A trip to the Red Sea has not only become a K&E annual event but is often the highlight of the dive season, and this year was no exception. However, for some it wasn’t the diving that the holiday will be remembered for – more of that later…We flew into Marsa Alam on 10th June and headed for our floating hotel, Miss Nouran. Being a liveaboard virgin I, perhaps naively, expected a sophisticated harbour and easy access to the boat. Instead the coach dropped us at the water’s edge in the middle of nowhere, surrounded only by rubbish and half a dozen Egyptian children eager to earn some tips. I immediately spotted a problem: there was no jetty to our boat. My question of how we were going to get ourselves and our luggage on board was soon answered as 2 RIBs appeared. I also now understood how the Egyptian kids were planning on earning some small change! Our luggage was loaded onto the RIBS and, despite being precariously balanced, was transported without incident. It was then our turn and again we were successfully delivered to the boat with nothing worse than wet feet.

Whilst many of the experienced liveaboard divers commented that the boat was smaller than they were used to I was immediately impressed, especially by the size of the cabins and bathrooms. There must also have been almost as many crew as there were guests – I certainly have no complaints about the way we were looked after.

After a greeting from our dive guides, Hanny and Ahmed, we unpacked and settled down for a very welcome evening meal. It was then early to bed, excited about the diving ahead.

The next morning we started with a check dive direct from the boat. What should have been a very simply and enjoyable experience resulted in the first, but unfortunately not the last, incident of the week. I deployed my DSMB at the end of the dive but it got tangled and I didn’t let go of it quick enough, making a rapid ascent from 15 metres. My buddy, Kevan Tulip, surfaced safely (and slowly!) and after I’d spent half an hour on oxygen as a precaution fortunately there were no ill effects.

The second dive was from the RIB and was excellent – it’s what Red Sea diving is all about: perfect visibility, beautiful corals and an abundance of stunning life including blue spotted rays, puffer and surgeon fish and a massive moray eel.

Unfortunately though, soon after surfacing Cynthia Doherty felt dizzy and was sick. Her symptoms worsened during the evening and oxygen was administered for the second time that day. On the advice of a hyperbaric doctor, she was monitored until the morning when the boat did a detour back to port to a waiting ambulance. Julie Ansell left the boat with Cynthia and one of our dive guides, Hanny.

Conscious that there were other guests on board not from K&E, diving continued at some local sites until it was confirmed that Cynthia and Julie wouldn’t be rejoining us. Fortunately Cynthia was OK but suffering from hyperbaric inner ear trauma (possibly caused by reverse profile diving) and after spending 4 hours in the pot she and Julie headed to the hotel to spend the rest of their week. Hanny, our guide, boarded the boat again and we headed off to St Johns in the Deep South, our main destination.

I guess if there’s going to be any incidents, it’s better to get them over and done with at the beginning of the holiday and the next, and fortunately the last occurrence, was bad air fills. Cylinders drained, filters changed, and tanks refilled, the diving recommenced. All we had to contend with now was the oceanic white tip sharks!

I won’t talk about every dive individually but they were all reef or wall dives with a couple of small wrecks thrown in – a sunken liveaboard and a small yacht.

The highlights for me included the Shaab Claudia, the Small Abu Galu, and St John’s Caves where we were guided through wonderful coral gardens and inlets. We were entertained by enormous Napoleon wrasse, moray eels the size of elephants’ trunks, shoals of tuna, jacks and huge barracuda. The beautiful blue spotted rays were seen on many of the dives and those with good eyesight saw nudibranc and octopus. We were surrounded by lion, parrot, surgeon, clown and puffer fish, and so much more stunning and colourful life. We experienced many different hard and soft corals and a brain coral city.

We also did several night dives, which for the novices amongst you aren’t nearly as scary as they sound. In fact I can’t recommend them enough but make sure your torch doesn’t go out the moment you start descending, like mine did. A pretty hard wallop fortunately did the job and I spent the rest of the time trying not to blind my fellow divers!

Perhaps one of the dives that will stick in the memory banks of many for a very long time – particularly Jackie Maskell – was Habily Ga’Afer. Like most of the dives, there was an abundance of life and beautiful corals but we were also accompanied by several oceanic white tip sharks. Jackie was finning along taking in the scenery when something bumped into her. Assuming it was a fellow diver she turned and found herself nose to nose with a 3 metre oceanic white tip! Remaining calm and drifting with the current, her new buddy soon got bored and left her to enjoy the rest of her dive in peace. I suspect her air consumption increased rapidly for a short period!

