Category: Dive Reports

Welcome All, 

​I’ve scrapped the newsletter style reports. It seems that the platform doesn’t support the format and my IT skills are challenged at the best of times. We are back to the original style of Dive Reports. Lovely to see some coverage in the SCUBA Magazine. Stay safe, Polly. 

There was no club diving last weekend which is the first time I’ve said that in a while. In fact, since our 6-week hiatus due to Covid-19, we’ve been as busy as ever, perhaps assisted by the difficulties that DSDC have had in getting their boats back in the water. On Friday, however, a well-earned breather was taken and for me, back in the UAE after three months out, it was a chance to escape to Bab Al Shams with my good lady. It was tough but I could live with it.
Nick, semi-trapped in Abu Dhabi by the arcane and ever-changing rules and regulations took the opportunity for some local diving. He says:
Abu Dhabi diving is great. The sites aren’t exactly challenging but it’s great to see recovered reefs full of juvenile fish. I’ll write a report. I’m diving there again tomorrow morning.
Getting out of Abu Dhabi is apparently easy at the moment but getting back in can be problematic with long delays and arbitrary fines for minimal offences. Nevertheless, we hope to see Nick again soon.
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The BSAC 406 history project continues to gather pace and this month we have some coverage in SCUBA magazine: see image above. 

This may be a precursor to a more detailed article later in the year but this obviously depends on the editor. Cross your fingers.
Thanks to all those who continue to send photos and documents from the club’s history. Today, as I write, I’ve received some documents from the 70’s from Peter King which make fascinating reading. The following from a committee meeting of 20th March 1976 is posted above in the picture gallery.
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Arising out of all of this and in parallel, Hazelle Page’s investigation into the history of the old Sharjah Airport control tower is also bearing fruit and I am grateful to Margaret Smallpiece for the photographs she has sent.
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Any further information from anyone would be gratefully received. I would be interested to hear from any of the founding members, in particular the original committee, Jeremy Bonnell, Richard Kerr, Blair Littlejohn, George Featherstone and William Cook. I would also like to know of any details regarding the precursor clubs in the region, BSAC 270 (Sharjah) and BSAC 257 (1st Foresters), both I believe, linked to the British military.
Hazelle Page of Sharjah Museums Authority would greatly appreciate any information and / or photographs of the old Sharjah Control Tower in the days when it was home to the Dive Club.
For anyone interested in what the site is like now, try the link below:
https://www.sharjahmuseums.ae/en-US/Museums/Al-Mahatta-Museum
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Last word to Alan Locker:
Work was very demanding at that time and family life was stretched to say the least and we still went diving every Friday of course. It was a period of time in our lives that will be etched in our memories forever and the many friends we made at that time remain good friends now, hence the popularity of the reunion I arranged in 2016. In view of that I have launched the idea of another reunion in 2021 the response for which has been incredible, it will be the weekend of 2,3, and 4 July next year if you would like to attend. It actually coincides with my 70th and whilst the weekend will be full on 406 the Saturday evening party will also include my wife and I’s family this time.
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Virtual Club Night:
Join Zoom Meeting – Please contact Robin for login details and virtual meetings for 406er’s worldwide. 
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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).
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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.
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See you there.

