Descend Downunder
Well I think the old saying goes “It never rains it pours”, and we know exactly what that feels like at Descend at the moment. Between commercial diver training in Turkey, commercial diver training here at Descend, commercial contracting jobs, our new tunnel project for Northern Sewerage in Melbourne, our Truk trip and another trip to Turkey its no wonder our newsletter is a little behind. So much happening its hard to know where to start, so here goes…...
New Staff Member..  | | Welcome to the team Mark |  |
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If you’ve been into Descend lately you may have noticed a new, but slightly familiar face. Mark Padmore has just completed our three month commercial diver training course and has now commenced working at Descend. A lot of you already know Mark as one of our keen die-hard divers from club trips and sport courses but there is more to Mark than you may know — now a Level three commercial diver, Chamber Operator, Cave diver and Divecon Instructor. Mark will be assisting with commercial courses, repairs, sport courses, dive trips and shop sales. So next time your in make him feel welcome. Welcome to the team Mark Padmore.
Kristy's Back… Yipeeee!!!
Yep—time sure flies when your having fun, and now the little one is close to 12 months I'm officially back 2 days a week. (Thursday's/Fridays) Come and say hi and I promise NOT to inundate you with baby pic’s. (Oh, OK maybe just 1).
Dive Trip—Shell Harbour
Get ready for the October long weekend and join us to a new diving destination to Shell Harbour.
We’ve picked some great dives sites but hurry places are limited. Full details below;
Dive Shell Harbour: 3rd— 5th October  | | Dive Shell Harbour | |
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Special Dive Club Package Includes:
· 3 x nights accommodation (Fri, Sat & Sunday— 4 share)
· 2 x double boat dives (two boat dives Sat & Sunday)
· 6 Airfills
· Unlimited shore dives (2 air fills included in package)
· Cylinder hire for 2nd cylinder on double dives
· 12 places available
· Hire gear additional
Bookings Essential with a $100 deposit Cost: $335/ Diver $110/ Non Diver·
Call Amy @ Descend 60411405 for more information
Truk Lagoon Post Trip Get-together
Join us for a post trip get-together from our recent trip to Truk. Come and enjoy a slideshow and hear the latest from our most recent travelers. All welcome for a great club night and find out trip details for 2009.
When: Friday 19th September
Where: Descend—Nibbles provided - BYO drinks
Time: 7:00pm
RSVP: By 17th September on 60 411405 or email dive@descend.com.au
Diving Anzac Cove - Turkey - By Des  | | The Desalination boat | |
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The clear blue water slaps lazily against the hull of the boat. The rhythm has an almost hypnotic effect that combined with the warm sun to make me want to doze off but no, here comes the crew with my lunch. Three freshly grilled Blue fish in a tomato puree sauce with a salad cut freshly on the boat. A little olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. Yum. As I look at the rugged hills I can’t help but contrast this idyllic setting with what it must have been like only 93 years ago. Over half a million young men died here. Its hard to imagine. Dumped on the wrong beach, poorly commanded, badly supplied and fighting a war that didn’t have any real relevance for them. Is this really the adventure they imagined?
We have just completed our first dive. It’s the mine sweeper Lunde, laying in 30 metres, upright on a sandy bottom. It started life as a fishing boat but was pressed into the service of the Admiralty by the need to clear a path through the bottom end of the Marama sea to give the British fleet access to the Dardanelles. The pompous British imagined that the Turks would simply give up when they saw the British battle ships in the Dardanelles and they would then sail triumphantly into Istanbul. The plan did not include a land invasion but when the first three British battle ships were sunk by mines the British changed their plans.
The Lunde is not the ultimate wreck dive but its history definitely makes it a very interesting dive. The hull is substantially complete and it still has a deck house with a galley and the original wood stove. Massive deck winches dominate the deck area in front of the engine room sky lights. The engine room is tight but complete. There is only one level of penetration possible for divers below the main deck.
Geoff Reed and I have wanted to dive Anzac Cove since we first went to Turkey in January 2007 and our host Dr. Murat Egi was determined to make it happen but the problem is the burocracy. Foreign divers in Turkey need permission to dive from the Department of Tourism, The Department of Primary Industry, The Coast Guard and the Harbour Master. The application must come from a dive boat that is registered with the Government as a DSV. The first time we tried to get permission the dive operator accepted our passports and dive qualifications but then was reluctant to submit the paperwork. He tore it all up and suggested we pay the fine. He said it was easier than submitting the application. Undeterred Murat persevered and eventually found an operator prepared to submit the application but his boat operated from a port about 100 kilometres away. No problem it will be a special charter just for us. It turns out that foreign divers just don’t dive Anzac Cove. I am not surprised because of the procedure. We will be the first for quite a number of years.
The big day arrives. We are told to be ready to leave the wharf at 10 o’clock. We arrive on time but are told to sit down and have a cup of Turkish tea. A tradition it seems however it is obvious to us that something is else is happening. The local military commander has arrived, complete with his body guard, walking ten steps behind and armed with a machine gun. He and the dive operator are in deep discussions. Have another cup of tea. The Coast Guard boat arrives. The military commander seems satisfied but now the dive operator has to go and talk with the Coast Guard. Well another cup of tea will be good. The Lieutenant Commander of the Coast Guard vessel decides he needs to come on board with us so with a crew of three and the Lieutenant Commander we set off. Just as well the tea is working its way through and I need to use the head.
