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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.
13th December 2008 - Sponsored Swim
One of our members and a friend undertook a sponsored swim and raised funds for both the RNLI and Croy-Tech by swimming
120 lengths (2 miles) of their local pool. Well done! and Thank you .
24th November 2008 - Croy-Tech 42nd Annual General Meeting
The 42nd Annual General Meeting of Croy-Tech took place at the Royal Russell School and was well attended.
The Annual Awards were presented as follows:
Diver of the Year ................ Ian Fry
Trainee of the Year ............ Mark Staveley
Member of the Year ........... Ashley Talbot
Gotcha Award.................... Ashley Talbot
Congratulations to them all.
22nd November 2008 - Firework Fiesta
A social evening including a grand firework display was kindly hosted by two of our club members. Delicious hot food
was provided, members either paid for a ticket or bought fireworks for the display.
Early November 2008 - Swanage
Over the weekend 7th, 8th & 9th a group from the club visited Swanage. This traditional event in the clubs calendar
is usually set aside for the current trainees to complete their 'Skills', and experience some 'Open Water' training. It is
a popular weekend for members and their partners also.
We usually schedule this event for October, but it was a little later this year. Only one trainee braved the
weather, and managed to complete some 'Skills'.
Five members managed to dive on the Friday, but on the Saturday and Sunday even a dive under the famous pier proved to
be a waste of time.
However, on the social side, we all enjoyed a meal together on the Saturday evening, and we all enjoyed the weekend away.
Hopefully this year, the weather will be kind to us! In the diary for 23rd, 24th & 25th October.
11th October 2008 - Brighton Marina & Croy-Tech 11 Open Day
As part of the Lottery 'Awards for All' conditions, we were asked to advertise our sucess in gaining this award so that
others would be encouraged to apply for funding. On Saturday 11th October many members of the club together with their families
and some friend's met at Brighton Marina (where our RIB is berthed) to get to know the club boat Croy-Tech 11 and see the
Marina.
We were lucky that the day was bright and sunny and we had a good turnout, about 20 of us attended.We put the lottery
balloons on the 'A' frame of the boat, and stuck the 'Awards for All' stickers on all of the pieces of equipment they had
funded. (Boat Cover, Engine and Oxygen Kit). Some of us wore the lottery T Shirts and displayed the giant cheque showing the
amount awarded to us.
After a photo shoot and a drink to bless Croy-Tech 11, the children put on life jackets and were taken for a trip around
the Marina. Some members then went off for a dive, and others went for lunch!
23rd August 2008 - Barbeque Fund Raiser
Although many club members and their families were on holiday and could not attend, the weather was great and after the
delicious food, the roulette and raffle fund raising was a sucess, we raised over £200.00.
14th - 17th August 2008 - Club Weekend in Plymouth
During August we enjoyed 4 days in Plymouth.When we arrived on the Wednesday we were fortunate enough to be able to watch
a heat of the Firework World Championships, it was quite spectacular.
We had booked with Ceeking Diving, a hard boat out of Queen Annes Battery. The skipper Richard King is very experienced
and the boat was ideal. The idea was to dive HMS Scylla as well as other wrecks.Fortunately we planned to dive this on the
Thursday, and although the viz was hardly good, we did enjoy the dive. Other dives took place Hillsea Point, The Persier and
the James Egan Layne, but sadly on the Saturday the inevitable happened, the weather closed in and was so poor that Richard
called off the diving.
19th April 2008 - Race Night
A club member and his family hosted a really enjoyable Race-Nite, it was really good fun and raised over £150 for the
club.
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