Archive 2007
This archive will stay as it is for a few months, but then the trivia will be deleted, and the articles edited and placed in the appropriate section of the web site.
24th October 2007: Final Committee for 2007
Panaga Divers has had its fair share of committee changes this year, however, as always the vacant positions have been filled by volunteers. Many thanks to Elaine Steinhart for replacing Brigitte Dale-Pine, who takes over the job of Chairman. Lee Watts will replace Adrian White as secretary and Ryan Brothers has volunteered to be the web-master of panagadivers.com. Appropriate thanks to the outgoing incumbents will be offered at our
End of Season BBQ on Friday 26th October.
The committee below should last for at least a few months without change!
12th - 18th October 2007: Kapalai / Mabul and a New Chairman
Not exactly a club dive, 23 Panaga members descended on Kapalai and Mabul for the Hari Raya weekend to enjoy the last big dive trip of the year. We logged around 150 dives that partly compensate for the poor summer diving season that we've had. Kapalai just gets better and better with new wrecks added to the house reef and BBQ's every night. On the last night, we toasted absent friends (Stan Groff, who wrote a poignant email from the frozen wastes of Alaska) and Brigitte Dale-Pine who is now our Chairman.
The general Kapalai and Mabul web-sites have now been updated with some new pictures and a new map of the wrecks.
6th / 7th October 2007: AMDP-17, AMDP-02 and Gannet
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We were pleasantly surprised with the calm state of the sea this weekend,
despite the recent nasty conditions, and we saw flat water from
the fairway buoy all the way out to Gannet, 25 nm! A weather anomoly?
Let's hope not!
On Saturday we dived the Ampa platforms which were fine but the water was
as green as usual from the surface to the bottom, like swiming in pea soup.
Fish life was abundant with a large school of barracuda and hundreds of jacks
carousing around AMDP2 on the second dive. We dived AMDP17 for our first
dive with an intent to continue the environmental survey, as atmospheric as it
always is, the visibility was not what we had hoped for!
Sunday saw similar sea conditions, flat calm with only a ripple of swell in
the morning.The Gannet platform is a long way out, giving us the advantage
of bypassing the Baram effect and in such sea conditions achieving 30 knots on
Naga Laut is without a problem. On arrival we were greeted with huge schools
of jacks, travelleys and barracuda that simply would not leave the area. By
all acounts, it was a superb dive in conditions that are truly
once-in-a-lifetime. A few errant fishermen showed up hoping to take home their
daily makan despite the no-fishing zone and were subsequently dispatched with
the use of a pointed camera. Gannet is spectacular, not unlike diving in a
submerged cathedral with a bottom at 80m and clear water up to 6m. The
horizontal bracing depths are perfectly placed: 35m, 20m and 8m. A spiral
profile from bottom to top, with a few swims through the conductors is
simply a dive of a lifetime.
Our boat 'Naga Laut' performed perfectly as a dive platform and as tugboat
to dispatch yet another transient palm grove from the KBBC jetty on
Saturday morning. We will have to get the steering hydraulics serviced as the
engines display a rather odd alignment and she is squirting oil on the cox'n
when maneuvering!
GADP-01 in stunning conditions: vis = 40+ metres |
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Without a flash, oceanic water is really, really blue.
22nd / 23rd September 2007: Bandar and the Palm Islands
The lousy weather of 2007 continues to haunt us. Brigitte organised what should have been a jolly outing to the Labuan wrecks as part of her BSAC Advanced Diver course, but on the day, a monster swell prevented us from reaching the Blue Water Wreck. Nevertheless we had a good dive on the Australian wreck. I love this wreck and swimming through the decks in the green gloom makes for a very atmospheric dive. Unfortunately a number of divers became very sick and it was considered prudent, in view of the rising swell, to abandon diving and so we returned to Serasa. Many thanks to Brigitte and Paul and let's hope for better weather soon.
On a positive note, the floating palm islands that have threatened to engulf the Naga Laut at her mooring proved to be no match for a touch of prop-wash at high tide. The dive boat's twin 200 hp engines fairly blasted the islands into the river where the boat dispatched them towards the west bank. Thanks to Paul, Paul, Steve and Matt for helping.
Nippa palms that form the floating edge of the Belait river, often break off and float down stream until they catch on our jetty for example.
We were lucky to shift these since the next big tides occur after the change of season at night-time and not for several weeks!
