Boxing Day Dive

As this cold continues (I've had it for over a month now), I've still not managed a dive since we got back from New Zealand. But this was progress of sorts, as we did actually make it out onto a dive boat, for the traditional SCDC Boxing Day dive.

Brian introduced these a few years ago and they generally prove very popular, and this was no exception as we had a full boat.The format is a late, 11am start so as not to frighten off anyone who over-indulged on Christmas Day. I know, who'd do that eh? One dive available, followed by a beach barbecue, games of boule, and the traditional football match, which I was banned from for a number of years because I kept hurting my knee.

This year started with a surprise as Mike B. managed to get approval from the missus for his first dive since July. We picked him, Marcus and Brenda up and got to Tso Wo Hang for around 10:30. With the boat loaded and everyone aboard, we set off on schedule and anchored off the west side of Sharp Island, just south of the sand spit that connects it to Kiu Tao islet. Also on board was a sizeable number from Underwater Club, including Ron and Lucy, plus Carmen and Tristan who were back from Melbourne for Christmas. We also had the Royal Couple's dogs on board. Sin Wah and Rob were house/dog-sitting for our Chairman and Training Officer, and they'd brought the 2 dogs along for a bit of fresh air and whatever they could scrounge from the barbecue.

Since I was lazing about doing nothing, Brian talked me into dive marshalling. Or if I remember rightly, he told me that I was going to be dive marshalling. Still, it gave me a good chance to shout at people and try and get them to hurry up, so we could move on to the "enjoying ourselves" part of the proceedings. Although actually the entertainment had already started as Rob Christie's brand new, shiny, dry suit was making its first appearance. Is Hong Kong cold enough to need a drysuit? Well if you don't have one and have frozen your way through too many winter dives in a 4mm wetsuit, then I have to say yes. In fact I'm thinking of getting one myself, but I wanted to see how Rob went on first, in case he made a complete prat of himself and made me question how easy it is to dive in one. It did take him quite a while to get ready, but he did look very smart when he'd finished kitting up. Apart from the bit where he trapped his regulator under his harness and would have needed to move his mouth to his hip in order to breathe off it. When we'd all stopped laughing at him, he finally made it into the water.

Next part of the entertainment was trying to get Holly's zip sorted out. She'd been complaining that her suit was still damp after the last time she used it (2 months ago?), but as soon as she tried zipping it up we realised there was a more serious problem. It took the combined efforts of Andy, Brian, a mug of coke and a can of lemonade to get it free. I'm not entirely sure how the soft drinks helped, I didn't like to ask. But by the end of things, Holly's wetsuit wasn't just damp, it was sticky too.

Having finally managed to get the first wave in the water, and appointed a standby snorkeller with instructions on how to rescue Rob if he bobbed feet-first to the surface (cut a small hole in his boots to let the air out), we were able to relax and enjoy the view of some people apparently walking on water. A quick reminder of the true meaning of Christmas? No, actually the sand spit just north of us is partially submerged so the fishermen walking over to the little iset looked a little miraculous.

Rob Gordon and Tam were doing some training and popped up 2 or 3 times, giving us a good excuse to test the new SCDC binoculars. We found out later that they were doing a navigation drill - yes I always find it much easier to navigate on the surface as well.

As the first wave started to get back, we sent Tristan and Carmen in charge of a beach party to set up the barbecue, in preparation for the beach party. The second wave went in, and still there was no sign of Mr. DrySuit. Finally he did emerge having had a flawless, problem-free dive. He was very happy with the drysuit and I suspect we'll be seeing a lot more of it this winter.

Once we'd got all the divers back on board and done a quick roll call, we headed to Whisky beach, hoping that's where the little tender had taken our shore party. Sure enough, they were there and the fire was ready to cook on. The Taylors started brewing some mulled wine, which went down very well. Beer and wine were drunk. Sausages were eaten. Dogs were played with. The tide came in. This prompted a discussion about whether it had really been a good idea to put the barbecue below the high tide mark or not. Drainage ditches were built in a King Canute-like effort to hold back the sea, with a similar lack of success. And Carmen would like to point out to Tristan that the next time he's building a barbecue he should listen to his girlfriend, although that sounds like a dangerous precedent to me.

Finally with the pitch width severely restricted, so that our right winger was playing on a pile of rocks and the left winger was knee deep in water, the football match started. The match was notable for 2 things. First, Brian was on the winning side for the first time in many years. Secondly, David broke his toe, although he said it was worth it because he was kicking me at the time. The only thing is that he plans to wear steel toecaps next year, which is a bit worrying.

Back on board and heading home, Paul made a point of thanking Brian for marshalling, as this will be Brian's last appearance as an SCDC dive marshal. The day went very smoothly and was a lot of fun as usual.

I do have a question for our Diving Officer regarding the precise meaning of "Plan the dive, dive the plan". That is, since when did 45 minutes mean an hour? Paul did assure me that he attempted to go up at 45 minutes but his buddy, Keith, who was only wearing a very thin wetsuit had persuaded him to continue, but I think he may need a new watch for next Christmas.

Thanks to Rita for the photos, there are some more here. And there are some photos from Tristan here.