Welcome to ScubaBoard, an online scuba diving forum community where you can join over 185,000 divers from around the world discussing all things related to Scuba Diving. To gain full access to ScubaBoard (and make this large box go away) you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:
Participate in over 500 dive topic forums and browse from over 5,500,000 posts.
Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
Post your own photos or view from well over 100,000 user submitted images.
Gain access to our free classifieds marketplace to buy, sell and trade gear, travel and services.
Use the calendar to organize your events and enroll in other members' events.
All this and much more is available to you absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact the ScubaBoard Support Team.
I just finished watching your entire DVD (The Wreck of the Steamship Suddhadib) aka Hardeep. Amazing... I don't ever remember seeing the Saddhadib with so much life. How many dives did it take to collect the footage? You really caught some good vis days and a captured her perfectly.
Has anyone tried to diffuse the bombs? I've been to the one closets to the ship a handful of times and always wondered if it was still able to explode.
Thanks again for the copy of the DVD.
AZ
I guess I did about 60 dives over about a year. Diving with a skilled buddy and using Nitrox, we were able to dive for 45 minutes to an hour on most dives. And, as mentioned above, I always tried to pick dates and times when the currents were slow and, therefore, the viz was better. I got lucky on a couple of days with magic viz.
Diffusing the bombs would be very, very, very dangerous. They are live and a bump in the wrong place could trigger them. It is surprising that they've never been detonated by some object tumbling along in the currents. Maybe they have rotted inside such that they can no longer explode but no one would take that risk.
There has been some talk about one of the US removal squads coming over from Cambodia to remove them. But, they'd do it by placing an explosive charge and timer under the bomb and exploding the bomb's 1000 pounds of cordite. The risk is that this could damage the wreck.
There are 2 more bombs about 100 meters directly off her stern at about 32 meters deep, but you need a day of long slack water, plenty of nitrox and good underwater navigation skills. We tried about 6 months back and only found one of them before having to head up to surface.
What about Saturday August 8th for a "BKK" Divers' outing? If I read Peter's link correctly at about 11am things should be good on the Suddhadib (aka Hardeep).
How many are interested? I can sort something out. More details to follow. I suggest we all meet Friday night in Pattaya and plan on diving Saturday.
The Suddhadib is an AOW dive, so if you are not at that level or higher you are welcome to join but most likely for two other shallower dives. EANx may also be an option. I am hoping Peter will join as he knows the ship better than anyone else I know.
This may be the first SB trip in our region What good is a dive club if you never get wet...
What about Saturday August 8th for a "BKK" Divers' outing? If I read Peter's link correctly at about 11am things should be good on the Suddhadib (aka Hardeep).
...
This may be the first SB trip in our region What good is a dive club if you never get wet...
The 8th should be OK tide-wise as long as we hit the water at 10am to 11am. The problem is the steepness of the curve coming out of the slackwater and the fact that we'd be diving at the the end of an outgoing dive (= lower viz). This means that slackwater will be quite short and then run fast. We could get strong currents on the second dive.
But quite doable so count me in.
A really good day, tide-wise would be September 12. It has a long slackwater from late morning through the afternoon at the end of an incoming tide (= cleaner water). Maybe we could do that as a second trip. Might be a good day to dive the Petchburi Bremen. (Petchburi Bremen)
I think we can pursue both dates. I have a boat lined up for August 8th. The plan will be to dive the Hardeep at 10am with two reef dives afterward. I don't want to mention price in the forum but it will be with a very reputable dive operator and similar to my school's club pricing (very competitive). Very reasonable without cutting any corners. Food, tanks, weights & full surface support all included EANx is also an option.
I will be out of town until the end of the end of July. I suggest we have a follow up meeting the first week in August. It should be a lot of fun.
Who is in so far besides Peter and myself? Oshri, Sundance, JD...
Unfortunately I leave for Vietnam on the 8th of August, but should be in Pattaya for the September dive on the Hardeep. Count me in. Would be nice if we could do the dive with Mermaids (Jomtien) as I bought one of their 25 boat dive cards ???
Also given enough notice I'm 100% in for a liveaboard to the Similans !!!
As Dive Happy and FM2002 can't make the August 8th trip what if we move it to Sept.? We can have our next BKK meeting on August 13 @ Larry's (7pm) and make plans for the dive outing. Who can make the meeting?
I suggest Sept 5th or 12th for the Suddhadib (aka Hardeep). Can Peter and others make that? Details of the trip can be discussed at the meeting. I am sure everyone will happy.