​Hi All


Well it's been a hectic week for me what with moving and a large work load but thanks to Ruth for the below dive report.




Took out Burn with no issues registered the boat with the coastguard with Dubai licence even though we were told that we would not be able to it was straight forward.

Chris and Angela were first in to secure us on the reef. that would have worked if when we hooked on to the buoy Dave L didn't have the boat in reverse

Headed out to deep reef. Had to lift Nics dive bag to get to the tanks while we ere kitting up found out later that she had all her weights in it felt like she had a body. That will teach us to send out a proper dive brief

Nic myself and Jo were a buddy three with the photographers Kerstin Dave and Philippe happy as a buddy three and boat cover

When we descended I struggled to get the anchor out of the tire and the miles of rope it has caught on luckily Chris and Angela found us and manged to free the anchor so it could be sent up by the photo group

The dive itself was great sea snakes dory bream file fish trigger fish Nic didn't understand most of our hand signals made me more appreciative of how we should brief other divers before they dive with the club preferably on the boat in the air where you can explain what the signal means

LOADS of jellys on the decent and 12-18 on the safety stop Nic had some deco registered on her Sunnto so I sent Jo up and I stayed with her until it cleared

As we were kitted up this time was easy to get into the water but had a crazy strong current and had to drag ourselves along. Made a good team helping each other onto an off sucessive ropes the boat cover in XR hubs boat was great and threw us a line to get to their bouy

Fabulous dive on inchcape 10 nudibrachs,  a ray under the stern section loads of morays and puffer fish Was a bit diver central but the divers were all techies so didn't distroy the viz

Nic ran out of air quickly she said she thinks she had a leaky valve I wasn't complaining at 23C  I was turning into an icicle. luckily the torrent of jellys were still on Deep reef so we had an uneventful accent. 

Once on board we all settled in on the boat to watch Philippe get ready with both his buddies already in the water waiting for him on the buoy. Instead of listening to us and grabbing hold of the ropes on the side of the boat Philippe decided to swim for it. I was exhausted watching him. When he got near the buoy he started to descend and we thought nothing of it. Five minutes letter he was back up and we cast off from XR hub to get him. Again he didn't listen he held onto the rope at the side of the boat with his regulator out and refused to stand on the steps. When he semi-drowned he changed his mind signal for us to stop and stood on the ladder Chris drooped him on the buoy which XR hub has now left and he descended to do his dive. !0 minutes later he was on the surface after a swim like that I don't blame him.


We found out that the HT leads on Sanaf's starboard engine need replacing and hopefully this will be completed this week and she will be ready for Friday.

Tomorrow's social is at Stuart's & Nancy's.

That's it for this week.

Danny

Firstly my apologies for being late this was due to EID holidays and moving villa.

Unfortunately I have no dive write-ups this week but I can tell you Sanaf managed to get out but will need a visit to Yamaha as the starboard engine was playing up. Hopefully it will be a quick fix.

DSDC can also now announce that we have our CDA registration 😊 

FIMC have told us they don't recognise the Dubai licence and need to see a FTA licence instead. 
I know that we got Burn out the other week with a Dubai licence and keeping my fingers crossed that we can do so again this weekend. There is a possibility (I have heard of it being done) of a Dubai licence being used to gain a FTA licence at minimal cost and will look at this. 
On the positive side, the coastguard, who have previously been very restrictive in closing the harbour with any kind of wind are apparently being more relaxed. 
Well that's it for this week.

Danny

Hi All
Firstly congratulations to Martin on passing his PADI instructor course and Ruth for finally getting her DL sign-off.
Well this week we managed to get both boats out but I have only received one report, thanks Liz
Meeting at 08:00 at FIMC Burn was loaded and ready to go for 8:45. On checking out, the coastguard asked to see a local marine driving license – DXB license was accepted without any problems. (we had been pre-warned that the techies had been turned back previously for lack of docs so it looks like FIMC is heading the way of Dubai re: licensing.)

