Author: zadmin

To start at the end for a change, one of the boat trailer springs died on Friday and after some hard work by Mike Anthony and Brian Lugg on Saturday the trailer is in bits and new springs are procured. On Tuesday night we’ll be putting the thing back together in time for next Friday so we need a few bodies with overalls to help with the lifting. No excuses accepted (well possibly if you need a flight to get here but otherwise…)

We actually had company on the Victoria Star this weekend. Not DSDC as we might have expected but Ali Fikree and a team of divers in a smart looking dive boat. Our ride out was very smooth but with a full moon, we were expecting strong currents. Not on the first dive as it turned out – we must have hit slack water and there was nothing to speak of.

Calm it may have been under water but things were not so relaxed on the boat. Waiting for the return of the first wave, Mike noticed the stern a bit lower in the water than it ought to have been. Yup – one of the bungs was missing and the boat was in danger of joining the Victoria Star on the bottom. They say the most efficient pump is a desperate man with a bucket and Mike was soon bailing away having first jumped into the water to plug the hole.

By the time we were on the surface the crisis had passed although we were bailing away for a good while. By the time of the second dive the current had got up as expected and it was a big effort just to get to the anchor line. Still – once on the wreck it was much calmer so we were able to further explore the workshop and engine room.

Our Eid trip to Beirut is gathering pace. The main target is the “Souffleur” a Vichy French submarine sunk in 1941. A nearby wreck the “Alice B” is also well worth a visit.

Last weekend we were back to Victoria Star (surprise!) for some more exploration. We probably won’t have the ship to ourselves for much longer now that the Notice to Mariners is issued so we want to make the most of it. The sea was a bit lumpy but the current was non-existent so we had a better time of it than the previous weekend. Geoff is busy making a plan of the vessel to assist in navigating inside. Brian Lugg could certainly advise him some places to avoid. As he delicately put it on Facebook:

There is saying: “a bad day’s diving beats any day in the office…” After today’s escapades I’m rethinking this. Managed to find EVERY toilet and the entire engine room full of sewage today. Swimming amongst the turds also brings a new meaning to “diving in shit viz…” On the upside – with all the crap going down I somehow managed not to lose my buddy!!!

Not exactly Dostoyevsky but a graphic description nevertheless.

One thing about the crew though – they may have been lousy seamen but they were certainly regular.

But enough of this toilet humour. Mike and I paid a visit to the workshop next to the engine room. Elsewhere on the vessel, the marine growth continues – it’s remarkable how quickly it takes hold – and fish life is starting to increase although it might be some time before it reaches Dara type proportions. As well as the usual snappers, a couple of juvenile groupers have found a home on the ship.

We welcomed a couple of new faces – Peter and Rose from Emirates Airlines who hope will be coming out with us again. With Peter on board and Andy back from his summer holidays, we had two American divers which I can’t remember happening before. Rose had brought along a bottle of the fizzy white stuff which we selflessly offered to help her drink. Glasses were in short supply (apart from Andy who had brought up a cup from the Victoria Star’s galley) so we butchered some Masafi bottles. Crude but effective.

After that it was back to base. PJ and Cathy joined us at the dive table and we enjoyed a glass or two and a meal while the sun went down. All in all an excellent day from dawn’s early light to twilight’s last gleaming.

On Saturday morning a small working party convened to do a bit of tidying up in the yard and to erect our new drying racks. Having acquired a new washing pool last year we can now dry our gear on something better than the old flimsy clothes dryer. Ever onwards and upwards…

We were slightly tempted to give the Victoria Star a rest and do something different at the weekend – I mean how many weeks running do you go to the same place? But none of the suggested alternatives are going away any time soon and Derek was keen to visit the new target have missed the last few weeks. None of us needed a lot of persuading.

So the Victoria Star it was and the sea was more or less flat giving a quick journey out there. The current was mild to start with so the exploration continued. There are one two nice swim throughs in the accommodation area although obviously care is needed. Some of the wooden doors are disintegrating and we’ll probably remove them completely over the next little while. The marine growth continues to take hold – at the moment the wreck becomes noticeably more encrusted each week.

By the time it got to the second dive, both the sea state and the current had increased significantly to the point where one or two of us aborted having found it impossible to reach the anchor line. It has to be said that this decision was encouraged by the sight of Derek producing a few cans of Fosters. The trip home was rough and wet although Geoff did the best he could – the photo attached might give some idea.

