Category: Diving

The sea is calm in Tioman now. There will only be two tidal changes today and tomorrow. Conditions will change come Wednesday afternoon when the currents will pick up, making our job slightly more difficult. And with the number of charges exceeding 20 in total, it will be a hectic week for us.

Right now there are three instructors: Nizar (representing the Army, who is my roommate now), Yusof (ex-Navy commando who used to skydive with me – I taught him freefall relative work back in 1995), and I. Tomorrow, Nizar and I will have to familiarise ourselves with the Kirby Morgan KM-48 full-face mask, and try out the wireless underwater communications system. Later in the afternoon, we will have to teach the Fire and Rescue Services personnel radio protocol and underwater navigation. We will be using the compass board members of the special forces use when diving, and not the wrist compass used by recreational diving instructors.

On Wednesday, it will be the Coast Guard’s turn. Come Thursday and Friday the game will get more serious with the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police commandos joining in the fun.

And the broadband connection is so slow here that it is almost impossible for me to upload pics from my camera. I’ll have to go to the cybercafe to do it using satellite broadband instead.

Until then, stay safe, play safe, and don’t forget to use rubber.

Haha!

Well, I don’t know if I have resolved the one issue with my twin-tanks set-up. When I first used it, there was a slight leak at the neck of the valve. When I took it to Pulau Sembilan, it wasn’t there anymore. So this whole week next week I shall test the set-up in more rigorous conditions, whack it to the max and see if it performs well.

Tech diving is different to normal recreational diving. The first difference is of course the equipment that is being used: you carry more than one tank, and always have a decompression gas in your “deco bottle.” You will certainly breathe oxygen enriched air, and unlike the recreational Nitrox (Enriched Air), we carry oxygen mix of between 41 percent to 100 percent, well, I usually carry one mix, and that is the 50 percent Oxygen mix. Before I do my gas switch to this mix, I will have to read the label carefully, and understand what I had written on the label. If I do not understand what’s on the label, chances are I will get Oxygen Toxicity and most probably die….hehehe. Other difference include almost always but not necessarily, diving to depths beyond (deeper) than recreational dive limits; wreck or cave penetration. And you will have to be a self-sufficient diver to dive without a buddy.

Kudinne descending using the mooring line

Me cruising by the wreck

Kudinne (top), Me (center), and Jim (below) during one of the decompressions stops

Me, Kudinne and Jim doing a decompression stop

Kudinne and I with our twin tanks on our back and the decompression gas hooked onto our side

Another mode empoyed for tech diving is the use of the Rebreather. It is called a Rebreather because you will be breathing your own recyled breath. So you must monitor your air’s Oxygen content. If it gets too low, you get hypoxic and you pass out underwater. Not a good thing to do. I am seen in the pics below using a Buddy Inspiration Closed-Circuit Rebreather, otherwise known as the Yellow Box of Death (YBOD). Yes, people have died using this system, but it is still one of the best around.

Prepping the YBOD

Prepping the unit’s controller by inhaling and exhaling

Javier assisting me to open the valves before diving

Yeah, something went wrong with the harness of this unit mid-dive and Javier had to assist me again.

Sadly I do not have photos of the British minesweeper, HMS Banka. She was sunk by Japanese torpedo action during the opening phase of the Second World War in the Pacific theater.

Names of local sailors like Abdullah bin Badrom, Arshad Bin Ambi, Din bin Ali, Junid Bin Isa, Adnan Bin Hahran, Madar Bin Bakong, Minsuri Bin Malik, Jantan Bin Repin, are now etched on a name list on the HMS Banka memorial in Liverpool, England.

She now rests in waters between 55 meters to 60 meters deep.

I will be away working underwater from the 31st March until 6th April. I plan to go on a 6-men trip to the HMS Banka on the 11th April, to return on the 13th. It would be a good practise for me before I go to the wreck of the battlecruiser HMS Repulse end of April.

Apart from the HMS Banka, we will also be diving the Dutch submarines, the O-16 and the K-17. Both were lost to mines off Tioman on the same day the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse sank.

Sadly, I do not have pictures of the HMS Banka, but below are pics of the O-16 and K-17.

The O-16

The hatch of the O-16 now

The conning tower of the O-16 wrapped in fishing nets

Dutch submarine K-17 (K-XVII)

Deck gun of the K-17

Looking down the hatch of the K-17

Yup, I’m all smiles.

Come Monday I’ll be spending 7 days mostly underwater again.

Time to reconfigure my BCD.

I’ll be going back underwater for a job. I’ll be flying off on the 31st March 2008 and should be flying back on 6th April 2008.

It’s been three weeks since I last breathed underwater.

