Here are two little panoramas I took while diving Yolanda Reef, which is in the Ras Mohammed National Park. Yolanda Reef is fetchingly adorned with toilets, bathtubs, and other cargo from a ship called the Jolanda that ran aground there in 1980. It’s an amazing dive site! The visibility was remarkable when we visited.
Finally, here are some soft corals at Yolanda Reef, snapping open and closed in the current. We saw these everywhere, and I was hypnotised by their movements. They look like a sentient vase of flowers!
Yolanda Reef is inside the Ras Mohammed National Park, and is a beautiful site that is strangely adorned with bathroom fittings – toilets, baths, basins – from a ship called the Jolanda (the reef’s name is a mis-spelling of Jolanda) that ran aground here in 1980. The ship eventually sank and dropped off the edge of the reef into very deep (approximately 200 metres…) water, but the containers that fell off her decks remain at the site, broken up with their contents exposed. A number of porcelain toilet bowls, of the Ideal Standard brand have been arranged in a row by a few decades of visiting divers. Multiple plastic bathtubs are stacked one inside the other, and encrusted with corals. Pieces of broken open shipping containers are interspersed among the bathroom supplies.
Divers over some of the Jolanda’s cargo
We actually dived this site twice – the first time along with Shark Reef, as a drift dive, and the second time specifically to explore the Jolanda cargo a bit more. The dives were a couple of hours apart, and both times there was a current roaring down from the top of the reef into the depths. This somewhat restricted which areas of the site we could fully explore. Despite that restriction I loved this dive. Swimming over a huge pile of toilets, encrusted with pastel corals and bright nudibranchs, and swarming with tiny fish, was surreal and beautiful.
Part of the Jolanda, lying hundreds of metres below
Some of our ascents on our Red Sea trip in October were (by my standards) adventurous. When we arrived at the El Miniya, a wreck just off the coast opposite the large Hurghada Marina mosque, another liveaboard was already attached directly to a line on the wreck. M/Y blue Melody tied up to this boat, and we were ferried on Zodiacs to the dive site – from the back of our boat to the front of the other liveaboard. During our dive, the first liveaboard got ready to leave as all their divers were out of the water.
As they left, our liveaboard moved forward to take over the line fastened to the wreck, and the crew attached that line to the bow of our liveaboard. At the time, about fifteen divers were hanging on the line, doing their ascent and safety stops. The line was pulled through the water at quite a clip, and we all hung on like a bunch of hyperventilating grapes. It looked like this:
Once we were at the surface, we had to use a tag line from the permanent buoy on the El Miniya with the other end attached to the back of our boat. Using this line, we pulled ourselves from the bow of our boat to its stern, where we climbed out of the water. Phew!
Here are some photos to show you what it’s like to dive off a liveaboard. They were taken on our Red Sea trip in October. The centre of the diving activity was the dive deck at the lower level of the boat, at the back. There we hung our wetsuits, and we each had a cylinder and a box to keep our loose bits of gear in. We used the same cylinder throughout the entire trip, and the crew used the long hoses of the compressor to fill our tins right where they stood. We didn’t unbuckle our BCDs from our cylinders once.
A black (air) or green (Nitrox) tag around the neck of our cylinders indicated what gas we were diving with. We used Nitrox throughout. A numbered tag attached to the shoulder of our BCDs enabled the crew to keep track of who had returned from their dive. They also wrote down our dive times and maximum depths for each dive, and we signed those figures off each evening. This is in case of an accident – they know what your dive profile is for the week.
