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8th November 2010 - 44th Annual
General Meeting
The 44th Annual General Meeting of Croy-Tech BSAC 187 took place, it was attended
by 26 members and 1 guest.
The Awards were presented as follows;
Diver of the Year to
David Jones - 39 Club Dives
Member of the Year to
Denis Quigley
Dave Thorpe Memorial Shield to Sam Stabeler
Gotcha
Award to
Denis Quigley
Committee News
Ian Fry stood down as Training Officer, and was replaced by Denis
Quigley. David Jones stood down as Diving Officer and was replaced by Paul Feakes. Clive Stephens stood down as Equipment
Officer, but will remain as Welfare Officer. All other positions remained unchanged.
Qualification Certificates
David Jones, the outgoing Diving Officer, presented the following with their Ocean Diver Certificates
Sam
Stabeler
Andrew Tsui
Neil Jopson
Robert Jones
30th & 31st October 2010 - Swanage Weekend
A group of 13 Divers and many supporters arrived in
Swanage on 29th to find weather conditions Wet & Windy. However,we all enjoyed a cheery evening in the bar of the
Red Lion. On Saturday 30th the weather had improved and we all met on the pier at 9am. Unfortunately 1 of the group was unable
to dive due to a cold, but the others got kitted-up ready to dive the Fleur De Lys, across Swanage Bay.
Unlike previous
years, Croy-Tech decided it was more economical to hire a boat for the weekend, rather than take our own Croy-Tech 11. We
hired Preditor 11, from Preditor Diving, it was a sucessful venture.
12 Divers left the pier and headed for the
wreck dive site.The conditions were Sunny, Force 2, Sea State Smooth. The Dive Depths ranged from 13.4 metres to
13.7 metres, Dive Times from 25 minutes to 36 minutes, , Water Temperature 18 degrees, visability 4 metres very good considering.
In the afternoon, 2 divers went for a dive under the pier, and 7 headed off for a Drift Dive between Old Harry
& Swanage Bay.
On Saturday evening our group of 21 all enjoyed a meal at The Red Lion, and spent a very social
evening in one anothers company.
Sadly overnight the weather deteriorated and the diving on Sunday was abandoned. Force
5 - 7's Easterly, NOT GOOD for Swanage.
10th & 16th October 2010 - Buckland Lakes
More training dives took place on these dates. Dive depths ranged from 7 metres to 12 metres,
Dive times 21 minutes to 34 minutes, water temperature 17 to 18 degrees, and visability 6 to 7 metres.
9th
October 2010 - Buckland Lakes Night Dive
A total of 9 divers
took part in this long awaited Night Dive, (several spectators also attended). The Dive depths ranged from 6 metres to 7 metres,
Dive times 15 minutes to 29 minutes. The water temperatures was 17 degrees, visability 6 metres. All divers enjoyed the event,
and everyone enjoyed a Burger afterwards.
11th, 18th & 25th September 2010 - Buckland
Lakes
On these 3 dates, various training dives took place to prepare trainees for their
first dive trip to Swanage, and complete Ocean Diver training. The depths ranged from 6 metres to 20 metres, dive times from
15 minutes to 44 minutes. The water temperature 16 - 18 degrees, visability 4 - 6 metres.
4th September 2010
- The Steam Trawler
A group of 6 divers went out from Brighton Marina
in Croy-Tech 11 to dive The Steam Trawler. The day was both sunny and overcast at times. The wind was force 3, the sea state
was slight, water temp. 16 degrees. The maximum depth achieved 19 metres, dive times 33 minutes to 40 minutes. Visability
2 metres.
29th August 2010 - Buckland Lakes
David Jones (D.O)
& Denis Quigley (O.W.I) took Robert Jones for 2 training dives.
Robert Jones has now completed and passed
Ocean Diver Grade, and we all Congratulate him on this achievement.
28th August 2010 - Holborough Lakes
Denis Quigley (O.W.I) took Sam Stabeler for a training dive, 1 completed.
19th - 22nd August 2010 - Plymouth
Holiday
An exciting report on the diving and sightseeing follows
the dive statistics below:
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Date
18th Aug
18th Aug
22nd Aug
22nd Aug
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Dive Site
James Eagan Layne
HMS Scylla
Persier
Trawler Wreck/Drift
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Conditions
3-4 Moderate
4-6 Moderate/Rough
2-3 Slight
2-3 Smooth
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Sea Temp
14 Degrees
14 Degrees
15 Degrees
15 Degrees
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Dive Time
41-60 mins.