It will surprise few of you to learn that we went back to the Victoria Star at the weekend. It’s not often you get to dive a wreck this new and we know from past experience that they don’t stay new for very long. Before leaving port we had a slight hurdle to overcome – Rob had left his ID card behind. There ensued a long discussion with the coastguard. We got around the problem in the end but be warned – ID’s (or passports) are needed to leave from Sharjah ports. 

We had Saad back with us for the first time in a while and it was good to see him. He dived with us a couple of years ago but since then has been mostly diving with DSDC. Their buddy checks are clearly more particular than ours; after Saad had given Geoff a long and detailed description of his kit Geoff, tooled up for a thorough exploration of the wreck, turned to him and said: “I’ve got lots of shit”. Quite. This turned out to be prophetic but more of that later.

It was interesting to see what is happening to the wreck in a short time. Marine growth is already getting a grip and the ship was noticeably more encrusted than it had been last weekend. The name “Victoria Star” was less obvious on the stern and seems to have disappeared from the bow. The concrete blocks in the hold are becoming home to some fish and I can imagine this becoming a very attractive reef before too long. The viz was average rather than brilliant and I suspect this will never change that much being so close to the Palm dredging.

Not to worry – it was another excellent dive. Rob was so excited said: “It’s like a sweet shop – I saw one radar then I saw an even better one”. Actually these weren’t his exact words but discretion prevails. Mike A and Brian Lugg had a less salubrious experience working their way down a couple of levels to find the engine room. They got there but found that an effluent tank had been damaged in the sinking and they were swimming among a lot of floating turds (“turd in the hold”?). There followed a swift exit but at least they had a record of the crew’s last movements.

It seems almost an afterthought to mention the dolphins and the cormorant that came visiting during the surface interval. Neither came very close possibly because of the diesel on the surface. This is the less pleasant aspects of diving a new wreck. Although not on the scale of the Zainab which went down carrying Iraqi crude, it’s not nice floating around in a film of oil. On the way down get below the surface quickly and keep your reg in your mouth until the last moment on the way up. Cathy took this to the extreme and forgot to take it out even as her gear was being pulled out of the water nearly losing her front teeth in the process.

Back at the club the boat needed a lot of scrubbing to get rid of the oil but this was a small price to pay! So oils well that ends well!

There really wasn’t much discussion about the target for the weekend. Those of us who missed the first dive on the Victoria Star last Friday were keen to get out there and see it for ourselves. It’s quite close inshore which makes for a quick ride out there but does leave it close to the shipping lanes. It’s anyone’s guess whether the authorities will decide to buoy the wreck or destroy it – we’d obviously prefer the former – but something needs doing.

Anchoring took a couple of attempts but we hooked in before too long and got diving. The viz was adequate rather than spectacular – I suspect that being close to the dredged areas it won’t get much better – but I’ve seen far worse. Mike D and PJ came up in complete certainty about the anchor position:
“Amidship”
“No the stern”
“Portside”
“No starboard”

Armed with this priceless information me and Cath went for a look. It’s not often we get to dive a wreck as recent as this one (the Mariam Express was the last one) and it’s fascinating to tour round a boat that’s almost pristine apart from being underwater. It’s hard not to smile when you see a large sign saying: “SAFETY FIRST”. Someone was obviously not paying attention.

The wreck is about 80m long and sitting upright. The cargo of concrete blocks has tipped around quite a bit though it’s not clear if this was a factor in the sinking. It’s not an obvious deliberate sinking the way the Sea King 5 was and the way the Ajman Glory may have been. I can foresee a few more visits in the near future.

All in all a good day and I think it’s only fair to overlook such misdemeanours as PJ going over the side without his air switched on or Brian cutting the wrong line attached to his lifting bag.

This was the last dive (for a while) for Chris De Klerk who is returning home although he hopes to get back here in the not too far distant future. A pleasure to dive with you Chris and we hope to see you again soon.

Overheard on the way back to the club:
“Is the small boat behind us or in front?”
“Behind I hope”
“Why, is Mike towing it?”
“No, we are”

The photos (worth a thousand words) are by Polly Buckingham, and can be seen above. PJ’s video will be premiered on Tuesday.

