DIVE CLUB MEETINGS

THE TUESDAY NIGHT MEETING ARE CANCELLED INDEFINATLEY

OUR CLUB MEETINGS WILL NOW TAKE PLACE AFTER THE DIVE

AT THE RBYC

We HaveTwo NEW 250 Mercury Engines INSTALLED

and running well!!!

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We currently have

TWO BS-AC Instructors

Paul & Nigel

Club News

2012

What will 2012 (Year of the Dragon) Bring

TRUK LAGOON in JUNE 2012 Maybe

2011

WE CURRENTLY HAVE TWO REBREATHER DIVERS (CCR) PAUL &NIGEL

WE ALSO HAVE A COUPLE OF PANAGA CCR DIVERS WHO JOIN USE ON SOME DIVES

THE CLUB ALSO HAS MANY NITROX DIVERS, AND A FEW MIXED GAS (TriMix) DIVERS MOST OF WHICH ARE QUALIFIED TO 60m

2010

Moved to Archive

Paul & Nigel are looking at trip to TRUK LAGOON in JUNE 2012

Interested call Paul or Nigel

LOST and FOUND

LOST

FOUND

Next Dive/s

Sunday 8th of January Looks like there is a dive on for the Sunday 8th of January If interested call Paul Nigel

Request a place/s on the Dive CLICK HERE

2012

SUNDAY 8th JAN 11

We had 8 keen divers eager to rid themselves of the cobwebs of Christmas/New Year: Peter, Fleur, Matt, Cat, Terry, Nami, Ian and myself.

The boat was not floating but with a bit of work from Matt, Terry and myself she was pushed to the end of the jetty for fueling (thanks Fleur) and loading. We were off at about 8:15 but it was a slow trip out to the Australian mainly due to the condition of the sea and partly due to the boat loosing a bit of its anti-fouling and the consequent fouling of the hull. By 9ish we had shotted the wreck, closely followed by the oceanic boys. Down went Terry and Nami to tie the line off and we drifted a long way in the 10 mins wait. Tied off and next went Matt and Cat (nice to see you diving with the club again).

Ian and I were next and Ian was having fun with his new side mount set-up. Looks good but it is a but difficult to get in the water, anyway we are all experts and advice was given. I have to say the set-up looks good under the water and improvements with water entry will make it easier to use. Its a safe set-up as he has 2 independent systems and breaths down each tank a part way before changing to the other. I am talking about Ian's set-up because there is not much to say about the dive - oh yes the water was cold at 26 degrees! Terry summed it up with "The vis on the way down started bad and then stayed bad on the wreck" or something like that. We saw the jacks near the bow, looks to me like their numbers are getting less.

Off to the American wreck with a hope of better vis as the tide was on the way in etc....

No we didn't get any better vis, if anything it was worse. Again Ian and I were together and descended to the wreck, I was a bit confused as to where the shot was tied as vis was so bad, we headed off to the debris area and then when we hit the sand we hung a left and headed towards the stern, I hoped! I finally confirmed where I was after about 8mins of dive time, my plan now was to head slowly back to the shot line without Ian thinking "what is he doing?" so when the time came I could head straight to the line looking like I knew what I was doing all along! Yes the line was where I thought so we carried on pottering about, Ian doing the odd vertical 360 degree spin to show off his new maneuverability. Two mins to deco and time to get to the line which was only a few feet away, I thought, it wasn't there!! Anyway after a few gestures indicating he didn't know where it was either, I sent up a dsmb and we headed up off the wreck on that. We surfaced in a heavy swell and I couldn't see the boat for a while. Seemed strange that Fleur and Pete should be on the boat as they were supposed to be still down on the wreck. It turns out that the line had come undone on their way down so there was no wreck - hence no line on the wreck for us to find. Matt drove us back through a large following sea, back at the club for about 1PM.

A good start to the year now all we need is some of that better visibility
- it doesn't get much worse!

Cheers
Paul-- Regards

2011

SUNDAY 4th DEC 11

SUNDAY 27th NOV 11

It was a late start as the tide only shifted at 10. Fueling had been completed thanks to Peter’s slide – the construction of which kept the early arrivals busy while the tide idled – and we left a bit before 10.30. Paul, Nigel, Martin, Terry, Matt, Ian, Peter, guests Pete and Andy (a warm welcome), and Fleur were on board. A good head count. We left for the Australian and Peter and Fleur were first down. But no wreck to be found – nothing at all, other than a lot of sand and little visibility at 35m. Peter did a few sweeps – hitting 37m. Determined not to come up empty handed, an abandoned jet fin made it back to the surface. And has been returned to its delighted owner. The shot was thrown a second time and Terry and Matt tied off. The dive, from all accounts was a low viz dive but all seemed to surface with a smile nevertheless. The Australian rarely disappoints.

All on board and we headed for the American. The shot landed on the wreck first throw and Peter and Fleur had no trouble tying off this time. A pleasant dive with a huge grouper spotted in one of the interior spaces. The current down below picked up and got stronger as the day progressed. As the current came in so the viz deteriorated. Peter and Terry had a bit of an underwater tousle with a long length of sturdy looking line, which Peter brought to the surface. It belonged to Matt – a lost shot line from a previous dive. It was all in all a good day out – the weather was kind and no strong afternoon winds picked up, making the later than usual home trip smooth and easy. After the work was done, some left and some gathered on the club verandah for a few drinks.

Many divers will be leaving for the year end break this week but there will still be a dive on Sunday.

OCT NOV WAITING ON DIVE REPORTS

SUNDAY 25th SEPT 11

Only four on board and as we were ready and loaded by 7.50 – no-one still to come – we headed straight out to the Blue Water. Only four, Martin, Simon, David and Fleur meant an extra $10 each for fuel because of the distance – and a well spent $10 it turned out to be. The Blue Water was magnificent. Viz probably 15 – 20 metres and although the surface current was strong there was no current down below. David and I had a few issues with the buoy – suffice to say we no longer have a boat hook and one of our lines is now a metre shorter (my dive knife does work). We ran a live boat until we had more hands on deck after Simon and Martin surfaced and we could deal with the buoy – it having being decided that a second dive on the Blue was in order – and tie off.

Two superb dives – a cuttlefish, batfish, cruising barracudas, juvenile chevrons, an eel, lion fish, big scorpion fish and thousands upon thousands of very small fish. We all ventured inside as well, for a little overhead and buoyancy practice. The very strong surface current did not cause any major problems (other than the bouy and the boat hook at the beginning).  We were on the yacht club verandah by 2.30 with a beer in hand (thank you David and Simon). While we sipped and did our rudimentary accounting, decisions for next week were made.

SUNDAY  4th SEPT 11

WAITING ON DIVE REPORT

SUNDAY  24th APRIL 11

We had 10 divers on the nice new boat, Martin, Ian, Nigel, Dave, Mas, Dave Lane, Burt, Nick, Jamie and myself. As the tide was high in the early afternoon we made a late start and headed out to the Australian wreck at about 9:30AM. The lack of shot practice recently seemed to have no impact on our performance as we hit the wreck perfectly. The upper 6m were very warm mainly fresh green water but that gave way to better vis lower down, better but not great, about average for this wreck. The temperature on the wreck was a very chilly 26 degrees! We did the tour and at the bow Nick spotted a pair of ringed pipe fish - nice. Untying the shot was a bit problematic as the boat was pulling the line over the wreck but we struggled and dropped the line on the port (lower) side of the wreck. Not bad - 7 out of 10.
Off to the Cement wreck, I was not too excited about this wreck, ever since to top of the bridge has collapsed I have not had a good dive on it. We had a bit of a palaver getting the shot onto the wreck, Martin took it down a buoy line and tied us off on the gantry. Again the temperature was chilly but the vis was not bad so we headed off to the bow keeping up so as to extended our limited dive time as we were on air. Lots of fish. The bow was great with lots of things to look at. The collapsed area seems to be recovering is growth as it no longer looks like a pile of scrap as the different corals grow back. Up to the gantry to untie, the wind topside must of picked up as it was a hard job to untie the shot line, it took the three of us to pull and wriggle the shot free. Nigel had put a lift bag onto his goody bag (filled with 8kg of Zinc anode - at $53 a Kg that might help pay for part of his box of debt!), we didn't use it. Instead we had a fantastic ride at about 9m all along the length of the wreck followed by a large school of Barracuda, now I know how live bait feels with Barracuda around! An excellent dive 9 out of 10!
All back at the club by 3PM only to find Easter in full swing with bloody kids everywhere!

