The number of Rebreather’s has increased in the club over the past 6 months so I’m sure we will start to see some trips being planned for greater depths and long bottom times. We have also seen an excellent increase in club members as the word continues to spread that we are a diving club that actually goes diving very often weekly in the summer months. This allows the training team to continue their busy programmes of bring along new and existing members to greater skill levels.

Anyway, enough from me for now – catch up soon.

• Marc Dellow (Expeditions Officer)

• Our usual Brighton stuff from the excellent boats Channel Diver and Brighton Diver
• Eastbourne jollys diving from Dive125
• A couple of Plymouth weekends with the rather brilliant Pete on Venture Charters
• A big old beano up to dive Scapa Flow from Sunrise

You can download the PDF Dive List here. If you are interested in joining the club and diving with us please feel free to get in touch.

Although the Moldavia is by no means the deepest wreck many of the experienced divers on board were used to diving, it is in that range where clear planning for bail-out, accelerated decompression and other considerations become even more critical. Slates were cut, bungeed computers galore made ready for the jump and more O2 on board than you’d find on a geriatric ward in an Eastbourne hospital.

Moldavia

I jumped in with Mark Breare, both of us having exchanged several phone calls and emails to discuss runtimes. Mark had opted on 23/15 and I took the miserly option of air (well, 22.5%). After a while, comparing runtimes can seem a bit like choosing lottery numbers, but there must be method in those figures since the slate got out of the water almost to the same minute as our computers. (I suppose I should add that the slates were cut from V-Planner while we both used Suuntos. A distinct difference in conservatism is obvious.)

It took about two and a half hours to arrive on site and we were giant striding at just after 10am. Steve dropped the shot near a 6-inch gun towards the stern which we had decided would be the limit of our exploration. We hit the seabed at about 47m where we had about 5-8m vis, and then we spent most of the dive between 42-45m. We saw the capstan, what looked like another gun, a plethora or portholes and some rather large pollack. It would have been ever so tempting to venture inside some parts but we’d agreed beforehand this was strictly verboten.

Mark bagged off at about 40m with a textbook deployment before we made our way to 12m and onto 70%. Steve had asked us all to use our DSMBs so I deployed from about 10m. I never like doing that since your lines can get intertwined and you get back on board looking like a right pair of numpties. Oh, I suppose it might be dangerous too.

While decompressing it was clear that surface conditions had changed. In fact it seemed as though the surface cover was tugging on our lines it was so choppy. As indeed it was. In the one hour since descending it was now stair rods and Channel Diver was being tossed like a cork. This made for a challenging egress, but a safe one nonetheless.

Moldavia

Everyone made it back on board the only incident being Andris’s Sentinel springing a leak after about 30mins forcing him to bail out. He seemed very calm about the whole thing. Hmmm, rebreathers? I wonder what the verdict our of 12 divers would be on the case. A hung jury I suspect.

So, despite the early start, we all enjoyed a good dive. Yes, it is a lot of bother for only 25 minutes on a wreck that needs so much more attention.

Hmmm, rebreathers!

• Paul Mason

Some footage from the dive:

• Roger Smith

There have been a number of positive developments in the club over the last few months so I thought I’d put together a chairman’s report in the form of a bulletin to keep you all informed.

The club is doing well at the moment with over 40 members. In recent weeks there has been a spike in interest with several new members joining us. You are all welcome and I hope you enjoy diving with us. The phrase I keep hearing from new members is that they wanted to join Croydon because we are a club that dives!

And this certainly is the case. Marc Dellow will be sending around the Divelist soon and there will be a full calendar again to choose from for next year. Marc has booked dives with 4 different charters from late February to mid November. This list is coming out earlier than usual but it won’t include dives for the whole season. The reason for this is to stop everything being booked up at the outset by the usual wave of interest thereby leaving some options for others later in the season. There will, of course, be the popular Croydon staples of Scapa and Plymouth run by Alan Glen and Paul Brown respectively, but keep an eye open for some south-coast wreck sites new to the club.