First stop was Deep coral, the viz was good though there was a slight current running which resulted in a slight drift dive on Anemone Gardens. Plenty of whip coral, Nudies and a couple of albino moray eels sharing a home greeted both pairs. Dave recovered an abandoned mask with a broken strap with Liz bringing up the accompanying snorkel and what was left of the strap. 

We then motored on to Car Cemetery though with the numbers putting us in an unfamiliar location. Using a couple of sightings to guestimate the position Dave and Kerstin rolled in to a vast expanse of sand, searching towards the shore they surfaced 10min later without seeing so much as a hub cap. The decision was made to fall back to Inch 2 for a final dive, though en-route it looked like a couple of the commercials were also heading that way so we stopped short at Coral Corral. Rolling in at 15m there were large schools of Indian mackerel, red tooth trigger fish and a turtle came to say hi. Moving round the wall a rock favoured by the local conch stood out with  9 conch shells being counted on the one boulder. Onwards  to the shallows where the large table coral are still in great condition with all the supported life you’d expect sheltering in and around the branches. 

After speedy transit back to FIMC and a first attempt landing on the trailer, an early departure was foiled by a sport fishing boat cleaning what felt like any rod, reel, and float they could get their hands on – all while sat on the wash down area next to the boat ramp. We managed to tow out, circle the boat park looking (unsuccessfully) for alternative wash out points, un hitch, un load, re hitch and tow back to the ramp well before they had finished.  Eventually our turn came and we could wash Burn down and flush the engines before parking up for another week.

This weeks social is at Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club
That's it for this week.

Danny.

Hiya All,
 
Firstly we've sprung a surprise on our illustrious Social Member (Pam) by arranging to meet tonight at Petra's place and not telling anyone... cunning or what? :-)
 
So this evening's meet up with be at Petra's (contact webdsdc@gmail.com for map) and she'll be making spaghetti bolognaise for an absolutely bargain price of AED25 per head. Om, Nom Nom!
 
On the diving front I'm afraid Sanaf is up for re-registering which I'll be doing with Martin. Having said that the weather is persisting in its nasty, stroppy behaviour so I don't think the coastguard will be allowing anyone out :-(
 
In other news we have new members joining so if you see someone looking lost at any of our get-togethers go over and chat to them - they're fairly unlikely to be axe-murderers and are most probably very nice fellow divers.
 
Hopefully catch up with you this evening. Cheers, Chris
 
 
Chris Head

Hiya All,
 
Well I hope you had a great weekend - sounds like the two day dhow was an absolute blast!
 
This weekend Martin is taking Burn out from Fujeirah on Friday and Sanaf is available for a willing and eager DM.
 
Something important that I haven't mentioned for a while is DSDC's requirement that all divers on our trips must have dive insurance (whether on our own boats or on Sheesa boats booked by us). The reason for this is that medical bills can mount up astronomically fast here in the middle east. If you're unconscious and your buddy or the DM are unable to pay the fees up front then your treatment can be delayed... or non-existent in the event of a diving incident. Personally I use DAN International but there are many other options available. If you have any queries about obtaining insurance please ask. Dive Managers have been instructed that those without insurance will not be allowed on club trips. If you can turn up to the dive with AED50,000 in your wallet to cover the initial costs of treatment then we might change our mind :-)
 
In other news our sister club Sharjah 406 have dive boats going out most weekends and sometimes have spare spaces. If you particularly want a dive contact Mike or Ian or let me know and I'll pass on your details. As a member of a sister club you pay "mates rates" to use their boats. 406 recently circulated ta news article about Dara... a very nice wreck that actually belongs to them! Contact me if you are interested in reading it.
 