Cheers

Paul

TUESDAY 15th FEB 11

The impromptu Tuesday dive was characterised by a lack of the trusty and dependable boaties that we have come to depend on. Poor Martin is still laid up in JPMC with as severe dose of bush typhus and Paul had to can the dive due to the onset of a severe head cold. None the less, we remaining 5 got the go ahead to take out the boat regardless! So myself, Ian, Peter, Fleur and Emma (First dive with us), set off at 9.15 after refueling the boat and adding a little extra oil. Many thanks to Fleur for sorting the fuel. The weather was looking much more settled. The sun was shining and things were certainly looking promising. Due to our reduced numbers we decided to dive the Australian and the Cement. Despite the settled weather we soon encountered a heavy swell after hitting the Cut. The trip to the Australian was uneventfull, although rather bumpy. We got a good image of the Australian on the depth sounder and were fairly sure we had it. My self, Fleur and Ian went down and were please to see we had scored a bulls eye with the shot dropped right down into the hold of the ship. Visibility was not too bad. Lots of fish with large shoals zooming in all directions including in and out of the wreck. It was brilliant, although a little chilly with the water temperature being only 25 degrees near the bottom. A couple of Lion fish were spotted adding some tranquility to an otherwise frenetic scene around the wrect. By the time we got to the surface the wind was picking up and the swell seemed to be getting worse. Peter and Emma, who was feeling rather sea sick by now, went down next and were treated to a similar experience to ourselves. On their ascent we were rather surprised to see Emma pop up off the shot line by herself and with a nose bleed! Assuming the worst we got the O2 ready but were relieved to discover that she had not shot up from the bottom. Her dive computer was not complaining and despite a nose bleed, she didn't develop any symptoms of DCI. She sat out on the second dive. I will give fuller details at the next dive meeting.

Our shotting prowess went from strength to strength. We managed to drape the shot over the Gantry of the Cement wreck and down the side of the hull. Once again the visibility was more than reasonable in places, although the lower 5 meters of water and the cargo hold area were all obscured by a green milky soup. However, other areas were crystal. Myself and Ian were treated to the spectacle of a moving vertical wall of bait fish hotly pursued by larger predatory fish way above us. The water temperature was a slightly warmer 26 degrees, but not warm enough to keep me down there to the bitter end! Note to self- Must get a wet suit! The clear water allowed us to see the collapsed top levels (wheelhouse etc) in detail. It seems that the central portion has dropped, with the result that the outer edges have folded together like a half folded piece of bread. We did penetrate the wreck, but knowing how rotten the whole thing is now, it does make one think what might happen if .....! On our ascent up the shot line we could feel the powerful surge of the boat tugging on the line. When we got to the Gantry the rope was getting seriously frayed by being rubbed against the top edge. Although I managed to move it to another position it was still in contact with the gantry. On our return to the surface the wind was blowing strongly and something (wind or current) was moving us quite fast. In view of the weather we decided to release the boat from the shot shortly after Peter and Fleur had gone down as not only would it save the rope, but more importantly ensure they would not be dragged rapidly to the surface after they released the shot line. They had a good 45 mins enjoying the underwater scenery while we enjoyed our cruise. On their return they reliably inform us that they saw the biggest Moray Eel ever! Its neck was as wide as Peters head apparantely! Having stopped to pick up the divers we had a problem with the left engine (??? Port - sorry, not naughty-cal enough yet) as it said it was too hot. As a result we were forced to set off with one engine, until the other was happy to start. Thankfully it did. No real problems until we got to the cut, where waves from all directions resulted in lots of cavitation which slowed us considerably. Amazingly didn't destroy the jetty, and even parked the boat after some unusual attempts at securing the front mooring rope. All in all, a very enjoyable and memorable trip.

David Clayton

Cheers

Paul

SUNDAY 5th DEC 10

Just a quick note to say six of us had a good time on the Blue and Cement wrecks. Brigitte, Nigel, Matt, Peta, Nick and myself set off at a very respectable 9:30AM reports had been heard of 40m vis and Manta rays so we followed up the reports and dived the blue - no Mantas but very nice vis (20m) lots of bat fish and the usual big barracuda. Very nice dive but a ripping current on the surface gave Nick and myself a very interesting "sleigh ride" when we undid our anchor/shot combination. Next off to what is left of the cement wreck. The current had almost gone but the vis wasn't that good with a milkyness covering the forward section of the wreck. A section of the bow seems to have fallen off and a bit of the roof on the starboard side of the bridge area has also fallen in - the port side went some time ago. Still we had a very nice dive. Thanks to Peta for providing the brown fizzy for the return trip - which Matt says was nowhere near long enough!!
Cheers
Paul

SUNDAY 28th NOV 10

We had 11 divers for what turned out to be one of the best non - Petani diving days of the year.Martin, Fleur, Ian, Nigel, Paul S, George,Kendall, Guy, Adam, Nick and myself. Wehad a lete start due to low tides but we were off at 9:20. The boat is a bit slow at the moment and we were heavy - too much tech gear? Never shouted Nigel and myself!

Anyway when we arrived at Blue water the Oceanic divers were already there this eased to shot throwing for the crew but made it difficult for Nigel and PaulS as they "swam" the shot line down - would of been a nice video me thinks! The Oceanic guys were all excited when they surfaced and when we dived we saw why - excellent vis on the wreck all the way down to the seabed with the wreck visible from 5m down the line. Somebody (not on our boat) put the vis at 40m - a touch optimistic I would say but could not argue with 20m+.There were lots of fish - not too many big ones but the odd bigish barracuda patrolling about. One of the best parts of the dive was the big school of bat fish just of the wreck.Excellent dive.

To steal a line from the Oceanic Facebook post "so good we did it twice" and so it was. If anything the second dive was even better with the slight current of the first dive all but being replaced by a slight surge.Martin rated the dives as 5 excellents and I would have to agree.I ended-up being a bit pissed off that my rebreather is broken awaiting a replacement O2 cell - bugger!
Martin has finally finished his Dive Leader qualification - well done Martin. Welcome back to Adam and Nick. Great to see so many people on the boat for what may be the last club dive of the year as so many will be away - will see.

Cheers

Paul

WENESDAY 17th & SUNDAY 21st NOV 10

Yes we are still diving and hope to continue as long as we can.!!!

AND WE DID TWO DIVES THIS WEEK !!!!!!!!!

SUNDAY 21st

On Sunday we only had 5 divers as Fleur was still suffering with her sinus problems. Nigel, Peter, Ian, Martin and myself with the YBOD! The conditions were dead flat but with lots of Shell boat activity including bilge water/diesel dumping that saw Peter and Nigel surface through a horrible smelly film of oil - who says Shell are environmentally friendly? It must of been them as there were no other boats around. Anyway rant over the diving was bad for me as I had a bad O2 cell on the YBOD and missed the first dive but managed a 2nd with some spare OC gear on the boat - it was very murky on the wreck but we now know where all the lion fish have gone - the Auz wreck - loads of them! Early back to the club and we were drinking tea by 2pm.

WEDNESDAY 17th

On Wednesday we had 6 divers; Paul S, Nigel, David, Ian, Kerry and me. We headed out to the USA wreck that holds new suprises as it slowly breaks up. The shot was placed in the usual place - the stern winch. The vis was not great but was enough to make navigation easy. Kerry and I planed a training deco dive so she could complete her BSAC sports diver course. Nigel found a box of spare parts on the wreck all in nearly new condition! We decided to do the 2nd dive on the Cement where the vis was again not bad - lots of fish on the wreck but no lion fish - a nice dive and Kerry completed her sports diver and also joined the club - welcome Kerry!

ICheers

Paul

SUNDAY 24th OCT 10

Well it was back to normal as 10 divers were rewarded with flat seas and a great day diving. The divers were Dave, Mas, Fleur, David, Ian, Martin, Dick, RoboCat, Pete and myself.

The tide was very low to start but the boat was loaded and we were off at hust after 8AM.