Elphinston, a 300 metre cigar shaped reef with sheer sides, was also a highlight for many, again party because of the shark sightings. It was here that an oceanic had its eye on Marcela Turanova and Len Hards’ rear ends but being camera shy, disappeared into the blue as Kevan Tulip got ready to take a picture!

There were numerous other sightings of oceanics, reef, and hammerhead sharks on several of the dives and the buzz on the dive deck when we all surfaced was fantastic as we all swapped stories and re-lived our encounters.

My own first sighting of sharks was on the 3rd day when I signalled to my buddy that there were 4 big fish several metres above us. My realisation that they were actually reef sharks left me with a mixture of excitement and fear!

Both sharks and dolphins were spotted from the boat when we were enjoying well deserved rests and refreshments – somebody shouting “shark” or “dolphins” is undoubtedly the best way to be woken from a doze in the sun.

Our evenings were relaxed and very short if we’d enjoyed a night dive. We simply chatted over a drink or watched a DVD, including Jaws! John Rapley also managed to entertain us by losing a tooth during dinner one evening!

After our last dive of the week, we packed our bags and returned to shore on the RIBS, again without incident. We were taken to our hotel for the last night and day, which was beautiful. It was great to be greeted by a very healthy looking Cynthia and Julie. Despite missing the diving, they’d had a wonderfully relaxing week and had enjoyed the pool, facilities, and entertainment – such a relief for us all.

In our absence they’d also entered John Rapley into the belly dancing competition to be held that night… being a spoil-sport he refused to participate!

Our pick up wasn’t until 4.30pm the next day so we had plenty of time to relax in the sun but several of the group (me included) were seen sprinting around the complex. It soon became apparent that the run was always in the same direction and followed by a slow stroll back to the sun-bed – yes, Egyptian tummy had hit us with a vengeance! We pooled our supplies of Imodium and the Egyptian equivalents and all succeeded in getting home accident free (I think)!

Despite my rapid ascent, Cynthia’s inner ear trauma, bad air fills, and episodes of runny tummy don’t be discouraged – it was a fabulous week; the diving and company great; and the service and support we received from the dive guides was excellent. If you haven’t yet experienced a Red Sea liveaboard add it to your to-do list – I’m not sure how it can be beaten.

As always thanks go to the organiser of the trip, John Rapley. Looking forward to next year already!

Saturday’s group were Chris Hunka (DM), Chris Chappell, Dave Tresidder, Mark Cockram, Gren, Jo (our intrepid Cox for the day) and me. Jo can still fit into her drysuit but only by wearing the thinnest under-layers known to man. Unless Jo Jo Maman Bebe do stretch maternity panels for drysuits I suspect her days as a cox may be numbered for a while.

It was flat calm and there was a brilliant blue sky as we headed out of the marina. We were making for the Vasco. One of the features of this year’s trips has been gathering new numbers for wrecks and Dave was keen to pinpoint this wreck more specifically. For those who’ve never done this it involves locating the area that you believe the wreck to be in and making slow passes over it to see what appears on the echo sounder. If you find the wreck you hope to see a very clear signal on the display but it seems to me that the skill lies in distinguishing between a shoal of fish, a wreck or the trace of the RIB as it goes over the site.

There was some debate about whether the wreck had been accurately located and given the viz was reported to be fantastic it was decided to bet on the T.R. Thompson instead which was in the same area and to leave the Vasco for another day. A little bit more digging has confirmed that the site of the wreck probably was found so the club will be going back at some point to dive on it.

The T.R.Thomson didn’t disappoint. The viz was the best that I’ve seen it this year. Chris Hunka said he’s dived the wreck on a number of occasions and normally just bumped from one piece of rust to another. This time he was able to see that there were two boilers and an engine! The second dive was a drift a drift near Seaford cliffs. I didn’t manage to do this dive as my BC strap came undone as I got in (note to self: Do not try to add a D ring where there isn’t one!) however I saw enough of the lousy viz before surfacing not to regret sitting on the RIB sorting out my strap with the aid of Jo (who had to miss another Diver Cox tea break) while Gren jumped in with the two Chris’s. The authorities are dredging right outside the harbour entrance which may have contributed to this.

Gren and I stayed in Newhaven on Saturday night following a tip from Dave who is compiling a comprehensive list of B&Bs in the area. Initial feedback was that it was basic but perfectly adequate. Later having walked through the front entrance on the way back from a meal at the Hope Inn Gren had flashbacks to a now notorious trip to Newhaven several years ago in the same hotel where the sheets were stained with blood and the other guests were like something out of a George Romero film. Funnily enough I had one of the best nights sleep I’ve ever had but I don’t think Gren slept a wink! We’ll have to continue our hunt for the perfect Newhaven B&B.