11th September 2007: Marine ID on the Platforms
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At
the end of 2002, the Panaga Sub-Aqua Club started a project 'Life
Beneath the Platforms' that would ultimately win us the BSAC Duke of
Edinburgh Prize for 2004. Steve Oakley was the supervising marine
biologist, and to start the project, he ran a course on Marine
Identification, however, most of the attendees at that course have since
left Brunei. PSAC still carries an environmental budget and all reports
on life encountered on the reefs and platforms are catalogued on our
web-site.
We are one of the few dive clubs in Brunei still actively cataloging environmental data and this has been recognised by Brunei Shell's leadership team. By ensuring that we are knowledgeable about our marine environment, we will be able to maintain our activities in a credible manner. To this end, Hazel Allen, our Head of Environmental Projects, invited Dr. Steve Oakley back to inject some knowledge and enthusiasm into a new wave of divers. At the end of an excellent evening in the Panaga Club, Steve was presented with the scroll signed by H.R.H. Prince Philip that he should have received two years ago! Steve is passionate about the environment. Help his cause by logging into:- |
Dr. Steve Oakley |
2nd / 8th September 2007: Samanda Reef - Chearnley Ridges
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On the 2nd September, at last calmish seas allowed us to get out to the Chearnley Ridges. Ridges C and D called Samanda Reef were dived in the total absence of current. The shot line fell straight to the bottom at 17 metres that could be seen from the surface. The northern face of this ridge (like most in the Chearnley area) is the steep face and on this reef is intersected by gullies that allow for easy navigation. Schools of fusilier fish abound and the topography makes for an atmospheric dive.
Ridge B, lying 300 metres south presents a different aspect. The northern face is not so steep but is covered in whip corals and a fantastic abundance of crinoids, a few photographs of which are shown on the right. On the way back, we were ambushed by a torrential rain storm that sneaked in over the Baram point. Fortunately there was little wind associated with the rain but without GPS, finding the entrance to the Belait would not have been easy.
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18th August 2007: AMWJ-26
We re-visited AMWJ-26 and noticed the usual large number of blue-ring angelfish darting nervously and even chasing one another. The reason may be the large number of small timid juveniles present. These fish have totally different markings between juvenile and adult stages. Today for the first time, we saw 'adolescents' with both patterns superimposed as they move from juvenile to adult. A large school (> 100 fish) of yellowtail barracuda (Sphyraena flavicauda ?? 60 - 70 cm) was present both inside and outside the platform during the dive. A smaller group of a dozen very distinctive larger chevron barracuda (Sphyraena genie > 80 cm) moved into the platform later in the dive and occasionally moved off to investigate the smaller species.
12th August 2007: USS Salute - Memorial Plaque laid by BSADC
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The attempted salvage of the USS Salute in 2006 galvanised a number of divers to raise strong objections with the relevant authorities. This action halted the salvage. An unexpected consequence, in these days of the internet, was that BSADC diver, Dick Pomeroy, managed to make contact with survivors, relatives and World War II veterans who served in the US Admirable Class Minesweepers during the liberation of Brunei. A plaque, the script designed by Dick and Wayne Shafer, whose brother died on the ship, was placed on the wreck by Dick, Cat and Nigel of BSADC.
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12th August 2007 |
Meanwhile, the wreck continues to provide a haven for myriads of fish. The schooling yellow-tail barracuda, sweetlips (Diagramma pictum) and the massive sting-ray that lives around the wreck demonstrate that the wreck has now returned to nature, and despite avaricious attempts to disturb this place, it remains a sanctuary for fish and provides a historical dive site for interested and respectful divers.
11th August 2007: AMDP02 & AMWJ26
| If you missed this dive, you missed one of the great pelagic spotting events of 2007. Both platforms are famous for attracting pelagics and perhaps because we've not been around for ages, they were out in abundance. The conditions were murky, 8 - 12 m vis. on AMDP-02 and 4 - 10 m on AMWJ-26, however, it didn't stop us from recording an eagle ray, a massive grouper (Epinephelus sp.,), schools of jacks (Caranx sp.,) and golden trevally (Gnathanodon speciosus) with several giant trevallies (Caranx ignobilis) in attendance, schools of swirling barracuda (Sphyraena flavicauda ??) and even a nasty territorial titan trigger fish (Balastoides viridescens). He lives in the SE corner of the structure. |
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On the second dive, we saw a turtle, barracuda, schools of snappers, pufferfish of all shapes and sizes, octopus, crayfish and many nervous blue-ring angelfish (Pomacanthus annularis) with a couple of juveniles darting too and fro. What a shame that only four divers witnessed such a spectacle.
