Weather – no diving!

After the previous Dara 50th anniversary weekend, last Friday was a lot quieter – we ended up not going out at all. The reason for this was the forecast that – although superficially benign –  also included the words: “possible thunderstorms with 8 – 12ft waves in the vicinity of the storms”. As we discovered a couple of months ago, not only are those sort of conditions highly unpleasant but can blow up very quickly indeed – certainly before you have time to get divers out of the water. I decided that discretion was perhaps the better part of valour for this one.

With a space to fill, I can instead write a few words about a new wreck we’ve dived several times recently. The MV Taha is located not far from the Neptune and it sank at the end of last year in circumstances currently unknown. It is an Iranian registered cargo ship of 54m length lying on its starboard side in about 20m of water. The vessel was carrying among other things a lot of car and truck tyres and a considerable quantity of diesel engine oil. Uwe and Lamjed are thinking of ways to remove the oil drums from the wreck – these would otherwise corrode over time releasing their contents into the Gulf.

The ship’s telegraph and steering wheel have been liberated and await restoration but anyone hoping for a festival of brass will be disappointed – the ship’s fittings are not so much “Harrods” but more “Pricebusters”. The viz has been pretty good on our visits so far and there has been plenty of fish life. It’s nice to have a new target and there’s still the engine room to find. Thanks to Cathy who originally found the co-ordinates.

Anyone who happens to have a copy of this month’s Outdoor UAE magazine will have seen a report on Geoff’s trek to Everest Base Camp. He’s raising money for cancer research and if anyone feels like supporting the cause go to: www.justgiving.com/geoff.patch