47-57 Mins
33-53 Mins
34-53 Mins
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Max. Depth
20-23 Metres
???
27-29 Metres
23-26 Metres
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Thursday 19th August
A group of 9 divers
and 3 non divers made the trip to Plymouth for a long weekend. The first days diving was Thursday 19th. The weather was not
kind. We met Richard (the Skipper) at Queen Anne's Battery at 9am, and he told us that the weather would worsen about
4pm, with a strong wind from the south increasing to 6-7. It was decided to dive the James Eagan Layne in the morning
and HMS Scylla in the afternoon, weather permitting.
All divers enjoyed the James Eagan Layne, but after a 2 hour surface
interval, the weather had deteriorated. The wind had picked up and there was a heavy swell. There were however, still
5 divers ready to jump in and they dived HMS Scylla. Others onboard felt a little queezy to say the least! After a very
rough/wet trip back (winds now approaching 7) we were all pleased to step foot on terra firma!
The diving for Friday
was cancelled.
Friday 20th August
The weather had worsened overnight and we were now destined for a
'Day at Leisure'. Some went visiting National Trust Houses,some went to Plymouths Maritime Aquarium, some went to
Exeter and we went on a rather bleak tour of southern Dartmoor, visiting Dartmeet, Widecombe in the Moor, and finally
ending up at Englands highest natural waterfall Canonteign Falls.
Saturday 21st August
We met Richard at 9am as arranged, but the weather did not look very good. Other hardboats were seen leaving the harbour,
but Richard did not expect them to clear the 'Sound'. He phoned another skipper to confirm what he had suspected,
and after a brief discussion, the diving was abandoned and we had another 'Day at Leisure'. What would we do?
I suggested a trip to Cornwall, to visit the Ship Wreck Museum at Charlestown, (a world heritage site nr St Austell).
5 of us went in one car, and 3 in another. You guessed it, the weather improved slightly. We all enjoyed the couple
of hours spent in the museum and also our prepared packed lunches from Richard.
In the afternoon we went onto Fowey,
where it was Regatta weekend, very buzzy. A cream tea was devoured by us, and we returned back at the B & B about 6pm.
In the evening we enjoyed a meal together at Rockys Grill, and hoped that diving would be possible on Sunday.
Sunday 22nd August
The day started much
brighter, and we met at 9am as usual. The sea was calm and all were looking forward to the days diving. We decided to dive
the 'Persier'., details above. Everyone enjoyed the dive. After an interval of a couple of hours, we dived the wreck
of a small trawler and finished with a drift dive. We returned to port at about 3.30pm, looking forward to the long drive
home (not). The rain chased us all the way.
All in all not a complete washout, but not as sucessfull as last year.
8th August 2010 - City of Waterford
A select band of Club members slipped out of Brighton
Marina on Sunday afternoon to dive the "Waterford", a wreck 8 miles off shore.
The ship was built
by Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd., of Dundee fro the Clyde Shipping Co. Ltd. and used in the paasenger service
between Liverpool and Waterford.
She was 1,344 tons and measured 270 x 37 ft. She had accommodation for 40 passengers
and was renamed City of Waterford, when she was sold to Palgrave Murphy, shipowners of Dublin in 1946.
On April 14th
1949, after 3 years of service between Dublin and the Continent (Belgium, Holland and Germany), she was sunk in collision
with the much larger Greek steamer Marpessa in thick fog 8 miles off Brighton.
This is often a silty wreck but we had
reasonable visibility but not good enough to contemplate any penetration inside the wreck. The site was teaming with fish
as usual and at times the mass of fish effectively obscured the views of the wreck. Fish also means fishermen and there was
no shortage of lost fishing weights to be harvested for re-use in our new shot weight. Every little helps!
1st August 2010 - Leybourne Lakes
Denis Quigley (O.W.I) took Robert Milne for 2 training dives.
25th July 2010 - City of London
A group of 4 club divers went out of Brighton to dive the City of London. The dive was a maximum
depth of approximately 29 metres and the visability was said to be good. A debate took place regarding the site, some thought
it too deep to be the wreck of the City of London, the mystery remains!
24th July 2010 - Holborough Lakes
David Jones (D.O) & Denis Quigley (O.W.I) took Sam Stabeler, Robert Jones and Mark Staverley for training dives,
4 were completed.
11th July 2010 - The Steam Trawler
5 Club Divers went to dive this wreck, unfortunately only 2 of the 5 managed to get on
the wreck. Not a very good days diving!.