The ride out to the Australian wreck being a bit slow as the boat was full of fuel and divers and the engines are almost pointing the same way and the hull is not as clean as we would like. Anyway by 8:45 we were sending Martin and Ian down to tie the shot - The Gas boys (new very big 16 Lt tanks) were well up to the task in the poor vis and at 9AM we were tied off on the wreck. Pete and I were a middle pair so it was a gentle bumble around the wreck. The shot had been tied (expertly) on the starboard side not far from the bow, so it made for an easy bomb hole penetration and a sift around in the mud for treasure a must. It looked like the mud had been sifted before as the vis was very poor <2m ins ide the wreck. Pete the Light was easy to spot as there was a huge glow around where he was sifting but apparantly my brand new super LED light wasn't up to the job as he couldn't see me (hello dear I need a new LED super light - please my love!). We did meet up again at the shot line so all was well - an excellent dive!

Next up was the Cement and we headed off to the wreck in mirror like conditions no wind and a slight swell. On arriving at the wreck our new sonar showed a superb picture of the wreck as we first saw the front mast then the middle mast then the gantry and then the 15m bridge deck the crew had seen the gantry from the port side of the boat - the shot was lowered on to the wreck - it looked like we knew what we were doing! Pete and I had a look at the forward store at the bow, he squeezed into the store through the hole on the deck (looks like the bow area is colapsing) he came out with a triangular thingy that had a hole in it. The conditions on the wreck were excellent with areas of not so good vis followed by areas of excellent vis. A very nice part of the dive was watching the bat fish get their gills cleaned on the bridge roof. Great dive 9/10.
We were all back at the club drinking tea by 2:45 could of got a 3rd dive in..........

CNX SUNDAY 17th OCT 10

DIVE CANCELLED NO INFO

SUNDAY 22nd AUG 10

The dive that real wasn't

Having had a cold for three weeks and no diving I was determined to make this dive, even though I still had not got rid of the cold completely.

Saturday
Went to Martins to just top twin set. Compressor Broken - called Martin, confirmed no air, also martin was not going as his ankle was still not healed; but Paul was taking Boat.
No problem, I have spare air at home take 15L and decant for second dive - all is still go.

Sunday
Woke 06:30, well alarm eventually got through to my brain and I had to wake to shut it up!
Not feeling very good at all cold seems to be coming back AGAIN!! Must gargle and flush nasal passages with salt water, and blast with Fresh Air. Must Dive!!!

Drag myself out of bed and somehow found myself driving to RBYC - all is go.
On way notice I have no Fuel!!! Just before filling station (first bit of luck here) stop for fuel but now running bit late. 07:35 - SMS Paul - "I on my way - Nigel".

Get to Boat yard no divers but a dozen burly fishermen with coolers, Game Rods, all collecting gear and putting in cars - must have been out all night???

Now it is 7:40, I am waiting for the fishermen to stop blocking the ramp and get all their gear in to the cars from the platform at the start of the jetty. It looked just like the BSADC dive club after a dive!!!
But no BSADC divers or Paul - maybe it is a 09:00 start???

Still waiting for fishermen - 07:48 SMS from Paul "Not going as problem with Compressor", @#$%$#!!!! - All is NOGO!!
So it is not to be after all, shall go back to bed!

On leaving the Yacht Club, Guards ask me if there is a dive today, told them it is cancelled, they ask me to confirm it was cancelled , I confirm - I thought it strange they asked; but did not question it and left.

Got 500 yards up the road and pulled over to call Paul, see what happened. Whilst speaking to Paul; who explained that although main compressor was down (at Martins) he was using his own to fill bottles for the dive when his broken down!!! They cancelled the trip at 20:00 last night and contacted everyone they could who was listed for the dive. I was not on the list. Oh well it happens.

Whilst talking to Paul there is a knock on my window. Still with Paul on the car phone hands free speaker I open my window to see what the window knocker wants? He is a guest diver (Teoh Yew Aun), the guards have just told him the dive is cancelled (now I know why they were asking), this guest is in Brunei flown in from Malaysia to do some contract work with TelBru, had arranged the dive before he came and brought all his dive gear with him. He also stayed two extra days just to dive on the Sunday with us!!!

He also has no transport. He took the news very well I thought.

He was very disappointed and asked if I could give him a lift back to the Orchid Hotel. So we went back for his gear and then started for the Orchid.

On the way we talked about diving in Brunei and I mentioned that the only other dive facility was at the Empire but it was in and out of operation often and I did not think they were running at present. But if he was desperate, and he was, I would call the Empire and see.

Call made - they are operational but not open until 08:30.
It is 08:10.
We decide to go and see ScubaTech.
We get there - they are just opening, but we are informed that the three divers they were going to take out have been advised that there is a storm coming in and the Vis will be bad, so they cancelled.

Our Guest Teoh has a chat with them and tells them he is desperate to dive. I am looking out to sea and it looks flat, storms about in the distance dark and overcast but sea is flat. The crew advice that it is deceiving and that is will be a very large swell if we went out to the Cement Wreck, which was being discussed. I agreed that was quite possible.

Teoh asks me if I will dive, I say of course, next thing I know Scuba Tech Crew have agreed to go and we are off to the Cement and Rig Reef.

This was my first trip out with ScubaTech. I must say I was Very Surprised. The Crew Dean and Rambo were great. The Boat was a great dive boat; well set up and looking good, and made 28-30 knts all the way out to the Cement wreck. It banged a little but the sea was almost flat all the way. There was a very long swell maybe 1m on occasions in some of the larger sets but we hardly had to slow except for the occasional large swell.

There was a very large storm cell in the distance to the NE and a Small but intense Squall to the SE of us on the way out but it was not affecting our immediate area.

The dive on the cement wreck was great the Vis was actually not bad. In fact the water itself was very clear but as there was no sun light to penetrate it gave the impression of being green and gloomy but we could actually see 10-20 meters on the wreck and that included the whole wreck bow to stern and holds. We did some extensive penetration of the easier levels around the living quarters, stack area and kitchens etc. then the rear hold and finished with a good swim around the Bridge and superstructure. It was a very good dive, I would have classed it as one of the best I have had on the cement apart from the gloom did not give us much colour. Teoh took lots of Video and pictures with a Lumix in a housing he bought especially for this trip!
We surfaced were picked up very efficiently by Rambo and Dean and we were off to Rig Reef.

The storms were still around and the larger one was getting closer but still a long ways off. On the way to rig reef we did pass through some very heavy rain that, due to the boat still doing 28knts, caused me to have to face after and it still stung my ears to the point of being quite painful. The boat was covered but doing 28knts the rain just passed horizontally through the boat UNDER the awning!

We arrived at Rig Reef, having passed out of the rain and all was fairly quiet. We finished our 90 min surface interval and were back in the water again.

The Vis here was not very good about 10m on the reef where we dropped in with instructions to head north. This we did and dropped off the reef to the bottom at 20m and here the Vis was 5m maybe. By compass I lead us out and after several minutes we hit the first Jacket. Teoh took lots of Pictures and video again.

I did not recognise this jacket and it was not in visual proximity to any other, even swimming out and sweeping within visual reference of the one we were on.

Time to run a line - but which way to go? 90 degrees to the one we are on and on the side we happened to be on seemed a good call. Off we went and ………… NOTHING, sweep left and ……………….NOTHING until I hit the end of the jacket we were tied to.
Decided to stay with the one we had for a while. There was a lot of fish life about and plenty to snap and video, Teoh seemed happy doing both.

Eventually we got bored though, so I got back on the compass and we went south back to the reef that we then preceded to do a nice very slow drift dive over.

Dive Time is now 45 mins check Teohs air, he has 90 Bar, I Have ………………… 25 Bar (I am using my twin set- 22L) and I only had 108 Bar at the start of the dive (after decant) but still; he must be breathing water every other breath.

We are in 7-10m of water, now and not wanting to call an end when he has 90 Bar I continue. It is also a good check out of my weight with my new suit and will show if I will go buoyant in a low air 3m deco stop.

On we go 20 Bar…….. 15 Bar, he still is not down to 50 Bar. I am reading 15 Bar off my Digital Readout on my Dive computer I look at my analogue gauge and decide not to look at that again!

We are in 7m now - my buoyancy is spot on.

