We arrived on the mark and had a result on the sonar almost straight away .The shot was placed and, for the last time on this trip, we all jumped into our gear with myself and Dave jumping in last. The current was running and by the time we got down to the bottom  we met the rest of the team starting their ascent.They were signalling a no show on the wreck. I signalled to Dave and we decided to continue .There was a trail in the sand in the direction of the mark and at this depth we were breathing a TMX bastard mix left over from the previous dives top up.This gave us a very light narcosis . I attached the reel and headed off along the trail. We were soon to be rewarded by the sight of a huge net in front of us, rising from the bottom at 50mtr to the top at around 35 mtr. We scrambled up the net trying not to reduce the visibility any further. Arriving at the top, we still found the net almost covering this mark.The current kicked in and started to push us into a raised piece of netting .We both instinctivly went to ground and started pulling ourselves, hand over hand, away from the hazard.
The shape clearly indicated a shipwreck, with passages and stairways carved into the remains of the deck, but the net was obscuring the ship sufficiently to make any further identification almost impossible.Is this the Choko Maru or not? To be continued…………

A few years ago I got interested in a British minelaying submarine called HMS Porpoise. She was sank in the vicinity of Penang by an aeroplane. The problem with locating this sub is that with air attacks there is no position given for the initial contact, only a vague “in the vicinity of” ,to make it more complicated .The submarine was also last seen going over the horizon, trailing oil, with no bearing given. Its down to guess work on where she could be -we knew the attack was conducted after she had laid a string of mines near Penang, and we have a good idea where the minefields were by looking at the positions of the unfortunate ships that strayed into them,  one  of which we were to look for next .

When looking at the chart, my mind tried to imagine what the captain would have done base the starting point close to the minefield and the max speed submerged while trailing oil what bearing the captain would have taken in those frantic momments of the attack my logic would point to a straight forward dash to get some depth under her keel and avoid damage from rebounding resonance off of a shallow bottom .With this in mind we decided to look due west of a known field, concentrating on a fisherman’s mark around 30 nautical miles away. My local contact had told me of three likely positions here, but we only had time to explore one , so I targeted the mark that was the best guess of my fishing contact .
As we approach the mark a huge return showed on the sonar and we all rushed to get kitted up. The bottom showed to be 75 mtr and already had a nice 18/35TMX  the current was also slack: another piece of luck.We jumped in and followed the line into the mark, passing Dave on the way down, at the bottom we found the shot hanging over the side of a large bridge, next to an opening where a cast iron whb sat, unmoved since the day she went to the bottom.  The back of the bridge dropped away to the sand. Just forward there was a cargo hold. The construction appeared to be that of a small coastal cargo vessel, the type of which was commonly requisitioned by the Japanese to help keep their supply routes open.

The portholes were poorly constructed, with little beauty in her design . The electrical cable was more modern indicating a post war ship, not the result we were looking for, but still an interesting find. With only a 25min bottom time,  further investigation will have to be put off. The list is growing for ship wrecks we need to return to .

Today I wake up to a thousand ships outside my porthole. We are at anchor ,waiting for the fuel boat to refuel  the Giovanni, so we can continue our journey. We have anchored at one of Stu’s waypoints from which he has obtained gas before, and are waiting for the supply ship to come alongside . Stu only has Thai Baht and will need to go asshore to change it if the Singaporeans wont take it, which has the potential to hold us up. We asked the captain and he has informed us that he has enough diesel to get to Penang .Its around 330 nautical miles. Stu who has hired the boat has decided to go for it so we head out of Singapore through a truly amazing sight, one of the great engines of the far east, Singapore.

We  settle down to 48 hours of making headway towards our next target. Arrive Penang in time for a few beers ,no diving for a few days . The sea is flat and calm although the surface viz is cut to around 100 mtr .The captain  suddenly makes a big correction on the helm. We go to see what’s happening and a huge freighter comes across our bow. Good job for radar .