An interesting observation was that both platforms had large populations of rabbitfish, but on AMDP-02 they were gold-saddle rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus), whereas on AMWJ-26, Java rabbitfish (Siganus javus) dominated although both were present. The Java rabbitfish is known to prefer the more turbid water that may explain its preference for AMWJ-26, closer to the Baram.
Mabul: Muck Divers' Heaven or a mini-Sipadan?
Some engine details have been added to the story of the USS Salute.
16th July 2007: Chearnley
At last! After a nasty spell of bad weather, the long-range influence of the first super-typhoon of the season, the seas calmed down and we had excellent dives at TKS and Chearnley. Greenish Baram water lay on the surface but there was plenty to see down below including a large and inquisitive Great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) on our three minute safety stop! It was so good to get out again.
7th / 8th July 2007: Weather !!
How frustrating. All week from the office I could see glassy calm seas. The forecast of 0.3 - 0.5 metres suggested one of the best weekends to come, but in the event, the forecast was dramatically wrong. On Saturday, a squall at Fairley raised the seas to 2.0 - 3.0 metres. Yesterday, the seas held at 0.9 - 1.5 (too much for diving at Chearnley) and touched 2.0 - 3.8 in a SW'erly force 8 last night. This is the South-west monsoon in all its unpredictable splendour! The forecast is bad for the next five days, however, we are planning a dive on Monday 16th (public holiday). That may gives the seas a chance to settle down.
Puerto Galera
What with school holidays approaching, various illnesses and resignations (from Shell), we've had a dearth of marshals to take out the boat. By no means the least guilty, I've been off in Puerto Galera enjoying six days of stunning dives, the highlight of which was the fastest drift I've ever done, and the lowlight being bitten (very hard) by a Titan Triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens - or Bastardoides as I called it at the time). Fortunately, the Titan's impressive teeth are for crunching coral rather than slicing prey and I was left with nothing more than a bruised and rather sore arm.
It was my first trip to PG and I was impressed. The diving is quite different from Brunei or even East Sabah. Excellent topography, some lovely wrecks and exciting currents make for diverse and interesting dives each day. It's easy to get there by flights direct to Manila, minibus to Batangas and then a boat to Sabang where the resorts are. It takes about nine hours door-to-door and no days are lost. Costs are less than Kapalai especially if two share a room and technical diving is available. We'll add a new page to the site soon.
Well Done Volunteers: The PSAC Committee is saved (version 3 !)
Congratulations to the volunteers who have stepped forward to take the four positions vacated recently. First to leave will be Stan Groff. Let's not forget how much time and effort he put into maintaining the club's equipment. Stan is what I call a 'classic diver'. When the weekly dive is advertised, he replies by return "Count me in!" He'll be down at the KBBC early to load the boat and will be the last to leave as he fills the cylinders for the next dive. Hazel Allen has replaced Derek Gunn as Environment Project Leader, John Elder becomes the new Chairman (again), John Clouatre will look after the boat and Brigitte Dale-Pine will take over from Bengi. We wish Derek, Niall and Stan all the best in their new jobs.
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Position
Chairman Diving Officer Secretary Treasurer Equipment Officer - team Training Officer Environmental Officer Social Secretary Welfare Officer |
June 2007
Niall Horan Mark Tuttle Adrian White Steve Smith Stan Groff Evert Moes, John Elder Mark Steinhart Derek Gunn Bengisu Koksaloglu Roy Buchan |
Status
OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK |
Position
Chairman Diving Officer Secretary Treasurer Equipment Officer Boat Officer Training Officer Environmental Officer Social Secretary Welfare Officer |
July 2007
John Elder Mark Tuttle Adrian White Steve Smith Evert Moes John Clouatre Mark Steinhart Hazel Allen Brigitte Dale-Pine Roy Buchan |
Incidentally, this problem isn't going to go away. At the end of the year, we are likely to lose three more committee members and three marshals. Meanwhile back to what we all joined PSAC to do:-
9th / 10th June 2007: Chearnley Ridge 'E' and TKS
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Great dives with excellent visibility were had on the club's first trip to Chearnley Ridge 'E' with a second dive on Terumbu Kecil Selatan. The photos taken by Evert show vast schools of fusilier fish (Caesio cuning) and in the second picture a school of cuttlefish. I've not seen such an agglomeration of cuttlefish since diving on the Usukan wrecks in 2002. On that occasion they had festooned one of the wrecks with eggs. |
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26th May 2007: Heather Reef
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An attempt to reach the 'Petani Mistral' was thwarted (yet again) by un-forecast heavy seas. However, it gave us the chance to divert to the reef pinnacle south of TKS (see below). Every time we dive TKS, this feature pops up on the echo sounder on the way in and on the way out. We'd always meant to dive it one day and this was the day! It's a very small reef, not more than 100 metres across and rises from a sandy bottom at 38 metres. The top of the reef barely touches 25 metres making it one of our deeper targets. Dave and Mas were first down and on surfacing after 32 minutes I think Dave Dave summed it up "What a cracking little reef!" Indeed, it's quite distinct from any other of our reefs being so completely covered in Gorgonian fans and whip corals. I've never seen such an abundance.