On we go, we have now done an Hour and 12 minutes, we are coming to the edge of the reef again, and the bottom is just starting to drop away from the 7m level. He still has not got down to 50 Bar!.

I am on …10 Bar digital, and quick look at the analogue, It's NOT IN the RED? ………….. It's BELOW! That's it … ENOUGH.

I signal UP, with slight emphasise, give guest a good OK signal and show him my ANALOGUE Gauge. He takes a Picture

- and we go up 2m, and do 3min safety stop whilst deploying DSMB, bouncy still great.

Stop finished - we surface right next to the boat. Another good pick up and we are off back to the Empire. We Pay for our Dives and we return to drop Guest off at the Orchid where we discussed what a good days diving we had and looked at the video and photographs whilst rehydrating.

Here endeth the record of a great days diving and the CLUB dive that was not -- but a Guest who still went away very happy.

Nigel & Teoh
DO

P.S. I will post Videos and Pictures when Teoh sends them to me.

SUNDAY 15th AUG 10

Well after a long layoff from diving with the club it was great to get back to it. We had 9 divers on the boat: Dick, Adam, Erik, Fleur, Gary (a guest from KK), George, Grayden (first time on the boat), Matthew (returning from University) and myself. Unfortunatly Nina was not feeling well so couldn't come, Martin has snapped his foots control system, Ian decided to try and see what life is like with one less finger and Dave is working out how to dive with 1 fin (anybody want to buy the other?).
The weather looked great so it was decided by Adam to head out to the Blue Water wreck - nobody complained! At the wreck site there were 2 boats with 10 divers down on the wreck - its a while since we have seen the Star divers out of Labuan, we waited about 20 mins until all their divers had returned to the boats and we shotted the wreck. Dewi from Star divers told us they were doing the Cement wreck next - with that info we dicided not to go there. First down the line to sort out the shot was Adam, Dick and Erik. When they returned they reported gloomy conditions but not too bad vis of about 10m, there were lots of bait fish about and the vis was just about enough to spot some very large barracuda on the edge of vision. I enjoyed the dive as the vis was enough to see lots of things and with my new supper dupper LED highly focused (but very cheap dear!) award winning torch, I was able to put through its paces - an excellent buy..
Second dive saw us off to the American wreck the sea was still flat but as we were heading to 1:30pm the wind had picked up a bit - but not a problem. The wreck was shotted - easy with the new fish finder. And down went our three shot experts. When they surfaced they reported excellent conditions on the wreck with very good viz - 10-15m I would say easily enough to get a good overall impression of this excellent wreck. Back on the boat we argued about awarding 8/10 or 9/10, doesn't matter really as everybody enjoyed it. We headed back to base a happy set of divers. All back and washed down by about 3:30pm not bad with a late start.
Great to be back diving.....

Cheers

Paul

SUNDAY 1st AUG 10

TBA

SUNDAY 25th JUL 10

BLUE WATER and ALMOST! Cement Wreck

We had Paul, Fluer, Ian (nitrox) Dick, Todd, Suzy, Neil, and two new guests Scot & Eric, plus myself doing my first club rebreather dive using Paul's CCR (Thanks Paul)

Martin (Boat Captain) not diving as recovering from ankle injury, left RBYC at just after 08:00 to dive the Blue Water & the Cement.
Sea had a moderately large long swell on way out but trip was uneventful until we reached the site of the Blue Water.
Here try as we might (mainly Martin, but a couple of others had a try) we could not find the wreck on the Echo Sounder that kept switching into "SIMULATOR" mode every time we got over where the wreck should be. This went on with Dick patiently manning the shot with Todd for 45 mins to an hour. In the end we Shot the site where it kept switching and sent the intrepid three (Paul, Fleur and Ian - Nitrox Team) to take a look. They did not come back up!! So we all followed.

The shot had been a little way from the wreck but by use of a line they located it and tied off.

The vis was not bad about 20m in places and there was not much current on the wreck. It was quite strong on the surface.
Neil and I had a good look around on the mouths of the holds and swam through the wreck from the mid hold entrance to the aft hold taking a quick look into the engine room access but not going in.
This was my first dive with the Club using a Rebreather (CCR) after qualifying in the Philippines in June.
It was a great way to be in the holds, no bubbles and there for an uninterrupted view made looking around so much easier and even more relaxed.

Neil and I then had a quick tour aft up and back along the top of the wreck before Neil called time and we went and untied the shot and returned to the surface.
There were a lot of Bait Fish about but not much in the way of Large Fish.
All in all quite a good dive.

Then off to the Cement wreck. Here the Echo sounder decided to switch itself off and when it did come on displayed noise most of the time with the occasional few minutes of good data just to frustrate us. Martin made another valiant effort to locate the wreck mostly blind apart from raw GPS and eventually made the call (something showed on the Echo Sounder for few seconds) and the shot was thrown. Down went the intrepid three again, and after 15 mins we approached the buoy and up came a DSMB??? We waited a few more minutes and the buoy was being dragged along and under and then all went quiet, and up pop the three. There was no wreck and the Vis was terrible below 18m it was almost zero.

Quick conflab with the team and it was decided to give up for the day, and BUY a new Echo Sounder ASAP.

Everyone felt sorry for Eric who was not able to do the Blue Water due to Qualification limits and then never got to dive the Cement Wreck either.

Well it was a day out and my first CCR with the club, but not a great day to remember other than to remind us to GET A NEW ECHO SOUNDER ASAP!!!!!

Nigel
DO

SUNDAY 26th JUN 10

If you ever wanted to experience the effects of a SPRING TIDE and what happens when the bottom falls out when there is a rapid outgoing tide, then you should have been with us on Sunday. It was textbook...
We had 8 divers and the plan was to do the Blue Water Wreck and Rig Reef.
Martin, Fleur, Ian, Guy, Suzi, John, Bruce (Panaga) and myself load the boat and 8 cans of fuel and set out in calm seas and friendly skies. The run out was slightly longer due to some concerns for slow acceleration of the boat to plane but we figured it was due to marine growth on the hulls but out in open water the speed picked-up and we arrived at the wreck at about 0940. The shot was thrown and John and Bruce were first down to tie-off. First reports from John and Bruce were that it was a beautiful dive and they were right and according to the tide charts we were approching slack tide. It really was a nice dive and the vis all the way down to the sea bed was great. I thought on the way down that you might be able to spot some dive gear that had been dropped by other divers and sure enough I found someone's tourch on the bottom just off the stern. It's still there on the stern if you want it! Also saw 3 sting rays mating and the usual assortment of other fish.
We decided to do a 2nd dive there and after our surface interval John and Bruce went in only to come back and say that they couldn't find the wreck and the vis had dropped to a couple of meters at the bottom. OK, so the shot line worked itself loose and the vis was poor so we were off to the Cement Wreck. Arriving there the Empire had their boat tied-off so we lost some time waiting to see what they were up to and by now (according to the chart) the tides were about to move and move they did. Martin carried the shot down the permanent buoy line and we tied-off to our stronger line. The vis at 20 meters depth was OK but there was a current building so we hung out in the stern area hiding from the current when we could. More and more of the wreck is falling so enter at your own risk.
Coming back up the shot line you could feel the strength of the current and at the ladder once I had freed myself and the props from a DSMB line that someone deployed I struggled to get into the boat. The clouds were building up and the sea was getting choppy so it was time to get back to the yacht club and beat the low tide. The moral of the story: read the tide charts and beware of Spring Tides.

Dick

SUNDAY 2nd MAY 10

What do 75 n Miles, ½ ton of fuel, 11 divers and the Petani Mistral make?
They make for the best days diving of the year so far - by far!