With hindsight it might have been just as well that we didn’t do too much last weekend as this one was hectic for all concerned. Some of us were on a two-day, two-night dhow trip in the Musandam of which more later but a diving party also went out on this coast, tempted by the recently sunk “Victoria Star”.

Brian Lugg tells the story:

Brian Lugg, Brian Larkin, Geoff and Chris had signed up for the Friday dive. We met at the club at 7am, and were joined by old time members Soren, and Brendan. The 6 of us loaded the boat and headed off for Al Khan slip.

Brendan who has not been diving for over a year was so eager to get wet that when he got to the quay side, he did a backward giant stride entry into the water fully clothed and overcome with joy from getting wet, he donated his sunglasses to a local hermit crab. Chris thought this was a good idea and sent his iphone in as well.

Once loaded we signed out with the coast guard and headed off for the new dive site but first a little background information courtesy of Geoff.

VICTORIA STAR
Ship Type: General cargo
Year Built: 1972
Length x Breadth: 80 m X 12 m
Gross Tonnage: 1485, Dead Weight: 2500 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 6.2 / 6.1 knots
Flag: Sierra Leone [SL] 
Call Sign: 5IM646
IMO: 7111004, MMSI: 667054600
Vessel’s Ex Name – Last Reported:
NAWAL 2007-11-01
ANSEO 1993-10-01
MCW ILSABE 1993-01-01
NORBERTHA 1990-11-01
ORCHID MOON 1984-01-01
GABBRO 1983-01-01 

About half way out to the wreck, SP 312 got wind of our intentions and tried her best to keep the location of the Victoria Star a secret by decoupling the steering link at full throttle. This resulted in an impressive 180 degree turn to starboard, this time without injury. When asking “Does anyone have some tools?” well, you can guess the response. It was only 8 minutes later that SP 312 came to another grinding halt, but this time it was because we had arrived.

The seas were flat calm with a few ships anchored in near proximity and the search began. The report had a number of co-ordinates listed, all of which (especially the one near Abu Musa) were wrong. This is what 2 hours of searching for a wreck looks like on the chart plotter:

Just as we began losing all hope of a dive, we spotted a few fishing pots near us. On the premise that nothing escapes the local fishermen, we went to investigate.  The pots were not on a wreck but the distinct smell of diesel in the air was a dead giveaway; we were close, and 20 meters away we found the cause – Victoria Star.

The bottom depth is 21.8 meters, minimum depth of 11 meters on the bridge. Her bow and stern masts have fallen over. Her cargo is insulated concrete blocks, she sits upright, and her cargo hold doors are open. 

While this was going on, PJ, John, Debs, Ian and Cathy were joining DSDC on a live-aboard trip in the Musandam. It’s an interesting thought that when the trip was first planned, the Victoria Star was still floating. Originally, we and DSDC had come up with the same idea for the same weekend, but with both struggling for numbers, it made sense to join forces. We duly convened at Dibba Harbour at 8pm Thursday evening –all of us that is apart from an unfortunate diver (Vic) who was unable to talk his way past the Emirati check-point, his details having failed to arrive. The rest of us boarded the “Yas” and settled down for dinner on the top deck, during which we left port and headed north.

On Friday morning we woke up with the dhow cruising among the islands at the north tip of the Musandam in the Strait of Hormuz. The first dive was on Abu Rashid island where the dhow anchored. A fast boat had been towed up and it was this that ferried the divers to the site. The currents can be strong in this area even on the neaps and this was a drift dive north to south. The viz was reasonably good and there were large shoals of jacks and snappers and a few barracuda. There were also plenty of triggerfish many of which seemed to be resting in some nook or cranny with only the tail sticking out. Most of the fish this far north seem to be bigger than their counterparts nearer to the population centres probably because they’re not fished as much.

After breakfast, the dhow moved on a short distance to Musandam Island where we were to dive a section known as the Ridges. The current was weaker at this site and we were able to dive up and down the reef, returning more or less to the starting point where the fast boat picked us up. We’d brought wet-suits with us as a precaution but it had become apparent that the water was not that cold, unlike the Damaniyats a few weeks previously, and the overalls or skin suits would be sufficient.

