Category: Dive Reports

Welcome All, 

With the sea state looking reasonable and the viz having been awful on the last two visits to the Dara, we decided to head a bit further offshore to the Neptune and Jumbo. Progress was not as fast as it can be, but we got to the Neptune in an hour or so and anchored the wreck at the first time of asking.

Diver one and two were first down the line and as the wreck came into view, the first thing we saw was a shoal of Barracuda and some kind of shark swimming slowly along. I think it was the same type as seen on the Taha or Mariam a few weeks ago but we need a couple of photos to confirm what it is. 

My impression of the viz was that it was better than it was reported to be last weekend but not by much. Maybe 2m or so. We did a couple of circuits, but I didn’t fancy too much exploration in the murk. It turned out we’d been unlucky.

Further divers next down the line found viz poor to start with but improving markedly during the dive. Other divers reported seeing almost the whole wreck from the anchor line and presumably must have wondered if some of us needed our eyes testing.

It was at this point that we had a visitor. A young sea bird swam up to the boat, looking very bedraggled so we lifted it out to give it a chance to dry out and recover. 

We were hoping that the good viz would also have appeared on the Jumbo, only a short distance away. Sadly, this wasn’t the case and although marginally better than our dive on the Neptune, the viz was no better than extremely average. My impression swimming around was that there have been some changes to the wreck over the winter. Further dives in better viz may confirm.

By the time we were ready to go back, our guest’s condition seemed to have improved. We took the bird back to shore and released it at the port. Whether it will ultimately survive no-one can say but it will have a much better chance near land, food and company than it would, had we left it floating around in the water.

It seemed to me that the water temperature has improved since a month ago. Although hardly overall / skin-suit conditions it wasn’t quite the biting cold of February. I made do with a 3mm suit but 5mm is still recommended for the time being. I guess anyone familiar with UK diving conditions will be having a wry smile at this.

As previously mentioned about the possible Shark sighting, it was certainly interesting  despite the inevitable skepticism when we got back on the boat. Perhaps I should buy that camera after all. I’ve since found the link below which may be of interest for literature about Sharks. This is an informative read and worthwhile keeping in your files for future reference.  

And so to the club for a glass or two of decompression fluid. A few returning divers amidst the chaos so welcome back all. 

The 406 Exiles rendezvous in Wapping went ahead so stay tuned for pictures and updates.   
Joining BSAC:
New members to BSAC can join Sharjah Wanderers Diving Club via the website, https://www.bsac.com/membership/select-branch/ . If you enter Sharjah, the club appears. Existing BSAC members can renew by logging into MyBSAC or using this link, https://www.bsac.com/membership/rejoin-today/

Join BSAC and claim your free dive! (406 members only).

BSAC general website: https://www.bsac.com/home/
Remember also:
DAN insurance website: https://www.daneurope.org/home

The Dive Club meets every Tuesday night in the Dive Bar.

​See you there.

​References
Copyright: © 2015 International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

Welcome All, 
​
This week I’m researching some of the archives related to the demise of the Dara. As featured before, this is a wreck that lies off the coast of Sharjah and a frequent dive site. Previously I featured the ongoing health hazards of the nets that get snagged and our efforts to keep the site safe for divers. This week’s feature is on a old newspaper article.

​I’ll post further articles in the next few weeks. This wreck is remembered with respect for those that lost their lives. We as a club promote respect for those in the maritime community and sea farers alike. 

Welcome All, 

Thanks to Allen for this account of the last weekend’s diving:

So with the sea state nearing the 1 metre mark we decided to aim for the proximity of the Dara. We gathered at the dive yard, loaded up the gear and with a turn of the key only a non-sustained rumbling was heard from under the bonnet. However, with a little coaxing she sprung to life and we were off.

Once in the water, a certain returning diver (who will currently remain nameless) declared an out of date Emirates ID.  Again, with a little coaxing and an examination of the epirb we were off again. 

While the waves were a little bigger than usual their frequency was long and gentle. Coupled with some gentle driving it was more pleasant than expected.