Welcome All, 

A few more blasts from the past have come forward over the last week; big thanks to Mike Fearnley, Bert Van Eyck and Simon Dove who have all been in contact. The following is Bert’s account of the “Dory incident”:
Carole, Joan and Graham were up from their dive and saw the boat coming from a distance, but with Mike and Barbara down on their dive and both outboard engines refusing to start they had to jump over the side and swim for their life. The cargo vessel collided
with the dory and ran over it. Once the dory popped up again the console was ripped off and the engines were flooded
At first it appeared the cargo vessel wasn’t aware what happened because it continued its voyage for a while to stop and return to pick them up. The vessel was on its way from Dubai to Bandar Abbas, and the Captain offered to drop them off in Bandar Abbas.
With no passports, clothing and Iran being at war with Iraq this was not an attractive option, so Joan grabbed the VHF and called a mayday on channel 16 . This was picked up by one of the radio officers in our office, so once we knew the name of the vessel we managed to contact it’s owners in Dubai  who agreed to return the divers + dory to Sharjah creek breakwater where they were picked up by one of our workboats. With the dory being a complete write off owners agreed to give the club money to buy a new boat and compensate the divers for lost or damaged gear. See photos below. 
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Any further information from anyone would be gratefully received. I would be interested to hear from any of the founding members, in particular the original committee, Jeremy Bonnell, Richard Kerr, Blair Littlejohn, George Featherstone and William Cook. I would also like to know of any details regarding the precursor clubs in the region, BSAC 270 (Sharjah) and BSAC 257 (1st Foresters), both I believe, linked to the British military.

Hazelle Page of Sharjah Museums Authority would greatly appreciate any information and / or photographs of the old Sharjah Control Tower in the days when it was home to the Dive Club.
For anyone interested in what the site is like now, try the link below:
https://www.sharjahmuseums.ae/en-US/Museums/Al-Mahatta-Museum
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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.

L Photo: Carole, Joan, Mike , Graham & Barbara
Middle photo: Carole, Joan , Barbara with Mike and Graham attending the dory at the stern of the workboat.
3R Photo: Damaged Dory

Welcome All,

Last weekend being Eid Al Adha, there was plenty of scope for some diving and we took advantage. Allen describes the first day of Eid.

Thursday 
Given the weekend that was in it (Eid al Adha) and the relative inability to head out of the country we decided to get as much diving in as possible for the long weekend of 4 days off. First up Thursday.
We had a motley crew of shock-horror Paul (who would dive 8 days a week), Rod, myself and 2 more newcomers in the shapes of Alex and Saman who had been former DSDC members many moons ago.
The plan was to dive Jumbo followed by Nasteran. After checking boats, GPS and gear we set off from Al Khan which we made in good time with relatively nice seas.
 
When we got to the wreck site and switched to echo sounder we were shocked to find that it was not working – it seems to be becoming a thing now for these reports. Instead we put the boat over the coordinates and threw over anchor and buoy. First down the line were Alex, Saman and I where we found the anchor just a couple of metres off the main wreck. After a quick secure of the line we enjoyed lovely viz of 5-7 metres, nice swim throughs, and the usual shoals of fish and life. There was a little bit of a current but nothing too heart stopping.  Alas it was one of the few times not to catch a glimpse of a ray or two.
Once up the line and into the boat Paul and Rod were swiftly down the line. They did however cut their dive short as Rod was feeling a little under the weather. It is that time of year where it’s nice to have flat seas when underway but incredibly hot and uncomfortable when stopped. As Nick points out, at this temperature you don’t wait for the thirst, you drink to stave it off. After successfully getting both back on board we headed in the direction of the Nasteran and discussed options with Rod. We all agreed that the seas nor wrecks were going anywhere and continued past Nasteran and headed for home.

We got back in good time with thanks to Paul and headed for the club. I think we were all happy to have some cooling beverages & AC and knowing Rod was all good.
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Friday 
Day 2 of Eid saw us back in the water and welcoming back our treasurer, Peter, who was making his first dive following a long lay-off. How we’ve missed those dreadful puns and the fines for the slightest misdemeanor and…OK but nice to see him anyway.
Actually, I couldn’t complain about the fine I incurred before I even got in the water. Loading up the boat in the yard, I helped out loading everybody’s dive bag into the boat. Everybody’s that is apart from… yup – you guessed. My tanks went on board so it wasn’t a big disaster but thanks to Angela (fins) and Allen (BCD, reg and mask) for saving my day.

The first target was the Mariam Express, a cargo ship that went down in 2005. The echo sounder was still non-operational but the coordinates are pretty good so we sent the anchor down on a buoy at the zero point and Allen, Cara and Angela went down to look for the wreck. This they did fairly swiftly and Paul and Saleem followed them down. Getting on to the buoy was easier said than done as there was a strong surface current but we all managed to get there in the end with varying amounts of finning.

