La Buchana.
La Buchana, also recorded as the Burkana, is a retired tug about 25 m long that was towed out and sunk on purpose for Gibraltar's artificial reef project, in September 2004 according to a local divers' forum. Dive Charters describes her sitting upright on a flat sandy seabed with good penetration, and says she is a favourite of local divemasters and instructors. When she went down she settled on the stern of an older wreck, El Pipo.
What's down there.
- Upright tug hull, 25 m by 8 m
- Penetration opportunities for trained divers
- Remains of the older El Pipo wreck beneath her stern
- A sunken pontoon a short distance south of El Pipo's bow
- Octopus
- Cuttlefish
- Conger and moray eels
- Nudibranchs
- Spider crabs and common lobster
- Mixed fish
Seabed 19 m according to Dive Charters, 22 m according to Underwater Gibraltar.
Flat sandy seabed at 19–22 m. Dive Charters rates the site for Advanced Open Water divers and above. Its page does not say how the site is reached; Dive Charters runs its dives from its boat at Marina Bay, and the Rock Bottom Divers forum lists the wreck under the Rosia Bay area.
How it got there.
Former tug, described as a 300-ton pusher tug and sunk in September 2004 (Rock Bottom Divers forum); 25 m long and 8 m wide (Dive Charters). She was towed out to sea and deliberately sunk for Gibraltar's artificial reef project (Dive Charters; Underwater Gibraltar). She landed on the stern of El Pipo, a wooden boat that had caught fire in Sotogrande marina and had been sunk earlier for the reef project (Underwater Gibraltar). Her builder and earlier service are not recorded in the sources found.
39 dives.
From the log — the dates follow the pattern I dived, so read them as representative rather than exact.