Category: Dive Reports

Yay! the weather is (finally) cooler now which means more comfortable diving conditions as the water is still warm.  
On the 23rd a fast boat trip went to Musandam with Meryl, Jorg, Nasri, John and Nick. Beautiful diving conditions with little current, clear viz and lots of wildlife to see under the water. Despite reports to the contrary, there is still lots of live coral up on the pennisula with signs of new growth. 

On 16 October, was a local dive trip to the Mariam and Jumbo. There is an interesting story concerning Derek and a weight belt. Something about falling on his head whilst asleep in the boat? Brendan and Heike plus David and Bill from DSDC dived the U533 a WW2 U-boat sunk on the east coast. The wreck is in 100m plus of water hence is for techies only but must have been a memorable dive.Heike has provided the following info about the trip:

“We had best conditions for this dive: No current, excellent viz and the anchor right next to it! Brendan and me went down together first and we were able to make a full round around it seeing all: the tower, the canon, the hit on its side with a torpedo sticking out on its hull etc. It was terrific! With 15 min. bottom time we had a 3 hours dive! Now I can claim to be the first woman who dove this wreck! By the way David Thrope who was diving with Bill found out that the day we were diving on it was actually the sad anniversary of the sub been sunk! Some info on the sub below! Unfortunately Bill’s video failed! Big thanks goes to Bill Leemann from DSDC who found the wreck!”

  U-533

Type IXC/40 Ordered
10 Apr 1941
Laid down
17 Feb 1942
Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg (werk 351)
Launched
11 Sep 1942
Commissioned
25 Nov 1942
Oblt. Helmut Henning
Commanders
25 Nov 1942 – 16 Oct 1943  
Kptlt. Helmut Hennig
Career
2 patrols
25 Nov 1942 – 30 Apr 1943  4. Flottille (training)
1 May 1943 – 16 Oct 1943  10. Flottille (front boat)
Successes
No ships sunk or damaged
Fate
Sunk 16 Oct, 1943 in the Gulf of Oman, in position 25.28N, 56.50E, by depth charges from a British Bisley (Blenheim) aircraft (Sqdn. 244/O). 52 dead and 1 survivor
For the weekend of the 9th of October Cathy reports:

“Friday was fun we ended up as a party of nine (full boat again) and Brendan took the small boat to the east coast for a techie thingy. First dive on the Nasteran was pleasant with reasonable viz, nice shoal of quite large barracuda on the way down. We met Cheryl & Chris on the line coming back and while we were hanging around Chris was giving me some hand signals that I struggled to understand, thought these must be some that I hadn’t memorised during training. Turns out he was trying to have a game of paper, scissors, stone.”

And Brendan says:

“We did a 90m tech dive to the Anita on Friday. The original plan was to dive the Ines, but the US Navy were parked topside. Conditions on the Anita were brilliant, no current, nice seas, great viz. We could see the wreck from 55m, the top of the wreck is about 80m. A pair of large Dorados kept us company the entire 1 ½ hours of deco.” 

The Friday trip to the Bigpro and Jumbo on the 2nd resulted in an unsuccessful search for the prop on the bigprop dhow and some remora getting up close and personal – thanks to Brian for this information!

The underwater beach clean on Saturday the 3rd at Al Khan (behind the aquarium) was a success. A total of 14 divers, 6 of whom were 406. Not only that but Gordon was interviewed for the local telly in front of a SWDC BSAC 406 wheel cover which can’t us any harm (depending on what he said of course!). Gordon will be signing autographs at the club on Tuesday. Thanks to those who took part.

Get into it!! (the water that is)

The dive last Friday 25th had to be aborted due to the tow hook falling off Ian’s car 200m from the club gates. Thanks to Sami’s hook we got the boat back to the yard but the weight of the boat almost turned his car into a two-wheeler. However, Friday’s disappointment was compensated by a good party round Cathy’s place on Saturday afternoon and evening so the weekend wasn’t wasted.