Training will continue to be an important part of Croydon 23’s ethos. There are currently 6 trainees preparing for Ocean Diver, another 9 working towards Dive Leader and 2 actively pursuing Advanced Diver. With Dive Leader “identified as a key diver grade in terms of diver progression, branch and dive management as well as instructor development and club growth”, we are lucky to have so many trainees at this level. To progress this grade Alan Glen and I will be organising a training day to go through several of the theory and dry practical lessons. The DO, Roger, is also keen to organise some diver rescue revision sessions to keep our skills up to date. These will be organised for pool nights and advertised through the website.

Again on the subject of developing new divers, the club has bought several sets of training kit (BCs and regs) from James at Amphibian. The kit we had was anything but shipshape, and as far as fashion goes was decidedly more grunge than Bristol. Thanks to James Deane for putting the kit together at very helpful prices.

Since Saturday 13th August, the club kit has been in a storage facility just around the corner from Amphibian. We have round-the-clock access and the lock-up is very secure. Anyone wanting to use club kit should liaise with the Equipment Officer, Chris Vanstone, with whom they can make the necessary arrangements. Thanks to Dave Elphick who has kindly provided safe storage for the club kit for the past I don’t know how long.

Keep the evening of October 14th free if you can for a club curry night. Venue to be confirmed. Although we might be a club who dive a lot, we don’t tend to jump into social events with the same eagerness we do the water. It would be good to meet socially and also give newer members the opportunity to buddy up. I know some clubs have formal annual functions with speeches, awards etc. We might not be quite there yet but if anyone has any thoughts on the subject please raise a voice. Even better, if anyone would like to take on a committee role as social secretary they would be warmly welcomed.

By the way, the date of the next AGM is pencilled in for 9th November at 1930 at St Joseph’s. This will be confirmed nearer the time.

Croydon 23 is lucky to have a good number of very experienced divers and, in my view, is characterised by a real can-do attitude. With this potential in the club small wonder people wish to join us. If you feel you would like to make some contribution, make a change or stand for one of the committee roles, please step forward. It’s your club.

• Paul Mason, Chairman

Not many boats go to Lundy but there are a pair which go –Obsession 1 and Obsession 2.  Obsession 2 has a proper kitting up area, a lift and a sun deck.  So we went on Obsession 1 -  which has none of these.  However, we did have a ringside view of some dolphins on the way out.  We were robbed of our chance to dive the Robert – by all accounts one of the best dives on Lundy – by a mystery diver in the other group on the boat who could not dive below 20 metres.  So the first dive was a spectacularly dull look at some sand and rocks with a few crabs and rather grey bits of seaweed.  The second dive had a max depth of 3 metres and the friendliest, nicest, most sociable and affectionate seals came to look at and play with us.  They rolled around us often approaching us belly up.  When tired they would just rest on the rocks and seaweed on the sea floor, and when hungry would give a tentative nibble at our fins.  We returned to Ilfracombe in blazing sun for a statutory curry.

The following day after a rather colder journey on rather lumpier seas we dived the Carmine Filomena – it was a reasonable enough wreck but nothing to get too excited about.  Unlike the second dive where once again we risked life and limb by diving to as much as 3 metres to play with the seals again.

It’s a long way to go for a weekend, but it’s probably the nearest place to see seals from London.  The experience of getting up close and personal with a large and friendly seal is well worth the effort.   Many thanks to Paul for organising the whole trip.

• Helen Lucas

Quick check on the work schedule and sadly prior commitments only allowed the Friday, but hey It’s the Twins wrecks (the Irisbrook and Ville de Bordeaux), yes tried to dive this back in May but weather cancelled the day so excellent Twins here I come, weather gods be good and bring on the sun shine.

So, quickly on the phone to Steve to book 2 spaces as I knew this would get booked very quickly I knew this was going to be a dive to remember and wow it was one for the record books.