The photos show a huge gorgonian covered in crinoids and brittle-stars, a general view, some of the good table corals, and a sandy patch with whip corals. The lifting bag not only acts as a visible marker for the shot-line but makes it so easy to retrieve! |
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19th May 2007: Terumbu Kecil Selatan
| Once again, the offshore winds proved too much for the long haul to Ampa Patches and we diverted to the north face of TKS and had two excellent dives. The vis., once below the murky layer, was over 20 metres and sometimes the density of fusilier fish was so much that the reef became completely obscured. Even getting a true echo from the depth sounder proved difficult so dense were the fish. |
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Safety Note: Suuntos are very conservative for repeat dives. They are punitive if the surface interval is less than 60 minutes (just don't do it), and still very touchy if the interval is less than 90 minutes. I dive an Aladin; I have done for 19 years, upgrading as new technology has become available and it suits me. I know it is less conservative than the Suunto, therefore on the second dive, when my deco alarm went off (two minutes to go), I realised that my buddy, carrying a Suunto, was probably going to cop a penalty. Indeed, as we ascended and my Aladin cleared, Roy's Suunto gave him a seven minute stop. No big deal, we had the gas, the water was warm, and once my Aladin cleared, I surfaced briefly to inform the boat what we were doing. I then returned to two metres to watch Roy. My dive plan, however, was poor. I should have asked Roy to indicate when he got within five minutes of deco. Let's consolidate the advice:-
Don't dive with a surface interval of less than 60 minutes; 90 minutes (as Bandar do) is even better.
Repeat deco dives are EXTREMELY PUNITIVE on the second dive.
Ensure your dive plan asks your buddy to let you know when their computer gets to five minutes from deco. A tap of the computer and five raised fingers works.
Even if your Suunto hasn't cleared and your buddy's Aladin has, clear your own computer. It may lock up for 24 hours if you don't and the extra time is beneficial.
If you have to clear a long stop and your buddy is already clear, rise to your ceiling depth of 3 metres. Decompressing at 6 metres take 50% longer.
If you must mix nitrox and air divers, the air diver controls the deco time and the nitrox diver controls the depth.
12th & 13th May 2007: Real Reefs and Artificial Reefs
We then moved onto the old Ampa Light, the site of BSP's first offshore exploration well in 1959. The surface water was green and very warm giving a cast to the underwater view, but this reef is far better than Chearnley. The corals are more diverse with huge bommies and plate corals. There are many more reef fish as well and roaming schools (25+) of brown parrot fish. If the pictures colours look a bit forced, that was simply to rid the scene of the green hue caused by the thin but effective layer of Baram water.
Ampa Light was one of Brunei's first artificial reefs placed as a warning beacon on the extensive Ampa Patches. Near the beacon are the remains of the drilling derrick. This, of course, post-dates the Word War II wrecks of the Yuho Maru, SS de Klerk and USS Salute.
I am very pleased to report that the USS Salute that was being decimated by illegal brass scrapping last year has been left alone. The port propeller that had been cleared for salvage remains in place and if the extraordinary numbers of barracuda seen yesterday are any indication, the wreck has returned to its normal self. |
Ampa Light, guardian of the Ampa Patches |
3rd, 5th & 6th May 2007
The 'Naga Laut' has been out four times in the last three days. On Thursday evening and Sunday, we visited the Pyramids, but the highlight of the weekend was Saturday's trip to
5th May 2007: Egret re-visited
| The link above will take you to our page on the stingers and biters of the South China Sea. As mentioned below, a box jellyfish was spotted last weekend. Another denizen of our favourite wrecks, the sub-family Scorpaeiniae or Scorpionfish is a master of disguise. They live all over the Cement Wreck and are only really obvious AFTER you have seen them. The picture on the right shows how a diver can be fooled. The pretty red coral looks like a potential photographic subject, but note the menace that lurks just behind it. |
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21st April 2007: Excellent dive on the Pyramids
This report has been moved to the Pyramids page.
WARNING: On a less enthusiastic note, a box jellyfish (poss. Caribdea alata grandis) was spotted by Mark and Mark. Certainly it's the jelly time of year, so cover that exposed skin when diving!