11th July 2010 - Buckland Lakes
David Jones (D.O),& Denis Quigley (O.W.I.) took Robert Jones and Robert
Milne for training dives, 3 were completed.
3rd July 2010 - Family Barbeque
The weather was very kind to us this year, hot and sunny. This event was well attended, and we thank Ashley, Ann,
and Paul the chef for making it a great sucess. We all really enjoyed ourselves and raised valuable funds for the club in
the process.
26th June 2010 - The Steam Trawler
4 Club Divers, went out to Dive The Steam Trawler, statistics to follow.
20th to 24th June 2010 - Farne Islands, Northumberland
There are so many interesting details about this trip, I have made a special page, please refer.
A couple of pictures below as a taster!
12th June 2010 - Buckland Lakes
On Saturday, Ian Fry Training Officer, Denis Quigley, and Neil Jopson went to Buckland Lakes for Neils last Open
Water Dive to complete his Ocean Diver Qualification. All went well with Neil being the Dive Marshall and Denis his Buddy.Neil
obtained his Ocean Water Diver Grade. Congratulations!
5th June 2010 - Seaford Beach Family Day
A great day was had by all, the weather was very kind to us , dry sunny and warm. 14 diving
members attended and as many if not more family members spent the day at Seaford.
A total of 16 dives were completed,
and Croy-Tech 11 was also in attendance as boat cover.
Statistics: Sunny & calm, water temp 14 degrees, Viz 4 metres,
dives minimum depth 6 metres, maximum depth 12 metres.
29th May 2010 - Holborough Lake
With a force 5 southwesterly blowing, three intrepid divers David,
Ray and Denis decided on a day out to Holborough Lakes in Snodland. The first dive was to be a circuit of the main attractions
including a swim though the yacht. Half way round, Grotesque's also made for a good photo opportunity and then followed
by a little "bouyancy control" swimming through the extremly large lorry tyres.With a dive time of 45mins, we finished off near to our point
of entry at the last sunken speed boat which is home to a rather friendly Perch. The second dive was around the reed beds
in the hope of spotting more Perch, which we did and also the resident Pike, which we didn't!
Statistics:
Weather was raining and calm. Water Temp 13 degrees, Viz 4 metres, and maximum dive depths 10.3 & 7.3 second dive.
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17th
May 2010 - Meet & Greet Edenbridge Sub-Aqua Club Evening
The Meet and Greet Edenbridge
evening was a great sucess.Several members of Edenbridge Sub-Aqua club joined our members at the Royal Russell School Pool.
Videos and photographs were displayed, soft drinks and nibbles were made available.
8th
May 2010 - Boat Handling Theory
5 members spent a day in the classroom completeing the Theory
Session of the Boathandling Course. The Practical will take place later in the summer.
8th
May 2010 - The Alaunia
Hard Boat Dive cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.
2nd May 2010 - Leybourne Lake
4 divers braved the very wet
surface conditions to dive Leybourne Lake. The Training Officer Ian took Ocean Diver Trainee Robert for his first Open Water
Dive, unfortunately a problem with the hired equipment shortened the dive to 22 minutes. ( The shoulder dump valve
came away from the BC).
The remaining 2 divers had a 53 minute dive. Maximum depth 8- 8.9 metres, Viz a staggering
15 metres.
Ian and Robert were returning on Monday for a second attempt. !
25th April 2010 - Kyarra - Swanage
8 Members travelled to Swanage for a days diving. 3 had a morning dive under
the pier, a maximum depth of 3.6 metres, dive time of 22 minutes, viz 4 metres. and sea temp.10 degrees.
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The photographs above were taken by Daniel
Golberg whilst diving under the pier.
The photographs below were taken by Shirley Painter whilst passing time on
the pier.
In the afternoon they were joined by the others, and boarded the
"Swanage Diver" rib, for a dive on the Kyarra.
Dive Site: The Kyarra , Location: 50°34.90N; 01°56.59W (Swanage) , Description:
6953 ton Australian steamer, Length: 126 metres (413 feet), Depth: 18 metres to top of wreck (60 feet), 30 metres to seabed (100 feet),
The Kyarra was sunk in 1918 by a torpedo, killing all 6 crew members. This is a very popular wreck, allowing trainee sports
divers to build up depth experience and making an enjoyable accessible dive for those who are more experienced. There are
many brass portholes to look through, and the holds still contain perfume and vinegar bottles. Gold watches have even been
found on board even recently. There is also some fish life including zebra gobies and dogfish. The Kyarra is reached from
Swanage and must be dived during slack, one hour before and six hours after Dover high water.