Mention should also be made of the underwater beer drinking dive marshaled by Uwe last Tuesday. Well done to those who successfully finished their drink.

Eid Barbecue

For the Eid Monday we did a one-tank trip to the Dara followed by a relaxed afternoon on Hamriyah beach. Thanks to “Materchef” Uwe for organising the Barbie and to Lutz for entertaining us with his novel technique for anchoring the boat close to shore (I think the method is known as “ever increasing circles).

Friday the 19th we got out to the Lion City and Jassim for the first time in awhile. These are both good wrecks with the Jassim being the more broken up and possibly the more interesting of the two – look out for those engine blocks! It’s a long way out which is why we don’t go often but it’s worth it if the sea conditions are favourable.

Jassim and LionCity

For the Eid holiday we were planning a trip to Jazirat Sir Bu Naair but unfortunately this time the sea didn’t co-operate. Instead we did a one-tanker on the Dara followed by a BBQ on Hamriyah beach. This proved a very acceptable alternative. Thanks to Uwe for providing the BBQ equipment and to Mike for towing the boat and untangling the knots. A special mention should go to Lutz for his inefficient but highly imaginative method for parking the boat. I’ll be adding a few photos to the web site shortly.

Don’t forget the beach clean at Al Khan (behind the aquarium) on Saturday 3 October. We need a few more signed up for this please. Be aware that we’ll be cleaning under the water not above it!

On the 12th we had a good trip to the Zainab and nice to see that Uwe has not lost his talent for treasure hunting! Another two-boat trip as well – 12 divers in total!

The Alia

What a good trip to the Alia last Friday!(the 5th). The wreck is about 2½ hours out of RAK, virtually on the Musandam border. It is a barge, deliberately sunk in about 37m of water. The viz wasn’t special but still two good dives were had (by most of us). 21 divers made the trip including a crowd from DSDC and all seemed to enjoy themselves – two excellent meals and plenty of decompression fluid after the diving included. Thanks to Mike for doing the arranging and to Jim for doing much of the on-board marshalling.

Don’t forget the beach clean at Al Khan (behind the aquarium) on Saturday 3 October. This is usually a fun day in a good cause. Be there and fly the flag for 406!

The last weekend in the month (the 28th) was very busy for the club. We had 12 divers (needing both boats again) for a dive on the Mariam Express and then on to the Neptune. The trip to the Mariam was necessary because when we went there last week, we neglected to bring the anchor back with us. This was retrieved and we also laid a line from the cardinal buoy on to the wreck. On the Neptune the water was a bit clearer and the swim throughs a bit more satisfying. On Saturday four techies dove the Energy.

Friday the 21st: A trip to the Mariam Express had to be cut short after one dive because the sea was getting a bit rough. Still we came back with a few china sets that will no doubt gracing some divers’ kitchen table after a clean-up. It was also fun watching some young lads with (presumably) rich daddy’s in a large boat but without much in the way of seamanship or diving skills. Having nearly holed their boat on the Mariam cardinal buoy, they then proceeded to scatter divers over a wide area, not one of whom actually made it under the water.

Went back to the “Bigpro” dhow on Friday the 14th to try and locate the item that we left there. No joy I’m afraid but we went on to Karen’s Dhow and found a bit of glassware instead. Both these dhow’s are very close to the “Oceanic”, a passenger liner that’s been parked for a year or so waiting for a scrapyard to take it. We’ve passed the ship many times on the way out and we reckon it would make a lovely wreck if it were sunk in the right place. Thanks to Kerwin for sending me the links below if you want to know more about the vessel:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS Independence

http://www.maritimematters.com/independence.html

BSAC406 wheel covers are now available – the ideal accessory for your 4-wheel drive and priced at a mere Dhs 75 each. Available at the Wanderers office.