8th April 2007: Question
You are diving from a boat that has anchored on a flat reef top. There is a strong current running; about two-thirds of a knot. The skipper has asked that you return to the shot-line to avoid having to go and chase after surfacing divers. On descending, the current dies away and you observe that the reef is flat at about 13 metres, with many corals but no real identifying features. After 25 minutes you realise that you are lost and cannot find the shot-line. The skipper wants you back at 40 minutes. What would you do ? Answers to annajohn47@hotmail.com
Well done to Dick Pomeroy who replied straight away with an excellent solution.
I've decided to put these scenarios onto a new page called "Scenarios" that will form instructional and hopefully interesting stories.
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Cement Wreck and Abana Reef Massive balls of swirling fry were seen on the Cement Wreck as Bandar divers made its inaugural dive of 2007. There were octopus, morays, lionfish and unusually, a sleeping turtle.
The second dive at Abana Reef showed excellent hard and soft coral development, much like our own TKS and Porter Patch but more so. The only downside was the almost complete lack of fish. A stop at the spit for nitrogen scavenging rounded off a brilliant start to the Bandar season. |
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1st & 2nd April 2007: Wreck Diving and Porter Patch
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The weather has been good over the long weekend allowing us to visit some of the remoter sites. On Monday 2nd April, we made the long, 95 mile round trip to the wreck of the Petani Mistral. This vessel struck the Trident drilling rig in 1995 and sank close to the Iron Duke oil field. Diving the wreck requires a two hour journey and experience in the 30 - 40 metre range, but the reward is a net covered wreck with an abundance of fish life. The picture taken at a depth of 43 metres shows the nets draped across the port bow with a cloud of ever present fusilier fish. A monster grouper haunts the wreck and was seen by most divers. |
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The long trip can be broken on the return journey at Porter Patch, almost exactly at the half-way point. This small reef lies east of Chearnley and has a very distinct character, it's northern face festooned with whip corals and crinoids and, unlike Chearnley, the reef abounds with fish. Lindsay even spotted a couple of white-tip reef sharks lurking under the coral.
With seven people on the boat, the fuel consumed in the 95 nautucal mile trip was just under 300 litres. On the old two-stroke engines, that figure would have been closer to 400 litres, more than the tank capacity of the boat! Despite the distance, regular changes of driver kept the boat going strongly in the kind sea conditions and we returned to the KBBC less than nine hours after leaving in the morning. |
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31st March 2007: Chearnley Ridges and Terumbu Kecil Selatan
| Well the weekend of the 24th / 25th got blown out and the Bandar boat was not quite ready for the water so no diving, however, the plans for the long weekend of the 31st March and 1st, 2nd April look far more promising. A general club dive on the Saturday, and wreck dives on the Sunday and Monday; I can't wait. Meanwhile, your webmaster has been diving off Fahal Island, Ras Al Hamra, Oman and very pleasant it was too, if a tad nippy at 22oC. Free swimming leopard moray eels (Gymnothorax favagineus) seem to be a feature of the place. These are big beasts, over a metre long and as thick as your thigh! RAHSAC is getting a bit desperate for divers, their DO and two OWI's will be leaving soon so get on that MOR and head to Oman! |
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Breaking News: from Panaga's answer to Ernest Hemmingway
"Just listen y'all. That was no Marlin, that was a Sailfish y'all saw - a baby one!" Delving once more into Google, I can reveal that Marlins, Sailfish and Spearfish all belong to the Family Istiophoridae. In all probability, what we saw was Istiophorus platypterus, and not good old Ernest's Makaira nigricans. OK, so it's a sort of Marlin, but it made our day!
Useful Tip for Marine Identification
Go to Google picture search, identify the fish by its common name. Then type the fish name into Wikipedia. Wiki gives the full taxonomic classification.
Sunday 18th March 2007 - Marlins and Leaf Scorpion Fish!
Sunday 18th March: We returned to Marlin Reef, but the poor vis. of exactly a month ago came back to haunt us and spoiled the normal vista of gorgonian fans and whip corals.
| For the second dive, we returned to yesterday's site, the northern drop-off of Terumbu Kecil Selatan. What a magnificent dive! Octopus, schools of rainbow runners and fusilier fish in abundance swam over a nudibranch convention. For the first time in Brunei, I saw a leaf scorpion fish! The gorgonian fans are those that harbour pygmy seahorses although I didn't see any. This was a dive enjoyed by all that gave divers the opportunity to roam the wall from 20 to 30 metres. Marlin Reef came up trumps on the way back as a lone marlin leapt from the water half a dozen times, albeit three hours late and 10 miles off location. |
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Leaf Scorpionfish (Taenianotus triacanthus) photographed by David Purvis
It was great to meet Brunei's tourist of 2007, David "I'm not the TD" Purvis. Looking every inch the tekkie that he is, he was an example to all, turning up early and just joining in, the way that real divers do. You are welcome back any time David!
