Anyone for a Thai Dinner?

At an earlier MD meeting a Thai dinner was suggested, if MDers would like to , we could hold the next 'meeting' at the Thai Terre restaurant in East Dean on Wednesday 3rd November. If this is an option we will need confirmed numbers quickly! Let me know!

Holland V ~ Protected Historic Submarine Wreck

Many thanks to TWSAC and Jamie, in particular, for inviting Meridian Divers Tad, Ernie & I aboard "My Sharon" skippered by Ray for a dive on the historic submarine wreck of the Holland V.

As the NAS web site says the  "submarine is a remarkable piece of our naval heritage. She was the first submarine to actually be commissioned in the Royal Navy, on the 19th January 1903 at the same time as Holland 3. The Holland class of submarine rapidly become obsolete and in 1912 Holland 5 was destined for destruction and was being towed to Sheerness when she foundered and sunk at her present location 6 miles SE of the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse, Sussex, England"

Preparing the Video Camera

TWSAC, having a licence to dive the wreck, set course for the her using their Club RIB as a pathfinder and MV My Sharon which carried six of us and all the MD divers. It's a long run from Newhaven, 21 miles each way, taking about two hours on each leg of the journey. The run out was a bit bumpy (but we've all seen a lot worse!)  but day remained bright (though overcast) , the journey home was across a far smoother sea and was a delight in itself as we watched the sun set.

Some of the TWSAC & MD Divers

The RIB divers had shot the wreck and so on arrival we kitted-up and went down. Jamie had promised us 6m viz, well who would argue with about 3m on a special wreck like this. A submarine lying (upright) on the bottom doesn't offer much in the way of a multi-level dive so we stayed most of our time around the max depth of about 32 meters. A drop of Nitrox 31% made my NDL more tolerable,and with a slow ascent we clocked 47 minutes on the dive.

Propeller Blade

The shot took us to midships from where we examined the main hatch and small glass porthole (intact), from there we moved to the stern to check-out the three blade propeller, before going to the bow and the torpedo hatch (open, as a result of the hatch cover being absent). It was thought the cover had been stolen but theft was by no means certain. Some divers have always said that the cover would take a lot of force to have removed and thought a trawl net may have been the culprit. Well, there were signs of heavy duty netting adjacent to the bow (lying in the seabed), may be this theory is correct after all.

Torpedo Tube (Bow)

Two of our number videoed the wreck and I took some pot shots with my camera. No doubt we will soon see an edited video being released!

On ascent to the dive boat we had a peaceful ride back to Newhaven. We has left port at 12.30pm and got back at 6pm to watch a beautiful sunset bathe the coast in golden sun. Tea & biscuits on the boat back was very English (but no cucumber sandwiches I note!).

Top (Main) Hatch Porthole

A long day when you add prep & travel to and from port time , but a really good day and very memorable. Fantastic opportunity to see such a historic wreck, and especially after having seen Holland I at the Gosport Submarine museum some years ago.

Netting adjacent to bow torpedo hatch

Fortuna Wreck Dive ~ Sunday 17th October

Hi All

I have 2 spaces for a dive this Sunday 17th October. The forecast is good and the price is only £35 for the 2 dives. The Plan is:

Meet 11:30

Ropes off 12:15

Dive Fortuna on LW slack (Max depth 30m) Drift dive on way back in Return to Marina 6:15 approx

If you fancy it give me a call/text on 07729 277651 or drop me an email.

Speak Soon

  

Mick Luff

Sea-Zones boat charter(Newhaven)

Tel 07729 277651

www.sea-zones.co.uk

Goodies up for Grabs

As mentioned at the last meeting, it is with regret that I am having to hang up my fins. Before I open up my goodies to the general public I thought I would let MD ers see if they wanted to get their Mitts on any of it first.

I haven't priced anything as such as yet as all is negotiable but I do have some ideas - if interested please add a comment or better still give me a call (as daughter generally commendeers the lap top & internet access therefore restricted!)

• Hunters Gates Trilaminate Drysuit (includes bag & hose) boot size small (approx 5) new neck seal, serviced, less than 30 dives
• 12l dumpy tank with boot & handle (needs test)
• Scubapro 1st stage with brand new DIN fitting, 2nd stage Scubapro R390, Oceanic Octupus, plus BCD knife - serviced last June & not used since (pains me to sell but pointless keeping )
• Brand new Everflex gloves - never worn size XS
• Almost new Wet Suit Boots XXXS (4/5) - worn once, 6.5mm, great on beach as really thick sole
• C4 torch (not rechargable) twin bulb.

I also have a few little bits & pieces which I will bring along on Wednesday.

Laser Quest/Bowling - Tuesday 28th September

Another good evening, although half of the group wimped out of the Laser Quest.

We split into two groups for the bowling the A Team (Mandy, Trez, Paul, Sheila)& B Team (Ian, Sue, Ernie, Debbie, Tracey). The A team thrashed the B Team with the star of the night being Paul whose score for the 2 games was 267.

It was suggested that perhaps we look at having a running score competition for next year.

Sorry no photos as our resident photographer was learning how to turn his new camera on.