Category: Dive Reports

For the last weekend we had the return of a familiar face – Sergey Lazarev who last dived with us in 2012 but hasn’t been seen in a boat since then (not in ours anyway). Don’t leave it so long next time, Sergey! We also had our promised guests – seven divers from the Kuwait Mantas Dive Club who were over here for a few days. Our Chairman, Mike Dalton is a former Manta (and has a T-shirt to prove it) and going back further in time, Sami Kyriakos was instrumental in giving the club its name.

All these people added up to a couple of full boats – 16 divers in total – which would have made for slightly uncomfortable conditions even if the weather had been kind. As it was we were lucky to get out at all. The forecasts varied but all agreed it would be a bit lumpy. It turned out the most pessimistic forecast was also the most accurate and progress was slow and wet. We were going to the Victoria Star again because that was the Manta’s preferred destination but we wouldn’t have got much further in any case.

Compared to recent weeks, the visibility had deteriorated but the current was reasonably slight. The barracuda were still there but reduced in numbers and mainly just off the wreck. There’s still a family of batfish and some jacks in evidence but of the rays seen recently there was no sign. Never mind – we had a good time swimming around and inside the wreck and we hope the Mantas were suitably impressed as there’s nothing closely similar in Kuwait. After the first dive, the weather had picked up still further and whitecaps were beginning to appear. At this point we decided that discretion was the better part of valour so we called it a day and headed back to shore, getting another good soaking in the process.

Back at the club, the Wanderers had laid on a barbecue and with that and a few glasses of decompression fluid (not so easy in Kuwait I gather), we could relax by the dive table. The Mantas were: Stephanie, Andreas, Brian, David, James, Oliver and Marie. We hope to see them again sometime.

The Vic Star was again our destination for last weekend – a decision I wasn’t party to having missed last Tuesday at the club. When we got there we were not alone. The vessel we saw last week was still there – the MV Baghdad from Aqaba – presumably still oblivious to the fact that they’re anchored only 100m from a major hazard to shipping. There was also a small inflatable with no-one on board but there were a couple of heads bobbing in the water 50m away. The man and his wife were not it turned out in need of assistance and they weren’t very pleased to see us. He muttered a few words about his wife’s privacy and they finned over to their boat where she climbed out in full abaya and swiftly wrapped a scarf around her head. The whole thing was slightly farcical and it was hard to avoid thinking that if privacy is this lady’s ultimate concern then she’s surely picked the wrong pastime.

And on with the diving. Compared to a couple of weeks ago, the number of barracuda seems to have reduced but they’re still there mainly around the stern, as are the jacks and the batfish. There was a solitary leopard ray on the sand near the prop and Mike spotted an eagle ray as he was swimming around the bridge. The sea was a bit choppy but not that bad and the current was minimal. It was also the opening of the “boiler suit season”. In other words it’s time to put my wet suit away until December for diving on this coast at least. That said it was still a bit chilly at 22m and not everyone will be consigning the neoprene to the back of the cupboard just yet. The wreck yielded a depth-sounding weight and attached rope which will make an excellent shot-line.

It was a turn-out (and consequential income) to gladden the heart of our treasurer – nine divers in total boosted by the welcome return of Sami and John Kyriakos. 

Back to one boat for last weekend but we were a bit lucky to go anywhere at all. The weather Friday was very rough but we had foreseen this and planned to go Saturday when the sea was supposed to have come down. In fact the forecast was pretty accurate and although it was a bumpy ride, we’ve been out in worse. The trip out was enlivened with an encounter with several thousand migrating cormorants. They were flying almost at sea level and we seriously disturbed the formation driving through but if we’d waited for a gap, we’d still be there now.

Getting there we found we had company. A cargo vessel had anchored no more than 100m from the wreck – presumably they don’t keep their charts very up-to-date.

Compared to last week, the viz had deteriorated (hardly surprising given the strong winds since then) and the fish life was a bit sparser but there were still plenty of barracuda, a few batfish and some eagle rays seen by a few lucky divers (from which you’ll gather I wasn’t one of them). In truth this was more of a wreck dive than a natural history expedition. We had a brief look into the engine room but Brian Lugg, first down the line, discovered that the ship’s sewage system still held a few unpleasant surprises and we beat a hasty retreat. We did find a couple a fire extinguishers and – purely in the interests of science of course – we managed to establish that they still work.

