Brothers Wreck Special

BrothersWreckSpecial28 th June to 5 th July 2008withMike WardAboard Typhoon,withSergio and Shaun

Sharm in late June is hot and humid,especially when you arrive from chillyGatwick, and it’s a relief to climb aboardTyphoon and into an air-conditionedsaloon with a cool welcome drink.Typhoon was berthed next to Whirlwind atthe dock of the International Marina, andwe were due to stay together on a BrothersWreck Special throughout the week.It was an even bigger relief to find out thatthe wind was much lighter than the pilot ofour inbound flight had cheerfullyannounced. We were due to head south tothe Brothers and high winds would havemade that too uncomfortable to bepracticable. The boats would have beenfine, but how many of us would have feltlike diving is another thing entirely.Early the next morning both boats cast off,heading out to the Alternatives for thecheck dive. Check dives are a necessity,and some regard them as an irritation, butthey’re a dive in the Red Sea and younever know what you might see. Besidesthat, the expressions on the faces of RedSea newbies when they surface after thatfirst dive are just great.Entering the water for the check diveCrossing over to Abu Nuhas was a little bitlumpy (All right, a lot lumpy), and thesecond dive for our now mal de merdepletedcompany was Chrisoula K.As we kitted up Anne-Marie was alreadyfeeling the same way about her wetsuit as Ido about mine - it might be necessary, butit’s not a pleasure struggling into dampneoprene four times a day.Zodiac ride across the face of Abu NuhasCK’s been showing signs of collapse forsome time now, and the access to the rearof the hull is starting to look just a littlescary. The decking above is loose, andsways up and down in the current by agood four feet. The actual entry point isfurther under the plate, and probably out ofany real danger of collapse, but you’ll need

to make your own mind up the next timeyou dive her. Good news for me was thatthe vis in the little machine shop wassuperb, and I managed some nice availablelight shots.Machine shop on Chrisoula KChrisoula K is nothing but a memory in theminds of our generation of divers.Then it was time for the big steam, eighthours south to the Brothers, and thankgoodness for that northerly wind. It wasblowing strongly, but from directly behindand our trip was relatively smooth andcomfortable.First dive of Day Two was Aida, theoriginal Red Sea lighthouse supply vessel,sunk in the Second World War, raised andput back to work only to strike the rockswhilst delivering supplies in 1957. Shewas of special interest to one of our gueststhis week, Ron Failla. His greatgrandfatherhad been her first ChiefEngineer. It’s great to meet people with apersonal connection like this.Then it was on to Numidia. She truly is anastonishing sight, completely encrusted incorals and full of busy fish on the outside,but an intact freighter inside. At least, twothirds of one, the forward third of the shipis shattered and broken in the shallows(Which reminds me, I used a compact camera thisweek, I’m in the process of writing a book ondigital underwater photography specifically aimedat compact users, and needed the pictures.)Next up was Carnatic, and she hasn’tchanged a bit. The grand old lady of RedSea wrecks was as colourful andfascinating as ever, and should be in goodnick for a long time to come. Iron survivessalt-water immersion far better than steel,so Carnatic will be there long afterLifeboat davit on AidaSunset over Big Brother

Both these dives ended with a drift downthe west face of Big Brother, and it’samazing just how much wreckage isscattered along the reef, though there’s notelling if it came from Aida, Numidia orsome other wreck. There are certainlystories of other wreckings in these waters.Allegedly, however, the Brothers are aboutmore than wrecks, so our third dive was ontravel all the way out to the Brothers just tolook at the fish and stuff……….Anyhow, then it was time to cross back tothe Egyptian coast to finish the day on thewreck of a ferry back near Safaga. Not theSalem Express, but the Al Kahfein, whichwent down in November 2005 followingan onboard fire.Al KhafeinHammerhead – but not much of a picture, hewas too far out in the blue!the eastern face of Big Brother to seehammerheads and grey reef sharks, and ourfirst two dives of Day Three were on eachside of Little Brother to see the colours andthe marine life. Apparently some people

