{"id":2779,"date":"2021-11-05T17:16:51","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T04:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/?p=2779"},"modified":"2021-12-12T17:03:44","modified_gmt":"2021-12-12T04:03:44","slug":"loutish-lermontov-loons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/2021\/11\/05\/loutish-lermontov-loons\/","title":{"rendered":"Loutish Lermontov Loons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Dive HQ Loutish Loons\u2019 Ludicrous Labour Weekend Lermentov Larks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Led by the formidable Paddy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Punters: Dave, Dave, Paul, Grant, Chris, Andre, Judy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday afternoon and one overloaded truck and seven keen bean divers embarked onto the delayed Interislander bound for the Mainland. Some beers and wine were imbibed during a remarkably tranquil crossing of Cook Strait. In Picton we met Chris and clambered aboard the water ferry for Torea Bay \u2013 the Sounds road still out of action and obstructed by slips from an earlier storm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The 186m Russian cruise liner the Mikhail Lermentov is one of the world\u2019s largest diveable shipwrecks. She sank in Port Gore in 1986 after hitting rocks off Cape Jackson following some inexplicable navigational decisions by Picton Harbour Master Don Jamieson. She rests on her starboard side, 5 minutes boat ride from Lermentov Lodge, a treasure trove of diving exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brent & Justin were waiting in Torea Bay as we loaded their trucks up with cylinders, luggage, dive gear, more dive gear, wine, beer, diet coke and more dive gear, bound for Lermentov Lodge. Brent provided a detailed orientation to the Lodge and dive times for Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Saturday morning and seven of us were keen to head out diving. Our military logistics specialist was AWOL, having had some logistical confusion pertaining to dive times versus breakfast times… apparently taking to the hills for a 10km run prior to a day\u2019s diving is routine behaviour. Thankfully, Paddy\u2019s search and rescue mission was successful. The Brazillian diplomatic envoy was out of action, allegedly as a result of dodgy seafood, and totally unrelated to the quantities of wine consumed the night before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    The stuff of nightmares!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    As for the diving.. Paul & Dave commenced a sustained assault on the Lermentov\u2019s duty free corridor. They assure us that only minimal silt was ever disturbed. The dolls room was successfully located, admired and photographic evidence obtained. Chris completed his deep, wreck, & nitrox specialties while Andre finished his Deep specialty under Paddy\u2019s expert tutelage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    The Neptune pool side bar.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    The resident doctor (and others) had a tutu through the ship\u2019s hospital. The cool, calm and collected Constable was mildly flustered during a silt out in the depths of a corridor off the Bolshoi lounge, with the occasional obscenity heard echoing through the silt. He was less than impressed by the Lady in Pink describing seeing \u2018engine type machine-y things\u2019 and \u2018turning wheels\u2019 in her tiki tour of the depths of the engine room. The eerie swimming pool was swum in, the majestic propellors admired, the etherial winter garden traversed, the bedraggled cinema and lonely library explored and the topsy-turvy bars rummaged through. Ka Rawe!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Diver to the left of prop dwarfed in comparsion.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    With every dive, our party resembled more of a well-oiled machine. The doctor, ever a charming princess, had many a knight ready to help slip on her fins pre-dive. All the while stages, slings, pony and sidemount tanks were donned and doffed with help coming from all sides \u2013 team work makes the dream work after all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Brent kept the kai coming and Andre kept us in duty free wine. Justin toiled with the perpetual tank fills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As promised, this was a 5 star Dive HQ trip. Regrettably, our esteemed leader Paddy booked the dolphins for the wrong day and at the wrong time. We won\u2019t hold it against him. The dolphins, however, adhered to the law and responded immediately to Grant\u2019s call. Thanks to all, particularly Don Jamieson without whom such a treasure trove of a dive destination wouldn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We\u2019ll be back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Judy Ormandy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The Dive HQ Loutish Loons\u2019 Ludicrous Labour Weekend Lermentov Larks Led by the formidable Paddy Punters: Dave, Dave, Paul, Grant, Chris, Andre, Judy Friday afternoon and one overloaded truck and seven keen bean divers embarked onto the delayed Interislander bound for the Mainland. Some beers and wine were imbibed during a remarkably tranquil crossing of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,3,4,6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-club-event","category-dive-trips","category-general-interest","category-technical-diving","category-wreck-diving-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2779"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2818,"href":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2779\/revisions\/2818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diveski.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}