Alas no large sea creatures to report on Friday the 7th when we had the intention of doing the Ludvig – but the sea state turned out to be worse than advertised so we headed for the Zainab instead. Two DSDC boats were already there and a boat from Jumeirah Beach Hotel turned up shortly after so it was like Piccadilly Circus out there. The viz was like pea soup and after one dive in the murk and with no sign of the sea improving we opted to cut our losses, go back and have a few drinks by the pool instead. It’s tough in the Gulf sometimes.

Sharjah Aquarium is doing a beach and underwater clean at Al Khan village on 3 October as part of Project Aware. T-shirts and certificates will be given to participants. It’s a worthwhile exercise and it would be good for us to have a few people there. If you’re interested, contact Cathy at [email protected].

Those of us who went to Al Sawadi in Oman in the last weekend of July had a couple of memorable dives on the Damaniyat Islands. As well as the monster rays and morays a whale shark came out to play with us put a few minutes. Thanks to Sergey the event was caught on camera and a few of these shots are shown below. This is just for your interest of course – I’m in no way trying to make anyone jealous.

While this was going on, Uwe was taking a boat out to the Mariam Express. I believe the divers came back with a crockery set each.

We dived the Neptune and Jumbo on the 24th – Derek (and family) did their best to entertain us by nearly losing a dive computer (dropped overboard – found on the seabed by Danny), a fin (dropped whilst getting into the boat – drifting off to Iran – retrieved by Marc doing a Michael Phelps impression) and a camera (found on the boat not having left it). This is not to mention coming up with – shall we say – a tad less than 50bar. Might take a while to tot up the fines for this one Derek!

On Friday the 17th we went to check out some co-ordinates of potential wreck sites. The first one was indeed a wreck but stranded half way up a beach in Umm al Quwain. Not so much a dive more like a stroll at low tide. The second one proved to be in 35m of water and provided a few tantalising shapes on the echo sounder. We gave up this time but a return visit may be in order to find out what it is.

After this we went to the nearby Dara where a couple of dives were rewarded by the appearance of a friendly turtle. While this was going on Mike Anthony was putting in some graft on the trailer which as a result is back in full working order – cheers Mike!

The dive on Friday the 10th seems to have been quite eventful. At least we can now say we’ve categorically proved that the boat floats a lot better with the bungs in. The viz on the Saraf wasn’t too good either I gather. (the Red Sea was quite nice though).

The first two dives of the month were on the Dara again – suddenly everyone is interested in this wreck again and why not? A great old wreck with nice swim throughs and lots of fish life.On the second trip the viz was so good and there were a few fish worth liberating. The only problem was that Uwe’s dinner, swimming around in an abandoned fish trap when he left it, had turned into a concrete block by the time he hauled it to the surface. An investigation is ongoing. Seriously – a good dive and two boat loads again.

Nice to see Danny back from Abu Dhabi and Marc back from the UK (albeit temporarily). Marhaba!

The Trucial States Sub-Aqua Club plaque is now up on the wall in the club (see attached). Thanks to Peter for organising the frame and thanks once again to John for retrieving it from the old clubhouse all those years ago and sending it to us from Alaska. This is a piece of 406 history on the wall!

Thanks to Harry for donating a whole load of framed charts, now hanging up in the training room.

As regards the diving we had two full boats for the last weekend of the month – 15 divers in total – going out to the Anchor Barge and the Pipe-Line Barge (mainly because we haven’t been there in a while). The Anchor Barge has huge open spaces inside well worth some further exploration (with torches and rope). The Pipe-Line barge on the other hand was a bit disappointing – a plain metal box livened up only by big grouper gazing at us and a few barracuda.

This week’s award for imaginative technique goes to the diver who decided to rinse her mask before going in the water but didn’t realise she had to keep hold of it. Yes, Gillian will be donating Dhs 10 to club funds. (Good rescue though Marc!)