12/10/2011 day12

I wake up to flat calm seas .The captain is switching watches with our engineer. My head hurts  a little. We have breakfast and I blend the gas for myself and Tom . The target depth is  60m-  an old cargo ship I located a couple of years ago .We partial pressure blend a 17/35 and decant 02 then continuously flow blend the 36% nitrox.

This job is often overlooked on a Tec boat but is a skill no Tec boat could live without. Dave has born the brunt of this work, and has done a great job, but I think its time I take over. No beers today! After analyzing the gas, I settle down to the rest of the voyage. We are hugging the coastline on the Malaysia side in the small boat costal traffic zone. When travelling south, the small boats hug the Indonesia side. I’m happy to be on the Malaysian side heading north because  there’s less chance of a pirate attack here. We pass the entrance to port klang and KL and I hit the sack with a good book.

13/10/2011 day 13

We awake to the sight of Penang. We have to enter Georgetown from the north ,as there is a huge suspension bridge joining the island to Malaysia and according to the sat nav  we need permission to pass underneath .This  will add another 40 nautical miles to our journey.

We arrive in Georgetown at 0800 and look for a diesel barge . I get on with some chores and do  my washing , good job as I’m becoming socially unacceptable.

09:00 we go ashore for some supplies and to stretch our legs. The guys go to immigration and we head up to see an old friend at jim’s place. We do some shopping and have a great curry at Captains restaurant  in Chulia  street.

The architecture in Georgetown is stunning and deserves it cultural heritage city status . We get back to the ship at 1700 with all the gas pumped and ready for the next adventure.

14/10/2011 day 14

I  awaken this morning to Tappy knocking on our cabin door .He  informs me that the captain can’t find a return on the mark.  I stumble out of my bunk and up to the bridge to check the GPS systems we’re using are the same and at first glance they appear to be , but nothing shows on the sonar.  The last time I was here  the return was  huge, we search for  half an hour then try to speak to some fisherman nearby.

Something smells a little fishy. As I turn on the radios to monitor any radio traffic ,its strangely quiet for a group of three fishing boats with a large vessel bearing down on them. You would expect them to be communicating over the radio. I  see the flashing lights of signaling mirrors, the captains are contacting each other, but maintaining radio silence a sure sign they’re up to skullduggery.

When we come along side the first boat, there appears to be nobody in charge. We try to raise them, but nothing .We come alongside the second boat and the captain ignores us. The ships are fishing in Malaysian waters but the crew are probably  from Burma or Indonesia and fishing illegally, we will never know. We move onto the next mark,  its only 0700.

The next mark is 13 nautical miles away: two hours at 7knots

note:-  I think the engineer has been at sea too long he keeps on making suggestive remarks about lady boys leaving me feeling a little uncomfortable.

We arrive at the second mark and start running a search. The bottom reads 75 m and after 10 min we get a spike on the sonar. A 10 mtr rise, but the return looks like an undulation on the bottom so we go off to check another  mark nearby.  There we  get a nice return , definately a return off of something. The trouble is that the current has started running, so  we decide to put the shot in and go and have a look, keeping the bottom time down to 15 min so as to minimize the deco and save gas. We get ready and  the captain drops us in up current so we can drift back to the line.

We leave the surface early  and join the line halfway down . When we arrive at 67 mtr we find the weight drifting in the current. Vince tries to follow the line in the sand but I see the shot moving too quickly so I cut the dive to save gas for the next effort. We run the 15 min plan and hit the surface after 52 min.

We then have a chat. The team want to move onto another mark. I guess this wreck will have to wait to be discovered.

Wake up on the Sara Dee, a cargo vessel  that sunk approximately 25 years ago. The captain comes off the anchor  and we close the distance to the mark. We’re right next to the mark, but it takes some time to locate her. When we do the sounder shows 53mtr to the sand and 43 to the top with some large empty holds. We shot and stu ties in .

I then get ready. The plan is to get in early so we can get away towards Singapore where we can get  coverage for the phones.There is  lots of large shipping here because we’re right in the middle of two primary shipping channels.

