an ultrasonic bath filled with a 25% solution of Biox and potable water at a temperature between 55 and 60 ° (Biox is a detergent solution used for degreasing components prior to use with an oxygen rich >21% breathing mixture).
I usually 'soak’ the items for 20 minutes to ensure maximal degreasing. However, most people will place items in the ultrasonic cleaner for 5-8 minute cleaning cycles. In addition to the items in the ultrasonic bath, I clean the second stage body components and ends of the hoses.Once 'cleaned’, the items are rinsed in warm 'potable’ water and dried prior to reassembly. Below are the components being washed before drying and reassembly.
Apeks supply individual service kits for both first and second stage regulators. Dependant on the regulator being serviced not all components are required. Note, there are two first stage filters, a sintered metal filter and a plastic filter for use on 'A’ clamp assemblies only. It should also be noted that if using nitrox only the sintered filter should be used.
Again, dependant on whether air or an enriched gas mixture is to be breathed will dictate which 'grease’ I use to lubricate the 'O’ rings and thread assemblies. If the diver is just using air then a silicone grease can be used; however, if the diver will be breathing an enriched mixture then I use 'Christolube’ which is an oxygen compatible grease.
Once both the first and second stages are reassembled, the interstage pressure must be set and the second stage 'tuned’. Interstage pressure should be set between 9 and 10 bar with a first stage inlet pressure >100 bar. Once set, it should remain stable and not 'creep’, therefore, I will set the interstage pressure, purge the second stage a few times, note the static interstage and monitor for 5 minutes to ensure it doesn’t rise. 
Once the first stage pressure is set, the pressure transmitter (with updated sticker showing next service date) can be fitted prior to fitting the environmental dry seal. Subsequently, the second stage can be finely tuned to ensure optimum performance. In the case of the TX second stage this involves adjusting the tilt valve height and dependant on the vintage requires either an Allen key or wide flat blade screw driver. When the venturi lever is set fully open, the regulator should freeflow when the purge button is pressed gently and released. With the venturi lever in the shut (forward) position the regulator should just flow gas and stop once the purge button has been released.
If you’d like to join us in 2023 for some fun and adventures or would like more information about NASAC, including details about membership, please contact Sara on club@nauticalarchaeologysociety.org
09.01.23. Winter chores, by Sara Hasan and Mark Beattie-Edwards
Winter is in full swing, the festive season is a distant memory, and the warm spring weather feels a long way off. NASAC members are arranging a few trips to inland quarries and local beaches during the next couple of months, and we’re busy planning a summer of exciting diving, but the maintenance work does not stop. Members have been busy with boat and equipment maintenance.
We spent a chilly morning just before Christmas 'winterising’ the club RIB Honor, jobs included pumping up the trailer tyres, removing the batteries, anchor, and boat equipment which was cleaned, dried and moved to the store. We drained the remaining fuel, added stabiliser to the empty fuel tank and then refuelled ready for winter storage.
Whilst in the club store we noticed our trailer launching wheels had attracted some unwanted attention and appear to have provided a substantial meal for some local critters! One outstanding winter project is to redesign the trailer wheels as they have suffered some serious wear and tear, but again, Alby to the rescue, and he has a plan to strengthen the support the frame, shafts and wheels, and redesign and strengthen the axles.
So Honor has received some much deserved TLC and will be ready to perform for us in a couple of months, and we can’t wait 😊 The club’s compressor has had some attention too, the pressure gauge was damaged and has been repaired by our resident engineer – thanks Alby.
Finally, a little reminder from our Diving Officer - remember it is important to get your own equipment ready for the new season. Take advantage of the quiet winter to get those tanks and regulators serviced and maybe give your suit the once-over to see if your zips and seals will last another year. No one wants to bin a dive because your kit's not ready.
Roll on the summer 😊
If you’d like to join us in 2023 for some fun and adventures on our RIB Honor, or would like more information about NASAC, including details about membership, please contact Sara on club@nauticalarchaeologysociety.org
2022 NASAC Blogs
17.10.22. My Highland Adventure, by Duncan Ross
During lockdown, apart from eating too many pancakes, NASAC member Duncan Ross set himself a grand future task of visiting different kinds of underwater archaeological sites around Britain. This summer he managed to add a couple of unique Scottish sites to his gradually-expanding list.
After around two-years of communication, in August 2022 I was invited to help out on a crannog investigation in the fairly anonymous Loch Achilty, just a little north of Inverness city. Assisting North of Scotland Archaeology Society (NOSAS) member Richard Guest and his intrepid team, I spent two days at a most-tranquil setting scuba diving, investigating, recording and taking photos and film of a site that could be anything from a couple of hundred years to a couple of thousand years old. 
Richard Guest explores mysterious timber and rocks around the Loch Achilty crannog: Image: Duncan Ross
Crannogs are a fairly unchartered area in the field of archaeology, and most questions about their creation and the purpose of their locations within lochs remain unanswered and open to speculation. All that usually remains is an artificial island of stones piled on top of one another – artefacts and human traces are frustratingly rare, as are diagnostic patterns that could lead to a method of classification. The crannog centre at Loch Tay focuses on the iron age roundhouse model that was discovered there, but little proof exists that others were constructed and utilised in the same way. The depth of the Loch Achilty crannog, previously unrecorded, is an ultra-accessible 2.5 metres. Needless to say, dive times were extremely long for Richard and myself.
