Winter Dive Dates with Buccaneer

2010 summer maybe over but Chris West's Hard Boat is still venturing out in search of watery adventures. So if you like diving chilled, check out the dates below and weather permitting put those dry suits to good use.
With a warm cabin and plenty of hot drinks apres dive and prices the same as the clubs £25 for 1 wreck and £35 for 2 dives continue diving through the winter.

You can contact Chris on Call 01273 464225 / 07802 571056 or e-mail chris.bucc2@o2.co.uk.
Chris is also open to dive site suggestions.

Sat Nov 20th (HWS) Leave 08-30hrs - Waterford or Fortuna or Small Gun Wreck all about 34m
Sun Nov 21st (HWS) Leave 08-00hrs - venue to be decided
Sat Nov 27th (HWN) Leave 11-45hrs -
Sun Nov 28th (HWN) Leave 12-45hrs -
Sun Dec 5th (HWS) Leave 08-30hrs - Waterford or Fortuna ( 34m Max)
Sat Dec 11th (HWN) Leave 11-45hrs -
Sun Dec 12th (HWN) Leave 12-00hrs - Indianna
Sat / Sun Dec 18th/19th (HWN) Leave 09-00hrs for a drift dive
Wed Dec 29th (LWN) Leave 09-30hrs

MDMA ~ Diving in Ecstasy

Turtle returning to the Sea Grass with Remoras

The MD Team are just back from diving in Marsa Alam. A quick few lines and some photos to set the 'dive report' ball rolling!  Phil, Heidi, Ross, Angela, Simon, Linda , Sue & I got back late last night after a week in Marsa Alam diving (again) with Emperor Divers based in the Marina Lodge Hotel. Most had booked the five day diving package of two boat dives for four days and two shore dives. A lovely warm contrast to home with air temperatures around 33 Deg C and water at around 27 Deg C.

The Dives sites were:-

1.  Marsa Morena (North Reef) : 58 mins at Max 23.8m

2.  Marsa Mornea (South Reef) : 61 mins at Max 17.1 m

3.  Marsa Shoni Kebir (North Reef) : 48mins at Max 26.5m

4.  Marsa Shoni Kebir (South Reef) : 48mins at Max 23.5m

5.  Marsa Shoni Soraya (North Reef) : 60mins at Max 21.0m

6.  Marsa Shoni Soraya (South Reef)  : 51mins at Max 21.0m

7.  Abu Dubab : 71mins at Max 15.6m

8.  Abu Dubab : 70 mins at Max 16.2m

9.  Torfet Ali (North Reef)  : 62mins at Max 25.3m

10. Torfet Ali (South Reef) : 70mins at Max 19.8m

Well Camouflaged Flat Fish (with Sea Grass-like eyes)

Giving an average dive time of just about an hour which seemed quite respectable. Underwater highlights of the trip (for me) were surface sightings of the Dugong, and some quality time with the Hawksbill Turtles at Abu Dubab, a reasonably shallow and now only a shore dive to help protect the marine life.

About time for a breath!

Above water, the Port Ghalib area continues to develop and the MD group made excursions to the more built-up North side of the Marina to extend our range of refreshment opportunities !
A Lebanese restaurant had lovely outdoor seating along side a water feature and TGI Friday's (well we enjoy local culture!) met our more Western needs!

Life is all Ups & Downs!

There were plenty of opportunities to debrief the dives over a Sakara in the evenings and to compare notes on the belly dancers moves!  Sadly (or may be not!) for the ladies , the Whirling Dervish dancer remained fully clothed , well give or take a whirling skirt or two , for the duration.

The Paparazzi and others hangers-on are such a drag!

The Emperor Team were excellent and our principle guide MSDT Hannah "Montana" knew the sites well gave detailed briefings and added  fun & smiles. She and colleague Chris presented a very professional but natural image .

Keeping a Low Profile

Thanks to all the MD buddies for making the visit so enjoyable , it was so good I nearly found myself staying another night ....but that's another story!

Hannah "Montana"

T.R.Thompson Talk Tuesday 16th November

Meridian Divers have been asked to give a presentation on the SS.T.R.Thompson project to Sovereign Divers at the Svereign Yacht Club Eastbourne Marina on Tuesday 16th November (next week) at 7.30pm.
If you would like to come along Sovereign Divers will make you more than welcome.

Tiger & Thai ~ Wednesday 3rd November

Just a note to say thank you to all those who could make the Thai dinner at Thai Terre and a pre-dinner drink at the Tiger Inn at East Dean.  A very pleasant evening and a chance for those of us going on the Marsa Alam dive trip this month to catch-up on the detail!

I'm told by Ross that the Marsa Alam Sea Temperature was 27.8 Deg C (82F) on the 4th November, sounds nice (even warmer than usual?)

Oh ! And speaking of dinners, there are some Christmas Dinner balances to be paid! Fingers out please!

Lanzarote Diving

An offer to dive in Lanzarote came to me from Brighton Diver’s a 10 dive package through the company Active adventures  . Our shared apartment at the Hotel Santa Rosa was clean and totally acceptable although a hot 15 minutes walk to social events. Calypso divers  arranged pick ups for the 10 dives at a prompt PLT (Peter Lanzarote Time) Peter the owner of calypso divers a large man of impressive man management skills gave a sense of calm to divers new and old with a cheeky banter and unmistakeable control in a high risk environment. The island has all year round diving with the weather warm and comfortable; we eat out regularly and found it was excellent value. My thanks to all the staff at Calypso and adventure holidays I was more than satisfied with my dive week and would be more then happy to dive them again and look forward to return to Lanzarote 

Posted obo Phil-P

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.