We made it out to Dara only a few mins later Paul’s head appeared beside the buoy soon followed by the other two. Another unnamed diver hit the sea floor before she saw it, a thoroughly sensible decision to call it was made.
​
After declining to ‘hop in and check out the viz’ for ourselves,  I stowed our kit and surfed our way back to Hamriya. Once back to the club some decided on the relative safety of a brunch in Ajman while others stayed around for the largest Irish sports day on the Wandies calendar. We all know how that ends up.
So, we see what next weekend brings.
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The 406 Exiles have gone into active mode and are planning a lunch in Wapping this coming Saturday 7th March. No doubt some photos will be forthcoming and I look forward to reading about Derek’s trip to Brighton, Halifax, Land’s End or wherever it is that he ends up this time.
Anyone out there who wants to join the 406 Exiles WhatsApp group, contact Derek.
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Joining BSAC:
New members to BSAC can join Sharjah Wanderers Diving Club via the website, https://www.bsac.com/membership/select-branch/ . If you enter Sharjah, the club appears. Existing BSAC members can renew by logging into MyBSAC or using this link, https://www.bsac.com/membership/rejoin-today/

Join BSAC and claim your free dive! (406 members only).
———————————-
BSAC general website: https://www.bsac.com/home/
Remember also:
DAN insurance website: https://www.daneurope.org/home
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The Dive Club meets every Tuesday night in the Dive Bar.
See you there.

Welcome All, 

406 locally and internationally are preparing a data base of Dive Operators. If you would like to make any contributions to the log please contact Polly at the club. Thank you to Geoff for starting the log. Ian will be sending the log via the weekly email for members to add data. Safe Diving. 

Welcome All, 

This email comes to you from the not so sunny and certainly not very warm UK where I’m visiting family for a week. Diving goes on nevertheless of which more below but first a couple of other things:

Firstly, last week I reported on Mike’s 70th birthday at the club but it was correctly pointed out to me by a certain lady member that I had omitted to mention another birthday, that of our Diving Officer, Allen. I should perhaps say that Allen is not 70 and won’t be for a long while. Anyway, he and Cara and others went celebrating in Ras Al Khaimah and a good time was had by all. We got to see a couple of photos via WhatsApp, one of which could only be described as a bit cheeky and was obviously taken by the light of a full moon. Read into that whatever you wish.

And so to the diving. Big thanks to Nick for this account:
With the sea state predicted at 0.2m to 0.4m for our morning dive and rising in the afternoon, we decided to put a boat out and see how it went.  On the day, the fourth diver had made some errors regarding decompression fluid and made the decision to follow conservative protocol and skip the dive. And so myself, Allen, Cara and Paul made our way out to the Jumbo to pick up where we left off two weeks ago.

The sea was flat and calm on the way out. We anchored with zero current. Myself and Cara were first down. The anchor was on the port side, in the middle, basically in the same position as last week. We kept the boat on our right and swam past the areas we had cleared of nets on the last dive and were happy to see them thriving, alive with fish life. A lone barracuda, who seemed to be missing his mates, kept us company as we swam past the bow. We then came to the big nets on the starboard side of the ship and the real work began.

We cleared as much as we could with knives and rolling up nets but these nets really need medical shears. Opting to practice DSMB skills rather than the predictable anchor, we surfaced and were surprised by a pod of dolphins before the second wave had a chance to get wet. Going back down, equipped with Allen’s shears we managed to clear almost all of the nets. Allen and Paul went back down and surfaced with the good news that the Jumbo was looking like the Jumbo again.