Chris head and his friend Richard took the time out from DSDC to come diving with us. You may recall his memorable demonstration of re-breather diving without all the hoses connected a few weeks ago, so we were keenly anticipating a similar educational experience. In that we were disappointed, but that’s not to say that everything went to plan. Our very own Mike Anthony executed an almost faultless backward entry, the only tiny flaw being that his fins were still in the boat. Ten dirhams sir!

It might have been more but for Mike’s hard work on the boat resulting in steering that now works properly and two engines that didn’t miss a beat. After that it was back to the club for a few glasses of decompression fluid. A good day all round.

Our treasurer volunteered to marshal the dive last Friday and no-one was about to talk him out of it. Peter elected to make a trip to the Victoria Star and with Janette bringing some of her students along, we had two full boats which was good to see. Mike A towed SP125 with his brand new tow-hook and I took SP312. We fuelled up the boats on the way at which point I could have fuelled up the Discovery as well if I’d thought about it or noticed the needle was getting low. But I didn’t do either which was to have predictable consequences later. For now though, all was serene as we launched the boats and headed out to sea.

The Vic Star is only about 12km off-shore meaning at on a flat sea, you reach it in 15 minutes or so. The weather forecast was telling us to expect 2cm waves which seemed a bit unlikely but it wasn’t much more – to start with at least – and the current was minimal. Ideal conditions in other words. Since it went down last July, the wreck has been slowly gaining more fish life and on Friday we found something resembling an aquarium.

The first thing we noticed was that it was barracuda city, particularly on the bow (where we’d anchored), and at the stern. There were also shoals of jacks and numerous batfish, one of which was very friendly and took a liking to Brian’s fin. On the seabed were three or four leopard rays mostly minding their own business although one gave Peter a fright when he got a bit closer than the ray was comfortable with. We did the second dive on the same site – there didn’t seem much point in moving – and although the sea had picked up a bit and the viz had deteriorated slightly it was still an excellent dive. Peter has put together a video of the day, a low-res edited version of which can be seen above. 

Did I mention fuel? The Disco must have been running on fumes by the time we set off for home and this proved insufficient to get back to the club. However a quick taxi ride to the nearest Adnoc sorted out the problem and it did at least give the Dive Marshal / Treasurer an excuse to impose a fine. As if he needed one!

The dive last weekend was one of our regular trips to the old favourite, the Dara. There was a practical reason as well: the echo sounder was damaged on the east coast two weeks earlier and although Mike had bought a new transponder, there were no absolute guarantees that it would work properly. The Dara we are confident we can find without one. (Several years ago we found the Dara without either an echo sounder or a GPS, both being forgotten or broken. That day was notable for missing BCD’s, boat keys as well as some other crimes and misdemeanours resulting a few “voluntary donations” to club funds.

The precaution with the echo sounder seemed well founded at first – it insisted the sea was bottomless with a temperature of -8 deg, both of which we regarded with some suspicion. It later turned out that Mike had put back the old plug into the echo sounder instead of the new one. This rectified, the machine sprang to life but by then we were already anchored.

And good dives they were. There was a bit of a current but the water is getting noticeably warmer.  The viz was excellent which was a good thing as the wreck is still covered in a lot of nets, although a few less after Mike’s sterling efforts during the day. The dives also featured barracuda, rays, some pairs of cuttlefish, an octopus and a shoal of batfish inside the cathedral. We also cut free some fish caught in the nets and opened up some pots that were too badly snagged to be retrievable (and had clearly been there a long time). One puffer fish, having been freed by Brian Larkin, then followed him round for the remainder of the dive.

Getting back was a little tricky – the O-rings on the steering had perished causing the hydraulic oil to leak out and we had to steer back using the engines. However, we’ve overcome similar hurdles without too many problems in the past and we were soon back at the club for some refreshments.