Final bit of news... Dmitry (long time member of the club) has a two day Al Marsa Yellow dhow running on the weekend of 21-23 April for what originally supposed to be a corporate trip for families (divers and non-divers). However due to many people cancelling he still has plenty of spaces available on the trip. If anybody from the club would like to join and have some great time diving Northern Musandam please let me know to pass on to Dmitry:
The plan is as usual to leave on Thursday evening, do 3-4 dives dives on Friday and 2 dives on Saturday before coming back to Dibba.
The budgetary price is 800Dhs per person sharing per night including full board meals and soft drinks. Diving tax & supplement is 130Dhs per diver per day. Accommodation is in three bed air-conditioned cabins all with en-suite bathrooms.
The Yellow Dhow has a compressor on board so tanks and twins can be refilled between the dives.
 
The weekly meet-up is at Lisa and Martin's tonight. Sadly I won't be able to make it as I'm in training.
 
Catch up soon. Cheers, Chris

Hiya All,

Well as I'm sure you've heard from Pam's email the weather blew us out again last weekend - not uncommon at this time of year.

This weekend both Sanaf and Burn are available for use in Dubai and Fujeirah respectively but with a lot of divers on the two day dhow I can't find anyone to run dives :-( A pity as the weather looks pretty good.

Next weekend Martin will be taking Burn out from Fujeirah and Sanaf will, once again, be available for a willing volunteer.

In other news Hani (ex club member) is selling off some dive gear - prices and details attached. Please let me know if you're interested and I'll make the introduction.

Finally I need to run an Accelerated Decompression Procedures course as part of a Rebreather Instructor course I'm doing... any volunteers for the course please?
Course requirements (from the BSAC site):
Entry level is BSAC Sports Diver who has completed the 2007 syllabus (with nitrox content) and has been endorsed as a Nitrox Diver, plus 20 additional dives including depth experience to 30 metres.
Alternatively, applicants must hold an acceptable diving and nitrox qualification with another agency which equates to the above standards. All students must hold gold standard buoyancy from the Buoyancy and Trim BSAC workshop.

Sadly I can't make the club tonight at WTC Apartments... hopefully catch up soon.

Cheers, Chris

Chris Head

Hiya All,

Well last weekend had Sanaf out to Jumbo and Mariam Express with good visibility and lovely warm water - very nice!

The two day dhow also descended on the Musandam and I haven't heard of any issues so they either all got back safely or they're still stuck on Katchalu.

This coming weekend I'm away (actually, for two weekends) so I've asked the registered owners of Sanaf (or those with permission letters) to take her out on this coast... hopefully I'll get a response before tonight.

Otherwise Nice SteveH has posted a fast boat and single day dhow - please contact him if you're up for those dives.

Hopefully see you at the club this evening. Cheers, Chris

Well last weekend was a washout with no one able to tow despite Angela offering to DM.

This weekend I'll take Sanaf out on Friday (subject to the weather) and the sign-up will be at the club, tomorrow at 8am as usual. I think Neptune and Jumbo would be a nice trip.

A few items in the diving news locally. You may have heard of the unfortunate diving death of a young tourist recently off Jumeirah beach (see Gulf News for more information) and coincidentally this Wednesday at Dubai Diving Village (Dubai Creek) Gareth Lock will be giving a talk on Human Behaviour: The Problem, the Solution and Why Divers Make The Mistakes They Do. This starts at 19:30 and is open to all divers. Please let Ali Fikree or I know if you are planning to attend.

 

Otherwise the kids are back at school, traffic is getting back to the usual mayhem and we should all be back from our holidays so let's see if we can boost the diving figures for the rest of 2015.

Hopefully see you at the club tomorrow evening. Cheers, Chris

Hiya All,

Sorry for the radio silence last week - I was diving in the Red Sea :-)


This week we're looking for a tower/DM for Sanaf to go out from Dubai... anyone had a tow bar fitted whilst I was away? Stuart might be available provided he's got over a grotty cold... but we won't know until later in the week.

On another subject I'd like to thank Saad for his continued hard work in getting Burn re-registered. The massive amount of paperwork involved is crazy! Thanks also to Danny and Martin who have been working on getting Burn dive-ready - there's light at the end of the tunnel and she'll be back in the water soon.

Usual meet up tonight at the WTC Apartments Club. Hopefully see you there.

Cheers, Chris