Peter and I were last in the water. Peter clearly showed that his diving skills were intact despite his long absence from the water. Intact, that is, once he’d remembered to put on his weight belt. Ten dirhams, sir.
Actually, it was a pretty good dive, around the wreck, through the hold and back to the stern where a friendly turtle came out to see us.

The second dive was a short distance away on Karen’s Dhow. This is the remains of a wooden dhow, not extensive by any means but very scenic in good visibility and full of glassware. The viz was fair rather than brilliant but we came back with a few plates to the despair of those who share flats and villas with us.
After that it was back to the club for a few refreshments.
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Thanks to Angela for the pictures.
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On Sunday, Brian, Paul, Jim, Pravin and Vincent took a trip to the Nasteran. This is an upturned landing craft which has been breaking up for some time now. Some of the old swim throughs have been squashed flat but some new ones are opening up. Brian described the dives as “awesome”, but I don’t have any more details.
In summary, a very productive Eid weekend and a very warm welcome to Alex, Saman and Pravin who were making their first dives with us. Many more to follow we hope.
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The virtual club night will be moving to a monthly schedule with the next one due on Sunday at 5pm UAE time (2pm UK). If you want to participate, contact Robin.
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On Saturday, a few 406 Exiles met up for a drink or two in Wapping. A good time was had by all accounts.
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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).
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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, 

Again, we had boats out Friday and Saturday of last weekend. Thanks to Allen (Friday) and Paul (Saturday) for their accounts below.

Friday’s seas were looking lumpy from early in the week and unfortunately it did not settle with time. We still hoped that things were not quite as advertised and planned for Jumbo but really figured it would be more like Vic Star for 2.
We had a full manifest of 8 divers for Friday’s trip. After the obligatory paperwork for our 3 newest divers Lucas, Ywona and Mike we loaded up SP 125 and hit the road in hope. It didn’t bode well when I made extremely tough work of pulling into the petrol station. No one would have thought I’d done it a hundred times before. After ample petrol, food and embarrassment we made it to Al Khan with no further incident.

Alas the forecasters were right and the seas were up. Not enough to call the dive but alter it to plan B it did. We made it to Vic Star in good time thanks to Paul. After convincing Lucas that a long 3mm wetsuit would really not be needed on the west coast he, Ivona, Cara and I were fist down the line. The sea state as it was and with Lucas losing his integrated weight made the entry a little trickier than usual. Eventually down we went only to find the viz on the watery-pea-soup end of the visibility scale. Nevertheless, it was quite a nice dive and even retrieved the freediving weight pocket. 

The Vic Star is a nice wreck for new wreck dives. It sits upright, looks like a wreck and provides some nice easy swim through’s in the wheelhouse. The top of which often has an abundance of light and life which it did on these dives. The Prop provides for some darker deeper diving at 24 metres.

The seas had picked up a little more while we all had our dives and made the boat ride back a tad more uncomfortable. Cara relinquished the reins stating she didn’t like driving in those conditions to which the response was ‘no one does dear’. We made it back surfing the occasional wave with less spray and splashes than in previous weeks.

Once back at the club I again decided to make tough work of putting SP 125 to bed but got there in the end. With only being out to Vic Star we were back a little earlier than usual. Unfortunately, there was a birthday party in full swing in the Dive Bar which displaced us to the compressor room for a few mins. In all honesty we were quite happy there as it was the coolest place in Wanderers with 2 AC units.

We eventually headed to the Sports bar for some food, fluids and conversation while others prepared for Saturdays diving by filling tanks. All in all, a good days diving despite the conditions. It was great to have new divers on board. They can’t have been too turned off as there were serious discussions about signing up to 406.  We hope to see you on board again soon.
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Saturday 
Saturday – A Fine day to Dive…
The only thing that could not be described as fine was the weather, or so we thought.