It was good to see Sami and John Kyriakos on the boat. Sami should be around at the club tomorrow before heading back to Beirut.

After last week’s excursion over to the east coast, we were back in familiar waters close to home last weekend. At least some of us were. I had a week off playing football (again) but Mike Anthony took a boat to the Victoria Star. I’m grateful to Mike Dalton who has stepped up to the plate and written a report:

What a fabulous day!
6 of us set out (including 3 from DSDC – all most welcome) for the Victoria Star launching from Al Khan slipway. The wind had started to get up and by the time we hit the open sea it was lumpy with blowing spray over the boat and a much reduced speed.

All went well until we reached the site of the wreck, without the echo sounder (under repair) it was a case of getting as close as possible on the GPS and throwing in the anchor. We did that twice and ended up drifting 20 – 30 – 40 – 50 metres  and more from the wreck. In the heavy weather the anchor had no chance of holding without a direct hit. On the third attempt, and after a few minutes spent driving round in circles (can’t recall who was at the helm), we threw the anchor, line and marker buoy over the side. Bingo, this is the way to do it in heavy weather and with no echo sounder. 

Mike Anthony and Dean were first down the line to discover the anchor about 15 metres off the port bow (not a bad result). Petra and Gavin Walker followed leaving Mike Dalton and Derek Roberts on surface cover duty. It was decided not to tie the anchor line on board as we did not know how well Mike A and Dean had been able to secure it. The wind speed had by now increased considerably and the tension on the anchor would be significant. Eventually Mike A surfaced and signalled it was safe to secure the anchor line on the boat.

The VS has become popular with fish life. Shoals of barracuda (some large ones hunting in packs with their beady eyes) were spotted and 3 beautiful leopard rays with distinct black and white markings and extraordinarily long, thin tails who appear to live under and around the bow of the wreck. The barnacles have mostly abandoned the VS to be replaced by a slippery and slimy growth over most railings and flat surfaces. The visibility, surprisingly, was excellent and as good as it has ever been. The water has warmed up considerably and is now around 26 degrees centigrade at the bottom. 3mm wetsuits are just fine.

Mike Dalton and Derek Roberts were finally in the water, after a guided tour around the boat (twice), a venture into the kitchen at the stern, we ended back at the anchor after about 40 minutes. At this point I recalled Mike Anthony suggesting earlier we may want to lift the anchor and make it a one dive day. A philosophical underwater debate ensued, with the help of the dive slate. I can’t recall the exact wording but something to the effect of “did Mike A ask you to free the anchor on account of the weather?” Derek wrote back , “No, I am OK for a second dive”. In the end we decided to leave it hooked up and both quickly learnt that underwater debates are tricky to get exactly right. The opportunities abound for missed nuances in meaning.

On the surface it was clear the weather had worsened and the anchor had to be freed. Mike Dalton started off down the line (having checked and verified plenty of air – so he thought). After a few minutes and 10 metres down the line a hard look at the gauge showed 55 bar, clearly a massive leak had taken place in the previous 3 minutes that had gone totally undetected, or somebody was misreading a gauge. The black needle near the red numerals means you have at least 100 bar right? Wrong! Anyhow Derek was duly dispatched down the line and recovered the anchor.

Back in the harbour the Chairman was rescued by Gavin Walker’s superior boat handling skills in getting the boat on to the trailer – although even he would admit it was tricky with a strong cross wind. The technique is to travel in to the wind, keep up the speed and adjust the boat orientation using both engines (forward & astern) at the last moment, once the bows are through the guide poles. Trust me, this is a lot easier to explain than to achieve.

A great day out. The weather did not get the better of us!

On dry land I couldn’t help noticing the wind getting up considerably during the afternoon so the decision to call it a day after one dive was clearly correct. At the finish the divers (plus me) convened at the dive table for a few glasses of decompression fluid by the pool.