We had Dave, Nick, Adam, Ian, Martin, Dave, Guy, Ian, Simon, Fleur and me, on the 1 hour 45 min trip to the Petani Mistral. The vessel sits in 47m of water beyond the Champion oil field and close to the Iron Duke field. We located the wreck easily enough but messed about trying to find the bow section - we found out later that what we thought was the bow turned out to be the crane at the rear of the wreck - not ideal as it meant dropping to 38m or so before ascending up the bow only to drop down again to return to the shot - never mind, must try harder next time - mental note - the GPS co-ords we have seem to be the stern! We had the first divers down at 10:45, we gave them 15mins to tie off the shot with a jump line - if needed and then staggered the rest of the divers, Fleur and I being the last to go. I was confused when we got down to the wreck as I could only see the crane covered in nets and so many fish, huge snapper - some of the biggest I have ever seen, clouds of all sorts of other fish - to many to name. Then the fish parted slightly to reveal - a stunning wreck. The visibility was hard to assess as the fish kept getting in the way but blue and great are words that come to mind. We did a tour of the wreck trying to get back on the plan and almost managed it. (Marks?) binnacle is still there - it will require a very large lift bag to retrieve it but it would be fun to try. All to soon we were back at the crane untying the jump line and heading back up the line - 4 excellents on Martins scale! As for the second dive on the Cement wreck vis 1-2m but we did see a turtle swimming past - honest! All back at the club by 5PM - an amazing day!

Cheers

Paul

LOTS OF MISSING DIVES HERE ???

SUNDAY 28th FEB 10

We had 12 ,count em, 12 divers turned up for the dive on Sunday with the planned sites being the Blue Water and Cement Wreck. The tide was low at 0800 so we delayed the departure time til 0900. The boat was fueled and a new battery installed and we were off at about 0920. So far , so good. Somewhere between the jetty and the cut the right engine started acting up and Martin went right to work troubleshooting and fixing the fuel line problem. We arrived on scene at the Blue Water at around 1040 and there was another group of divers already there with divers in the water. Not exactly sure where they were anchored but they appeared to be off the wreck and had divers bubbles well away from their boat. Anyway they soon left and we went to work. The shot was thrown and Matt, Ian W and I went over the side to tie-off. The shot landed just along side the wreck so we hauled it up and tied-off at about 24 meters. The vis was not great but not bad so we drifted toward the bow and soon a large school of jacks came to us and made the famous Sipadan circle. We haven't seen this many jacks on this wreck for quite some time and it was nice to just sit stationary and watch them. A cobia swam in underneath the group and this was only the second time I have seen this fish on the wrecks.
The next dive site was the Cement and I'll leave that for someone else to talk about at the meeting tonight.
Thanks to Ian Dixon's son, Jack, for working hard to clean the bottom of the boat and to all who showed up and helped out on the boat.

PS. It's March and we all know what that means! Whale Shack season is officially here and it looks like we have some favorable tides for the next few weeks. Maybe we'll get lucky so try to join us each Sunday.

REGARDS,
DICK

Susana had joined us for the day and her first dive in Brunei (and for some time) so she missed the Blue Water and and waited for the Cement Wreck.

I accompanied her and she got settled quite quickly on the top of the wheelhouse and then we moved off for a quick tour aft and back around the wheel house. The Vis was not very good at all by normal Cement Wreck standards but it was ok around the wheel house. Susana was now happy enough to do a quick penitration through the canteen and out into the enguine room /stack service area and up out of the top, and had no problems at all.

We then moved forward to take a dip into the first cargo hold but vis reduced quickly and as we passed into the hold itself it became "PEA SOUP" I called it off and we returned to look around the top of the wheel house until Susana called time on her air and we began our ascent.

Not a great dive by Normal Cement Wreck dives but I think Susana thought it was Great.
Nigel DO

MONDAY 15th FEB 10 (yes a Monday for a Change & as it was a holiday)

Dear All
We started out with 10 but with various reasons we dropped down to 6; Adam, Peter, Dick, Hazel, Nick and me. A very low tide and a flat battery conspired to delay the start of our dives but we were away at about 8:40. The sea was very flat (again!) and we were soon at the Australian wreck. We shotted and it turns out that the positioning was not up to our usual high standard, however, being a distance from the stern allowed Adam and Peter to find a dive camera on the bottom - 13M pixel Sony! (and it still works - and no Brigitte, Peter says its not yours!). The viz was not great and the water was a very chilly 24/25C but I enjoyed the dive. The wreck is breaking up at the bomb hole end with more of the deck plating falling away- good and bad....
The second dive was the American and again it was cold - not surprising really as its only 1/2 mile from the Auz. Poor vis but again not enough to spoil the dive. By the time Nick and I had untied the shot-line and surfaced I was really cold, topside the wind had picked up and the option of a 3rd dive on Pete's thingy was declined. We were back at the club at 3:30pm. A great day but a new battery is needed, I may have a spare one kicking about at home.........
Cheers

Paul

SUNDAY 7th FEB 10

We had 12 divers and our 2 Penan friends. The divers were; Martin, Adam, Dick, Fleur, Brigitte, Paul, Anthony, Ann, Guy, Ian, Stuart and Myself. A great turnout, the plan was to dive the American and the Cement. The sea was flat with a slight swell from the North, but we were soon shotting the wreck, even with the sonar on the blink we managed to get it to talk to us for long enough to get a nice contact to confirm location. Martin and Adam were down the line to tie us off. Stuart and I were last to do the untie. The water was "bloody cold" at 25C refreshing even, however, the cold brought out the fish as we were treated to large schools of yellow tail and diamond tail (?) barracuda. The visibility was not great but was good enough to make navigation easy. After 25 mins we were both getting cold note to self maybe a 3mm wet suit is not so wimpish after all!! Great dive. Next we were off to the Cement wreck. It was shotted at about the middle mast (weird perhaps the wreck has moved about 20m), still it made for a different dive having to head back down to deck level to return to the shot. Again the water was very cold, but the fish life on the wreck seem to love it, again lots. It seems more of the wreck has collapsed with the starboard bridge area (bat fish cleaning station of late) loosing some of the floor plating, the port side has collapsed altogether. Again a very nice dive. We were all back at the club and washed down by 2:10PM another excellent dive day.

Cheers
Paul
PS don't forget the AGM on Tuesday (RBYC poolside 7PM). You will have to pay your subs ($120)

SUNDAY 24th JAN 10

We had 2 pretty good dives today on the not so blue Blue Water Wreck and everyone's favorite, the Cement Wreck.
Thanks to Paul for refueling the boat and arranging the transportation to the Yacht Club for our 2 guest divers.
Also to Nigel for getting the boat put away.
Paul will have a more detailed report later.
REGARDS,
DICK

Dear All
We had 8 divers for the trip; Dick, Cat, Nigel, Brigitte, Don, Alistair and Phil from Kiwi land and myself. The plan was Blue Water and Cement or something like that. The sea was flatish and even glassy the further out we got, there was a slight swell from the NE but hey, this is the end of January! When we arrived at the Blue Water there were the usual local fishermen marking the spot for us. The wreck was shotted and the Nitrox crew of Nigel, Brigitte and Don were down the line smartish to tie off. We were rewarded with an excellent dive, the visibility improved the deeper we got and on the sandy bottom vis was superb. I showed our two Kiwi guests around. We didn't nee to do much to impress them as they had dived with the Empire the day before and were rewarded with 3m vis on an un-named reef! We had an excellent dive, the current round the stern was very strong, but there was not much sign of this on the surface weird!
Second up was the Cement again we popped the shot to perfection rumour has it that it ended up round the gantry not from Nigel's work in the water but from Dicks tricky spin throw! Again we were treated to an excellent dive with lots of fish, the tuner were zooming in at the bait fish at one point always great to watch. Kermit the green frog fish was spotted by most divers, but not me and the Kiwis as a certain person, who shall remain nameless, thought she would see how they swam and gave it a push!! An easy trip back to the club saw us drinking tea at 3pm with the Panaga divers well on their way down the road of death! An excellent day

Cheers

Paul

NO DIVE SUNDAY 17th JAN 10

NO DIVE DUE WEATHER

SUNDAY 10th JAN 10

The first stop was the Australian Wreck. It was an OK dive but without much sunlight getting through the vis was just so so. After the dive we motored over to the American Wreck, threw the shot and had lunch waiting for the surface interval to wind down. By now the sun was out and the sea calm and looking down the shot line the vis had improved, at least on the surface. All I can say going down the shot line was "Wow". At 18 meters you could look down and see the entire wreck and the sea bed around it. It was wonderful! We get these conditions only a few times a year and we hit it just right on Sunday. This was Ian and Ann's first time diving this wreck and what a day to get the "big picture". On the way back to Serasa we stopped at a new wreck sight in shallow water not far from shore but Paul will have to tell you about it...

