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Since I’m presently gallivanting around foreign parts (Berlin as I write), I wasn’t around on Friday to witness the going’s on, however I can rely on others to step into the breach when the need arises: the following was written by Geoff Patch with some added words by Brian Lugg. Due to recent cable laying a trench had been dug along the sand road where we access the dive club boat yard. (See attached photo). Recognising the potential challenges of man-handling a Discovery and 5 tonne boat across the void the workmen had been requested to fill in the ditch outside the gate before Friday. The ditch was filled in, just outside the wrong gate! So big Brian and Geoff spent the first 15 minutes of the day filling in the ditch - a nice warm up to the day. Things got better when our other Brian arrived and promptly grounded his hire car in the sand trap at the yard entrance. More digging and manhandling managed to extricate the vehicle. We were fortunate to have two guests with us, retired 65 year old 'brass hound' Alan and his son Martin, both experienced divers originating from the garden county of Kent. The last but not least of the crew for the day was the irrepressible punctual 'one fin Soren' who had called to say he would meet us at Hamriyah. The target for the day was the Ajman Glory. The wind was behind us and the seas were surprisingly flat, as we set out on an almost due north heading and we made good time to the site, hooking the wreck on the second attempt. The anchor had landed at the bow, which meant a swim of about 40m to the stern area with a mild current flowing across the wreck from starboard to port. Visibility was better than it had been in previous weeks but only around 4-5m at best and possibly was a result not a great deal of marine life was evident. After the first dive the wind was beginning to pick up a little but everyone agreed to stay on site for the second dive, which followed a similar patter to the first, namely rummaging around in the fo'csle locker and bridge areas - guest diver Brass Hound Allan surfaced with a huge grin and a copper search lamp - apparently it was found just lying on the sand. At the end of the second dive Geoff unveiled half a dozen cans of decompression fluid and shared with all, except the last pair who had been waiting on fins and had yet to go down. This was the last thing One Fin Soren needed to see before descending. The mere though of going diving instead of having a cold one had sever narcotic effects on Soran, so much so, that once kitted he stood up on the anchor locker only to find himself legless and executed a divers entry that words can only half describe - starting with a standing forward roll from the anchor locker to the port gunwale, landing momentarily in a seated upright position - seamlessly sliding into a side wards roll, with, a divers 'OK" into the ocean, and all of this without a splash. I doubt anyone will ever be able to execute the "Soren Entry" ever again with such grace and perfection, if only BSAC 406 productions had caught this event for prosperity. Unfortunately, the last pair of divers seemed to misinterpret the "don't forget to free the anchor and tie a marker buoy to it to lift it" instruction, (clearly someone was still suffering from some narcotic effect), and we had to break the anchor line to get free. Brass Hound Allan then let us in on an old BSAC punishment, when One Fin Soren had de-kitted, and wiped the sweat from his brow, he was handed a can of not so "sweet" decompression fluid. The "Bud-sea-w-ater-iser" was not well received... The return journey was not smooth sailing as they say - heading straight into the wind and wave front made for a long, wet trip back to the quayside. Before us chain gangers got to work on the Larkin Car Trap... Some of you will know we were in Germany for Peter and Connie’s wedding in Lübeck. I’m happy to report the event went off without a hitch (apart from the hitch that was supposed to happen). Peter was as nervous as I’ve seen him but a few cogent words of advice (breath normally, don’t hold your breath etc) seemed to do the trick. The cake was cut on a boat travelling up the river to Travemünde where the reception was held. A good day all round and it was great to see Uwe again.
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Authors-Ian Hussey and Dive Member Contributions. Archives
March 2023
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