Saturday 17th March 2007
Saturday 17th March: At last, the NE monsoon winds have fallen away and we got the first really calm outing to the Terumbu Kecil reefs. The visibility was good and the northern face of the southern reef teemed with fusilier fish that gave rise to some incredible echoes on the depth sounder. We dived both reefs that, despite being only half a mile apart, were a full degree different in temperature (the south was 25.5 C and the north 26.5 C). On both dives we saw stingrays that are loosely described as 'Blue-spotted stingrays'. This has bugged me for years so I spent a fruitful half hour on Google to ascertain the two species that we see around here. One has a stick-like tail, and one has a fleshier tail. The answer lies below:-
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Taeniura
lymma
Dasyatis kuhlii |
The very distinctive tail of Dasyatis. Often, these markings give away the rays location. |
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Both rays are called 'blue-spotted' and indeed have blue spots, but the tails are distinct. Taeniura lymma, has a fleshy tail with blue stripes running its length. There's even a modified caudal fin at the tip. Dasyatis Kuhlii has a far thinner tail with distinctive black and white stripes at the tip. It carries the tail raised when it swims. It seems far more nervous than Taeniura. It's also more kite shaped than the circular Taeniura and has a dark colouration by the eyes. It was the Dasyatis that we saw today on the reefs.
If you are into taxonomy, the radically different names of the two rays can be explained below, but first, another observation.
Typically, at this time of year, 'jellies', another gloriously vague description, abounded! There are three sorts of jellies that we saw in the water column; real jellyfish, comb jellies and salps. The diagram below shows how they all fit into the great Kingdom of Animals:-
| The Comb jellies (the iridescent ones) are as different from the
jellyfish as they are from the Chordata (animals with spines).
Amazingly, salps (the small harder pieces of jelly) are a sub-Phylum of
Chordata, and thus closer to us than to jellyfish. It's at Phylum level where real differences occur:- Molluscs, Arthropods (crabs and spiders). At Class level, the differences are between more similar creatures like sharks and rays (Chondrichthes) and bony fishes (Osteichthyes). The blue-spotted rays are all of a Family but distinct at Genus level. At the family level, we have the common names such as Moray Eels, Groupers and so on. |
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12th March 2007
The resurgence of the NE monsoon has curtailed diving from KBBC for several weeks now. Nevertheless, there has been plenty going on.
Mark Steinhart, our new Training Officer, and Mark Tuttle have launched into an ambitious training programme and already, the first of the PADI to BSAC cross-overs, and boat handling courses have been completed. More of these courses plus dive leader and advanced diver training, nitrox, advanced nitrox and extended range diving courses are planned for the rest of the year.
Meanwhile, Piasau have been getting out since they are a bit more sheltered than ourselves, and Bandar hope to have their boat in the water by 25th March.
To welcome the new season and new members, the club's AGM was kindly hosted by Marcus and Febrina. A sumptuous, convivial meal followed the AGM.
Soon, we'll be back in the water.
Friday 23rd February 2007
The forecast lied!! At 6am there was virtually nothing on the weather radar, but two hours later we were hit by squalls on the way to Chearnley that forced us to divert to the Pyramids; at least closer to KB should we have had to make a run for it. Expecting nothing we had a surprisingly magical, almost surreal dive. The brackish green surface water abruptly stopped at 8 metres revealing a two metre clear layer where the seven peaks of the pyramids could be glimpsed above the turbid bottom layer, for all the world like alpine peaks in a sea of clouds. In the two metre vis. at the bottom were stingrays, a giant cuttlefish, jacks, rabbit fish and crayfish. In the upper brackish layer we saw one large Lions Mane jellyfish and schools of red fry swirling and twisting. From the surface they looked like 'red tide' patches. An awesome and totally unexpected dive!
Sunday 18th February 2007
A respite from the NE monsoon allowed us to get out to Marlin Reef and Chearnley Shoals. Three Bandar divers joined us and 10 of us headed out for Chearnley in somewhat lumpy (0.8/1.3) conditions. At Marlin Reef, the stunning surface visibility dropped to 3 - 5 metres below 10 metres depth. The sea was full of brown algae (?) and one could only imagine the normal vista of gorgonian fan corals. Deciding to move to Chearnley proper, we got above the algal black-out and enjoyed 12 metre vis. Matt Atkinson even spotted a reef shark. Everybody agreed that the 25o C water was quite a shock from our 30o C norm! But the boat worked well and at least, the season has been started.
