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Tuesday, 24 March 2009 02:00 |
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Mood: 
03.24.09 8:49 am
Report back on our SECOND EXPLORATION TRIP TO THE WEST COAST - SATURDAY 21 MARCH 2009.
The weather for the last few days prior to that Saturday was looking great, and we were very excited about hopefully getting a good days diving in. All the eager divers arrived slightly early, having made the drive up from Cape Town in crisp morning conditions - at 6h30 when refuelling the boat, it was 8 degrees in Langebaan!!!
Our plan was to launch at Sandy Point harbour, start with the furthest wreck, and then to work our way back to the closest wreck. We sped out to the HALERIC, with the sea as flat as a pancake. We soon located the wreck and got the shot in, and initial observations were that it was going to be a great dive, as the water was uncharacteristically very clean.... The shot had landed right in between the boilers and after descending 28m, the majority of the divers headed for the bows. The dive ended far to soon, but all the divers reported having had a fantastic dive on her. Visibility was in the 6-8m range and the water temperature was not much different!
The second wreck we dived on was the SEA TRADER. Although we were led to believe that there was not much left of her, the divers reported an amazing amount of ferrous metal laying around, including massive beams, valves, winches and bollards. At 12m max, there was plenty to see and the divers were all keen to return to explore her some more. Visibility was again in the 6-8m range, with a lot of natural light filtering in.
For our last dive we chose the MFV CASTELLO PELLAR, which lays within the bay of Sandy Point. Unfortunately the dirty water had moved in by the time that we arrived, and we were greeted by an ocean of "hot chocolate" looking water. The majority of the divers were however still keen, and also being a shallow dive at 15m, they made the most of the 3m viz. Although she is quite broken up in places, there is still plenty to see, but hopefully the next time the viz will be slightly better.
Our day trip to the West Coast proved to be a great success, and coupled with our previous trip three weeks before, we are now planning another longer trip later in the year, as we now have several new wrecks to dive on, all which are under two hours drive from Cape Town. This should be in October/November, however more details will follow closer to the time.
A big thank you for all the divers that made the effort to get there and dive something different for a change. - |
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Tuesday, 17 March 2009 02:00 |
Mood:
03.17.09 1:24 am
SECOND EXPLORATION TRIP TO THE WEST COAST - SATURDAY 21 MARCH 2009
With the success of our last trip a few weekends ago, we have decided to do another day trip up the west coast. We are planning to dive on 4 - 5 wrecks in the Britannia Bay area, some that we dived on last time, but this time concentrating our efforts in a lot smaller area.
The weather forecast is looking good for Saturday, so hold thumbs. A complete dive trip will follow on our return.
Our regular launches will happen on Sunday as usual.
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Thursday, 05 March 2009 02:00 |
Mood:
03.05.09 12:48 am
Exploration weekend – Langebaan/Saldanha Bay/Cape Columbine: 6 - 8 March 2009
We will be leaving Cape Town tomorrow and heading up to our accommodation in Langebaan. Unfortunately the house is now full, but there is still space on the boat. If you need help with accommodation, just shout.
We aim to launch from Sandy Point harbour at 8h00 on Saturday and run southwards down the coast. Some of the wrecks that we are aiming for include the naval crash boat P1552, the Haddon Hall, the Malmesbury, the Lisboa, the Haleric, the Sea Trader and the Castelo Pella.
These wrecks are very seldom dived on and on the Saturday we aim to confirm their locations, with the option of diving specific wrecks on the Sunday (including if requested the Ismore).
The cost of the diving is R300 per diver for the whole of the Saturday, whilst for Sunday it is R160 per dive. For Saturday divers, please ensure that you bring something to eat and drink, as well as sun block – it will be a long day at sea.
Although I won’t be taking my compressor along, I will be taking some extra cylinders, but rather try and bring as many as you can, as filling of your cylinders is not guaranteed.
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Tuesday, 24 February 2009 02:00 |
Mood: .
02.24.09 8:37 am
Hi all. We are well into the new year and there have been no postings so far - apologies for this, but there have been many developments of late. The good news is that we are back on track and besides the regular weekend launches, we are planning some tech dives shortly. The first is to the Fleur, followed by a trip to the GB. More details to follow shortly.
We are also planning an exploration trip up the West Coast for the weekend of the 7th and 8th of March 2009. We have plenty of co-ordinates to check out and will hopefully be rewarded with great wreck finds. Keep watching this space.......
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Monday, 22 December 2008 02:00 |
Mood:
12.22.08 9:29 am
MYSTERY WRECK UNCOVERED: Saturday 20 December 2008 – After over two years of searching for her, we think that we may have discovered the MFV Tristania. We say may, because although we found and dived on a pristine wreck, we are still not 100% sure that it is the Tristania, as what we saw differs to the photographs that we have of the vessel in several respects.
This could naturally simply be as a result of prior damage to the vessel, or even preparation work prior to the scuttling of her, but only time will tell – we will simply need to dive her again.
Without going into too much detail, the wreck sits perfectly upright and is totally intact – what an awesome site. It is of course very deep, and this is probably what has saved it from the ravages of the winter storms. We will investigate some more and post the results of our findings.
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