So, all in all, mission accomplished. We’ve saved a load of fish and kept a dive site safe. Congrats to Paul for completing his first dives with the club – I’m sure there’ll be many more. I also hit 250 dives, which I celebrated with diver number four!
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And this from Paul:
A humorous take on my first 406 adventure…
My first dive with 406 took my breath away… Literally…
Having spent the past 5 years of diving in the balmy tropical paradise of the Philippines, where on a cold day one reverts to a 0.5mm skin rather than the usual boardies and a rash vest, one can only imagine the shock, total shock, followed by the inevitable northwards migration of my ‘bits’ when I rolled back off the boat.
The “f-ME” bouncing around my head came out as a gasping sharp intake of breath. The “I wish I had a dry suit” was rapidly replaced with “don’t forget to equalize” as I dragged myself down the anchor line teeth chattering, brain numbed… Quick check saw I’d gulped down more than I’d have liked for my first dive as the club FNG.
The objective of this dive was to clear away more of the fishing net that had wrapped itself around Jumbo. We spent the next 20+ minutes chopping and cropping the net and I’m now an absolute convert… Triage scissors are the way to go for hacking through lines and netting. A must have for any diver… Farewell Rambo knife!!!
The second dive
Back roll and splash…The northwards migration not repeated, not because the water was any warmer simply because having found the warm spot inside my thorax they had refused to return south. This dive we circumnavigated the wreck, did a swim through, saw an abundance of fish not netted. Lowest temperature recorded was 19.3°C on my computer… I’m having it checked as it felt colder or am getting older??? I felt a little bit less girlie when my buddy also stated he was cold recording a temp of 19°C.
Great day out with some great people, new friendships made. Eat dive sleep repeat being my new Friday mantra.
Thanks Paul and welcome to the club. 
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Joining BSAC:
New members to BSAC can join Sharjah Wanderers Diving Club via the website, https://www.bsac.com/membership/select-branch/ . If you enter Sharjah, the club appears. Existing BSAC members can renew by logging into MyBSAC or using this link, https://www.bsac.com/membership/rejoin-today/

Join BSAC and claim your free dive! (406 members only).
———————————-
BSAC general website: https://www.bsac.com/home/

DAN insurance website: https://www.daneurope.org/home
———————————-
The Dive Club meets every Tuesday night in the Dive Bar.
See you there.

Welcome All, 
​
There was no diving last weekend owing to a combination of weather and people otherwise engaged but we may get something away this coming weekend, again depending on the weather.

Shortly though, I’ll upload pictures and videos from divers locally and those from the 406 Exiles.

​Tentative discussions about future dive trips are being considered. See image opposite. Also, a Red Sea live aboard is a possibility. Please get in touch with a member of the dive team for more information. 
 

​Join BSAC and claim your free dive! (406 members only).
BSAC general website: https://www.bsac.com/home/
DAN insurance website: https://www.daneurope.org/home

​The Dive Club meets every Tuesday night in the Dive Bar.
See you there.

Welcome All, 

​Valentines Dive Log will be updated later today. Whilst I have good connection, I’ve added the video of the pod Dolphins off the coast of Sharjah. Beautiful to see these in the wild. 

For now though, we were a bit short-handed at the weekend but the conditions were looking promising so we went out. The sea was indeed close to flat calm all day and although we were close to the spring tide, the current was not excessive. The water temperature is down to about 21°C which I guess is unremarkable by north European standards but is pretty chilly for round here. The boiler suit season is some way off.
The initial plan was the Jumbo and Taha so we set off for the Jumbo initially, being the furthest away (although not by much). Almost at the wreck site, we ran into a pod a dolphins that got to about 10m from the boat before moving away.
​
I stayed on the surface and did boat cover. Down the line the first thing that became evident was that some fishermen had been out that way and had draped a large net over the wreck. Thus, the dive became a net clearing operation. On the dive the trio made significant inroads but this wasn’t going to be completed in an afternoon.
​
Back on the surface we decided to abandon the Taha and carry on net cutting. By then the anchor had been freed and pulled up so we drifted for a while whilst having some lunch. The drift took us through a field of fishing pots and a glance at the echo-sounder showed something big and solid. For a moment we thought we’d found something new but a glance at the charts showed us that we’d actually drifted over the Anchor Barge. Oh well.
Having anchored back into the Jumbo, the second dive was equally as productive as the first but the job remains incomplete. It will take at least one more visit to get it finished. Thanks to Cara for the images and video footage. The Dolphin log will follow shortly. 