Dive
Facts & Figures
Maximum depths - 26 to 30 metres,
Dive times 30 to 36 minutes,
Sea Temp. 10 degrees,
Visability 4 metres.
After the very enjoyable dive, 5 of us rounded off the day by enjoying a drink and a curry.
17th
April 2010 - Buckland Lakes
6 Members Dived Buckland Lakes, on 17th April, Water temperature
slightly improved at 9 degrees. Maximum depths ranged from 4.8 metres to 11.7 metres, dive times from 12 to 38 minutes. Visability
4 metres.
A picture of Ray just below the surface, taken by David Jones, DO.
5th
& 10th April 2010 - Buckland Lakes
On Easter Monday a group of 8 members dived the lake,
depths ranged between 5 to 11 metres and the water temperature was 8 degrees.
Diver levels were Ocean Diver to Advanced
Diver.
On Saturday 4 members dived the lake, depths ranged from 9 to 14 metres and the water temperature
was 9 degrees, warming up!
Diver levels were Sport Diver to Advanced Diver.
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20th March 2010 - Stoney Cove
Four Croy-Tech members made the trip, David Jones, Ian Fry, Daniel Golberg
& Martin Greenwood.
Our early 5.45am start saw us arriving at Stoney Cove for 8.30am.
After a spot of breakfast
at Nemo's Bar we made our first dive of the day starting with the Viscount aircraft cockpit. (shown in the photographs),
after which we dropped over the cliff face down to a depth of 20 metres. As a dive group of 4 we made our way to the Wessex
helicopter which sits in 22 metres of water. Whilst it still remains a good wreck to visit, this once intact helicopter is
now a sad sight as visiting divers have over the past 18 years collected many souvenirs.
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After the Wessex, the plan was to make our way to
the Stanegarth tug boat on a bearing of 220 degrees. Unfortunately as the viz decreased to about one metre, we decided to
about turn and make our way back towards the Wessex, and then onto the Northern rock face for a slow ascent to the 6 metre
zone. Once back to 6m we headed towards the Nautilus submarine which at this stage is still very intact and had not yet succumbed
to the "hard to fathom" souvenir hunters.
Coming to the end of our 35 minute dive time, we worked our way along
the foundations of Nemos pub spotting many shoals of small perch. With a water temperature of 5 degrees our exit point came
into view and for the sake of our numb fingers this was not a moment to soon.
The second dive was a training dive.
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27th
February 2010 - Holborough Lakes
A new venue for Croy-Tech, 4 tuff divers took the plunge into waters of
6 degrees and viz of 2 metres. Two of the divers had a 42 minute dive, the other 2 had approximately 15minutes underwater,
followed by a 'Free Flow' and a surface swim back of approximately 30 minutes, not a great dive!!! Maximum depth was
10.3 metres. The weather was overcast and calm.
The facilities were good and we will use the venue again.
23rd January 2010 - Seasonal Meal Coombe Lodge
The Annual
Seasonal Meal once again took place at Coombe Lodge, some 26 member's, relatives & friends attended.
Our traditional
raffle took place and raised approx. £95 for club funds. We all had a really good social evening.
23rd
January 2010 - Buckland Lake
Yet another freezing dive took place, water temp. 5.2 degrees, 7 divers braved
the elements and completed a dive lasting between 40 & 42 minutes, depths achieved between 9.1 & 9.7 metres. Weather
was overcast and calm.
Brrrrrrr !
22nd January 2010 - Caterham Sea Cadets
In recent months several Caterham Sea Cadets have come to Croy-Tech to undergo Try Dives. The sessions
have been great fun and enjoyed by all. As a result of this new relationship, Croy-Tech's Chairman - Daniel Golberg,
Secretary - Shirley Painter & member Raymond Painter were honoured to be invited to attend the Caterham Sea Cadets Annual
Presentations, held at TS ZEPHYR in Caterham on Friday evening. The events commenced at 7pm, Captain of Sea Cadets
Captain Mark Windsor Royal Navy was received, followed by Colours and Prayers.
The Captain inspected the Cadets,
who then gave guided tours of the unit. Upon return to the main deck, the Annual Presentations took place. The awards were
presented by Captain Mark Windsor.