Our day started off just fine, tanks topped up, mixes verified and boat loaded all in time for the 06.00 departure. A quick head count revealed we were one diver short and being in fine spirits we decided to give the benefit of the doubt to the late diver. 
Very shortly after departing the club an incognito street sign (disguised as a bush), threw itself at the starboard side of the trailer causing the mud guard to rub on the wheels bringing SP125 to a lurching halt. (the Kenny Rogers song “You picked a fine time to leave me Loose-Wheel echoed in my mind”). Luckily for us we had a fine mechanic driving and were soon underway again to Al Khan. 

With Capt Angela at the helm, the ropes off and engine at full revs we departed Al Khan and very quickly determined both Poseidon & Neptune had conspired against us; and so it was to be or rather not to be, the “planned” trip to the Zainab was deferred for another day. The wreck isn’t going to sail off into the sunset and the 5 remaining divers were fine with the idea of deferment. 
Dive 1
Finally we arrived at the wreck of choice, a seldom dived
​Dhow due to visibility issues, Dhow 12 on the Garmin, sits in 20m. First wave divers, Angela, Alex and Saman in fine spirits kitted up and rolled back. First wave reported back that viz was “Dehli Belly” with a little current but lots to see. Brian and I, the 2nd wave rolled back and quickly confirmed the conditions were as described; the viz  was like being on a night dive inside a wreck and your torches fail. Not great.

We swam around the dhow remains and cargo spillage, sifting  topside finding nothing but construction tools that had seen finer times.  After a pointless or rather futile exercise in trying to fined (deliberate) the anchor we blobbed up and were quickly retrieved by 125.
Dive 2
Vic Star – We were in the area so why not. We tied off behind another dive boat, first wave rolling back in instalment’s, clambered around the unknown boat to the Anchor line descending to the wreck. During the dive the other boat left which meant our 3 in water divers came up on DSMB and were easily retrieved.  2nd wave now with our own anchor firmly hooked in, rolled back and descended. Better viz than the Friday dive with slightly less tidal surge meant a broader scope for exploration. Things were going just fine, engine room, accommodation then rudder room. In Brian’s words “First I saw a hand then two hands appear, so I swam further into the wreck… realizing Paul was not behind me I returned to the hatch to see his fins sticking down… How did that happen… a 180 in the hatch… then finally he (Paul) squeezed thru… I wish I had a camera.” 

A fine end to a fine days diving and with a few choice words and opinions being aired SP125 was safely nestled into her cradle and extracted from Al Khan, divers and kit safely stowed the return road journey passed without incident until the incognito street sign that almost ruined our day earlier in the day, had morphed itself into a kerbstone hidden by a traffic light, this time attacking the port side of SP125 trailer resulting in a 2″ shift & a list to port.
The remaining journey to the club was uneventful though I respectfully request the club elders give some serious consideration to widening the gate before someone does so with a boat.
Eat, sleep, dive repeat… 
Brian has contributed the following:
Boat Officer thought of the day: “I wish people would stop breaking thin…” crash bang boom.
Exclamation of the day: “Who planted a street sign in the bushes?”
And more importantly, how did I miss that with the car? 😊
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The virtual club night will be moving to a monthly schedule with the next one due on Sunday  at 5pm UAE time (2pm UK). If you want to participate, contact Robin.
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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
———————————-
The Dive Club meets every Tuesday night in the Dive Bar.

See you there.

​

Welcome All, 

​This week we managed to get 2 boats out. This was due to more divers than the mandatory 5 people per boat restriction and because Graham put a shiny new tow hitch on the back of his FJ Cruiser. One of the reasons for having a good compliment of divers was because we welcomed 2 DSDC divers on board this weekend in the form of Rod and Gavin.
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Neither had dived Dara before and so that was the plan. Simples. After some general boat towing instructions we found out that Gavin was a seasoned pro. That made it easy to figure out who was travelling with who. I think his FJ has a mind of its own, instead of following me as was planned it decided to turn the other way exiting the yard.
Meeting on ‘the next road up’ we formed our own little convoy and headed for Al Hamriya port. After making Paul run up and down the coast guards jetty because we forgot to give him the boat registration cards we then compounded the problem by giving him the trailer registration cards, requiring another walk up and down to an amused and apologetic coast guard. It wasn’t that hot.