Thursday 15th February 2007
After two weeks and a day, the Naga Laut was re-launched back into the river, four days later than scheduled, but still on the high evening tides. The boat hull has been scraped and re-painted. The engines were serviced on Wednesday, the steering head and hydraulics replaced and new marine batteries have been installed. A test run on the river showed a speed of 33 kts at 5,100 rpm, some 900 rpm below the rev limit that we decided not to try and reach. This is exactly how a clean hull should perform. Many thanks to all the divers who came down to the KBBC and gave up their time to do the job. It was far easier than last year due to the large number of volunteers. Let's hope the weather allows us to get out soon!
The Committee for 2007
There have been a few changes to the committee. Many thanks to Mark Steinhart, Derek Gunn, Steve Smith and Roy Buchan for volunteering to fill the positions. It is only with the help of such people that the club survives and prospers.
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Position
Chairman Diving Officer Secretary Treasurer Equipment Officer - team Training Officer Environmental Officer Social Secretary Welfare Officer |
December 2006
Niall Horan Mark Tuttle Adrian White Kara Shepherd Stan Groff Jim Bray, Evert Moes John Elder John Elder Bengisu Koksaloglu Steve Smith |
Status
OK OK OK new OK new new new OK new |
January 2007
Niall Horan Mark Tuttle Adrian White Steve Smith Stan Groff Evert Moes, John Elder Mark Steinhart Derek Gunn Bengisu Koksaloglu Roy Buchan |
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The first 'bluebottles' of the year have been sighted on Panaga Beach. |
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Naga Laut Annual Overhaul
If you've been down to the KBBC recently, you'll notice our dive boat 'Naga Laut' high and dry. During the off-season of the NE monsoon winds, we take the opportunity to service and overhaul the boat. We have an ambitious schedule this year:-
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Wednesday 31st January - boat removed from river. Saturday 3rd February - boat hull cleaned.
This is a filthy job but it has to be done. We revealed three small sections of hull damage down to the fibreglass but these have now been filled. Next week, we'll sand and paint the hull and upperworks whilst the engines are serviced and the steering and battery wiring system are replaced.
Tuesday 6th February - sand hull; 1st coat of paint Wednesday 7th - service and engineering Thursday 8th - 2nd coat of paint; repair fibreglass Saturday 10th - paint upperworks Sunday 11th - relaunch boat Many thanks to Stan, Steve, John, Derek, Bengi, Mark and Evert for undertaking this filthy job. Don't be deceived by Stan and Steve with the high pressure water sprays. We know these things are dangerous and treat them accordingly. |
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Kapalai / Sipadan January 2007
Congratulations to the six newly qualified BSAC Ocean Divers and many thanks to the instructors who gave up their time to teach the newcomers. As always, our early season trip to Kapalai / Sipadan was a huge success. Let's enjoy the smiles on the faces of
Niall Horan (instructor), Richard Linton, Janine Sleight, Brian Carl, Rosie Reddy, Lee Watts, Matt Newman (instructor), Ellie Cowie and Evert Moes (instructor).
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As usual, it all started in Kota Kinabalu with a pre-dive meeting that, for some, went on until 5am, demonstrating a triumph of metabolism over age, although not in all cases! The 7 am flight to Tawau and the subsequent bus and boat rides saw us at Kapalai by 10.30am and ready for the first dive at mid-day. The older part of the restaurant was being re-floored, and one chalet had been demolished, an inevitable consequence of building your house on a sandy foundation, however, the alternative restaurant housed the guests (of which our 25 constituted about 75%) quite comfortably. Lee and Janine were stricken by nasty-enteritis, a legacy of KK we suspect, and missed a day of the diving, but by the 21st January, we had another six qualified divers.
The resort came up trumps and provided extra dive masters for our Junior divers, Andy, Heather, Dewi and Febrina (a kind of Senior Junior). By the end of the week, all four seemed totally at home underwater. Well done Febrina! Gerry and Sue Tompkins joined us for four days. Gerry was Chairman of the club for numerous years in the mid-90's and added his unique larger-than-life presence to the atmosphere. Kapalai 3 leaves for Sipadan on the last day. The temporary restaurant is in the background. |
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In total, we carried out 220 excellent dives although a few were more challenging than others. The lifting exercise for dive leaders was attempted (more or less) successfully in a raging current, although the recovery of the weights illustrated the limitations of two DSMB's attached to three weight-belts. Definite 'purple willie' material here!