The third dive of the day was also the best. The dhow moved south to Mushroom Reef, a ridge that stretches between Red Island and Black Island about six metres below the surface. The entry is slightly unusual in that instead of descending the side of the rock, you simply go over the side and plunge straight down on to the ridge, following a shot line put down for the purpose. No sooner had we done so when an eagle ray glided into sight and came quite close before disappearing. Following the north side of the ridge, there were shoals of jacks and Indian Mackerel that seemed happy to let us swim among them. After about 25 minutes we crossed to the south side of the ridge and made our way back towards the shot line.

Before dinner but after sundown, there was time for a short night dive in the bay of Red Island where “Yas” was to anchor for the night. PJ returned to report a close encounter with a small cuttlefish, and a squid that attacked his torch!

After another excellent meal there was a short quiz provided by DSDC. It was fairly anarchic and the 406 contingent dipped out of the last couple of rounds. The quiz became much calmer after that – draw what conclusions you like! Oh well, we won one round at least.

In the morning, the party split in two. The first wave was to dive White Rock, which is usually an excellent dive although it can be prone to strong currents. On this occasion, the currents were certainly there but not that bad and easily manageable. We entered the water on the north-east corner and made our way round over the underwater ridge that connects the rock to the mainland. As we passed Steve and Tina Lockie, Steve was energetically flapping his arms indicating rays in the area. We headed down the ridge away from the rock but at nearly 30m we could still see nothing so we headed back. Steve later showed us video of a squadron of six or seven eagle rays, one or two of which came very close. So we missed out there but there were still large shoals of jacks and mackerel and very good viz.

Wave two dived Ras Khayseh, the bay where the dhow was moored. Peter and Debs came back enthusing about the fish life and the exceptional visibility of 20m or so.

The final dive was on Umm Al Fayarin or “Mother of Mouse” to her friends. Again this was done in two waves with the majority opting for the north side which is a shallow reef. The dive was scenic rather than exciting but nevertheless Peter and Debs had a close encounter with a turtle and there were a lot of trigger fish which by this time we were getting used to seeing. A relaxing end to the diving after which the dhow set of towards home and we got showered and changed. Wave 2 on the fast boat had elected to dive the south side of the island which is less scenic but carries the possibility of sunfish if you’re lucky. Not on this occasion unfortunately but apparently a good dive nevertheless.

The dhow anchored in the calm water just outside Lima harbour where the fast boat with the wave two divers caught up with us. After a bit of tidying up we sat down for lunch followed by the awards ceremony. The 406 divers managed to garner two accolades – PJ for dropping his weight belt over the side and Debs for hunting all day for her weights, only to find them in her dive bag. Clearly she had ignored the biblical injunction:

“Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.” – Deuteronomy 25:13 (King James Version)

Actually I don’t think that’s what the Good Book really meant to say but why let that spoil a good quote?

A very good weekend all round and many thanks to the organisers and DSDC, as well as to boat skipper Saeed Al Dhahouri of Sheesa Beach Dhow Cruises and his crew.

After the uncertainty I’m happy to report that we got a day off on Thursday when the wise ones managed to spot the crescent moon through the haze on Wednesday evening and declared the Eid. I suppose we could have got a dive going but it was a bit late to start organizing and personally I was glad of a lie-in. Interestingly a piece appeared in Gulf News the following day, written by an Islamic scholar, suggesting that in the 21st century there might be a more scientific way of working out when the moon is going to appear. Yes there just might. Who knows – next year we might get more than a few hours warning.

But I digress. Friday morning we were up and out as usual and we welcomed back an old friend. Soren Kjaer was last seen at the club in September 2010 since when he’s been busy raising a family. Still he remembered the way to the club and even remembered to bring most of his gear (actually all of it if you don’t count the wrong fins) which is more than could be said of the day’s marshall who turned up minus some boots. Being nine in number, we decided to squeeze into one boat rather than take both out.

The first target was the Neptune and we made good progress out there on a reasonably flat sea. After last week’s miss, this time we scored a hole in one with the anchor which disappeared into a hole it was in no danger of coming out of accidentally. The Neptune is an upside down barge that sank after a collision. It is breaking up now and part of the forward section has collapsed completely. Although this has led to the loss of a couple of nice swim-throughs, others are appearing as the metal rusts through. Overall there are more ways inside than there used to be.