Joining BSAC:
New members to BSAC can join Sharjah Wanderers Diving Club via the website, https://www.bsac.com/membership/select-branch/ . If you enter Sharjah, the club appears. Existing BSAC members can renew by logging into MyBSAC or using this link, https://www.bsac.com/membership/rejoin-today/

Join BSAC and claim your free dive! (406 members only).

BSAC general website: https://www.bsac.com/home/
Remember also:
DAN insurance website: https://www.daneurope.org/home

The Dive Club meets every Tuesday night in the Dive Bar.
See you there.

Welcome All, 

Apologies for no email last week, which was mainly due to there being not too much to write about. The proposed dive was called off in advance in the face of a grim looking weather forecast which came sufficiently true to make diving extremely uncomfortable had we gone out. Good call.

Last weekend we set off in high hope for the Dara. The sea state could hardly be called flat calm, but neither was it much to be concerned about. Unfortunately, when we dived the wreck we found water with as much clarity as pea soup. After a couple of minutes groping around in the murk (and avoiding some nets near the anchor), I decided that this was an accident waiting to happen and called the dive. As a consequence, we were back at the club rather earlier than anticipated.
​Maybe next week, we’ll have better luck.
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Joining BSAC:
New members to BSAC can join Sharjah Wanderers Diving Club via the website, https://www.bsac.com/membership/select-branch/ 

Join BSAC and claim your free dive! (406 members only).
———————————-
BSAC general website: https://www.bsac.com/home/
Remember also:
DAN insurance website: https://www.daneurope.org/home
———————————-
The Dive Club meets every Tuesday night in the Dive Bar.
See you there.

Welcome All, 

With the weather not looking too good in Dubai / Sharjah last weekend we made one of our periodic visits to the east coast, diving with Divers Down at the Miramar resort in Al Aqah, Fujeirah. The sea state wasn’t great over that side either and one of the biggest challenges was getting through the surf with all our gear and into the dive boat which was anchored a fair way out in water too deep to stand up. After a couple of goes, I made it, losing only a water bottle in the process but it wasn’t a comfortable experience.

The first dive was on Inchcape 1, a small boat purposely sunk in 30m of water. The wreck is small but attracts a lot of fish life and the viz is usually good. The water felt remarkably warm for the time of year, although a wet-suit was still necessary, which made it a comfortable dive. There was a Cornet fish hovering around at the bottom of the anchor line and there was the usual shoal of Snappers. There was also a couple of puffer fish inside the wreck, some Crocodile fish and a Seahorse on top of the wreck.

​Interesting to note that sightings of Seahorses can be logged with the Sea Horse Trust (UK) The link below provides a method for reporting the sighting such as dive site, location, details of the Sea Horse. I’ll add a further link for divers to use the log and general information about the protection of Sea Horses worldwide. 

The second dive was on something called the “New reef”, which is actually several artificial reefs of varying sizes formed from various bits of wreckage and linked by a series of ropes. The biggest reef is the first one you come to at the bottom of the line. This was inhabited by a lot of fishes of various species and we hung around here for a while before venturing off. The best sighting was a Stingray hiding under an upturned boat, although it didn’t come out of its hole to give us a better look.

DSMB’s are pretty much essential at this site since unless you stay very close to the main reef, the chances are that you won’t find it again.

Having paid the bills, we headed to the bar for a little light refreshment. 

Many thanks to Peter for organizing the trip.

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Our friends whose origins lie north of Hadrian’s Wall will no doubt not need reminding that this weekend will be Burns Night, the annual celebration of the life and work of the Scottish Bard. To those of us of Sassenach origins, the poetry can be almost incomprehensible but I’ve not been averse to the odd “wee dram” or several in honour of the occasion. To all our Scottish friends, have a great evening.

Some hae meat an canna eat,
​And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.
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​
Joining BSAC:
New members to BSAC can join Sharjah Wanderers Diving Club via the website, https://www.bsac.com/membership/select-branch/ . If you enter Sharjah, the club appears. Existing BSAC members can renew by logging into MyBSAC or using this link, https://www.bsac.com/membership/rejoin-today/
———————————-
BSAC general website: https://www.bsac.com/home/

DAN insurance website: https://www.daneurope.org/home

The Dive Club meets every Tuesday night in the Dive Bar.
See you there.