Giant stride off a liveaboard
Giant stride off a liveaboard
Divers on a Zodiac after a dive
The crew getting ready to tie the boat up for the night from a Zodiac
Christo and Becky after a dive briefing
Christo before a night dive
Traffic on the dive deck before a night dive
Our gear in its place on the dive deck
The board used for tracking divers and gas mixes
Liveaboards at the Thistlegorm
Liveaboards at the Thistlegorm
Liveaboard at Bluff Point at night
Divers setting off for a dive on a Zodiac
Climbing out of the water at the dive ladders
Liveaboards at Sha’ab Abu Nuhas
Christo after a night dive
The camera table at the back of the dive deck
There were dives before breakfast, after breakfast, after lunch, and at night. On the first and last days we did three and two dives, respectively. I managed three dives a day. Christo did four! Most of us skipped a dive here and there, owing to fatigue, illness (don’t drink the tap or sea water, is all I can say), and general laziness! The briefings were detailed, with maps or slideshows to familiarise us with each dive site. We were told what creatures to look out for, and where they like to hide. For wrecks that could be penetrated, the dive guides explained the preferred route more than once.
After getting into our wetsuits we sat down in front of our kit, shrugged it on with the help of one of the crew, and walked down to the dive deck. There we either put our fins and mask on and giant strided into the water, or held our fins and climbed onto one of the Zodiacs to be driven a short distance to the dive site. This technique was used at busy sites where there were many other liveaboards already anchored, or locations where it wasn’t safe for the big boat to go.
To get out of the water we were either fetched by a Zodiac, or we returned to the back of the liveaboard and climbed up the dive ladders in our full kit. Helping hands were ready to assist us with our fins. We’d put our kit back, hang up our wetsuits, put cameras into the rinsing container on the dive deck, and then eat. Every dive was followed by food! And often, a nap.
At times strong currents had us hanging onto lines down to a wreck, and this also made getting back to the liveaboard a challenge at times. On one occasion the current was so strong that I wasn’t sure I’d make it from the line tied to the corner of the stern onto the ladder in the middle of the stern – a distance of two metres – without getting swept away. Some acrobatics and long arm stretches from Tony saved the day!
The process of diving off a liveaboard is far less strenuous than diving in Cape Town, which is why we could still walk after doing three or four dives a day. For one thing, the warm water means you get far less fatigued, and you use less air, too. The crew were extremely helpful on our trip, even zipping our wetsuits and providing soapy water when pulling on our thick cold water Trilastic suits seemed too much like hard work!
Wind, walkers and waves will mean we are diving on Saturday in False Bay starting real early, i.e. 7.00 am at the Yacht club. We plan to dive Atlantis and the Brunswick.
On Sunday there will be way too much traffic and road closures to make an early start possible and I don’t think the wind will allow anything later in the day. I am really keen to do a double tank dive to Justin’s Caves or to dive North and South Paw, but will make that call on Saturday afternoon once we have a better idea of the wind (which looks iffy) and the viz.
Week’s diving
The last week has been spent driving instead of diving as all our cylinders were due for their annual medical examination. We did cancel last weekend’s dives due to the wind being a little stronger than I like to launch and dive in, but the guys that did go out reported really good conditions.
Divers near the jetty in Simon’s Town
We are just home from a really good night dive and all in all we were 19 divers. We dived below and around the jetty in Simon’s Town and had passable viz and a great deal of jellyfish to contend with. Thanks to all those folks from far and wide (including OMSAC!) that joined the fun. The aim with Diversnight International is to have as many divers in the water at 2013 as possible, world wide, and then to eat cake. The numbers since this event started are:
2005: 351 divers in Norway.
2006: 889 divers in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
2007: 1859 divers in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and also Svalbard.
2008: 2183 divers in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Egypt, Indonesia, France, Spain, Faroe Islands and Belgium
2009: 2749 divers, 218 divesites and 20 countries
2010: 1700 divers, 175 dive sites and 22 countries
2011: 2577 divers, 196 dive sites and 24 countries
2012: 2322 divers, 231 dive sites and 25 countries
If you think the water is cold here, you should feel it in Scandinavia in November, where this event started!
Brave jellyfish warriors at Diversnight
Prizes
Congratulations to Bianca, who won two boat dives in the Diversnight lucky draw this evening! Also congratulations to Esti who has won a Nitrox Specialty course in the October boat divers’ lucky draw.