The first dive of the month was a big day out for our newly renamed Nadar (AKA  SP125) – due to last weeks fun and games with the trailer for the big boat – hence a bit crowded. We went to the Neptune and Jumbo. But at least we got there despite a problem on the way.  A piece of wire was needed to clean out the tell-tale and after some fruitless searching we eventually sacrificed one of Cathy’s earrings. After all that the viz was excellent and there was a big leopard ray to entertain us. The sea was as calm as a sheet of glass which was nice. The next week we went to the Dara and had a couple of good dives each – also one of the most efficient I’ve been on – we were back in the club by 2.30 ordering refreshments.
 
The 312 trailer is now repaired and was given a work on Friday the 15th. We went out to the bigprop dhow and were going to go on to Karen’s dhow but the current was running like a pig and after the hellish difficulty of getting hooked on to the wreck, we decided to stay put for the second dive. This dhow seems to be a home for rays – you see one or two more often than not – sometimes quite big and Friday was no exception although they’d diappeared by the second dive. The following week was the Jumbo + Neptune with a couple of guys from DSDC.

Aquarium Boat Sinking

Last Saturday, Peter, Cathy and Ian were fortunate to be invited to help sink a boat in the Al Khan creek, just outside the Sharjah Aquarium. This they hope will be the start of an artificial reef, attracting fish life. Peter got to be the one who took the bung out and although some assistance from some large rocks was needed we eventually got the boat submerged in more or less the right position.

Trucial States Sub-Aqua Club

Thanks to John Lewis, a former member now living in Anchorage, Alaska, we have recently acquired an original plaque from the Trucial States Sub-Aqua Club that John salvaged from the old club house on the beach in Ajman (see below). This is where BSAC 406 first started back in 1971, pre-dating the Wanderers by a few years. The club house eventually fell into the sea and the club moved to the old airport building in 1980 before moving to the Wanderers in 1997. A picture of the building is on the wall in the Dive Bar where the plaque will be shortly joining it.

Dara BBQ

Speaking of former members, we had a visit last Friday from Gavin Halling who was also a member of BSAC 406 in the late 70’s. Gavin was a friend and dive buddy of both John Lewis and Geoff Taylor (who, along with Harry Adamson, built the Dive Bar that exists at SWSC today). Gavin was keen to dive the Dara for the first time in 30 years or so and we were happy to oblige. We took the opportunity to have a BBQ on the beach washed down with a few beverages. The visibility was thankfully excellent and Gavin enjoyed the day, commenting that the wreck was (unsurprisingly) much more broken up than the last time he saw it.

The boat naming request via email has obviously struck a chord – this is the biggest response to an email vote Ian has ever had! Anyway, he thanks all those who sent in suggestions! The winning name is “Nadar” with 5 votes. Other suggestions were “Brass Monkey” (3 votes), “The Wanderer” (2 votes), “Dara” (2 votes) and “Faff“, “Wrecker“, “Deep Wanderer“, “Shoia, shoai“, “Mona“, “Brasso“, Ümm Steptoe” and “Brass Camel” all with 1 vote each. Ian comments:

So, spaces on the boat will be only reserved for those with divine grace now …. well on second thoughts...

The first club dive of the month oversaw further struggles with gear on the BigPro dhow – the current score: divers: 0 – dhow: 2 – onto plan C – we will prevail! This dive also saw an interesting rescue drill that led to the successful completion (after two years) of the Dive Leader qual. for two club members – so, congrats to Jorg and John! – just don’t try to save us soon! Week two saw a local dive to the Dara (the 48th anniversary of the sinking!) and Nasteran and a fast boat trip to Musandam – both in dodgy sea conditions. Shaun reported:

Although the red tide is around Dibba it was clear above Lima Rock. We limited the diving to Ras Sarkan (2) and Lima Rock (1) as it was windy and it would have been a difficult ride back if we had gone up to MasandumIsland. The water at Ras Sarkan was clear but cold! Barracuda, Eagle Rays, Cowtail Rays and Whip tailed rays, Morays, Lobsters etc with a wide varaity of other reef fish Angel fish, Trigger Fish, Wrasse family, Lion fish etc were seen, with a suitable current to take you around the point of Ras Sarkan.

