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Last Friday nearly didn’t happen. As late as 3pm Thursday, the forecast was predicting thunder and lightning and had it stayed that way, we certainly wouldn’t have gone. By the evening update, the prediction had modified to cloudy and overcast and with a forecast wave height of 0.1m, there was no reason to call it off. If anything, 0.1m was an overstatement. The sea was mirror smooth for most of the day. We thus made good time out to the Jumbo which was target number one. This was a return visit after last weekend but the viz has been very good out in this area recently, so we wanted to take advantage.
Allen and Cara were first down the line and secured the anchor which was a little tricky as it had landed near the bow with not much to hook it to. Actually, they made a better job of this than finding it later; a slight navigational error of 180° found them finish the dive at the stern rather than the bow and they had to come up on a DSMB. Allen put his hands up to that one. Polly and Nick were next in and I went down with Mike Millis, an occasional guest from Kuwait. We found viz of 10m or so and a little current but nothing to worry about. The wreck remains snapper city and there were also a number of batfish following us around. The is still warm enough to do without wet suits but there are jellyfish about, particularly at safety stop level, so some skin protection is advisable. Rather than repeat last week’s itinerary, we decided to do a second dive on Mike’s Tug, another wreck that was discovered on the seabed survey. Being a tug boat it’s quite small but you can get inside in a couple of places and the fish life is usually plentiful. Again, the viz was 10m plus and the current had reduced from earlier in the day. A couple of weeks ago, Mike Anthony reported a missing reel. It was presumed to have been picked up in error and lying at the bottom of someone’s dive bag but there was no response when I put the word out. Now we know why. Allen found a reel on top of the tug and further inquiries later via WhatsApp proved is was indeed the one that had gone missing. The picture below shows it looking a bit worse for wear after three weeks underwater. In many ways, the most memorable part of the day, for me and Mike at least, was while we were alone on the boat, waiting for the others to come from their dives. We were alerted by a blowing sound and looking round we saw a whale briefly surface about 20m from the boat, before heading back underwater. It was impossible to say what type it was – we only saw its back and dorsal fin – but it was clearly an impressive size. We hoped it would come back but it never did, nor was it seen by any divers. A brief but exciting moment or two. Thanks to Cara for the pictures. See video above for further pics taken by Cara also. After all that it was back to the club for a few refreshments – quite a few as it turned out – before going home. The ever talented Nick was on stage with Blarney Stone Roses band, playing the Mandolin to some good ole tunes to a very packed out venue in the Wanderers Club central club house. --------------------------------------- While this was going on, Peter and Connie were in Oman, making use of the visas that had arrived too late for the club trip. He reports whale sharks, leopard sharks, eagle rays, stingrays and turtles. Sounds excellent and maybe he has some good video? ----------------------------------- Last Saturday, Saad ran a blending course so now Allen and Rayan are clear to mix nitrox. He’s doing another course in November, after which we should be in pretty good shape as regards nitrox blenders. Up until now we’ve been mostly relying on Brian, which is obviously not sustainable long term. ----------------------------------- Saad is organizing an event later this month: https://www.somewhatsalty.com/tdb/ Deco is an unavoidable part of deep diving. The Deco Breakfast elegantly presents facts & fundamentals, as well as strategies & controversies. The two presentations will be of value to divers who enjoy diving in the 40m to 100m range. Registration is now open. ----------------------------------- DAN insurance website: https://www.daneurope.org/home ---------------------------------- The Dive Club meets every Tuesday night in the Dive Bar. See you there!
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Authors-Ian Hussey and Dive Member Contributions. Archives
March 2023
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