We will have another draw for boat divers in November and one in December. To enter, come for a boat dive. You’ll win a Nitrox course, or, if you’re already Nitrox certified, you’ll win two boat dives!
Gear
Sometimes I have students and former students who want to sell some gear secondhand. If you’re looking for gear, let me know and I might be able to put you in touch with someone. The details of the transaction are up to you! At the moment I know someone with a Suunto D6i dive computer and a regulator set for sale. If you’re interested drop me a mail and I’ll hook you up.
Launching on Saturday and Sunday, at 9.30am and 12pm – conditions are dubious, so a final call on the status of the launches and their locations will be made first thing on each morning. Text or email me if you want to dive.
Hawkfish at Bluff Point
Red Sea trip
So, the Red Sea trip has come and gone and without a doubt I will miss the visibility the most. On a bad day we had 20 metre viz and on a good day easily 40. I won’t go into the dives that much as Clare will post details with pictures on the blog and facebook in the coming weeks. We did about 20 dives in total so there is a lot to cover. Every dive was done on Nitrox. Since it’s Halloween, the photos in this newsletter are from one of the night dives we did while we were in Egypt, at a wreck of a small barge located at Bluff Point.
Having been out of the Cape Town water for the last two weeks I have very little to contribute but I am keen to get in the water this weekend and shock my self into the reality of slightly cooler water.
Basket star at Bluff Point
Dive conditions
As usual we are puppets on the strings of weather forecasts that all have oddities this weekend. Tomorrow and Saturday False Bay is supposed to have a south easterly swell and a south easterly wind. That means that Atlantic might work. It does not look too clean today but the south easter tomorrow might be enough to clean it up (but don’t hold your breath – one day of south easter is rarely sufficient).
On Sunday the swell is very westerly so that is good for False Bay, but will Saturday’s swell ruin it? Hard to tell. The plan therefore is two launches on Saturday and two on Sunday at 9.30 and 12 noon. Destination unknown, but irrespective of whether we dive False Bay, Hout Bay or Table Bay there are so many sites to choose from and we you can decide on the day. I will go and take a look at the sea really early and text whoever has booked by 7.30 as to the launch site.
Moray eels at the Barge wreck, Bluff Point
Diversnight International
It’s Diversnight on Thursday 7th (this coming Thursday) and we will dive the jetty in Simon’s Town as we did last year. We will meet in front of Bertha’s at about 7.00 -7.15pm, and aim to enter the water at around 8 pm. The whole idea is to have as many divers in the water at precisely 2013… Thirteen minutes past eight, around the world. Sign up (or get details) here.
If you need to rent a torch or gear, please let me know by Wednesday! And don’t forget that there will be a couple of lucky draw prizes, and cake!
Dates to diarise
DAN Day, Saturday 9 November – remember to book in advance if you want to attend.
We are still running our lucky draw boat dive/Nitrox course competition for passengers on our boat each month from October to December. October’s winner will be announced in next week’s newsletter, and on facebook. To be eligible to win a prize (of a Nitrox course, or two free boat dives if you’re already Nitrox certified), you just need to do a boat dive with us. Simple!
We returned from our Red Sea liveaboard trip on Sunday, and have been slowly returning to normal life (essentially doing things other than eating, sleeping, diving in warm water with magnificent visibility, and lounging around on deck like millionaires). It’s been tough.
Two of the blue o two liveaboards at the jetty
The itinerary we followed was the Northern Wrecks and Reefs one offered by blue o two. Our vessel was M/Y blue Melody, on the right in the photo above. We dived wrecks like the Thistlegorm, Giannis D, and Chrisoula K, and a number of reefs. We did a couple of spectacular drift dives, and on most of the wrecks there was the opportunity to go inside for the suitably qualified. It was compulsory to dive with an SMB. The most memorable reef dives were done inside the Ras Mohammed National Park.