After the Evening Colours, Captain Mark Windsor RN addressed the audience. Refreshments
of Wine & Cheese followed and everyone had a chance to meet. The evening proved to be both interesting and informative,
and gave us a brief insight into the workings of the Sea Cadets.
We hope that in future some Cadets will join Croy-tech
for their formal British Sub-Aqua Club training.
1st January 2010 - Buckland Lake
The 2010 Croy-Tech dive season kicked off
in the traditional way with a dive on New Years Day. As there were only 3 divers this year, due to ill health, holidays etc.
the venue was changed from Leybourne Lake to Buckland Lake at the last minute. The 3 divers were David Jones, Richard Harvey &
Colin Brown and Ian Fry went as shore cover. Unfortunately Colin could not clear his ears, and after removing his Scuba
kit, had to make do with a snorkel. David and Richard continued to view all the attractions, see photographs. The day was sunny
but chilly, the water temp. 3 degrees, the viz approx 5 metres.
After de-kitting we all enjoyed a Bacon Roll &
a hot drink. Un-fortunately we mislaid the Santa Hats!
  
2009 Dive Season
13th December 2009 - Buckland Lake
A group of 6 divers
took to the lake on a cold, overcast day.Dive times ranged from 26-43 minutes, with depths of between 7.5 to 9.6 metres achieved.
Some skills took place. The water temp. was 9 degrees.
30th
November 2009 - Annual General Meeting
The 43rd Annual General
Meeting took place, it was attended by 21 Members, 7 Guests. 6 Apologies.
The
Awards were presented as follows:
"Diver of the Year" to:
Daniel Golberg
"Member of the Year" to: Ray Painter
"Dave Thorpe Memorial Shield" to: Mark
Staveley
"Gotcha Award" to: Clive Stephens
Committee News
Ian Fry stood down from the position of Diving
Officer, but still remains our Training Officer.
Our new Diving Officer was nominated and duly elected, David Jones was
welcomed to the Committee, who otherwise remain unchanged.
14th
November 2009 - Firework Fiesta
After a very damp start to the day, fortunately the rain finally stopped
and OUR 'Firework Fiesta' took place.
(The Lord Mayor of Londons Firework Display had to be cancelled)
Our Thanks go to Del, Jane and
their helpers, for making the evening a great sucess. The food was delicious and we all went back for more. and the fireworks,
plentiful and sparkling. The rockets sensational & noisy.
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31st October 2009 - Boat Returns to
Brighton
Clive kindly towed the boat back to Shoreham, aided and abetted by Ray & David, who took
the boat back through the lock and around to the Marina. Our thanks to them for giving their Saturday to this cause.
23rd - 25th October 2009 - Swanage Training
Weekend
A group of 7 divers and a few family members made their
way to Swanage for our annual training weekend. On Friday the boat was towed to Swanage by Del & Jane, a big Thank You
to them, and launched and prepared for Saturday. On Saturday morning the weather was far from good, you could hardly see the
otherside of the bay.
The divers keen to get wet, kitted up and headed for the 'Fleur de Lys', a small wreck
just below the cliffs on the far side of the bay. Several skills were concluded and the others just enjoyed the dive, the
viz was not great. In the afternoon 3 very keen member's has a short dive under the pier.
On the Saturday evening our group had swollen to
16 and we all had a meal together at the Red Lion Pub. A couple of old friends joined us who were in our club several years
ago, it was nice to see them once more.
Sunday the weather had improved quite a bit, and with most of the skills out
of the way, it was just a matter of diving again.
11th October 2009 - Boat Move
The Club Boat
Croy-Tech II was removed from Brighton Marina in readiness for our Club Training weekend at Swanage, later this month. Our
thanks go to Del, Ray and Clive who spent a wet Sunday achieving this. ___________________________________________________________________________________
27th September 2009 - City of Waterford
Weather conditions were not far short of ideal, the perfect late Summer day. The plan was to dive
the City of Waterford on a good low water slack. The city of Waterford was built in 1921 at the Caldon Ship & Engineering
works in Dundee. Her name when she was built was the 'Skerries II'. She was 270ft long with a beam of 37ft, driven by three-cylinder
triple-expansion engines with two boilers giving her 196hp.
In 1946 Skerries II was bought by Dublin ship-owner Palgrave, Murphy & Co, and was renamed the City of Waterford.
She mainly steamed between Ireland and European ports.