Despite staying in Newhaven, Chris Chappell who’d gone home for the night, still made it to the marina on Sunday before we did for the far earlier start. We had lost Dave, Jo and Mark but had gained John Fowles, John Parrish and Mariusz. Without a dedicated cox we had to dive in waves. Chris and Gren also had to shot the wreck of the Pentrych -  a new dive site for the club – without the assistance of Dave “Obi-Wan” Tresidder. Again the weather was fantastic, sunny and warm, as we drove the 13 miles out to the Pentrych.

The smiles on Chris and Gren’s faces as we approached the co-ordinates they’d been given to find another RIB parked on top of it was something to behold, especially when the free-divers on it bobbed up to tell them that they were shotting it exactly midships. Chris and John F, and Mariusz and John P dived in the first wave. It was fair to say that this wreck is something special. It sits in 20 metres of water and so is a wreck for everyone. It was light, had anti-aircraft guns on it, lots of life and you get time to explore it. They came back saying it was the best dive they’d done all year and that they’d seen massive congers in the boilers, mutant crabs and lobsters etc. In fact it was difficult to get them to shut up so that we could actually get in the water. Read John Fowles’ article about the Pentrych to see why this dive was such an attraction.

By the time we got in Chris decided the up the ante by dropping Gren and I off a challenging swim away against the current away from the buoy. We’d been warned that the current had picked up but luckily it’s a big wreck and there were enough bits of structure for you to claw your way round although I didn’t see the conger as I was flung past the boilers at speed.

The second dive was South West Rocks. Chris sat this one out so we were able to dive in one wave. I think we may have overshot the rocks because we saw a few small boulders followed by a vast expanse of sand with micro life such as hermit crabs, starfish and one solitary Plaice but not much more which was disappointing as the viz was excellent. The others went in the opposite direction but had a similar experience. Mariusz did impress us though with his SMB deployment; having just bought a reel he put it up and no-one can ever remember him having been taught to use it!

All in all this was a great weekend: ideal weather, good company and fantastic diving. It’s weekends like this which really make all the effort of locating and struggling into your kit when it’s baking hot worthwhile. Thanks are due to Chris C, Chris H, Dave and Gren for sorting out and running the trip and making it such fun.

In the words of Chris Hunka who got to drive the new RIB for the first time ‘not a bad weekend for Newhaven’. Roll on next weekend!

Last weekend we dived the Pentrych out of Newhaven. We used the new RIB Sea King, which made easy work of the 13 miles journey to her location in just 40 minutes. The Club had not dived this before due to the limitations of Britvic and Gren and Chris did a great job in arriving bang on site just after slack. On arrival 2 free-divers were snorkelling,  understandably in hindsight drawing the dregs out of their dive and unwilling to leave. We would dive in 2 waves with Chris Chapell diving with me, followed by John Parish and Mariusz and lastly Sarah and Gren. As we descended we arrived on the remnants of the stern. After Chris set the lifting bag in place at the bottom of the shot line we looked inside one of the old cargo holds to be confronted by a huge moray eel which quickly disappeared. This was an encouraging start.

The water was incredibly clear, up to 8-9 metres unusually for U.K. diving and my attention was drawn to the largest lobster I, or Chris for that matter, have ever seen! Gargantuan. A monster. Its claws would make Johny Depp feel positively inadequate. I remembered being told by a well-meaning skipper once that there was nothing to catching a lobster: flip them on their backs - it disorientates them see - and then straight into the bag. I had a bag with me the size of a pillow case, if I was going to succeed I would need a single duvet. I left well alone, it appeared disappointed as it was up for a fight!

We progressed forwards; on the portside were the remains of the bulkheads still proud but needing a nourishing meal and resembling the ribs of a Brontosaurus in size. All around were copious quantities of fish life, shimmering from light refraction. The bridge although broken up still retained some structure reminiscent of the entrance to a Grecian palace as we swan through. The ships boilers were still intact and very substantial as I looked down there was even a porthole unsecured just waiting to be lifted Alan! Alas no lifting bag, it still lies there.

As we made our way back to the stern, part of the broken cargo holds looked like an aquarium just teeming with life, more lobsters, crabs and critters. We spent 51 minutes on this wreck and enjoyed every minute of it, I would have dived it again if we could and will certainly return to do it again.

The good news is that it sits in only 20 metres of water so is available to Ocean Divers upwards and because it’s so shallow you will get a descent bottom time. Grateful thanks to our Diver Coxes Gren, Chris and Mariusz for getting us there and back safely and the rest for your good company.