Lunch completed and its time for a second dive. This time it’s a small landing craft at the Northern tip of Suvla Bay where the English soldiers landed. Its in about 16 metres and is upside down but it is complete. I imagine it loaded to the gunnels with troops fired up and ready to land on the beach. From the distance off shore I would say it never made it. How many troops survived we will never know.
I am not sure why I am so affected by this place. Geoff and I stood in the water on the beach at Anzac Cove and looked up at the battlefield. The first thing that strikes me is that although Anzac Cove is only about 600 metres long and twenty metres wide it has a cemetery at each end. Those poor blokes didn’t get far. Probably didn’t even get off the beach. Then we looked at Lone Pine and realised that the battle there was in an area about 60 metres long, smaller than a footy field, and over 6500 soldiers died there in only three days, on average three every square metre. This for what the British commander called a feint. A diversionary tactic to draw attention away from the real objective. I am lost for words.
A days diving done we go back to the hotel for dinner. Turkey is about food and history and we are getting our fill of both. Raki is the national drink and is served with cheese and melon. The side dishes come first. Heaps of beautiful Turkish bread, egg plant, seaweed, muscles in rice, calamari, mixed seafood in olive oil, sardines, pickled herring and stuffed peppers. It all looks a bit strange to us but tastes great. We pig out thinking this is the complete meal but no, out comes the main course Kebabs and of course this is followed by desert. Figs with goats milk cream, fresh fruit and a white sticky milk pudding that has chicken in it?? Now of course it’s Turkish coffee and a green peppermint liqueur.
We waddle to the boat for the second day of diving. Now the permits are organised it’s easy. The Lieutenant Commander comes with us again. He has loosened up considerably and turns out to be a good guy. Geoff gives him a boomerang and of course he needs lessons to fly it. A sleeping dog gets the full force of a wayward boomerang. Today we dive what they call a water boat. It appears to be a desalination boat to supply fresh water to the thousands of troops on the beach who had no other water supplies. It’s in about 24 metres and it’s a great dive. Massive boilers with distilling coils take up pretty much all of the deck space. The final wreck is a small craft in only 6 metres just off the beach in Anzac Cove. It apparently delivered coal, for fuel. Its been pretty much hammered and it’s mainly the keel, ribs and a bit of the gunnels , along with a heap of coal that has survived but it helps us complete our mental picture. There are live bullets, in a very decayed state all over the bottom of the cove and I unearthed a copper box about the size of a car battery that has blocks of white material stamped 15 ozs. 1914 CPRL. We decided that this could be explosive so carefully put it back where we found it.
A visit to Anzac Cove, and if you can manage it, a dive on some of the wrecks that lie there, will give you a different perspective of the Gallipoli story. It’s a must for the Aussie tourist in Turkey.
Select the link below for Des’s trip pictures:
Truk Lagoon – By Kirk
I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a long time. Im sure you have all heard Des, Kristy & Rick go on about how great the diving is, warm water, excellent visibility, so many wrecks that you need a few return trips to see them all.
So finally the time had arrived, only a small group, Ross Hall, Kylie Clarkson, Malcolm Nugent and myself, however we were all excited to be finally going, Ross is a return visitor, the rest of us its our first time.
A famous quote by an unnamed person, “Getting there is half the fun”..… | | Ross, Kylie, Malcolm & Kirk at Truk | |
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After a few delays which included being evacuated from the Guam airport for 5 hours because of an electrical fire, leaving Guam en route to Truk and returning because of a faulty radar, then spending an un-planned night at the Hilton in Guam because they couldn’t fix the radar, we finally arrived in Truk 24 hours after our original scheduled arrival time - didn’t matter we were finally in Truk.
The diving was absolutely sensational. The water temp was a constant 29-30 degrees and the visibility was minimum 20 metres each day. The diving was relaxed, easy and plenty to see on each dive regardless of what your interest was. For the RUST divers its heaven, for the reef and coral divers there was plenty of growth on most of the wrecks and always plenty to see on the safety stops.
Our dives are listed below. I would have to say that my favorite dive was the second dive on the Fujikawa, we went through the engine room, workshop, telephone box. I also enjoyed the first and third dives, looking at the Japanese Zero fighter plane in the cargo hold and the daylight that illuminated the stairwell of the bridge heading down below the sub structure. It was very spectacular. A definite dive for the explorers.
Day 1 Heian Maru
Day 2 Shinkokou Maru, Kiyosumi Maru, Betty Bomber
Day 3 Nippo Maru, Rio De Janeiro, Sankisan Maru
Day 4 Fujikawa Maru, Kansho Maru
Day 5 San Francisco, Emily (Sea Plane)
Day 6 Hoki Maru, Yamagiri Maru
Day 7 Fujikawa Maru, Gosei Maru
Day 8 Unkai, Fujikawa Maru
As always, there are plenty of stories to tell, for example how Kylie fell out of the boat, which seemed to become contagious. Drop into the shop, I’ll gladly share the stories with you.
The diving staff and the resort staff were fantastic, always there to make sure you had everything you needed, very friendly and eagerly trying to teach us some local lingo – unfortunately without much success, however that made them smile even more.
Guam…..
We had to stop in Guam, so why not stay a few more days and do some diving?
Conditions were very similar to Truk, plenty of marine life, just not as much rust! My favorite dives there would be Blue hole and the US Tanker, yes we managed to find some rust.
Great diving and good company, all in all a great trip - one that I will make again.
The only thing left to do now is decide where we are going next year!!
Select the link below for trip pictures;
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