This is a report of a privately organised dive charter trip.

Java Seas Expedition- November 2008 (By Mark Tuttle)

 This was not a club trip so I hesitate to publish even a brief summary here, but it did result in a number of good learnings and a few nice photos so I’ll keep it short and sweet.

Objective was to dive and photograph four WW2 wrecks resting at the bottom of the Java Sea, casualties of a conflict that took a heavy toll on the Allied Forced in 1942. We dived on four battleships: Hr.Ms De Ruyter and Hr.Ms. Java, both of the Dutch Naval fleet in Indonesia, then HMS Exeter and HMS Encounter, both part of the UK fleet in SE Asia during the nasty part of WW2. All of these ships served admirably in the early 40’s and were involved in a fated campaign to challenge Japanese intrusions into the Java Sea. The Japanese certainly held the upper-hand in the battles, largely because of their adoption of “long-lance” torpedoes and the Allied Forces consequently suffered a tragic loss of people and ships. If you are interested, research the battle. There are excellent publications “South to Java” is one. Pending approvals, I will post a few good newsletters here for bedtime reading.

Our Expedition Leader, Dr. Andrew Fock, took special care to prepare for the dives by first sending participants superbly researched briefing notes weeks prior to the event, then bringing along the Dutch and UK Naval Ensign flags to be flown above the wrecks, attached to our shotline and held aloft by DSMB on every dive, and delivering dive briefings that included a description of the history, review of detailed ships plans and specific points of interest for photography and survey. Andrew also conducted medical examinations of all divers before and after dives that included maximum respiratory flow measurements and visual tests (read the eye-chart) to evaluate potential effects of oxygen toxicity endured over a two week period of extensive deep diving. His findings will be published in the DAN Safe Diver magazine in the coming months. Dr. Les provided good advice on physical fitness during the expedition and proved his point by completing more chin-ups than anyone else aboard Empress.

Sea conditions during the twelve-day expedition ranged from glass-calm to downright nasty swells and a predominant surface current making our splash in and swim out an interesting exercise. Thankfully, our floating hotel, MV Empress, is equipped with a diver lift, requiring a simple swim into a submerged basket hanging off the transom, then the lazy diver is easily hoisted onto the back deck where experienced crew assist in removing heavy kit. This is excellent and if ever we have budget and a big boat, we should get one of these!

Dive depths on the trip were typically 55m to 75m with bottom times ranging between 35 and 50 minutes, requiring lengthy decompression stops during ascent. Total dive times were between 120-160 minutes. We had the pleasure of enjoying the company of a juvenile whale shark for a few days circling and examining the decompressing crew. These were the only photos I managed during the trip for a few reasons: the wrecks are deep and dark, my camera housing is not rated to such depth and lacks adequate lighting. I flooded a Canon this year trying to photograph Brigitte descending onto De Klerk and did not want to endure the experience again!

There is a superb two-minute video of our friendly fish swimming with me and my buddy. If I can find a way to post it here (not youtube), I will.

Trip logistics: fly to Bali via Singapore, stay overnight in a nice sea-side resort Puri Santrian , transfer to a remote beach on the east coast by van, transit to MV Empress by RIB. We averaged 60kg of luggage per diver so excess baggage charges were expected. BWN was the worst in terms of excess luggage charges (B$190), DPS was best (US$5), SIN was ok-lah (S$150). If you state up-front that you are carrying “sports equipment” before check-in you may get an extra 10kg allowance. Apart from that a gold frequent flyer membership helps (additional 20kg at no charge).

Learnings:

• Plan the dive and dive the plan – pretty obvious stuff.

• Practice, practice, practice – effective dive planning and superb buoyancy control go a long way toward ensuring dive safety.

• If you have new kit, check it out extensively – my new X1 dive computer (backup) failed on the first dive and I am still trying to figure out why. Thankfully my primary dive computer worked flawlessly.

• Don’t bite your mouthpiece too hard – I bit mine off twice and endured two long deco stops trying to keep it in by lip suction alone. I survived so maybe now I’m a good kisser. Volunteers?

• Make sure you are physically fit for your dive – talk to your doc and get your medical done. If you want to pursue more challenging dives, get screened for a PFO. This is mandatory for technical divers in the club.

Safe diving folks, let’s hope the calm seas continue through December!