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White-tip reef sharks and turtles too numerous to
mention were seen by all, and grey reef sharks, a swarm of barracuda, a
manta ray by most . The titan trigger fish were remarkably docile and
the brave attempted to photograph them. Don't try that one in September! Don't confuse your Pseudobalistes flavomarginatus (left) with your Balastoides viridescens (right) - avoid both! |
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For the fourth year since 2003, the Kapalai Ocean Diver training course has produced half a dozen dive-fit newcomers as well as a relaxed, bronzed and happy group of divers and snorkellers. I know there will be other trips to Kapalai this year so there are a few pointers worth mentioning. Get into the omelette queue early for breakfast unless noodles are your thing, and do check that your dive gear, with BCD securely fastened to bottle, is on the correct boat. Otherwise, apart from the hammering that is inevitable with continuous maintenance (for those of us that have been here too long, that means repairing stuff before it breaks), it was a great holiday capped by the spacious, virtually empty cabins of the MAS 737's (thanks Air Asia), and a landing to car park record of 14 minutes at Bandar.
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BSAC Ocean Diver Training Course Many of you will have noticed activity in the Panaga swimming pool. This is the time of year when we train newcomers to diving. The course runs for two weeks and covers three evenings of lectures and a theory test, three two hour sessions in the pool, followed by five or six open water dives at a world class dive resort. This means that at the beginning of each year, we have a group of enthusiastic newly qualified divers. During the course of the year, progression to the next level, Sports Diver is made available. Further grades, Dive Leader and Advanced Diver are run by the club, for it is divers of these grades that marshal dives and organise trips. More specialised, and instructor training is handled by inviting National Instructors from BSAC in Britain over to Brunei. In addition to this standard progression, courses on boat handling, rescue management and oxygen administration are run by the club. Only by continuous training can we keep our skills up-to-date and compensate for the inevitable attrition as experienced divers move on. |
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BSAC, PADI and Professional Divers
The British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) is the world's largest diving club with over 40,000 members. BSAC's instructors are not paid at club level, and the organisation only makes enough profit to run a small administrative centre and to publish its comprehensive diving manuals. The club ethic is central to BSAC, where like-minded individuals can meet and discuss diving. BSAC is a club run by divers for divers.
The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is a company that must show a profit to its owners. It employs an excellent, but very prescriptive, training system to achieve these ends. Hundred of thousands of divers are PADI qualified and it is by far the largest certifying body for recreational diving. The instructors are paid, that's how they live. The PADI system is a clever money-making system that is applicable to many endeavours, in this case diving. PADI is a business based on recreational diving.
The BSAC and PADI systems are designed to turn out competent and safe divers, and these days there's very little difference between the systems. Any short-cut to either system will compromise these objectives. In BSAC, there is no financial benefit in short-cutting. This same is true in the long term for PADI, however, short-term gain for some operators is very tempting.
Rough Table of Equivalence
A good indication of the difference between BSAC and PADI is that the BSAC's top 1st Class Diver and National Instructor grades are extremely high quality diving and instructing grades for which PADI (and virtually all other certifying bodies) have no equivalent. PADI's Course Director is awarded on the basis of a business plan and prior experience of the diving business.
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BSAC Instructors |
BSAC |
PADI |
PADI Professional Grades |
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National Instructor |
1st Class Diver |
no |
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Advanced Instructor |
Advanced Diver |
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Master Scuba Instructor |
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Open Water Instructor |
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Open Water Instructor |
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Dive Leader |
Master Scuba Diver |
Dive Master |
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Assistant Instructor |
Sports Diver |
Rescue Diver |
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Ocean Diver |
Advanced Open Water Diver |
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Open Water Diver |
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BSAC requires an annual fee for membership. Your certification is invalid without it. PADI only requires this at Rescue Diver and above.
What about commercial divers?
Commercial divers can be professional instructors of recreational divers. BSAC school and PADI instructors fall into this category.
The other category is the real working diver. These may be military personnel or divers for industrial enterprises. For years there was no acceptance of commercial diving grades in the recreational world and vice versa, since the diving is very different. Typically the commercial diver dives alone, his buddy is the control room and the umbilical that supplies him with advice and air in unlimited quantities. His entire dive is planned and guided by the control. The diver is simply a dextrous but vulnerable ROV. The difference between this sort of diving and sport diving is the difference between a scaffolder and a rock climber. Both need to take similar safety precautions, but their motivation and conduct is necessarily quite different.