As promised, last weekend was camp-out time, although switched to Friday / Saturday by popular demand. We elected to head for the hills rather than the beach as the weather has taken a turn for the hot and sweaty so some altitude seemed like the best plan if we were to get any sleep. Before then though, Geoff and Andy decided to slip in an early dive as Geoff now recounts:

With the dive club camp out planned for Friday evening Geoff thought it wise to get his diving in before refreshments ensued and headed over to Freestyle at Royal Beach Hotel to embark on the 09.30 dive. Andy and Emily were also diving with Freestyle that morning and took the Dibba Rock option while Geoff headed for Inchcape 1 with Ollie and four others.

On arrival, five dive boats were already on the line and after kitting up the Freestyle boat manoeuvred ahead of the flotilla and dropped the divers upcurrent to drift back to the buoy – a significantly better option than to haul oneself forward past five boats! Visibility was about 3-4m and the large number of divers did not help matters. However, the usual schools of fish were seen in abundance around the bow and the highlight was one of the large resident honeycomb morays swimming in the open around the base of the wreck. Although diving on nitrox the others in the group were all on air so bottom time was limited to 19 minutes. A slow controlled ascent, with a safety ‘deep stop’ at 16m returned everyone towards the surface to find a swirling mass of divers from the buoy at 6m and up. In such circumstances it is best to hang a few metres back from the line, watch your depth and grind out your 3minutes safety stop!

The second dive on Dibba Rock was more civilized, with Geoff joining Andy and Emily for a sedate but enjoyable slow drift around the seaward side of the island. Visibility was quite good, maybe 7-8m making it easy to see a wide range of marine life including zebra and honeycomb morays, broom tailed wrasse (they seem to be multiplying rapidly!), squirrel fish, a school of Indian mackerel, lion fish and a solitary pipe fish to name a few. After the dive, while the dive gear dried in the afternoon sun, the ‘406’ divers aided their surface decompression by relaxing with some liquid refreshment and a snack from the Royal Beach restaurant.

By the time Geoff arrived at the camp-site the rest of us had the camp established and were getting the fire going. Numbers were a bit down on previous events but we’ve never let that stop us having a good time. We also had a visitor – a donkey came over looking to share the feast but went ambling off when it realised there was nothing doing. The climate was good, the night was relaxed and I felt pleasantly mellow seeing off some fizzy wine and good food. The Michelin star goes to Richard and Sharon for their fish, spiced up with ginger and spring onion, prepared on site, wrapped in foil and gently barbecued. Not to mention their unfeasibly large prawns. They might have overdone the provisions as Sharon was constantly offering lots of stuff to the rest of us. It looked good and I would have been tempted but having (almost) seen off a steak the size of a house-brick, I couldn’t have eaten any more if you’d paid me.

In the morning the donkey was back and this time we were able to offer a breakfast of bananas and carrots – gratefully received. Breaking camp and heading back down the mountain, we hooked up the boat and headed for the coast. We launched from the new slip at Husn Dibba (Resident Engineer – Mr M.G. Anthony BSc CEng MICE) and headed for Dibba rock. We got there just in time to be first hooking up to one of the permanent buoys. We were soon first in a line of three boats with two more the other side of the rock and a few others floating around amongst the divers and snorkelers. I counted eight boats in total.

I’m happy to report the viz was good and the fish plentiful. We saw morays, a couple of big cuttlefish trying to make some small ones, plenty of clown fish fiercely protecting their anemones, parrot fish and the usual reef inhabitants as well as large shoals of snappers. It didn’t go quite according to plan. Diving with Cathy, I took a wrong turn at some point going round the rock and ended up rather further from the boat than I’d intended. Saving us a swim back, one of the boats spotted us and came over: “Are you with the white boat?”. Since all the boats on site were pretty much the same colour (white), this didn’t narrow it down an awful lot but it seemed prudent to keep this thought to myself. I kept my mouth shut and the guy helpfully went back and notified one of the white boats (the right one) which came and picked us up. Yes Peter, I will pay a fine.

After that it was a drive home and a couple of drinks around the pool. A good weekend!