Now I can breathe again.

I made this video for the Malaysian International Dive Exhibition 2007 (MIDE 07) and it was shown to the public throughout the exhibition. The aim was to show the various types of diving members of the Malaysian Underwater forum do – recreational, wreck and technical. I just thought I’d post this again here.

I’ve not made a single dive video since Sipadan.

The weather that day was all amix
But that wasn’t stopping me from getting my fix
I was adamant on getting back underwater
No matter the odds, come what may, whatever

That night I drank without going to pee
At Salang’s best local Kedai Kopi
The coffee served was black and made people dizzy
The tea was coloured light ana a little bit foamy

The next day the main group arrived
Looking like a bunch of people who have never dived
Some looked perky while some looked well
Some were totally seasick because of the swell

Soyak reef was the first dive site
Although the surge was strong the dive was alright
I was happy with what Soyak had to show
One of which is this little guy below

Next we went to dive the Salang wreck
Teeming with life is a matter of fact
I took photos as so did the rest
But mine will never come out to be the best

The boat sailed back to the Salang jetty
The waves were big and none too pretty
But no matter how bad or how big the fright
The day ended with this beautiful sight

The boat chugged away towards Tiger Reef first
Some people were puking out their breakfast
The waves were big with the oncoming tide
The boat pitched then rolled side to side

The viz was not great and the surge was strong
But nothing a good dive can ever be wrong
There was plenty to spot and plenty to see
Like this little green Nembrotha milleri

I wasn’t being gung-ho nor was I being brash
I decided to take photos without using my flash
To say that it looks like Sipadan isn’t a comment that’s fair
But there were Yellowtailed Barracudas swimming everywhere

Then we went to one of my favourites at last
A little rocky outcrop that people call Labas
Although we skipped the swimthroughs there was plenty to see
Including this little guy whose name eludes me

The dive had almost ended as did the camera’s battery
I turned off my flash and switched to the cheap LED
Then I spotted something familiar to me
It was a beautiful Hypselodoris bullockii

At 30 meters at Sawasdee I saw this little shrimp
It may be small but I doubt it’s a wimp
Suddenly it looked beautiful I thought I was narc’ed
But you all know even if I was I would never give a f**k

My dive computer screamed foul, my dive time was running low
I had to commence my stops fast by ascending real slow
A shadow above me gave me a cause for alarm
Another figure doing deco stops – it was Bulu Dalam

Thus endeth my diveth ’twas time to return
To terra firma rich with lizards and fern
Diving makes me look like a junkie high on dope
But it’s my only key to sanity, the bringer of hope

Night fell upon Salang, in the sky looms a cloud
Even with the threat of rain the night owls were out
All the divers were there and partied at best
While poor Nofarndiver and Miezegreat had to finish their test

The crowd was dancing, the bass kept the beat
On a cool night the crowd could feel the heat
And A.J the towkay Kedai Kopi let the music out of the bag
With all the money he’s earned he should buy a new flag

There were myriads of activities being done on the last night
Some were dancing, some were drinking heavy and light
With A.J’s ghetto blaster playing the latest cuts
There were still people who preferred playing cards

So there have you my trip-report poem posting
You should all get back to work else your job won’t be ever-lasting
For now the bars of Salang will be silent, no one to ring the bells
So have a nice day, people, somewhere else

It’s 3.21am.

Slightly more than 24 hours from now I shall be back here again, where I belong: underwater. This will be my first recreational dive trip for 2008.

I can hardly wait.

Tired sick of KL.

Last weekend was bad. Even though it was expected for the so-called Dragon’s Tail to hit the East Coast, I did not expect it to hit as far south as Tioman. Ferry services were out until Saturday, and HB told me of people being stranded on Perhentian. I looked at the moon last night and I expect it to be at its waning quarter phase this Thursday. So currents should be okay again.

Looking at the latest NOAA pic above (as at 2222 UTC 24th Feb 08) there is a huge cloud cover blanketing all the way from Tioman to the Klang Valley. I expect Tioman to experience rain or thunderstorm today and tomorrow. And looking at the bigger picture (below) as the winds will be blowing from east to west, rain is to be expected over Tioman until Friday. So with rain, visibility will not be that great, but that is not going to deter me.

The rest of the gang to be led by Ridrahim will be joining me on Friday, I think, and in total about 20 odd divers will be flocking the same dive center, not inclusive of walk-in guests. Well, I am going to be busy doing UW photography.

Right now, I am going out to look for some screws and nuts for attachments, and then send the other notebook to install a new OS, then go hang out somewhere.

Tonight, I’ll have to dismantle my twin-set assembly, and go back onto single tank set.