On 14th April 1949, the City of Waterford was engaged in one of her routine crossings between Antwerp and Cork with 1000
tons of general cargo when she ran into thick fog about 12 miles west of Beachy Head. In that same fog bank but going the
other way was a much bigger ship, the Marpessa, a 5500 ton Greek steamer. After the collision, the City of Waterford took
very little time to sink, but her crew were all picked up safely.
Today she is a favourite south coast wreck site lying about 7 miles south of Brighton Marina. David Jones was the Dive
Marshal of the day and Del Hutchins was Deputy Marshal. It was a classic 'Plan the Dive and Dive the Plan' dive with everything
going to plan. The Waterford was impressive as ever, the low water slack put her at a maximum depth of around 31 metres and
standing proud in places by around 6 metres. She is a very atmospheric wreck with large shoals of Bib and Pouting hovering
in the gloom and larger solitary fish and several large Congers inhabiting the interior. Her bow and stern are the most stricking,
along with the large anchor still in position.
By the time both pairs had dived and the kit was stowed the breeze had dropped yet further and the sea was almost glassy
allowing a comfortable ride back to the Marina.
After a call at the fuel pontoon we berthed and Del volunteered to jump in to do the rope work needed to secure the cover
over the boat. He was surrounded by small fish and was heard to say 'they have transparent heads and you can see what they
are thinking'. This might have been put down to Nitrogen Narcosis but as this generally does not affect divers on the surface
up to their ears in water, it might have just been one of Del's startling insights into the mysterious relationship between
Man and Fish.
20th September 2009 Out of Brighton
Pentyrch wreck once again, 2 divers and a non diving boatman, depth 25.7m, dive time 23 minutes. Viz ok.
9th August & 15th August 2009 - Out of Brighton
On 9th August 6 divers dived the ever popular Pentyrch, average depth
of the dives was 24.5 metres and the average time of the dives 38 minutes.
A second shallow dive was taken under the East Pier, dive time approx. 20 mins.
On 15th August 5 divers went down on the Brighton Reef. 12.8 metres depth, 3 only managed
a dive of approx 18 minutes, and 2 had longer 66 minutes.
30th July - 1st August 2009 - Plymouth Weekend
As last year, we booked the charter day boat Ceeking (out of Queen Annes Battery, Plymouth)
for 3 days, skipper Richard Kings. Website www.divingplymouth.com
The weather during the week prior, was very poor but we went with optimistic minds and were justly rewarded.
Richard is a very experienced skipper and knows exactly where and when to dive at all states of the tide and weather.
If it is possible to go out, he will.
On Friday 4 divers enjoyed 8 metre Viz when diving 'The Persier' and the same visibility in the afternoon diving on Hillsea
Reef.
On Saturday 8 divers were on board, our number swollen by 3 divers from Edenbridge BSAC. The itinerary was HMS Scylla
and the James Egan Laine. Once more the Viz was good, 5-8 metres on both.
The 3 from Edenbridge had not dived either of these wrecks previously, and were very impressed.
The weather was bright and sunny and the wind about 3-4 knots, slightly less choppy than on the Friday.
Our party of 11 strong enjoyed a very entertaining evening and dined at a local grill just off The Barbican.
Sunday was again bright but the forecast, to deteriorate during the afternoon. As it turned out, this was not the case,
although it was a little gloomy lunchtime. After an animated debate, coins were tossed and it was decided to dive the
same wrecks as the previous day. Once more Viz was about 5-7 metres.
Everyone enjoyed the diving, and we all set off for home at about 4pm.
11th July 2009 - Annual Club Barbeque
The weather looked threatening so arrangements had been made to erect an awning, it turned out to
be like a sequence from the 'Generation Game', 3 people trying to erect the equipment and several others shouting how to do
it! In the event it was quite a laugh. Our thanks to Ashley & Ann who once again hosted the day.
Our thanks also go to 'Paul the Chef' who again provided us with a delicious buffet.
Various 'Fund Raising' events took place, and the Black Jack proved very popular with all ages. The overall winner was
Ron Mason (a remote member) who won Gift Vouchers to the value of £25 and a bottle of Champagne.
5th July 2009 - The Pentyrch
Six Croy-Tech divers went out to dive The Pentyrch, a 3,382 ton British Steamer laden with coal.
She was torpedoed by UB40 on the 18th April 1918 with the loss of one crew member. We dived on a High Water Neap the depth
was 23.5m. Viz was a cracking 6m and the water temp. 17 degrees. The divers in the photographs are Ray Painter & Mark
Staveley.
28th June 2009 - City of Waterford
Three members of Croy-Tech plus one guest from Edenbridge went out to dive the "City of Waterford".