We loaded up at Eastbourne Harbour, it’s so easy to go from Eastbourne everything is just on hand, even a local Asda for grabbing some much needed breakfast and lunch for later on the boat. Off we set, four from Croydon BSAC 23, myself, Roger Smith, Mark Breare and Chris Vanstone along with some fellow Ifield members and some Channel Diver regulars who knew this was a dive not to be missed. Everyone was kitted up in good time ready to get on the wreck as quickly as possible it was one of the first times I have seen a que formed waiting to jump off the back. Myself, Mark and Roger were quick to get in and down we went, a quick stop at 3 meters for a group bubble check and I was off down the shot leaving Roger and Mark to follow my bubbles to visit these much talked about two wrecks sitting side by side. Roger arrived and fired up his camera, I checked my hair was still neat and tidy and offered a quick pose for the opening scenes. We hit the first wreck at around 37 to 39 meters and travelled along from stern to bow with the water temperature at a very nice 16 degrees and the viz was cracking, at last good viz not like my last in May out of Brighton with 0.5 on the Waterford, it was a good 6 to 8 meters. We headed along the wreck towards the bow in order to meet the sandy seabed which is about 10 meters wide before hitting the second wreck as discussed in the brief, the wreck was excellent with lots of parts and holes to explore and the torch was working a treat, like Luke Skywalker’s light saber.

As we left the bow section of the first wreck, the depth was down to about 46 meters, the bow section is a little broken up but we knew upon leaving this and crossing the sandy bed we would hit the next wreck. I took up pole position and lead us off to the awaiting sight of the next wreck to comes into view. Well, much to mine and our amazement we didn’t to the next wreck because as I moved across the sandy bed I noticed a lifting bag and something else sticking out of the sand, hey ho, it’s a Porthole attached to a lifting bag, we was like lions at dinner time, straight over pulling at any part that was sticking up, this caused the viz to go for a while but a quick stop and the viz settled again very quickly due to the course sandy bed. Well, we pushed and pulled and Roger by this point was pumping his gas into the lifting bag already attached to try and get this thing moving but it wasn’t having any of it because there was a gaping hole in the top of the lifting bag. Well like a cowboy gun slinger Mark Breare was quickly in like a rat up a drain pipe attaching his lifting bag ( Only the one I sold to him a month ago because I couldn’t be bothered to carry it, hey lesson learn’t there for sure ).

With his side sling pumping gas like Billy the kid into his lifting bag she still wasn’t moving hoo no. A few more rev’s on the gas trigger and hey hoo baby  “Huston we have lift off “ she was going to the sky. We all watched in slight amazement still that this surreal situation had just been placed upon us as this porthole drifted upward out of sight.

A quick group gas check and it was agreed we exit for the much loved decompression stops. By this point we had about 30 minutes of deco so the safest route was up following the porthole, all wondering if it made it to the surface or not. We arrived at the much favorite 12 meter point, after a deep stop on route, a quick group gas switch whilst swapping round the reel between us and the count down from 19 minutes begun. We had an inquizative jelly fish join us whilst deco’ing so a quick nudge to Roger to wake him up, I’m sure he was having a power nap and outcome the camera for some nice close up’s shots of our visiting friend. Deco finished and back on the boat feeling fresh as a daisy. The helium mix is definitely a must for this type of dive as it makes the head so clear you can remember everything. Back on board for a nice cup of Choppy Tea and a biscuit. It was great to see our efforts had paid off as the porthole was sitting nicely next to two of the largest lobbi’s I’ve ever seen I think they had claws bigger than my hands, anyway a few pictures with the Lobbi’s and back to more tea and the journey onto the next dive, Light House station. This was an excellent day, everything was brilliant, fantastic service as usual from Steve putting us straight on the wreck and looking after us in the usual super silver service on Channel Diver. Can’t wait to go back, will certainly place this as number 2 spot on my favorite dives list.