The month ended with a couple of dives on the Zainab and trailer issues depriving us of a dive on the last weekend. The sea was a bit rougher than advertised on the Zainab but not enough to be a problem. The viz was a big improvement on the pea-soup we had on the Dara previously. There were some nice fishes at the top of the wreck and the usual swim-through the bridge area. Good stuff!

Most of the club diving activites this month have centred around an old wooden Dhow discovered by the club, interestingly named the BigPro Dhow. The diving conditions on the Dhow have varied from crystal clear and coolish at the beginning of the month to low visibility and getting warmish towards the end of the month. The frenzy of activities have included fish spotting, as the wreck is teaming with relatively tame fish including large John Dory, yellow tipped tuna, cow tail rays etc… We have laid and mislaid lines, lost things and carried out an interesting series of circular searches to find them again. All to build up our technical skills, debating skills and to have fun!

Also this month saw the appearance of a strange beast near where we dive in Dibba – a sawtooth shark!

Friday the 6th: Had a good dive on Friday which was a bit surprising because a couple of days earlier the weather forecast had been announcing 8-16 ft waves offshore. Fortunately it had calmed down by the time we set off and Karen’s dhow yielded a few candlesticks for the Wanderers. Second dive was another dhow close by labeled “Bigpro” because the boat’s GPS only displays 6 characters. We hope to be renaming the dhow shortly. Highlight was the grand-daddy of all cow-tailed rays which looked about 2m across even allowing for the fact that things look larger under water.

Boats now need a name to be registered by the coastguard so SP312 now answers to the name of “Haze Saeed” which apparantly means “Good luck” in Arabic. If anyone knows differently please tell us!

Boat is registered: Thanks to Mike’s sterling efforts, SP312 is now re-registered for another year. To celebrate we’re going out to Karen’s dhow at the weekend plus somewhere else nearby to be decided. Although purely coincidental, to the trip, the Wanderers have asked us to find some candlestick holders for the Valentine’s dinner. We’ll do our best to oblige.

The desert camp out: on Friday/Saturday 20/21 February. For those who found the water too cold put their dry bags away that weekend and practiced bonfire/barbecue skills instead! – a good time. There were some divers and some dogs, the barbie was excellent and a number of beverages were consumed.

Red Tide: On a sad note we read in the Gulf News that the red tide that hit the East Coast late last year and the beginning of this year has killed an estimated 95% of the coral on that coast and just about all of the sea life – and they ponder whether this is “natural phenomenon” or not!! See this link from the Gulf News for more info.

A good dive on the “Bigpro” on Friday the 27th – It’s a nice little wreck as well. Being little known it’s little fished and there were lots of big jacks and baracuda. It also seems to be home to very big cow-tailed rays. I don’t know whether it’s just me but since all the dredgers got credit-crunched the visibility seems to have got a lot better. It was around 12 – 15m on Friday which was amazing although a bit less on the second dive after the current got up.

Shaun is organising a fast boat trip to the Musandam on 13 March. You should have received a separate email from him by now but if not and you’re interested call him on 050-4599775.

The Zainab: Thanks to Dave for marshalling the dive on the Zainab on Friday the 9th. It was a bit bouncy on the way out but fine at the site and calmer on the way home. Highlight was a big shoal of baracuda on steroids circling round. We’ll do a return trip in the not too far distant.

A Double Dhow Special: On the first dive of the year for the club on the 2nd we went and dived two dhows The first was Karen’s dhow complete with glassware and the second the suitcase dhow which seems to be sadly lacking in Samsonite these days. On Karen’s dhow the stern seems to have sunk beneath the sand unfortunately. It was chilly on both dives with all but the crazy Russian wearing full wetsuits and it was just as well we went on Friday as the swells picked up to 3-5 metres the following day with surfing being a better option.