On the way back from the Cement wreck last week (report later - honest!) Pete pulled out a chart and said "lets have a look at this, a chart marked obstruction left off the end of the cut (on the way out), so we went and had a look at "Pete's thingy" and found something sticking up 6m or so from the sea bed at 12m. We shotted it and sent Pete and Nigel down with instructions to go left at the bottom of the shot - it must of been narcosis as the massive 14m depths pressed on our intrepid pairs brains as they went right and didn't locate "Pete's thingy" - never mind we will have a look again. So we did this week and it turns out to be a very interesting wreck/barge thingy. The vis on top at 6m was excellent. Pete and I did the tour going through the 2 levels and finding things like batteries etc. Deeper down the vis was poor in the surging swell, but the thingy is large. It has been down there a long time. If anybody out there knows anything about the t hingy - please let us know.

Cheers

Paul
PS the AGM will be 9th Feb at Serasa pool side.

SUNDAY 3rd JAN 10

Earliest Dive in the New Year for a long Time

Better late than never!
We had Adam, Nina, Louise, Ian, Paul, Nigel, Peter and Martin, turn up for the first dive of a new decade! The NE has stayed away so far and the lean green committee decided that with global warming and shark finning we should keep the dive boat in the water as long as possible so we can enjoy as much diving as possible - really its to extract as much money from you lot as we can to pay for the engines when our friends at the Mercury dealership ask for final payment in March!

The weather was great, flat seas and sunshine. Nina and her Instructor, Louise wanted to do a dive on the Cement and so as to let Nina do two dives and not one, we caring sharing divers elected to do two dives on same. Because of the very low tide, we set off at about 10:20 just after I thought I would show people how to leave the jetty as fast as possible in the event of a fire! The trip to the Cement was uneventful and quiet as Nick was not with us being in KK for his trip to the dark side. We shotted the wreck and were rewarded with the sight of the gantry from the surface - very rare! Martin and Peter, the ace shott tiers were off like a very very slow rat up a drain pipe - well Martin was, Pete was chomping at the strap on his rather fine Wallace and Grommet designed techie torch helmet, trying to gee Martin up! When they surfaced they reported good vis but not as good as the surface vis had promised. Nigel and I decided to do a tour of the wreck via the cargo hold - nic e dive it was too. Nina qualified as a Junior Advanced Open water diver and as we didn't go to a nearby island she was not able to buy us all the usual valedictory offering! Congrats go to Nina who is now able to keep her Dad out of trouble. The second dive was excellent once Nigel and I were reunited after going our separate ways round the 3rd and 2nd levels down the engine room steps (my fault - Nigel gave me the slip). There were lots of bait fish and the bigger fish were laying into them which was great to watch. The temperature was a cold 25'C at depth rising to 28'C nearer the surface.

Lets hope we can dive over the next few weeks as its approaching whale-shark season....

Cheers

Paul

PS don't ask me to explain what Nigel does to puffer fish it still makes me laugh too much...

SUNDAY 29th Nov 09

What a difference a week makes!
Seven divers turned up for what they hoped was going to be a better day than last week. Well the sea was about the same with very little swell, it was almost glassy, a dolphin spotting day we didn't see any though. We headed off on plan A to the Blue Water, the trip being about 50 mins. The wreck was shotted and Martin and Adam did the honours. The almost group of Peter, Paul and Nick waited to last to do the untie if they stayed togetherMartin surfaced and promptly graded the dive 6 excellents very rare! And so it turned out the whole wreck being visible from almost the surface, I think Martin is getting a little picky and underestimated his marks! We did a tour of the wreck having a look in the holds, I spotted BBQ fish to die for in the stern hold, they all disappeared when I went in to look further, Nick made a video (post it on the facebook group please). The view to the surface from the propeller (which we need to raise - it will easily pay for the engines!) was stunning, the dive boat being so clear you felt you could almost touch it. We had no problems with the untie and nobody went into deco. An excellent dive 9/10 from me as it could have been bluer!!
The second dive was the Cement, again no problems with the shott its starting to look like we know what we are doing. Another great classic dive on the Cement with a tour of the hold going along the port side and across the bulkhead to the starboard side where a glance at the computer told me it was time to get shallower if we wanted anything longer than a 15min dive don't you just hate air on days like this?? Great dives.
A smooth trip back to the club with a few minutes searching for Barry's lost mooring with the sonar, which we didn't find but we found another one, still it gives us something to do on Monday afternoon. Anybody up for a zero vis search for a mooring in 6M of water let me know.

PS Don't tell Dick about thishe is cleaning off his snowboard.

SUNDAY 1st Nov 09

Leaving Serasa just before 9 am 6 divers headed out for a planned dive on the Australian and American wrecks. The sea was calm and the sky overcast with some towering cumulus clouds on the horizon. The shot was thrown and Martin and Andrea went down to tie-off. About 10 minutes later we secured the boat to the down line then Andrea and Ian took the plunge. From the surface down to 5-10 meters the vis looked to be rather good and when Martin came up he reported that the vis on the wreck was great. Before Ian (the other Ian) and I went down we deciced to do 2 dives on this wreck since we knew what we had here and not chance the move over to the American for the second dive. Was a good choice as we had 15-20 meters vis on the wreck with no current or surge. We did the outside tour saving the inside for the second dive. It was a nice relaxing dive with just enough fish of various types.....

REGARDS,
DICK

SUNDAY 25th OCT 09

Along with the usual faces it was nice to see a few new ones on the boat on the trip to the Cement wreck. The sea was nice and flat and the weather was kind, its a pity the vis didn't live up to the excellent surface vis we saw when we watched the shot line all the way down. Anyway Fleur (did I tell you she has now crossed to the dark side?) and Dick did the business with the shot. I dived with Dave, it has been a while since I dived the YBOD and as such I was glad that nobody saw me trying to remember the vagaries of buoyancy control on a CCR! The vis on the wreck wasn't great but it was good enough to enable us to have an interesting dive to the bow. On the way back we spotted a nice yellow leaf fish and a beautiful green frog fish half asleep. We left the shot as it had been decided to do a second dive.
The second dive called for a cunning plan! Dave and I hatched one and zoomed down to the cargo hold (28m) and worked our way to the bow along the bottom of the hold - interesting as it feels like you are inside but all the time the inner area is open so not a technical penetration. By the time we got to that bow I was remembering what I love about the CCR as Dave pointed out he had 10mins to deco, I had 35mins, by the time we got to the bridge roof (15m) he had 13mins and I had 300mins!! Excellent second dive with yet another frog fish spotted near where the funnel used to be. We undid the shot line on the way up, got sorted on the boat, there were mumblings about the Isle of K but it didn't come to anything. We got back to the club at about 2PM after surviving a big rain storm - massive amounts of Tea were consumed at the club as nobody had anything else!! Great day.

Cheers
Paul

SUNDAY 10th OCT 09

It all started out OK with an overcast sky and calmer seas then things seemed to go South rather quickly after we arrived at the first dive site, the Australian Wreck. The shot was thrown and Simon from the UK and I were going to tie-off. As Paul approached te shotline buoy to drop us off Simon went in too soon and was several meters from the line. Thinking that the current was non existant or light enough that we could swim to the buoy I went overboard only to find that the current was just strong enough that Simon was getting further away from me and going under water to swim was just as bad as you couldn't see the line, the other diver or the buoy. The rest of the details I'd rather not talk about but the upshot was that Paul wanted to re-throw the shot so two tired diver were recovered ready for the next attempt. The shot was placed and Simon (a little low on air) and I again went in with much better results. The shot was resting on the rail of the
wreck so it was just a matter of tying-off on a beam and start the dive. We stayed inside the wreck at about 28 meters to conserve air and it was actually pretty nice inside with schools of jacks darting around. At some point Simon gave me the 100 bar remaining sign and we started to make the turn back towards the line in no real rush. Shortly after he gave me the low on air signal so I picked up the pace and came up a few meters to reduce air consumption keeping the wreck in sight. For some reason he stayed low and at this point it probably wouldn't have mattered as when we arrived at the shot line he gave me the out of air signal. I looked at his gage and saw a big zero. What could I do? I gave him my second stage and went on octopus and started up. He was very buoyant so I had to hold the surging line to control the ascent. On the way up we were passed by 2 or 3 of the GUEST divers on their way down. I would have been nice if someone had stopped to
see if 2 divers air-sharing needed assistance but never mind we had it under control. Boy, that was fun! First time in all these years of diving that this happened to me. I guess you can teach "Old Dogs" new tricks. I think Richard Hills would agree to this and probably give me a hard time. Also to add to the drama was that the guest divers liked to seperate from their buddies and come up on their own; some on the shot-line others not.
Things would be better on the next dive and they were. Simon and I went down to tie-off and the shot was right next to the stern section so all I had to do was haul it up from the sea bed and tie-off. Piece of cake so far. The vis wasn't too bad but if you are familiar with the wreck then you really don't have to be too concerned which is one of the advantages of multiple dives on our wrecks. We came back to the boat then it was a waiting game for the guests. One or two came up at different times and a couple more were hanging on the line doing deco stops. Great, that's all we needed.... I only hope the Sunday dive goes as smoothly as ours.