A 1,334 ton British Steamer built in 1921. She sank in 1949 after colliding in thick fog with a much larger Greek Steamer
called the "Marpessa".
Flat calm sea conditions made for a great dive, with viz 6m.
Depth on a low water slack was 27m and water temp. 17.6 degrees.
NOTE- Beware of fishing nets portside amidships
20th June 2009 - Kyarra, Swanage
Mid way through the 2009 dive season "the weather looking good", a joint trip between 4 members of
Croy-Tech and 4 from Edenbridge Sub Aqua Clubs set out to dive "The Kyarra". At 4383 tons she is one of Dorsets most popular
wreck sites. A victim of a German U boat she was torpedoed on 5th May 1918. The Viz was an enjoyable 8m with depth at 28.3m
on a low water neap.Water temp was 15 degrees. Diving was off the Mary Jo - Swanage Boat Charters.
10th-16th May 2009 Northern Red Sea
Wrecks & Reefs
Diving trip jointly arranged by David Jones, Croy-Tech and Paul Feakes of Edenbridge Sub Aqua Club.
At 2 o/c on the morning of 10th May, five of us boarded the live-aboard floating hotel named The Typhoon operated by
Tony Blackhurst Scuba. At 33m length and 8m breadth and not to forget the twin 700hp engines this is an amazing live-aboard.
(See picture above)
On the first morning, as it was a late night we got a lay in and the first dive brief/introduction was at 9 o/c. The
itinerary was set out before us as being wall to wall diving ( 4 dives a day using 32% Nitrox). The 5 days ahead followed
a pattern of 7 o/c first dive then breakfast, 2nd dive at 11 o/c followed by lunch, 3rd dive at 3 o/c then sunbath, 4th dive
8 o/c then evening meal followed by a night cap and a good chat about the day's experience.
 
Water temp was a comfy 25 degrees and viz a mere 30m or more. Wrecks & Reefs itinerary gives
the best of both types of diving and sites visited were as follows; Wrecks - Marcus, The Carnatic, Giannis D, Rosalie Moller,
Kingston, Thistlegorm, Dunraven and finally the Yolanda. In between these fantastic wreck sites the reefs we dived were Abu
Nuhas, Ras Ghozlany, Jackson, Gordon and Thomas, the last three located on the straits of Tiran. The best of all and being
one of Jacques-Yves Cousteau's top 10 most favorite dive sites Shark and Yolanda reef, which was an exceptionally good dive
with little current and plentiful fish life.
We started our descent onto Shark reef and slowly made our way down across the reef system onto what's left of the Yolanda
wreck, most of which has now slid off the reef edge into 100 plus metres of water. After a dive time of one hour
we made our ascent looking forwards to breakfast.
As Daniel Golberg stated one evening (after a Whiskey), we must say to our other half's this is not a holiday but hard
work. " If only every day could be as hard as the past five" !
4th May 2009 Lakefield Lake Training
Training took place at Larkfield Lake, in total five divers carried out:
3 Sports Diver Skills and 2 Dive Leader Skills.
Paul Hawkins also did his Assistant Dive Marshall Skills
Paul Wu repeated some Skills previously done on a Padi Diving Course.
Pat & Mark with Ron assisting made up a diving group.
The club frequently uses this safe and convenient facility for training dives, and this is of course where we have our
traditional New Years Day Dive.
26th April 2009 - The Clodmoor
The advanced weather forecast for Sunday was unpromising with South Westerlies forecast force 4-5.
So Rib diving from Brighton seemed to be a poor prospect. Gildenburgh water being an inland site was an option although this
involves a 2 hour drive.
Sunday dawned with bright sun and a cloudless sky with light wind. Time to change the Plan! Brighton was on again and
the wreck of the Clodmoor 2 miles off Newhaven was the chosen destination.
The wreck was located very quickly on the first pass. We were joined on site by the hard boat Brighton Diver and our
first pair in (Del & Ray) used their shot. They found significant algae bloom in the water and very poor vis on the wreck
(well, total blackness actually). This was in part due to the first divers in from the hard boat stirring up the silt at the
bottom of the shot line.
The second pair (David - dive marshall and Daniel) used our shot line and found better vis and although the visability
was poor the wreck could be seen quiet well thanks to David's pilotage, the great iron screw rose up at the end of the dive
and providied a good spot from which to send up the delayed SMB.