In June 1976, Gerry Hassell (then Chairman) reported incredibly exciting news for the club:

‘As I mentioned in a previous article our main aim is to own our own Club House. This is no longer a dream, but is fast becoming a reality – We have brought from Kingston Council, for a nominal sum, a pre-cast concrete building that was due to be demolished… The conditions are that we remove the building from its current site and leave the site in a tidy order. We have also gained planning permission to re-erect it on spare ground leased to Chessington Rugby Club’.

The Committee asked for help to take the building down and then to re-erect it. They also needed fund-raising ideas. ‘In other words a complete combined effort of every member of Kingston Club’. Does anyone know if this referred to the current clubhouse in Tolworth? Let me know if you were there and got involved in this project.

In other news there’s an article by John Webber about surfacing from a dive with Andy Fraser to find that they’d drifted away from the boat. Two hours later, finding it was easier to lie face down in the water breathing through his snorkel rather than being buffeted by the waves he had the indignity of being manhandled out of the water by the RNLI who thought he had drowned!

There’s also a first-hand report by Gerry Hassell of the dive for radioactive discs on the James Egan Lane (previously reported here).

Less substantial matters included putting out feelers to see whether there would be support for a “Mrs Diver” page in the Newsletter for all those ‘non-diving wives’ (how times change!),

Next month: July 1974 – Essential nautical terms for novice divers!

We were staying in the Mountbatten Centre which offers basic but comfortable accommodation however the jetty is right on the doorstep and the filling station has moved right next to it so it couldn’t get any easier for shifting kit around.  Our boat was the Maid Maggie skippered by the little legend, Glenn.

A few got caught in the usual Friday night travel woes around the M3, M25 and M4 but for most the journey was uneventful and with growing excitement of the weekend a relaxing enjoyable journey.

We wanted to start the weekend off with some easy diving, so Day 1 diving consisted of a couple of old favourites, the Scylla and the James Egan Lane.  Visibility was surprisingly good and as we were one of the first on the Scylla, it was virtually empty.

Evening was a pleasant outing across the sound on a water taxi to the old favourite, the Ganges curry house

Day 2 was the Percia wreck at a slightly deeper 28m.  Visibility was super and there was no one on it.  You can swim down the prop tunnel for about 20M and pop out the other end.  Somebody, who shall remain nameless – let’s call him Zippy, nearly had a very cold surprise as the skipper caught him just as he was about to jump in with his dry-suit unzipped.

The following dive was supposed to be a drift across Fairylands but the current wasn’t quick enough so it was a very gentle stroll.  Great danger of sunburn!

Sunday evening was a very pleasant dinner sat in the sun outside the Mountbatten Hotel, followed by a walk and a bit of light refreshment in Castletown.

Day 3 had threatening skies but still calm seas so we headed out to the deepest dive of the weekend, Hand Deeps.  Vis was very good and the deep gullies made it feel like you were flying.  Returning closer to shore we had the pleasant surprise of seeing a basking shark. They are quite common at this time of year around the South West but you never get tired of seeing these huge, gentle beasts.

The week was rounded off superbly with another dive on the Scylla.  This time I was diving with Tom so we did a little more wreck penetration.  It was evident no one had been in some of the compartments for some while as they were very clear, particularly around the generator room – a great dive and a great weekend.

On Friday 8th May 13 of us (unlucky for some) headed off to Lymington for our first UK dive weekend of the season.  Half the group stayed with Cynthia Doherty and her husband, Roy, in their beautiful home.  The other half stayed almost next door at Haven Hurst House B&B, also a lovely house – thanks to Jackie and Brian Maskell for booking this (you deserved the best room!)

The weekend started with dinner at Cynthia’s, which was very civilized, particularly as we had a boys’ and girls’ table!  However the conversation on both tables kept coming back to the weather as the winds were howling outside.

Alarms went off early on Saturday morning and we all breathed a sigh of relief when we looked out of the window to see sunshine and no swaying trees.

We headed to the harbour to greet out skipper, Dave Mendes, and boarded Wight Spirit with all our kit (expect Kev Tulip who left his drysuit in the car!  Fortunately he realised before we headed off into the Solent).

The two dives of the day were:

1)The Fenna: a Dutch wooden schooner sunk in a storm in 1881.  Its cargo of railway lines, sheets of glass and barrels of cement can see be seen; and

2)War Knight: a steel steamer of 7951 tons, sunk in 1918.

Both were at least 1½ hours away, passed the Isle of Wight Needles.

The first dive was great; visibility quite reasonable; and life abundant, including at least one huge conger eel.