Captain Mohammed and Tony on the fly deck
Life on board the boat had a simple rhythm: dive, eat, sleep, repeat. During surface intervals the crew moved to new sites, and we either dived directly from the liveaboard or were transported short distances (in full kit) on Zodiacs – rubber ducks like the ones we use in Cape Town. During the time we were away, we had the opportunity to do 21 dives of which four were night dives. The diving was spread over six days. We skipped a couple of dives for various reasons including tiredness and illness, but overall managed to do a lot of diving in a short space of time. The warm water and helpfulness of the crew meant that it wasn’t nearly as physically taxing as you’d imagine. We used Nitrox throughout, not so much because we were doing particularly deep dives and needed the extra time (though it certainly helped), but for overall health reasons and to minimise fatigue.
Bluff Point
Most of the time we were within sight of land. The landscape is mainly desert, with spectacular sunrises and sunsets. The reefs rise to within a few feet of the surface, and are clearly visible from the boat when it isn’t moving. Navigation in the Red Sea must be very tricky for the inexperienced, however. The number of spectacular wrecks is testament to this!
Sunset over the Red Sea
The day we arrived in Egypt and the day of our departure were mostly spent at the Marriott Hotel in Hurghada, waiting to board our vessel (the first day) and the plane (the last day). We lounged by the pool and checked out the private beach there, and felt very relaxed.
Prior to the trip we had some (understandable) concerns regarding the safety of travelling through Egypt to get to the liveaboard, but we kept tabs on the travel advice provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK. Since we would merely be in transit through Cairo airport, and would not actually be sleeping a single night on land, we were happy to go ahead with the trip. The Red Sea coastal area has been extremely calm throughout the recent unrest, and, as it derives 95% of its revenue from tourism, the locals have been keen to keep it that way.
The beach at the Marriott Hotel in Hurghada
We took a lot of photo and video on the trip, and will be sorting through it and sharing it over the next couple of months. Watch this space!
The Brunswick is an old wooden wreck from 1805 that lies in shallow water just outside Simon’s Town. I’ve taken some video footage on the wreck that also gives you an idea of what it looks like today. When Tony attended a talk on the Brunswick by an Honours student called Jake Harding, who has just completed a project on it, he learned that the rudder from the ship is currently on display in the courtyard of the Slave Lodge in Cape Town.
End-on view from the intact end of the rudder
I went to check it out, and it’s awesome! It gives a sense of how large the Brunswick was that I didn’t get from diving her, as the debris is quite low to the sand and much of it is buried.
The rudder of the Brunswick
The rudder was salvaged in 1967 by an American salvor, who discovered the copper clad rudder on the wreck site (at that stage unidentified). He required the assistance of the SA Navy to bring the rudder ashore, as it was so large. The rudder then lay on the dock in Simon’s Town for several days, during which time most of its copper cladding was stripped off. Some copper still remains on the rudder today, but it is in very poor condition and has the texture of cardboard – you could probably peel it off with your fingernails, if you were a bad person.
Pintle and copper cladding
The rudder would have been attached to the back of the ship – the stern – onto a part of the vessel called a sternpost (which is what it sounds like). There are hooks (called gudgeons) on the sternpost and pegs (called pintles) on the rudder that enable the rudder to be attached to the ship, and to move from side to side. There are three pintles visible on the rudder at the Slave Lodge, with one of them partly broken off. The rudder measures just over 4 metres by just under 2 metres, and is nearly 30 centimetres thick.
Holes bored by shipworm
One end of the rudder is jagged, and it is believed that originally the rudder was more than five metres long and had another 2-4 pintles. The work of shipworm, Teredo navalis, is evident at the jagged end, where the wood is full of thousands of tiny tunnels created by these creatures. These worms would have lunched on the rudder while it was still attached in the ocean. The cladding of ships’ hulls and rudders with copper was one way to prevent shipworm from damaging the wood while the vessel was still in use, thus prolonging their useful lifespans.
The wreck of the Andrea Doria, a luxury Italian cruise ship that sank in the north Atlantic ocean in 1956, is to some divers a sort of Mount Everest. It lies in about 70 metres of seawater, 160 kilometres from land. It has claimed ten lives to date and been the subject of several books and essays. Deep Descentdeals specifically with this wreck. Shadow Divers and The Last Divedescribe dives on the wreck, as well as featuring several of the regular charter captains and divers who pioneered diving on the Doria.
