A rather heavy boat
Hi all!A few items from the Dive Marshall’s checklist: O2 bottle, O2 set, first aid kit, boat keys (quick turn of engines), blue and/or green folder, full complement of divers…Ok launch the boat! The servant among you might notice what’s missing namely…bungs. These small but vital components were unaccountably neglected until – anchored on the Dara – we […]
A’normal’ dive at the Taha and another call for sponsorship
After last week’s day off, normal service has been resumed although there were one or two moments on the way out (and back) where this didn’t seem a good idea at all. The sea state wasn’t bad as in dangerous but it was certainly lumpy and didn’t make for a comfortable ride. Still we got […]
Dodgy forecast and the return of two wanderers
We didn’t go out last Friday on account of a very dodgy forecast on Thursday evening. As it turned out the weather had calmed down by Friday so we could have got away with it but you can’t call them right every time. We were forced to spend the day relaxing and sinking a couple […]
MV Taha’s galley treasures – never mind the viz!
Back in the water this week after last week’s non-event. Well some people were – I was still suffering from a cold and was limited to boat towing and driving but I enjoyed the trip all the same. It was also good to see Lamjed back in the water with us after…how long is it? […]
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 […]
A successful 50th anniversary dive
Where do I start this week? Firstly, a big thank you to Dan for fitting the new fish-finder on 312. The transducer fell off the boat two weeks ago and such was its age, spares are no longer available. The new machine was given a road test over the weekend and came through with flying […]
Celebrating the new and commemorating an old wreck
A good trip last Friday – we went out to our new favorite wreck. We had a couple of dives each to see what we could find. The rays from last week seem to have moved on to pastures new but the barracuda were very much in evidence keeping their beady eyes on us. A […]
Sea King & Dara
After last week’s non-dive we got back into the water at the weekend. It was another trip to the Sea King 5 followed by the Dara. The Sea King is beginning to grow a few barnacles as you would expect and hopefully the fish will follow. At the moment there’s not much in the way […]
Monster Barracuda, Leopard Ray and a plea for support
Last Friday’s diving looked promising: good weather, neap tides, calm seas and two full boats – what more could we want? Well the SP125 registration card would have been nice. Unfortunately instead of sitting in the green folder in the boat it was lying on a certain Boat Officer’s kitchen table. The coastguard didn’t accept […]
Shamal and 7-11 foot waves, and diving at Sir Bu Nair Island
The diving got wiped out by the weather again this week. A shamal brought in 7 – 11 foot waves off-shore. Dive Marshall Simon’s only duty was to send an SMS giving the bad news. As it happened, at least one of our number managed to get a dive in. Let PJ tell the story: […]