The bag comes up. We’re tied in and I get ready with Tom, the plan is for a 25 min bottom time and to return to the line. Tom is taking 3 stage tanks to practice.  He will need the extra gas when we go deeper because  his breathing rate is high. I shoot the video. We jump in. The wreck is on its side, picked clean by salvage divers and tech divers . She’s only 12 hours from Singapore. We run a distance line and head to the bridge. I shoot some video  because there is lots of colored hard and soft coral. We run the line down to the bridge, then to the forecastle, then back to the line. A great dive, good viz, very pretty, with all the fish but picked clean by other divers .

When we hit the surface I pass the camera off to Dave and get out of the gear. I wait for the other divers to return and then jump in to untie. Taking the line to the weights then securing it, then lifting the weights off of the wreck for ease of recovery. I then run a slow ascent and do some precautionary deco on o2.

We then head for Singapore.

All day we pass ships at anchor, some huge 300mtr long V L C C ,container ships, cargo carriers ,freighters, car carriers, coastal tankers, then as we get closer, we start to see all the ships that service these ocean traders: supply vessels, tugs ,barges, every kind of ship, of all descriptions. The amount of shipping here  is mind blowing and the logistics and competence of the local pilots and harbour masters must be enough to cause you to break into a sweat, while sitting in a cold bath.

We wake up anchored next to the POW have breakfast ,then think about the days mission which is to get some footage of the lifts outside the last 16inch turret guns on the stern. To do this we have tie in the same place, on the props, so that the team has enough time to get to the area.

This wreck is 300m long. Mikko and Tappy jump in on air. The props are at 55m, so they save the helium, but they exert themselves and cut the dive without tying in.  We pull the shot, which is in the wrong place ,and stu goes because as he is next up. We shot next to the props, but we get to the bottom in 67 and cant see the wreck ,so he aborts the dive.

The line is lifted again and Mikko and Tappy go in for a second try.  After shooting the mid section, this wreck is so huge that if the shot is not put in the right place, you can spend 30 min swimming around on the top without seeing anything except the bottom of the ship, the Prince of Wales does not give up her secrets easily.

Now its our turn. We shot the wreck again and descend down the line. The shot is in the middle of the hull again! I untie the weights and start swimming with the line. I look at Dave for direction as he has a compass and he indicates and I start swimming ,dragging the line from the surface. I try to keep up, but  after 15min of swimming at 53 mtr I’m knackered . I check my buddy and he’s on 140 bar. His rock bottom at 18 ltr per min is 120 bar ,and he’s sucking ,so I  turn the dive, relocate the weights  and secure the line to them ,then  bail out on 25 min and run our deco .

Finally we manage to tie in and get the video. I’m happy that the wrecks are not all so difficult to tie in.

I blend the gas  for myself and Tom .It’s been a while since I knocked up gas , so I was happy when I  got a accurate blend.  We’re running low on helium  with only 2 full and 1 90 bar tank of o2 left .I check the charts for distance and time to the Andaman sea and the exploratory marks at  60 m.  The mark is close to the explosive dumping ground. I also have  fisherman’s marks , next to the war record report for the Choko Maru jap minelayer.

We  see what the weather is doing and make plans for the next part of the voyage.

We’re back on top of the Repulse so that our new team member, Tom, can get some good diving in before we go through Singapore.

Mikko has tied in and Tom , Vince and Dave are getting ready for their dive. I sit this one out as we are short of o2 and helium. I want to save it for the exploration . The guys do a deep air dive 55mtr for 30min to save the helium  also.

I hydrate until 1400. The sea state is flat and there is no current- a beautiful day for diving, so I take Tillie in for a swim around the top of the wreck at 35 mtr for 12 min( total 3 min to ascend to 12mtr them minimum deco 1min @12/1min @9/ 3min@6/3min@3) The viz is great around 50 mtr and the wreck looks huge with  lots of marine life everywhere .Its very hard to believe all the death and destruction that happened here all those years  ago, the wreck is full of life!

After the dive we de kit and Tillie and Tom thank me for the dive. Its her first wreck dive. I think it will be hard to beat this for shipwrecks in the future.