Roger’s Handy Cam of the dive :

• Marc Dellow

The Crew

On Monday 11 July a group of Croydon’s finest (along with a few guests) turned up at Brighton marina and headed out on a flat-calm sea to dive the Dieppe coast. Originally we’d planned to dive from Eastbourne and look at some new marks on the way over, but due to a rather horrible forecast for the Tuesday and Wednesday we’d had to change our leave venue to Brighton. This weather also meant that we would have to come home on the Tuesday rather than Wednesday as planned. Everyone was a bit down about the change in plan, but there’s nothing we can do about the weather so that was that.

Our dive on the way over to France was to be the Yatagan, a French destroyer which sank in 1916 after a collision with the British steamer Teviot. Today the wreck lies in 35m on port side and is very smashed up. On descending I thought the viz through the water column was good, but once I got to about 20m it looked a bit iffy on the wreck below. It was only as I got closer that I realised that the viz was good, but the wreck was covered in an enormous shoal of pouting that made seeing anything a nightmare! On reaching the bottom of the shot I swam over the top of the engine and turned right towards the bows. Shell cases litter the wreck and there is a gun lying off to one side. This is a small wreck so I soon reached the smashed-in bows that disappear down into the shingle seabed and turned round to head to the stern. Every hole seemed to house either an enormous conga of a huge tasty-looking lobster, if only we were allowed to take them!!! Heading aft back past the triple expansion engine I spotted a couple of portholes with the glass intact, I also noticed some huge bass darting about amongst the massive shoal of pouting. At the stern the prop is buried and the wreck is very broken up, a bit like the bows. All too soon it was time to head to the surface. After an uneventful ascent we were all back on the boat having well-earned food and drinks whilst enjoying the sunny journey to Dieppe.

Tuesday morning arrives and a large proportion of the crew seem to be a little out of sorts…could it be something they ate? Perhaps…but more likely it’s the beer, cider, wine and calvados hangovers kicking in. The bad news for them is that it’s gonna be a rough old crossing back to Brighton (this turned out to be something of an understatement). Our dive site was an unknown steamship in 33m, Steve had only put divers on it once before so there was potential for a really interesting rummage about. After an hour punching into a sloppy sea with the Monday-night drunkards being sick everywhere we were on site. Predictably several of the drunkards binned the dive, in fact we ended up with only 5 out of 10 divers jumping in – an embarrassment. Now it’s not often I (Paul B) get the chance to take the moral high ground, but for a change I went home at a sensible time having only had a couple of pints…the same cannot be said for the rest of the crew who went clubbing till half one and got rat-arsed on calvados. I now know how you lot feel when you see me trudging down the pontoon at Plymouth looking like death warmed up – it’s very very funny. Anyway, the dive – this was a large steamship with engine and boilers in place that was covered in life – huge lobsters, conga and bass were all over it and the seabed was chokka with scallops. The wreck is upright and intact and hasn’t been salvaged much as there was a lot of copper pipe and brass fittings about the deck. No clues to identity, but a very good dive with some excellent penetration opportunities. Defo one to visit again.

On reaching the surface conditions were worsening and Steve had already made the decision to head back to Dieppe rather than punching on back to Brighton – this meant we had to rearrange out hotel at short notice but lucking thanks to Mike at TBreaks who handled our booking this wasn’t a problem. Tuesday night was far more sedate with some of the drunkards not even making it out of the hotel. Looking at the forecast it was still going to be a rough crossing back, but we were going no matter what….

Wednesday morning and the wind is blowing again. The only wreck we could really do was the same as Tuesday; this was fine though as it was a big wreck with plenty to see and the drunk half of the crew hadn’t done it anyway. I’ll not go into details but viz was the same 10m we’d had on the previous two days and everyone enjoyed the dive. We then strapped ourselves in for 4 hours of being bounced about till we got back to Brighton.

So that’s it, another France trip over with. We got away with this one weather-wise and were lucky to get diving at all. Special mentions in dispatches must go to Steve for his usual excellent skippering, Caroline for keeping us all in tea and Mike at TBreaks for sorting the never-ending changes in the hotel arrangements.

