May 2012, Issue 166 - Royal New Zealand Navy

HMNZS manawanui
DIVE TEAM ACTION
MANAWANUI sailed Devonport on 5 March
for our first real deployment of the year, and
the first trip away from the North Island in
two years.
With the Operational Dive Team (ODT) embarked
we headed off for the Marlborough Sounds at
max speed after a brief stop at the Alderman
Islands to whet the divers appetite for Surface
Supply Breathing Apparatus (SSBA) diving. The
weather on the east coast was threatening to turn
foul so we adjusted our plans to make a dash for
the Cook Strait before it got ugly. We arrived on
the west coast of d’Urville Island on the 8th and
the divers continued their training.
We sailed into Nelson for the weekend for a
well earned break. Most of the crew were able
to disembark and try the great hospitality that
the city has to offer and were well received by
the community. A special mention was made
by the owners of the Sprig and Fern who have
invited us back anytime!
On the 12th we sailed to Ketu Bay in the
Marlborough Sounds and the ODT got back into
their training with earnest; there was also a little
time for some of the crew to do some recreational
diving and fishing, unfortunately mostly catching
sharks. On the Wednesday morning we were
visited by a huge pod of dolphins passing through
the millpond calm of the sound, they watched as
we moved to Garden Bay next to the notorious
French Pass and into deeper water for the divers
to continue their training in the challenging
conditions. On Thursday the ship’s company
were up early for a transit through French Pass
and down to Nelson to land the XO ashore to
make his way to Gisborne for the National Surf
Lifesaving Champs. Before we could get away
to New Plymouth a final detour back to nelson
was made to disembark the ODT for a hastily
organised flight to Invercargill to help with the
EASY RIDER sinking. Big thanks to the Nelson pilot
CO with Whangaroa
students.
ODT member
underwater cutting.
boat for making a trip out to pick up the divers
and speed up the transfer.
We arrived in New Plymouth early Saturday
morning and again ship’s company had a well
earned weekend off and took advantage of
St Patrick’s Day celebrations in the city. The
WOMAD festival was also in town and some
of the crew managed to get along to enjoy the
sights and sounds. All had a great weekend
and were refreshed for the swell transit back
up the west coast and back to DNB via the
Bay of Islands. A group of students from
Whangaroa College came out for a few hours
at sea, some handling the lumpy conditions
better than others!
To round off the trip half a dozen of us managed
to dive the Rainbow Warrior before an overnighter
back to Auckland. Plenty of training was able to
be achieved in the shortened time we had the
ODT embarked, and training for core crew was
beneficial for all, who all appreciated the change
of scenery!
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