The second dive was on the Jumbo, a short boat ride away. By this time the current had picked up – it was a spring tide after all – resulting in a sharp deterioration in viz. We were able to stay in the lea of the current but all the same, the dive was a bit disappointing this time around although the fish life was better on the Jumbo than the Neptune as it usually is for some reason. After that we headed home for some well deserved refreshments. Despite the poor viz on the Jumbo, it was an excellent day. Soren had a good day out and hopefully we’ll see him again before 2016. Thanks to Geoff for running the dive.

Speaking of old friends, I got a message from Michelle and Peter Wright, now living in Australia and now proud parents of a young son. I don’t even want to think when they were last here but it was a few years ago now. Attached are a couple of photos of Peter and Michelle in their 406 days and the more recent photo they have sent me. They’re off to Fiji shortly to dive the great Astrolabe reef, apparently the fourth biggest in the world. The Barrier reef must be getting a bit boring!

After last weekend’s trip to foreign parts we were back on local turf on Friday – a trip back to the Ajman Glory. SP 125 was back in action with its trailer repaired (thanks Mike!) which was just as well because numbers were again healthy. SP 312 and its trailer have also had a bit of gentle TLC and now have a new winch and U-bolt, a new GPS and most importantly, a new bungee cord to keep the ladder secure when moving.

A group of eleven became ten on the way to the slip at Hamriyah when Derek’s car went on strike. Volker, his passenger jumped on board with John but Derek understandably stayed behind to sort the problem out.

The sea was flat calm and we made good time but unfortunately we didn’t hit the wreck first time and there was next to no current to give us an indication whether we’d hooked or not. This resulted in the first divers down getting a good view of sand but little else. Second time around we got the anchor into the wreck and we were able to go exploring. The viz was extremely average but at least the sea is warm on this side compared the water temperatures on the east coast last weekend.

The sea life wasn’t especially abundant compared to usual but there was a large shoal of jacks swimming around and the usual snappers. The batfish that used to hang around the rigging seem to be on vacation. We decided to do a second dive on the AG rather than move elsewhere thus enabling Brian and Rob to go fossicking.

After that it was back to the club for some refreshment and a meet up with PJ who had dipped out this week. Given the poor viz, I don’t think a video would have worked very well.

Last weekend was the long awaited trip to Al Sawadi in Oman to dive the Damaniyat Islands, just north of Muscat. This is usually a good trip and this one certainly lived up to expectations. There was a party of 17 in total including a couple of non-divers so we were quite a crowd and it was good to welcome Graham Wilson, a former Diving Officer back in the dim and distant past and his son, Samuel. Also along were Bryan and Helen for the first time since the “old lags dive” on the Dara in October 2011.

We drove down on Thursday evening and on arrival convened in Mike and Peter’s room. The journey was largely uneventful which was a relief after the hassles of getting to Khasab a couple of months ago. Being Ramadan of course the bars were all shut but room service was open for business. After a long journey and with some diving to do in the morning, we didn’t push the party into the early hours but it was a good start all the same.

We were diving with Extra Divers, based at Al Sawadi, who run a very good and efficient operation. And before we set off another blast from the past – Alison Mackenzie once of this parish but now resident in Oman for ten (!) years was at the centre for her weekly diving fix. She was surprised to see us from which I conclude that she doesn’t always read her emails! Derek acted as our point man, co-ordinating with Matteo who was our Dive Master for the day. The only thing he didn’t manage to co-ordinate was his own gear as he arrived on the boat without his regulator. A swift sprint back to shore sorted out the problem.

There was another diversion before we set off. I’ve seen some strange equipment brought on a dive trip but this is the first time I’ve seen anyone turn up with a helicopter. Not a full size one but the small remotely operated variety used for taking aerial photographs. Oliver Jackson, son of our treasurer, is a professional photographer and had brought it along to get some shots of the resort and the dive boats from the air. It caused a bit of a stir, not just with the divers and dive centre staff but also some crows who were clearly puzzled at this interloper in their airspace.

Once on the water, it took about 40 minutes to reach the first target, Junn West Wall. The water was rather cooler than expected – about 21°C at depth so wet suits were highly recommended. It was a bit of a shock after the bath water that is the Arabian Gulf at the moment. The viz apparently hasn’t been too good recently but on this first dive it was very respectable if not quite crystal clear. A full list of all the fish down there would be very long but there were a lot of clown fish – some seemed to be without a parent anemone, a large shoal of blue trigger fish, barracuda, lion fish, snappers, angel fish of various sorts and a stone fish that gave Peter a shock when he nearly put his hand on it, so well was it camouflaged. The maximum depth was around 18m but the best stuff seemed be in the 10 – 15m range so the dives could be quite long before the air ran down (or when you turned blue whichever came first). We were able to shallow finish the dive among some attractive table corals in 6m or so.