REGARDS,
DICK

SUNDAY 27th SEP 09

We had a plan to deal with the tide conditions that day and for the most part it all came together. WE planned to depart Serasa after 9 and our ATD was 0920 but what we didn't plan on but was in the forcast was the 2+ meter swells that stayed with us all the way out to the Blue Water Wreck.
We had 9 divers onboard with full tanks of fuel. That's right; on Saturday Matt and I brought down several cans of fuel so that on Sunday, with a little the help from our friends, we were able to top off the tanks so that later on this week when we top them off again, we will be able to get a more accurate fuel burn figure under these extreme sea conditions.
It was an hour and 10 minute voyage out in a rolling swell of 2 meters and Simon did the honors of guiding us up to the dive site and the shot was thrown. Oriel and I went down first to tie-off and it was so much better once you got into the water and decended a few meters. The was no current on the way down and the shadow of the wreck came into view at about 15 meters. The shot was along side the wreck so we just moved the line over and hauled the weight up and tied-off at about 24 meters. The vis wasn't crystal clear but not bad and there was just a slight current along the wreck to give a nice drift back. Getting back on the boat in these choppy sea conditions is always a concern but everyone handled themselves well.
We then proceeded to the Cement Wreck and tied-off to the marker buoy. However with the strong wind and swell we decided to send down our shot line as a safety measure in case the buoy line snapped. Nick volunteered to do something with the weighted end of the shot: I think he wanted to attach it to the line and let it guide itself down but while he had the weight and chain in his hands he disappeared from view then came bobbing back to the surface. He did this a couple of times and by then Matt was laughing out of control. Nick reminded me of one of the stunts on breaking the Magician's Code".................................................
As luck would have it the buoy line did snap and we were saved by the backup line. Drifting around and having to recover divers under these sea conditions would not have been fun.
The vis was not good on the Cement Wreck and Oriel had a low tank to start with so our dive was short. Others that went inside found better vis and were protected from the surge. The condition of the wreck is getting worse so use caution when going inside.
Better tide conditions next week so we shall put out an email sign-up later this week.

REGARDS,
DICK

no dive SUNDAY 13th SEP 09

Due to very poor tides we wouldnot have been able to put boat back onbmooring until 19:00, so it was cancelled. Vis as would have been bad.

SUNDAY 6th SEP 09

Dear All
Well done to Matthew and Martin for successfully completing their Dive Leader scenarios. Matthew has now gained his DL qualification and Martin only requires one more dive to complete his. A few issues were raised in the process. As a BSAC club we differ in many ways to a PADI dive operation, the obvious one is that non of us get paid for what we do, another is that we are the dive operation! As such we provide any rescue support needed by any of our divers, it is therefore in our own interests to improve the club's abilities as a whole and our own skills in particular in this area. I think it would be useful to run the scenarios more often to sharpen up our skills in this area. Thanks to everyone for taking part in the exercise yesterday.
The dive - well what to say, vis was poor, sea was rough, some divers had fun - they said!

Regards
Paul

The Dive - well the first stop as planned was the Bolkiah Wreck. First group went in and second waited for them to surface and conduct the first scenario.When the first group came out the vis was reported to be some of the worse seen on the Bolkiah. 1-2 m though there were a lot of fish about, when you could see them.

Quick discussion with the second group decide to abandon the Bolkiah and move on to the second site hoping for better Vis. The second site planned was the American but as the vis was unlikely to be any better there and the cement wreck was going to be to far (Paul need to get back and the first scenario had eaten into time a bit) we decided to try Rig Reef.

Those that wanted to dive went in and found much the same as the first dive. Vis was 1 to 3m not much else to say some came back quickly and some were determined to log a dive.

That Included Myself buddied with Matthew (just made DL after first scenario). It was my first dive with the club since 5 November last year when I had my shoulder Operation (I did dive for two weeks in Philippines with Paul in April but broke my thumb/wrist on the last day) and so this was my first 2009 Club Brunei dive.

Matthew did a Great Job of Navigating in the very low vis and with only one dive previously in this site Lead the Dive and covered quite some area. After such a demonstration I am now thinking of buying another Compass (perhaps they do work after all). Matthew and I saw very little Rig legs in close proximity lots of NETS!! on the legs (must remove those another day) and Matthew included a sweep of the small Reef wall were vis was about 3m there was very little fish life but there was a very large sideways swell about 6m side to side with about a 3sec cycle, it was then back to the legs one last circuit of the one we were tied off to and then Matthew asked and we called it off short. 18.1m 33 minutes.

But I got wet (and I did not get lost ;-) Thank you Matthew.

PS Also got to drive the Boat with the "New Engines" out and Back (Back was fun - Large following Sea). This was the first time I have handled the Boat in a long time ( in fact portably since the day I hit both the old engines on the rocks back in ???). It was great to get back behind the helm and the new engines are a great improvement, we even have steering again. I did try a repeat performance when I cut inside the outer mark instead of going round it and was admonished probabley for it!!! and we still have two good props.

Nigel
DO

SUNDAY 30th AUG 09

TBA waiting report

SUNDAY 23rd AUG 09

Well we had 9 divers for the first trip out with the new engines. Nick arrived with 6 cans of unleaded fuel thus showing 2 things 1)he didn't want to dive the Auz and USA wrecks again and 2)he is a good chap backing his verbals with action! We are going to need more people to bring tanks of fuel as we cannot get unleaded up the river - many thanks Nick. The crew list was aas follows; Nick, Dick, Simon Pong, Simon Empire(?), Matt (Manchester University!), Paul, David, Adam (767) and Guy, unfortunatly we had no ladies this week, it was a mans trip and we talked about man things like engines! Whilst I have moved the report round to engines I might as well mention that they are now run in as far as the oil is concerned, we have another 2 hours of running where we don't go full throttle for more than a few mins. I will give you some of the details. Revs - 4000 speed 20-22knts (60L/hr each engine) Revs 5700 speed 29-30knts (120L/hr each engine - phew thats 10 cans per hour!! good job we don't plan doing that speed much, but at least we now can).
The dives, well the Blue Water was fantastic with clear viz and loads of fish, but the sea was a bit lumpy and there was bad weather about so we headed for the cement for the 2nd dive. The viz was not great with loads of "sea snot" to use a Panaga divers term but the dive was nice and Matt completed another couple of the skills for his dive leader. A great day out on a vastly improved dive boat - lets do the Pertani soon.

Cheers

Paul

SUNDAY 16thAUG 09

TBA no report yet??

Dear All
Sorry about this notification being so late! We are diving the Auz and Cement tomorrow if you would like to come please contact Martin or me.