I wake up at 5 o’clock and watch the sun rise .I can’t help but think of all the lives lost here 70 years ago. The sea state is flat and there is no current- jackpot!! All the gas was pumped and analyzed the day before and the skeds are cut. we plan a 67mtr dive for 30 min using 17/35 36% and 100% o2.

Mikko enters the water and descends.  he plans to lift the shot and move it into position. If he gets the chance to tie in, he will. After 15 minutes of his run time we get a orange bag, but I’m not sure about the tie in, so I tell the crew to hold until they see my orange SMB on the line.

We start our descent and Mikko signals across that he has tied in, but too late to tell the boat without a bag.  When I hit the bottom, I signal the surface by blowing my SMB , then I run a distance line.  We swim along the top of the Kiel then drop down and under the deck. The Prince of Wales is almost completely upside down so most of the dive is in an overhead environment .We fin along to the last turret with a 16inch gun. I have a look around the area of the guns. Some empty life rafts are jammed under the superstructure making quite a striking image.Then I notice a frame that looks like a lookout platform. I return to Dave’s position and I make my switch from my bottom stage to my back gas and give Dave the turn signal. I have the distance line and have to return the way I came. Dave can rise up and follow the Kiel along, incorporating the swim into his  ascent  .

We return to the port forward propeller, which is ware we have tied in. This is also the screw that received a direct hit during  the final attack, grinding out the bearings and twisting the shaft making it more difficult to outmaneuver the torpedo bombers .  Dave makes his way back on the keel.  I retrace the line and wait for Dave and Vince .When the team is together, we start our  ascent .Still no current  and 5mtr visibility at the top of the wreck.

I developed a rash on my neck which I believe it to be from the jelly fish as I have no other symptoms. Its about 3 hours after the dive so I keep an eye on it just in case. It could be an unexplained hit or just an allergic reaction. I decide to sit out the next dive. We are running low of 02 only 2 g size bottles left ,so we need to get some more. The helium is also low, so I save my gas for some exploration later on the trip, and hit the sack. Dave and Vince dive  then untie.

We head for Tioman.  At 2400 hours I get woken by the marine police sounding their horn and flashing their lights. The captain has anchored, albeit in the sand, not a good idea in a marine park and this cop wants to see all the passengers. I  grab my passport then roust the others . Dave is not moving unless I set fire to his feet ,so I go up with Vince and Stu and we talk to the policeman. All he’s after is a backhander, and a crate of beer seems to be an international currency, even in a Muslim country. After the necessary politeness he shows us a mooring line, but not before scraping our bow with his starboard side, a maneuver that doesn’t put a smile on our captain’s face.He’s probably drunk a few backhanders already tonight .The good news is that I worked out what’s giving me the rash. It’s the pillow case- I seem to have an allergy to it or something on it.

07/10/2011  Tioman

We go ashore in Tioman to get some needed supplies and contact the outer world.  I rent a bike and have a quick look around . this could be an interesting spot for the next DJL  Diving especially with the Repulse and Prince of Wales only 4 hours away.

At 1900 I crack open a bottle of Bombay sapphire  and drop.  Good job as stu tries to buy some o2 off one of the local dive operators who charges him 5000bt per g. He gets 3 bottles which we boost into our cylinders and at 2 in the morning we move back to the Repulse.

Three hours later, we start dive two. The sea state is flat and there is still no current. We drop down onto the side of the wreck and head towards the stern, shooting video along the way.I  look around ,Dave is running a scooter , we drop down past a large gun mount, past some antiaircraft guns then work back towards the line. The profile is the same as the first dive, 55 for 30 min using 18/30 bottom gas and 36 deco gas 1 and 100% o2, we start our ascent and on the way up a huge school of jelly fish pass us. At first we start to laugh as we get stung, but after ten minutes of batting the jellyfish out of the way, our attitude changed and when the last divers descend to start their dive we try to warn them . The stings become more intense and we settle down for a most uncomfortable decompression. When we hit the surface our faces were numb due to the effects of the jellyfish.  We all hit the vinegar .

Stu  unties the wreck  and after dinner and blending I hit the sack, the prospects of the Prince of Wales to tempt me tomorrow.