The second dive wasn’t quite so popular because the wreck couldn’t be seen by anybody, visibility being about a foot!  Sandra Argent didn’t move from the bottom of the shot line but her buddy, Len Hards, braved the few feet to release the weight of the shot from the wreck.  

This was great comfort to those who couldn’t do the dive due to sea sickness; Kevan Tulip was still hanging over the side of the boat when the divers returned and Gill Wilson was still looking rather green (but not with envy!)

Before heading off out for dinner that evening, Bret was almost evicted from the B & B for using bubble bath in a jacuzzi bath, thus filling the room with soap suds.  To make matters worse, rather than clearing the evidence immediately, he got dressed and returned to the bathroom to see our hostess on her hands and knees mopping the floor…

Saturday night we enjoyed a great curry in Lymington – another very civilized evening – and we were all tucked up in our beds early, dreaming of excellent visibility and a sea sickness-free day on the Sunday.

For most, our dreams were answered.  The two dive sites were:

1)The Venezuela: an upright steel steamer torpedoed in 1918, with three boilers; and

2)Christchurch Ledge: a drift dive.

Again, the morning dive provided reasonable visibility and lots of life.  However, despite the size of this wreck, two divers managed to lose it completely and only encountered a large crab and a rubber glove (Kev and Gill really must improve their navigation skills!)

Sadly the sea sickness got the better of Jim Molyneux, Gill Wilson and Sandra Argent and they sat out the last dive of the weekend.  However those who did enter the water drifted at great speed and it made for a very enjoyable experience.

Kev Tulip was Dive Manager for the weekend, assisted by Ros Hepple who was unable to dive because of a mal-functioning drysuit – she’d trimmed her neck-seal (we suspect with gardening shears) and it flopped loosely round her neck thus becoming a just a neck without the seal – a worthy candidate for the wooden spoon award we believe!

Not only did Ros assist with the Management but she also took lessons from the skipper and navigated us safely back to Lymington – well done Ros.

For the non-divers – Audrey Molyneux and Mary Hards – the shops and local hostelries provided entertainment.  They also took a trip to the Isle of Wight on Sunday.

A great weekend was had by all and thanks go to Cynthia for her hospitality and for organising the trip.

Being a qualified diver cox, I still have managed to get involved in the diving season this year, which is great fun. With the club arranging a number of rib dives, most weekends have been spent trying to squeeze my ever expanding waist line into my size 10 dry suit, this is not an easy task, let me tell you.

As we had diving planned for the last May bank holiday and the weather was just glorious, it was an ideal time to spend lazing on the RIB in the sunshine waiting for DSMBs to pop up.

Saturday saw a very early start for Dave and I to collect the RIB from the club house and drive to Newhaven, on arrival we were met by Sarah ‘the diving door mouse’ Hamlyn, Gren ‘I want to drive the RIB’ Hamlyn and Kevin Morgan. Kit loaded, trailer board packed away, RIB launched, flask of tea and biscuits on board. After the usual amount of kit faffing, we were underway to dive the Mira. Gren took Sea King out to the site, with an easterly F2-3, things were a little bumpy on the way out, but with the wind in Gren’s hair and spray in everyone else’s, he seemed to be enjoying himself so we let him carry on.

Arriving on to the dive site, the shot was successfully deployed and all divers were getting ready to kit up. After some blowing issues with Sarah’s pony, which involved a rummaging through the tool kit to fix, everyone was ready to go. Divers deployed, A flag up, now I got to crack open the flask of tea, open the biscuits and put my feet up for at least 40 minutes. Imagine my horror to turn round and look at the buoy and see Gren and Sarah wanting to be picked up! Flask away, biscuits back in the bag and I headed over to see what the problem was. Sarah’s main tank was playing up and bubbling away at 3 meters. I have perfected the ‘getting divers back on board’ technique, which in essence involves holding the divers kit until they are back on board to haul their own kit back in the boat, ideal for anyone that has back problems or happens to be having a baby!

With the Hamlyn’s back on RIB, tool kit back out and a bit more faffing, it was decided that they would try again for a dive on the newly discovered site Mira. Re-kitted and back in the water, the flask was re opened, biscuits back out and feet back up…. Only then to be met with the Dave and Kevin’s DSMB deployed and both of them on the surface waiting to be picked up…. Would I ever get a cup of tea and a biscuit?!?!

Kevin and Dave back on board, we waited for Gren and Sarah to surface, then back to the marina for a well earned lunch stop, cup of tea (at last!!) and rest. Especially for the diving door mouse!

Don’t know about you, but this diving lark is tiring work!