A change of plan, plenty of fish – and dolphins!

Not a bad weekend at all! It didn’t go exactly according to plan – the original targets were the Neptune and Jumbo but after half an hour heading into a worsening sea state, we diverted to the dhows which at that point were only ten minutes away. 

We went first to Karen’s dhow which used to be home to a lot of baby barracuda. These appear to have grown up and left home but there was plenty of other fish in evidence. The dhow was carrying a consignment of glassware when it sank and we invariably come back with a few plates and bowls, this dive being no exception. We also retrieved a copper nail from the rudder. Some of these are already in the club and one or two others were donated to the Sharjah Maritime Museum (which has yet to display them!). The one brought up on Friday seems to be the last.

Leaving Karen’s dhow we took a look at a location known only as “1039” on the GPS. Mike did a quick bounce dive on the site and reported a small barge – plenty of fish but not otherwise very exciting. I think we’ve probably visited this before but didn’t find it interesting enough to become a regular target.

The second dive of the day was on the Bigpro dhow (or Bigprop, Nopro, Noprop – take your pick). It’s quite small but generally has some good fish life. On this occasion there were plenty of snappers, tuna and some real granddaddy barracuda patrolling the wreck. These were unusually friendly and let you get quite close although some caution was obviously needed. Uwe found and retrieved a brass oil cooler which should polish up nicely. Mike and Derek also had a close encounter with a turtle and to add the icing to the cake, some dolphins came up for a look just as we were hauling the anchor up. They didn’t stay around long but never mind – it capped a good trip. Who needs Friday brunches anyway?

Geoff Taylor recently donated some old photos of the club which I’ve finally got around to scanning. This is a work in progress but they will be fed on to the website in batches along with some others I got from Harry some time back. Some of the faces are identifiable but the names of others have disappeared into the mists of time so if anyone recognizes their friend, lover, dive buddy, partner in crime etc, this information would be gratefully received.

In a slight break with tradition, we have a plan for the next couple of weeks:
27 May  – Taha
3 June   – Martini Beach
10 June – Zainab.
All weather permitting of course although Martini Beach is less susceptible to the whims of nature than the offshore wrecks.