Welcome All.,

​Caveat; Spelling mistake in the video above – at least I got the correct year I think…..

​Anyhoo……..below is this week’s log from our DO Ian Hussey. 

Happy New Year to everyone, now that it’s upon us.

With the festivities out of the way, I can pronounce the 2020 diving season up and running. We’re still a bit short of numbers but four is enough for a dive and Nick, Allen, Cara and I were all anxious to get back in the water. Having established last time out that Karen’s Dhow still existed, we decided to give it a proper visit.

First things first though. SP312 needed more cleaning than normal after a few weeks on dry land and all four tyres on the trailer needed some air.  Also, although we didn’t discover it until the boat was launched, the steering needed a top-up of hydraulic oil. As soon as the boat was in the water, the soggy steering was apparent but after some discussion we concluded we could get out and back without too much of a problem and sort it out back at the club. Thus, we set off slower than normal and on a slightly erratic course out to the wreck, which we anchored at the first time of asking. No complaints about the conditions: it was a neap tide, the current was virtually nil all day and the sea state, not high to begin with reduced to almost flat calm by the time we had finished. It is however, emphatically now wet-suit weather. I was just about OK in a 3mm but 5mm is probably best.
​
Karen’s Dhow is not a huge wreck and it’s fairly broken up and flat; if you want the excitement of deep wreck penetration, then Karen’s Dhow is not it. It does however have some nice fish life and it was good to dive something fairly unchallenging after a few weeks off. Nick and I were first down the line and found the anchor close to the engine block. There were some barracuda circling above us and swimming round, we saw snappers, angel fish, batfish, bannerfish and one medium size hammour. There were also a lot of silver fish whose name always escapes me. (Cara told me, but I’ve forgotten again). I picked up a glass plate which was the dhow’s main cargo of which there is an almost inexhaustible supply. Allen and Cara also came back with some glassware and also a crab that had become entangled in some nets. Allen spent about twenty minutes on the boat with knife and scissors, cutting it free. Gloves were necessary as the ungrateful little sod had a tendency to use its freed claws to attack its rescuer.

It did at least give me a chance to tell the joke about the prawn and the crab:
Lady prawn to gentleman crab, her fiancé:
Oh Crab, how wonderful to see you walking forwards, not sideways like you normally do. You’re doing this just for me!
Crab:
Shut up, I’m pissed.

With sincere apologies for that, we move on to the Mariam Express.

The Mariam was a cargo ship that went down in 2005. It was a fabulous dive for a few years until a winter storm resulted in it punching through the hard but thin upper strata into the goo below. Much of the internals of the vessel are now inaccessible as a result you can still swim through the cargo hold and there are still coffee sets to be had for anyone who’s interested.
Last time on the wreck there were some eagle rays swimming around and we were naturally hoping for a repeat. In this we were disappointed but in compensation, a turtle seems to have taken up residence in an opening on the hull side. Nick and I spotted it, but it was still there when Allen and Cara went down for a look.

After that it was back to the club for a couple of refreshments. Sadly, Davidson didn’t get to join us as scheduled as he was out hiking but perhaps next time. He and his wife are due to meet up with a few 406 exiles in London next week and no doubt a few photos will be headed this way.

Joining BSAC:
New members to BSAC can join Sharjah Wanderers Diving Club via the website, https://www.bsac.com/membership/select-branch/ . If you enter Sharjah, the club appears. Existing BSAC members can renew by logging into MyBSAC or using this link, https://www.bsac.com/membership/rejoin-today/
Join BSAC and claim your free dive! (406 members only).
———————————-
BSAC general website: https://www.bsac.com/home/

Remember also:
DAN insurance website: https://www.daneurope.org/home
———————————-
The Dive Club meets every Tuesday night in the Dive Bar.
See you there.