An Autumn Dive on the Wreck of the Indiana

Video of Saturdays dive on the Indiana

Newhaven Port fined for Health & Safety Failings

A Sussex port and an Italian shipping company have today been fined a total of £185,000 for health and safety failings after a worker drowned at Newhaven Docks. For more info click HERE.

Meridian Divers Meeting ~ 6th October 2010

Usual venue at 8pm! Just a reminder for your diaries!

Indiana Wreck Dive ~ 25th September (from Buccaneer)

Come out to play Mr C



Sponge thing




Ernie doing a Diver thing

I hadn't planned to dive this weekend but a phone call to Chris West of Buccaneer late friday changed that. Chris hadn't planned to go out but with John B wanting to try out a wet suit with his rebreather for a forthcoming Red Sea trip Chris offered to go out to do a shallow wreck as the vis was better close in. So Ernie, John and I headed out to the wreck of the Indiana in bright sunshine with Chris and Dave crewing.
I had dived the Indy in April and had around 10m vis but wasnt expecting the same.

30 minutes later we had dropped the shot and were soon kitted up and over the side.Well there wasn't 10m vis but a good 6m so was well pleased with that. At 11m depth and a bit of an overkill on a equipment 2 sets of twins and a rebreather we could have stayed down for hours.

The first thing that struck me was the amount of life compared with earlier in the year,the wreck was an aquarium. We set off exploring the flattened wrecks nooks and crannies. With Ernie teasing congers and me trying to film the time flew. After 50 minutes we had seen most of the wreck and decided to head back up also as it was a very big tide the current was starting to rip through. Topside Dave had made soup and with all the usual Buccaneer banter we headed back to port.

Thanks to Chris, Dave and John for the trip out another great little dive. Video to follow shortly.

Tad

Go Ape Leeds Castle Social

The Arboreal Branch (pun) of Meridian Divers took to the trees a couple of weekends back in the Grounds of Leeds Castle in Kent. Following on from last years lark at Bedgbury Forest which everyone enjoyed we met up and took on the challenge of the leeds castle course.

Although very similar to the bedgbury course, the main difference was that the zip wires tended to be longer up to half a kilometre perhaps more and a little higher crossing valleys.

I am pleased to say though most of the MD apers took the extreme routes which at times resulted in some interesting language especially on the hoops, no tree huggers here.

With the MD Mutts contingent following on foot it took around 3 hours to complete the course and plenty of bruises to show for it.

Some people managed to avoid the experience yet again by deliberately booking holidays or going to the wrong venue but there is always next year when we plan to climb the Mattahorn and base jump down.

The tree hopping was followed by a picnic in the park.

Thanks to Linda for organising the day.
Back to diving tomorrow ten times easier.

Photos to follow.

Tad

HD Diving Videos on www

Thought you might light to take a look at some Hi Def diving videos from Submerge ... click HERE!

Night Dive ~ Sovereign Harbour North

Thanks to Planet Divers, Dustin , Kuba and colleagues for the opportunity to do a night dive in their training location, Sovereign Harbour North.

The arrangements were good and we were pleased with the support and friendship of the Planet Divers crew, who were well equipped and organised, a credit to their training.

We set off in two groups to explore the reasonably shallow water and found there were plenty of eels, small fish/fry along with gobies & crabs. Some small cuttlefish were also seen but the North Harbour shark kept a low profile.

Taking part from MD were:-

Ernie

Simon

Mandy

Paul

Phil

Chris

Sheila provided additional surface cover. The Planet Divers RIB , skippered by Chris , was in the water and acted as safety boat. Water temperature 17Deg C and a few metres viz.

Wreck Dive ~ Saturday 18th September

From Chris West

We have space on BUCCANEER on this Saturday leaving at 12-00hrs. For some reason everyone seems to be doing something on Saturday. However the weather will be excellent with the wind as northerly F1 or F2, sunny and it is almost the smallest tides of the summer, so the vis should be good.

The dive is advertised for the Jaffa which will be about 18metres deep on a low tide slack, this Saturday.

Let me know ASAP so that we can fill up the boat.

Regards,

Chris
Buccaneer Charters
Tel: 01273 464225
Mob: 07802571056

ris West Buccaneer

Laser Quest/Bowling - Tuesday 28th September

Laser Quest and Bowling is booked at Lloyds Lanes for 28th September. Laser Quest is booked of 7:40 and bowling 8:00. Meet at 7:30.

Laser Quest/Bowling
Sheila
Phil
Tracey
Paul
Mandy
Trez

Bowling only
Sue
Ernie

If anyone else wants to come can you please post a comment ASAP.

Buccaneer Dives 19th September

As posted earlier by Simon there are spaces on Buccaneer on Sunday 19th Sept. There are 2 dives the first is the Stanwold (38M) and 2nd small Gun Wreck (28M). Ropes off 13-15hrs.

Divers so far

Simon
Trez
Phil
Tad

With small tides this week and weather permitting there should be some viz.
Post a comment if interested