That’s what you get for trying to be clever I suppose. I am reliably informed that it’s “Eliot” not “Elliot” for which I stand corrected – cheers Robbin! Anyway – having secured my place in this month’s Pseuds Corner, I can describe the weekend’s diving if only briefly. I wasn’t there myself as I was taking part in one of the Wanderers periodic football competitions but Mike Anthony took a boat out to the Jumbo and Neptune. Quite a full boat it was too which will gladden the heart of our treasurer. The sea was flat calm and the viz was in the region of 10m which is well above average for round here. More than that I can’t tell you since the promised report hasn’t appeared for which serious offence some fines may well be extracted!

This coming weekend all being well, we’ll be up in the mountains on a camp out. Details will be worked out but the general plan usually has us setting up at the camp site on Thursday evening, having a barbecue washed down with a few beverages and diving on Friday morning. A good time is confidently predicted.

Looking further ahead, we are planning another trip for Eid Al Adha. For the last two years we’ve been to Beirut enjoying the hospitality of Sami and his family. Good though this was, a change seemed in order and we’ve decided that Cyprus will be this year’s destination. The main attraction will be the wreck of the Zenobia – a ro-ro ferry that capsized in Larnaka harbour in 1980 when its stabilisation system went haywire and started filling water tanks on the wrong side of the boat. Other dive sites will be identified between now and then.

There’s plenty of time to save up!

The quote by TS Elliot threatened to come true last week and may yet do so for one of our number. We were all quite excited to start with – our dear friend and valued member, Mr Brian Lugg, had apparently spotted a report of yet another ship on fire and sinking off the coast of Sharjah. So keen were we to get out there that no-one studied the supposed coordinates very carefully or stopped to think that “Gulf Jockey” is an unlikely name for a vessel even by the standards round here. And that last Tuesday was the first of… Yup you guessed. Oh well– it was a good joke and once we’d got over our mirth we resolved to forgive Brian completely. Once we’ve stitched his limbs back on that is. His neck is probably safe as no-one can reach it.

We didn’t in the end go diving at the weekend although this had nothing to do with imaginary wrecks. The forecast for the weekend was rough on Friday but a bit calmer on Saturday so we opted for a Saturday dive. By the time the weekend rolled around, these predictions had exactly reversed but by then people had made other plans for Friday. Instead three of us spent a couple of hours doing a bit of gardening and rubbish clearing in the yard which looks a bit less of a waste land as a result. We did wonder about a Saturday dive after all but decided against which was a good call as it turned out as the winds were strong all day and the sea looked extremely lumpy off Ajman Beach.

It was another calm day on the water on Friday which was handy as we had some wreck hunting to do. A cargo vessel / dhow had gone down in flames a week earlier and we’d acquired some (we hoped) reliable co-ordinates from contacts within Sharjah Port. That is something we won’t ignore as it’s always good to have new targets. In this case though, we spent over an hour doing search patterns without seeing anything other than flat seabed. At this point we decided to abandon the search for now and see if we could get better information.

Since we were only 2km from the Nasteran at this point we decided to dive that instead. The Nasteran is an upturned landing craft that never used to be very exciting. As time goes by and more openings appear in the hull there will be more places to explore inside the wreck.

We had a guest diver in the shape of Chris Head, my opposite number at DSDC. Chris had brought his re-breather along – possibly the first time we’ve had one on board a 406 boat. Chris explained a bit about the equipment including the importance of making sure all the hoses are properly connected. Get this wrong and the lung fills with water meaning that the hapless diver has no alternative but to climb back on board, drain the water out, mutter about being an idiot and a dickhead before rolling back in. We’re grateful to Chris for sharing his experience with us and we particularly enjoyed his practical demonstration. 

Maybe we weren’t expecting much but the Nasteran was an excellent dive. There were five or six marble rays swimming around the vessel and a large shoal of barracuda that swept over the upturned hull. The viz was above average – say 6 or 7m – and we had a few excursions inside the wreck. PJ was out with us for the first time in a while so we’re looking forward to his new video (a small extract above).

For dive two we went to the Sha (aka Barracuda Barge) mainly because it was close and we haven’t dived it for a while. So long in fact that no-one could remember what it looked like. It’s actually a small barge split into two parts a short distance apart. It’s an attractive dive with well established fish life but not one that you’d travel a long way to visit. Still it made a change even if the water was beginning to feel a bit cold by the finish.