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 working party of Mike, Ian and Forrester spent Saturday changing the axles and wheels of the 312 trailer. The old ones were not really strong enough for the load they were being asked to carry with the consequent damage to tyres, hubs and wheels. The new ones are much more heavy duty although we’re now hoping the springs are up to the task!

Next Friday is Dara day – 50 years exactly since the explosion. Full details will be posted to those signed up but we will be meeting at Hamriyah beach, doing some diving followed by a barbecue later. DSDC and ADSAC are also involved and Steve Winstanley of ADSAC has acquired a red ensign to be placed on the wreck in honour of the 238 people who died. The National newspaper is sending someone and Dive magazine want  a report. Don’t miss this one.

If you want to know about the Dara try reading “Last hours on Dara”. It was written by PJ Abraham who was on board for the last voyage, travelling with his wife from Bahrain to Kerala. It’s been out of print a long while – the copy I read was priced at 30 shillings – but Peter Jackson got hold of it via Amazon. The first third of the book describes the event itself – both his experiences and those of some of his travelling companions. Some of the stories of overturning lifeboats, burnt passengers, lost children and people struggling to survive were quite harrowing. The last two thirds cover the enquiry that followed. This is a lot drier (no pun intended) and I wasn’t able to get through it to be honest. It’s worth reading for the first part.

Congratulations to Aaron, Jen, Jules and Matt who completed their Ocean Diver courses and promptly headed off to dive in Sri Lanka. We await an account of their adventures. Congratulations also to Maureen who has passed her PADI Open Water course with Janette.