The best was saved for the surface interval. With the boat parked at Sira Island, we were discussing whale sharks when one suddenly appeared. The next sound was a large splash as everyone jumped in with masks and snorkels to try and get up close. The shark was a juvenile – maybe 4m or so which is not large by whale shark standards – but it was large enough and it hung around for about ten minutes allowing us a good look although some frantic finning was needed to keep up. It was Mike Anthony’s first whale shark sighting in his 2000+ dives and afterwards he was heard muttering: “Now I can give up diving!” Somehow I can’t see that happening.

After that almost anything might have been anti-climatic and indeed for much of the second dive at Sira Island, the viz was as poor as we’d been told to expect, despite a good start in clear water. A few of the divers turned back when the underwater fog was encountered but the rest of us soldiered on. Peter and Mike A were rewarded with a very friendly turtle which spent several minutes performing for the camera right at the end of the dive. Earlier on, Sami also got some footage of the same animal.

The trip back started off a bit slow since one engine had packed up but half way back another Extra Divers boat caught us up. We trans-shipped and were soon back on shore where Mike Dalton had most of the resort staff searching for his brown flip-flops which had mysteriously gone missing. There was one other slightly jarring note – during the whale shark encounter one of our number caught hold of the shark’s dorsal fin. Back on land the lady at the dive centre let him know this was Not A Good Thing, a point she felt compelled to make several times. In all fairness you could hardly argue – guilty as charged m’lud – but you wondered whether the full hairdryer treatment was really appropriate.

But let that not spoil a good day! After an extensive search, Mike’s brown flip-flops were found (naturally) in his dive bag – no sniggering at the back please! (well you can a bit) and in good humour we all convened in Sami’s room to give the room service another workout.

On Saturday morning some of us went out for some more diving, others favoured the swimming pool and jacuzzi.

The party was Derek, Geoff, Sami, Brian, Mike D, Zulfa, Daniel, Graham, Samuel, Bryan, Helen, Ian, Cathy, Mike A, Peter, Oliver and Jacqui.

 Thanks to Geoff for details of Day 2: 

We were faced with a dilemma at the weekend – 12 divers wanting to go out (good) but only one boat available to take them (not so good). It’s in these circumstances that our old friend the Dara comes into its own since it’s only 10 or 15 minutes out of Hamriyah on a reasonably flat sea. We could leave half the party on the beach while the other half dived and repeat as often as necessary – we optimistically planned to do two dives each.

With the party were Sami on one of his periodic visits from Beirut, Rob who we haven’t seen in a while and Trevor who was on a busman’s holiday from Freestyle Divers in Fujeirah.

The Dara is usually an enjoyable dive and this time was no exception although the viz wasn’t as good as it can be. All the same, the current was minimal and there were a couple of leopard rays prowling around the wreck although neither hung around long once spotted (no pun intended).

It was when we headed back to change divers that thing went slightly astray. We left the anchor line attached to a buoy to avoid having to secure the boat again on our return. As we were leaving however, we saw the buoy floating away into the distance. Clearly a slipknot had been used rather than a bowline! This was not a huge problem in itself but as Trevor was retrieving the buoy his computer slipped off his wrist and sank to the bottom. It took a while to realise what had happened and mark the spot on the GPS and a few more minutes to get a shot-line prepared by which time we’d drifted about 200m. I would not have given much for our chances of recovery at this point but we hopefully dropped the shot near where we thought the computer had gone. Rather to our surprise, Trevor and Geoff surfaced a few minutes later having found the computer after a short circular search only a few metres from the shot. Just goes to show – don’t give up!

By this stage the shore team were wondering what had become of us but we soon got back, loaded up the second wave and headed back out. Nice though the Dara is, by the time we got back to shore for the second time it was nearly 2pm and we all agreed that enough was enough. A couple of refreshments back at the club was the favoured option at this point.

A couple of thanks are in order: to John who provided some rope and other gear to fix the winch plus a couple of buoys and to Mike and Brian who got extremely hot fixing it all together. By the time we next use the boat, it will also have a new GPS as the old one is now almost unreadable.