Welcome All, 

No diving at the weekend, mainly because a combination of a birthday brunch and a family visit ruled out all the available boat drivers. The weather wasn’t too promising either although DSDC managed to get out to the Neptune in lumpy seas. At least it stayed dry offshore if that makes any sense. “Dry” land was subjected to some epic thunderstorms through the day which is not normal for June. In fact, the weather had been a bit strange all week. The photo below is the Oceanic Hotel in Khor Fakkan. The poor sods in the foreground are vainly trying to keep sea water out of the swimming pool.

I had an email from former member, Soren Kjaer, last week. He was mainly responding to the news of Sergey Yurchenko’s death which shocked him as much as it did the rest of us. Soren related a marvelous anecdote about a night out he had with Sergey when visiting him in KSA, which regrettably I can’t print in this email. Suffice it to say that it involved the copious consumption of certain beverages that wouldn’t meet the full approval of the Saudi authorities. We’ll draw the veil at that point.

He goes on to say:
Similar discretion must be given to the following story concerning a diver we shall call “B”, who made a visit to a local dive centre we shall call “X”.
X: This is your dive guide [pointing to a young male]
B: Do I have to?
X: Yes
B: [to guide] OK – how many dives have you done here?
Guide: Not many – I arrived last week in the UAE.
B: [unreported remark]
10 minutes into the dive, DSMB deployed to safely surface to relocate the lost instructor… he was found on the surface holding on to his DSMB.
There’s a bit more after that but again, draw the veil.
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A message from DSDC:
With the success of the one-day dhows we are looking to see if a two-day dhow would be possible again. This would not be every month but if popular maybe we could run one a couple of times a year. A dhow is great way to experience the Musandam and is a great staycation
We have booked a Dhow with Al Marsa departing Thurs 5th Sept returning Saturday 7th Sept
The dhow configuration is as follows. 
      Red Dhow 76ft:
Ø  5 Standard double cabins (2 cabins sharing 1 bathroom)  
Ø  1 Standard single cabin
Ø  2 En-suite cabins (private bathroom)
Ø  Maximum amount of passengers for live aboard trips: 15
 
(All bathrooms include a toilet sink and wet-room style shower)
Price per person, payable in advance is 
- Non Diver 1,010 AED
- Diver 1,140 AED
Spaces and cabins will be allocated on a first come first reserved basis there will be no blocking of spaces so everyone has a chance to get on board. 
This booking is only open to club members, sister club members and immediate family if we do not fill the spaces we will open it to a wider audience.

If anyone is interested, please let me know. Two spaces are still left, I believe.
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DAN insurance website: https://www.daneurope.org/home
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The Dive Club meets every Tuesday night in the Dive Bar.
See you there!

​Welcome All,

I’m very sad to have to report the death, in Moscow, of Sergey Yurchenko.
​
Sergey was a member of BSAC 406 for a number of years before relocating to Saudi Arabia. Those who knew him will not forget his irrepressible humour, not to mention the occasion when he fell asleep on the side of boat when we were expecting him to do a backward roll. Never to be forgotten.

​The following was posted on WhatsApp by Kim Edwards, a friend of his:

​​

Dear All, 

Friday Dive was called. Our sleeping dive beauties ( name not mentioned )  didn't make the dive so that left the three of us to improvise. 

​We headed for an early Wandies Breakfast instead and decided to get suited and booted and do some pool drills and skills. Always good to keep the SMB skills up to date so we did some practice with deployment. As much as this looks an easy task to do in the pool, underwater is a different story all together. At the same time, Polly did some camera stunts to check some settings on her camera. Nik demonstrated using the SMB reel and buoy and Hans following directions. A good day to hang around the pool and 'get at one with kit'. We all had some practice with the SMB and hope to get back to the ocean next week. 

Dive Club meets every Tuesday in the Dive Bar.

Try Dives are free of charge and we use the Club swimming pool for training. 

Welcome All,

Brian has a few observations on the Dara. Video has captured the bow section, all be it very briefly:

On the 5th Day of Peed my Dive Marshal said to me, ''First the Ajman Glory, then, Mmmmm-Veeeee-Dara, with a Leopard Ray and goooood viz''...……..

Did anyone notice that there is a portion of the Dara where the keel hull has rolled 'up hill' and there is no longer a large over hang, a physical change something that defies the law of gravity. When swimming on the surface, you can clearly see she has been hit by another ship. There is a large scar running down the top at 8mtrs where portions of the wreck has been flattened. When this reached the keel the wreck has been pushed out towards the sand. This would also explain how and why parts of the quarterdeck have sheered and slid to the sea bed. Also, why now, that are so many nooks and crannies to explore that were never there before. 

Dive 1 was the Ajman Glory, 'fort time and three the abbot', it missed second time we threw the anchor so it set it's self in the cargo hold. Then, we noticed we were in raging river, no no...…….it was ripping current. We dropped the ladder on 312 in the water. Back in the day, the strength of the current was determined by the angle of the ladder. The new ladder however, being fixed in both ends, would be no good for giving you an idea of the speed of the current. Wrong...…….The current was so fierce the ladder was aqua planing on the surface. 

Polly and Rayan were wave one. They took strain getting to the anchor and soon enough were on their merry way. Wave two got away as well with some fancy rope work. Wave 3 aborted the dive because of the current. Brian and Jim were wave 4. 

The viz on the bottom was the best I have on the Ajman Glory. You could see everything including the *******in the 'front locker'. I found an anchor someone had lost in the cargo holds and recovered some stainless steel chains. A Black Ray was found sleeping next to the prop with Jim and I having a close up look. Polly captured the Black Ray  on video ( see attached video below ) that circled them both before settling down. At the bow we saw a small group of common Grey Sweetlips. 

Dive 2 was back on the Dara. On the way there we noticed a sudden change in the water colour and on further investigation a 5 mtr drop off in the sea bed was identified. A further dive site possibly. At the Dara were lucky enough to catch a slack tide. Dive buddy waves 1,2 and 3 all got down without incident. Jim and I in at the end dive. Again with clear viz, and relatively new nets I was blown away by the colourful corals on the wreck. About 10 minutes into the dive the current picked up and it was not long before were were watching the sand grains run along the sea bed. Just in front of the boilers, 2 Leopard Rays were on the sand. Polly captured one on video as it swan gracefully away. Note from Polly; ''yes I did grunt at the Barracuda that came in a bit close. Yes I told it to foxtrot oscar as heard on video''  On the third lap between the Cathedral and stern we lifted the anchor and surfaced. Awesome dives. 

Back at GCHQ, we noticed a baby Turtle struggling on the surface. We picked it up and noticed unwanted sea growths had encapsulated the poor turtles' shell and eyes. We transported in the a cool box and big thanks to Paul who rushed the little guy to the Sharjah Aquarium. It is now in quarantine and hopefully makes a full recovery. 

Dive Club meets every Tuesday in the Dive Bar. 

We hope to see you there. 

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DAN insurance website: https://www.daneurope.org/home
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