Regards

Paul

SUNDAY 9thAUG 09

Dear All
8 divers braved the Haze to dive on the Australian and The American wreck; Dick, Nick, Peter, Fleur, Andrea, Martin, Matt and Paul. The weather was good (apart from the smoke!). The participants of the Britex exhibition we very much in evidence. We saw about 8 warships and thinking of expanding the wrecks on offer for divers in Brunei all hope the ensuing war games will result in at least 1 new wreck - we even have a plan about where to put it!
The sea had a slight swell but was fine and very welcome after the bad weather of the last couple of weeks. Well what to say about the dives, we had nobody returning to the boat having done unplanned deco or with less than 50bar left in their tanks, so I suppose we should all be grateful! The Australian wreck was not bad, we were in our shotting perfection mode sending the shot right into the engine room. Matt spotted 2 excellent frog fish and as I dived my yellow box of debt for the first time I was able to get within 8 inches of them without them getting all frightened of the noise and bubbles! Nothing else to report on that wreck I was just pleased to of got down to 28m and back to the surface after doing 35mins (my buddy only had a thin Nitrox mix of 24%) with 50bar of O2 and 20bar of air used out of my two 3 ltr tanks!
On to the USA wreck, again shotted to perfection with the shot landing on the stern section. The current was a bit stronger but the vis was not bad. Matt and I did the usual dive, a tour of the wreck but didn't get out to the mast as the current was a bit strong. Great to be out diving with the club again, the usual banter on the boat adding to an excellent day. All back at the club at 1:30 allowing me heaps of time to wash the yellow box and put it back to bed for a while.

Cheers

Paul

CNX SUNDAY 2nd AUG 09

NO DIVE

Sorry about late email but MISSION CONTROL has made the decision to cancel the dive for tomorrow.
The sea has been very choppy for two days and Paul thinks that the conditions will continue throughout tomorrow so there's no sense punishing ourselves and the boat.
Thanks everyone for signing-up and we'll see what next week brings......

REGARDS,
DICK

SUNDAY 26th JULY 09

Another days great diving on Downunder II. Downunder III (Ed)

Two dives, one to "Rig Reef" a decommissioned Oil Rig that has been strategically cut into sections and laid on its side to allow for coral and fish colonisation over time; and the second to Bolkiah Wreck, a wreck which was deliberately sunk by the Brunei Royal Navy as it wasn't allowed to be sold for scrap.

There were 10 adults and 3 children on board which made for a lighthearted days diving.

Weather stayed fit for diving with a very slight swell and current on the first dive and a larger swell on the second, current similar for both. Winds picked up during the day, a norm in the South China Sea and by two o clock the winds and chop of the waves caused the boat to labour back to the cut.

The first dive to Rig Reef was shotted and tied off on one of the superstructures. Unfortunately, in the process of removal four large pristine specimens of soft coral branches were knocked off in the process of untying and due to depth, tarzan-ing the shot seems to bulldoze the sandy benthos. It seemed a relief when the shot got snagged on a table coral and caused no more carnage.

Less damage could be made by anchoring on the sand to the west of the structure, or alternatively to consider a project of creating mooring points which can be conveniently snorkelled down to and tied off using a clip karabiner system.

Why oh why do we still do things the way that we do, just because it's the way that we've been doing things for so long now…?

All of the divers had a pleasant first dive with lots of macro and muck type critters availing themselves to the camera. Lots and lots to see, this location never fails to amaze me for different types of organisms in such a compact location.

Visibility seemed usual with no more than 12 metres or so, and impeded by sand silting from current flow across the shallower corals from the South East.

Maximum depth was 20 metres and going by first principles the second dive at Bolkiah wreck was planned to this depth.

The Bolkiah lying not far from Rig Reef took some time to find even with 3 GPS's, although eventually after 15 minutes tying off time, she was more conveniently shotted amidships and this time untying only destroyed some smaller tufts of branching hard corals in the process.

The Bolkiah wreck seems to be an outstanding wreck for newly qualified divers, the top of which is just the right depth and swathed in a mass of juvenile fish of all kinds. Flashes of glass fish, batfish in the heavens, swirls of juvenile barracuda, rabbit fish, fusiliers, funnels full of damsels…all plenty of scope for a divers delight!

Unfortunately on a more grounding note, safety, which is paramount in diving, even more-so than rock climbing or skiing, seemed to be overlooked on some on these dives.

Rules of the Club:

• Don't Drink and Dive.
• Decompression Diving is to be avoided.
• Arrive on deck with 50 Bar.
• Dive within the stated depth of the dive brief.

All divers on the second dive failed to adhere to the brief's stated depth.

This amongst other factors, caused one person to overstay their welcome too long, accrue deco and as such had to be assisted using another person's air as bailout: a situation which could have been fatal. Remember your buddy is not your redundancy, monitor your air first and your camera second.

As we say in UK, that's a few crisp cracklies for the Lifeboat fund, maybe we should start a Project Aware fund!

Safe and happy diving!

Nick Coburn Phillips

BDSAC (BSADC [Ed]) Environmental Officer
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer

I missed this trip unfortunatley. I will be interested to hear more about it.

Nigel Goring
Diving Officer

SUNDAY 19th JULY 09

WEDNESDAY 15th JULY 09

We had 5 divers show-up for a Sultan's Birthday Dive and just after 8 am we were under way for the trip out to the Australian Wreck. The sea state was much better than on Sunday and we arrived on schedule and threw the shot line. Martin, Cat and I went in first and with Martin dropping like a rock he was on the wreck and had the shot secured before Cat and I landed.
I actually wanted to do an underwater video of the other divers entering the water but when I rolled in and leveled off at about 2 meters the vis was so poor that I had to come back to the surface to reorient myself and find the boat and the other divers. So much for that idea. It was gloomy going down the shot, gloomy on the wreck and gloomy coming back up.
Next stop was the American Wreck. Little better vis going down and with Cat's ears acting up Martin again went mach 1 and had the shot all tie-off by the time we got there. It was a good dive and we all seemed to enjoy it.
The vis was OK and there was a little current on the wreck to make it interesting.
With storm clouds building we beat feet back to Serasa and had to delay our docking until a squall passed. And that was our day................

There may be a dive on Sunday so if interested it would be best for you to contact Martin directly..................................................

And when are the new engines going to be installed, you ask? SOON!

REGARDS,
DICK

SUNDAY 12th JULY 09

The weather forecast didn't look the greatest but we had 11 divers showup and just after 8 am we were off to the first dive site, the American Wreck. Nick wanted to cut away the fish nets that were hanging from the stern so that was the plan. We threw the shot line and the first 2 divers, Martin and Andrea, went down to tie off and start the cutting process. Sometime later (much later) the next group went over the side with Nick over-weighted and carrying 2 kiddie floatation devices to attach to the nets to help move them away from the wreck once cut free. Adam went down dragging a line attached to the boat and this was to haul the netting up to be taken back to land for dispossal. So far the plan was working flawlessly.....
Since Cat and I were the last to go I'm not really sure exactally what happened down there so I'll leave that for Nick to report on later.
The dive was very good. This would have been a good dive to get familiar with the layout of the wreck and see all the features. Very good vis and clarity and I would estimate 15 to 20 meters. I didn't see any nets! It was going to be up to us to decide whether to untie or do a second dive on the wreck and right up to the time to start the assent I thought of staying to make the second dive. However I had a change of heart at the last minute and quickly untied and with Cat's help moved the shot away from the wreck and started up. Not sure if this was a good or bad decision as the next wreck was the Cement and it was bad. The sea state picked up with a long rolling swell and several of the divers got green behind the gills and fed the fish...... Getting up the bouncing boarding ladder was a bit of a ordeal as it is in these kinds of conditions but no one got hurt and that's the important thing.

We still have quite a bit of fuel left in the tanks to use up so today Martin will check with the Mercury people about their schedule for installing the new engines and IF for some reason they can't complete the installation as promised then we are thinking of doing a Sultan's Birthday dive on Wednesday to burn off more fuel. We will know more Tuesday evening so if interested let me know.

REGARDS,
DICK

SUNDAY 5th JULY 09

No Dive due steering problem

SUNDAY 24th MAY 09

Remember when the Blue Water Wreck was so clear and blue that you could see the entire wreck from just below the surface? Well today we had that and it was one of the best dives of the year, or any year. Really pretty with lots of fish.
Then it was over to the Australian Wreck and we were back to poor vis and a strong current. Cat and I went first to tie off the shot and we tried to follow the line down but it was strung out at about a 30 degree angle due to the strong current and all we could do was fin like crazy to keep the line in sight while descending only a few meters every minute. After about 8 minutes of fighting it and at 20 meters depth we decided to wave the white flag and abandon the dive. After our failure it was decided to send the A Team (Peter and David) down and they got the job done. I guess more will be said on Tuesday evening.

Oh yes, Nick completed Mike's Advanced Open Water so congratulations to Mike.

Dick

SUNDAY 17th MAY 09