We made it out to Dara in no time to find a boat already anchored in the middle of a net clearing exercise. They tie off a number of serious lifting bags and then cut their way around until it shoots for the surface. At which point the boat hares off in hot pursuit. They left with a boat full of abandoned nets.
After a short discussion with them we tied off on the permanent buoy and Rod, Gavin and guide extraordinaire Angela were over the side. There was a decent surface current running but it was not as bad on the wreck. The thermocline was not so noticeable either this week. It will soon be birthday suit weather or rash vest and shorts for the shy divers. The viz was at good 5-7 metres until you got close to the net clearing.

The wreck has opened up and even more evident now that a lot of the nets have ‘floated’ off the wreck. We all agreed the second dive was better, probably as the current had died down on the wreck and the viz improved with the departure of the net clearers.
 
All those new to the wreck got to see the cathedral which is still an impressive and beautiful part of the wreck to dive. There is however a huge fishing basket partly blocking one of the exits. Perhaps a job the next time we dive there again? Also on the wreck we saw numerous Nudibranchs, Monocle Bream and a Pufferfish which to the best of my recollection I’ve not seen on Dara before.

Seven happy divers returned to port and only made Paul make one trip to the coast guard to return the plastic cards. After a relatively easy process of getting the boats back on the trailers we headed for home. Graham’s FJ decided to have another opinion in that it did not want to follow me again and decided it wanted to take in the splendor of Culture Square over the more direct Wasit Square. Personally I’m not a fan of taking on Culture Square in my own car, let alone towing a trailer and boat on your maiden voyage. But the FJ will do what the FJ wants.
After performing what Graham describes as ‘the dark art’ of reversing the trailers into the yard, we washed down the boats, kit and a beverage while reminiscing about that and previous bygone days diving. To be fair a slightly bigger gate would be nice (cough* cough* Mr Chairman and Treasurer). But all joking aside, well done and thanks go to Graham for firstly sourcing the nuts and bolts to fix the trailer in the first place but also stepping up to put a tow hitch on his car and tow the boat.

Thanks also go to Paul for the blood sweat, tears and probably an expletive or two for putting said nuts and bolts on the trailer. Thanks also to Gavin for hopping in with Graham. Hopefully we will see more of him and Rod going forward.

Welcome All,

This week must unfortunately start on a sombre note. Last week we had word that Clive Frost has died following a Covid-19 infection. Clive was a member of BSAC 406 back in the dim and distant past. He never left the country, instead since 1975 he has concentrated his energies on “Aqua Diving Services”, a diving company of which he was the founder and Managing Director. In these latter days, Clive is perhaps best known to us as the owner of the “Dara”, our perennial and favourite dive site.
Our sympathies go to his family.
Since the last email, I’ve seen and heard many expressions of sadness and sympathy over the death of Clive Frost.

I will print two of these, the first from John Lewis:
Very sad news about Clive FrostClive was my business partner and the first person I met in Dubai in 1974. He and I worked together up to the point I left the UAE in 82.

And from Stuart Shaw:
Ian, thanks for your updates, just an expression of sadness on learning that Clive has passed away, I knew him as a dynamic new arrival at 406 in around 1975, he employed a good friend of mine, Mark Haine when he left the army and that was the situation when I left the UAE in 76. For those that knew Mark I discovered from his Regiment in 82 whilst I was in Northern Ireland that Mark had died in west Africa sometime before 82.RIP .Stuart.

It’s always good to hear from past members. It’s just a shame that it was Clive’s death that was the cause of this particular exchange.