• The crew: Paul B, Paul C, Tone, Dave E, Chris V, Terry, Ady, Neil, Northern Chris and Northern John

Paul Brown

Channel Diver tied up in Dieppe

A nice meal in the sun

A grown man in a nappy....not a good look Neil.

Wigs!

Elphick true to form....

The assorted modes of transport to the Orkney Isles all proved to be remarkably reliable and a crew of enthusiastic divers were all well rested and very keen to start their underwater adventures. Two experienced and well qualified diving chaps from Colchester BSAC had joined us to help fill the boat. They both blended in very well and would both be most welcome to join any future trips.

After (and between diving), we visited a number of the tourist attractions in the Orkney Isles. These included Lyness – naval museum, Maeshowe – Orkney’s finest chambered cairn and Skara Brae – an amazing Neolithic settlement. On 21^st June we encountered a number of modern day Druids at the Ring of Brodgar. They were clothed in impressive velvet robes and flowing capes. Finely carved staffs were in evidence but no sharp knives suitable for human sacrifice.  My own favourite après-diving excursion was to the Tomb of the Eagles where apart from the pre-historic interest we experienced some of the very finest breathtaking views of the UK coastline.

A visit to the Highland Park distillery was also included on the itinerary. Diving and consuming alcohol are clearly incompatible. Nevertheless, Proudfoot and I had both been hoping to enjoy sampling of some of the very finest of the vintage single malts in the cellar. This was not to be. We were only invited to partake of an end of tour dram. It was very nice. This evening excursion took place after all diving for the week had been completed.

Loading and unloading of cargo from our chosen diving vessel MV Sunrise took place in an extremely efficient manner. The HR departments of many major companies would have been amazed by the team spirit, effectiveness and efficiency with which this was achieved. Similar team spirit was apparent in the preparation each day of breakfast. Each buddy pair took it in turns to man the galley.

Scapa Flowis rightly acknowledged as offering the best wreck diving in the northern hemisphere.  I have uploaded to You Tube various clips that were taken during my own underwater adventures as an indication of what is on offer.

The only dark humour that occurred during the trip (apart from my own dry suit that did an extremely creditable impression of a clapped out sieve) involved Mason, the Club’s respected Chairman.

Unlike many divers who hold their reels in a firm grip whilst deploying a DSMB, Mason has adopted the bizarre technique of casting aside his treasured, personalised and very expensive Kent Tooling, laser cut, 316 grade stainless steel reel whilst the buoy ascends. This strange practice provides a degree of entertainment as the reel unwinds. Sadly for the unfortunate Mason, he failed to spot a porthole into which his pride and joy disappeared. With a swift flip of his fins, Mason was on the scene and quickly wound the remaining 90 metres (!!!) of line around his forearm and retrieved his reel. A number of the local fishermen were later entertained by the sight of a number of the crew helping Mason to unravel his knitting.

This year due to the weather we acted on sound advice from the skipper to confine our escapades toScapa Flowitself and not to explore the lesser known wrecks in the Northern Isles and at Stack Skerrie. This was a great disappointment.Sunriseis a converted trawler that would be more than capable of enduring heavy seas. It is unlikely that the crew would have proved as robust.

Glen’s decades of experience organising trips toScapa Flowproved invaluable to ensure that maximum benefit was gained from the trip. All members of the crew expressed their appreciation at the final evening meal in the Royal Hotel in Stromness. Well done that man!

Not much to tell about this one as the viz was terrible, with the May plankton bloom having arrived in full force. Still, everyone had a decent-ish dive and made the best of it, with a few scallops being procured. After tea and biscuits we were heading back against the sea so were in for a bumpy ride to our second dive site (South West Rocks, just off of Shoreham). Lessons learnt on the way the the second dive include:

• Strapping your gear down properly is a good idea when it’s rough.
• 15l twinsets don’t necessarily put holes in the deck when they fall off their benches.
•  Dave I sounds like a lion roaring when he’s being seasick.

Not the best day we’ve ever had, by some diving is better than no diving. Let’s hope the viz improves soon.

Paul Brown