The 'fun' however was not over. The grapple that had been used for the shot was firmly stuck when it came to pull it
on board. Del & Ray did a second dive to free it and found it well wound round the wreck and caught up in old ropes. When
the divers are shot were safely back in the rib, the slight sea state allowed a rapid passage back to to the Marina.
Photograph by Daniel Golberg
19th April 2009 - City of Brisbane
Four divers went out, David (Dive Marshall), Ray, Del and Daniel. Despite a nasty chop and a bumpy
ride out to the wreck of the City of Brisbane, surface conditions improved greatly when we got on site. The neap tides meant
a fairly wide window for slack water and we dived in two waves around 12.00 and 13.00hr.
Built in 1918 by Swan Hunter & Wigham, this 7,094 ton steel steamship was on a voyage from London to Buenos Aires
when in the channel she was struck by a torpedo fired from UB-57. All hands managed to escape the sinking vessel and watched
her go down.The City of Brisbane was the last victim of Oberleutnant Lohs in UB-57, before he and his entire crew died when
it hit a mine outside it's base the following day.
Despite its size it took some time to locate the wreck. The club GPS coordinates did not turn anything up so David tried
alternative marks and the wreck was evenutally located. The visability was pretty good at 4 or 5 metres and there was plentiful
fish life. Sadly both pairs saw crustaceans trapped in fine mono filament nets on the wreck, a sizable lobster (dead) and
a crab (alive but unfreeable).
Both pairs of divers enjoyed 40 minutes or more underwater and apart from Rays reel falling apart and a slightly rapid
ascent everything went well. The trip back to the Marina was much more comfortable. This was down to Del's impeccable boat
handling - the improving weather had something to do with it.
Photographs taken by Daniel Golberg
5th April 2009 - Out of Brighton
The original plan was to dive the Steam Trawler but we ended up diving the Billy Boy. The visability
was good and plenty of fish life. No crabs or lobsters but plenty of star fish and congers. We swam around the wreck 3 times,
Ashley eventually caught a lobster and we ascended to the reef and surfaced with the aid of a delayed surface maker buoy.
3rd April 2009 - Gildenburgh Waters
Two member's of Croy-Tech and another diver took a trip to Gildenburgh Waters, it looks a bit murky
to me but they enjoyed the change.
The Cabin Cruiser was at a depth of 16 metres and the Bus at a depth of between 7-15 metres.
Photographs below taken by David Jones Croy-Tech member.
22nd March 2009 - Out of Brighton
Four divers went out on Sunday, Ray (Dive Marshall), Ashley (Boat Person), Del, and Daniel. Despite
conflicting weather forecasts, the surface conditions were close to ideal, sunny, virtually no wind and flat sea. The tides
meant a late start whuch had plus points(no need to get up at an ungodly hour and some bad points (difficulty in finding parking
in the end car park and heavier traffic there and back).
The good weather conditions encouraged the group to try a copule of sites in the GPS memory that
we haven't done for some time. During a dive to about 22m Ashley & Del found the visibility poor enough to call a halt
after about 10 minutes. A decision was made to look for something at a shallower depth and 2 dives were made on Brighton Reef.
Ashley & Del dived a new bit of the reef with some more depth and saw Congers, Lobsters and some good fish life. Ray and
Daniel headed off in another direction and dived lower reefs with good overhangs full of small Pouting (the stripy ones).
Daniel got some good photos of a Lumpsucker or Sea Hen, an unusually ugly fish that comes in to shallow waters in the Spring
to spawn.
All in all a good time was had by all despite the worsening sea conditions as the afternoon progressed.
Ashley spoke to the Marina Office and the good news is they are closing the Boatyard/boatpark on the top of the car park
at Easter and it will be available for parking again.
  
22nd February 2009 - Brighton
5 brave or foolish club member's experienced the first dive of the season from
our rib out of Brighton.
Cold, Choppy & Grey summed it up!
10th January 2009 - Seasonal Club Meal
This annual event was attended by many of the club members and some of their relatives and friends. A good night was
had by all, and the Raffle raised £191.00 for club funds.
empty box
1st January 2009 - Leybourne Lake
Some hardened members and their relatives followed our annual tradition and spent a couple of refreshing hours
at Leybourne Lake in Kent. After breaking the ice! 6 divers had a somewhat bracing dive, one suffered
a free flow and emptied a 15 litre cylinder in as many minutes, and had a long surface swim back to the bank, another
suffered a leaking cuff seal and returned with a very wet and cold arm. Apart from this we all had a good dose of fresh air.
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