She started her career as a Belfast toLiverpool ferry and was sold on andeventually renamed Poseidonia beforeending up in Egyptian waters as AlKhafein, though not for long. She wassteaming south from Suez to Jeddah with asmall crew but no passengers aboard whenan explosion in her engine room and thesubsequent fire caused her to be evacuated.Careering south, un-manned and out ofcontrol, she could have struck anywhere,but chose to sink very convenientlyopposite the overnight mooring we usuallyuse on the Brothers itinerary.Hamada, Typhoon’s skipper, put us on thewreck, but was very concerned that peoplestay outside as she’s possibly still unstable.She’ll certainly be structurally unsoundafter the fire, and may not have finallycome to rest on the sea-bed, though sheseemed solid enough.She’s certainly big, and I’m lookingforward to diving her again.Day Four was Salem Express to start, andher rear door has been opened andremoved by hammering the pins from herhinges to leave her interior gaping open.Looking out through the stern loading-door ofSalem ExpressNo penetration is the rule, but thereseemed no harm in quick look. After all,this wasn’t an accommodation area andwould most likely have been desertedwhen she sank.It probably was, but the clothes trailingfrom opened suitcases, the scattered shoesand the children’s toys mixed among theother goods are more than enough toremind anyone of how raw and recent andhuge a tragedy this was.I didn’t linger.Fish shoaling beside Salem Express

We were on our way back north, so nextup was El Miniya, just outside Hurghada,and the first tantalising glimpse of anothernew wreck a little way off her. Credit goesto Shaun, one of our two dive guides forthe week, diving with Ron. More soon.....Our overnight stop was Gubal, and we gotthere in time to dive Ulysses. Roger and Itoured the wreck then found our way upthe reef and spent the last thirty minutes ofthe dive in four metres of water in the mostbeautiful aquarium imaginable, barelyneeding to fin in the still water. If youwant to watch fish, that’s the way to do it!Day Five started with Rosalie Moller andended with Thistlegorm, and had Kingstonsandwiched in the middle.Rosalie Moller is, I humbly submit, thebest wreck in the North red Sea, thoughSergio, our other dive guide, insists that theUmbria in Sudan is even better.The after mast has gone over. Not totally,but the four-point cage structure whichanchored her to the deck and spread theload has ripped from the welds on thestarboard side and the mast now lies veryslightly forward and over at an angle ofaround 35 o to the deck. The velvet fishand flabellina don’t seem too worried, butit’s a shame. Otherwise this wreck is muchas she ever was; deep, intact andfascinating.After mast on Rosalie Moller

The crossing back over the channel wasthankfully short, but punctuated by somevery lively moments. The sort where youfly across the saloon and catch a glimpseout of the windows to see nothing but skyon the one side and sea on the other andwonder exactly what the righting angle ofTyphoon is....When we got to Kingston the water wascalm and essentially current free, so Sergioand I dropped in on the south plateau tocontinue my intermittent search for theaircraft rumoured to be lying there. I’mpretty much convinced it doesn’t exist, butyou never know. If you’re interested it’ssupposedly a German Dornier in 40m, andwe didn’t find it this week either.Thistlegorm seems to be home to just alittle more marine life today than she was ayear ago. Maybe the diver pressure on herhas eased a little, or the new mooringsystem has had an impact, though therewas no sign of it when we tied in.Bobby and I did the forward section in theafternoon, and on the night dive Roger andI toured her interior.The following morning Bobby (akaRoberta) asked me to dive with her again,but carefully explained that she didn’tmuch like the idea of wreck-penetrationand had no experience of it so couldn’tpossibly go inside....Let’s just say she’s now seen the inside ofThistlegorm and leave it there.Fan coral, Ras MohammedLast dive of the week – and the speed withwhich the last dive comes around is alwaysastonishing - was Ras Mohammed. It’s areef. Apparently a good reef, though howyou tell I have no idea. Kept us amusedfor an hour, though, and Roger and Naisanfor an extra fifteen minutes. They surfacedinside a gaggle of snorkellers and were alittle distracted by the thong-fish.Back at the International Marina it waspost-mortem time, and everyone declaredthemselves satisfied, happy, fully divedoutand ready to hit the bright lights andfleshpots of Na’ama Bay.Thanks for a great week, guys,and I look forward to seeing youagain sometime,Safe diving,Web: www.divewithmike.co.ukEmail: jmikeward@tiscali.co.uk