An Esquire article from 2000, written by Bucky McMahon (author of this article on Reunion’s shark problem), describes diving on the wreck, and attempts (as do they all) to pin down the allure of this particular piece of ocean debris. The article was written after a thirteen month period (late 1998- late 1999) during which five divers from the same charter boat (the Seeker) died on the wreck. It is written in a masculine, aggressive style that may be characteristic of McMahon’s writing, but is certainly characteristic of the sort of behaviour that seems to play (or have played) out on the Andrea Doria since people started diving her.
But how does it feel? What’s it like to know you are in a story that you will either retell a hundred times or never tell? You decide to drop down into the black hole. No, you don’t decide; you just do it. Why? You just do. A little ways, to explore the wreck and your courage, what you came down here to do. What is it like? Nothing under your fins now for eighty feet but the mass and complexity of the machine on all sides–what was once luminous and magical changed to dreary chaos. Drifting down past the cables that killed John Ornsby, rusty steel lianas where a wall has collapsed. Dropping too fast now, you pump air into your b.c., kick up and bash your tanks into a pipe, swing one arm and hit a cable, rust particles raining down. You’ve never felt your attention so assaulted: It is everything at once, from all directions, and from inside, too. You grab the cable and hang, catching your breath–bubble and hiss, bubble and hiss. Your light, a beam of dancing motes, plays down a battered passageway, where metal steps on the left-hand wall lead to a vertical landing, then disappear behind a low, sponge-encrusted wall that was once a ceiling. That’s the way inside the Doria.
Red Sea Diver’s Guide, Volume 2: From Sharm el Sheikh to Hurghada – Shlomo & Roni Cohen
Red Sea Diver’s Guide, Volume 2: From Sharm el Sheikh to Hurghada
We’re off to the Red Sea in October, and on the advice of Ned Middleton, author of Shipwrecks from the Egyptian Red Sea, I got hold of this book (which was in itself quite a performance), as he rates it very highly among the proliferation of guidebooks about the area. I did a lot of searching on my own before capitulating and following Middleton’s advice, and was unimpressed by the number of books with lightweight overviews of the dive sites, pictures that were sourced from stock photo banks, and authors who haven’t even dived the areas in question.
If you plan to get hold of this book, Middleton’s review on Amazon.com highlights the errors it contains (some shipwrecks are named incorrectly, for example), which is important if you plan to dive the area. If you plan to dive the Red Sea and are looking for a reference book, this list contains some books to avoid, and this one lists some reputable guides.
The Cohens’ book was published in 1994, and at that stage, having dived in the Egyptian Red Sea for years, they could already observe deterioration in the reefs and a decline in the number of sharks and large fish. The nature of most dive sites, however, is such that their topography usually does not change appreciably with time, particularly in relatively sheltered waters. The book includes a number of maps, some of which are clever combinations of aerial photographs and semi-transparent overlays marking the pertinent landmarks and routes.
Both boat and shore dives are featured here, and with respect to the shore dives the Cohens’ layout and style reminded me very much of the excellent book we used when we visited Malta in 2011: Scuba Diving Malta – Gozo – Comino. There is enough information for a shore diver to be fairly self sufficient, although I would check the locations of hyperbaric chambers, filling stations, dive centres and other amenities as they may have changed (and increased in number) in the last 20 years. Live aboard diving was in its infancy in 1994, but was growing in popularity and the Cohens refer to it more than once in this volume.
Towards the back of the book there is a fish identification guide, which could be handy if you don’t have space to pack an additional fish ID book in your luggage. The book also came with a separate fold-out map of the northern Red Sea area.
You can get the book (probably) here. If you do look elsewhere for it, make sure you’re getting an English edition, as the German edition is much easier to find and looks practically identical. Caveat emptor!
