Pattaya Mail — Sports

Forty Scuba Divers join Mermaid's Diver Center to Clean up Koh Rin

Divers left the South Pattaya pier early Saturday morning with more than just seeing the coral and fish in mind. There were 40 in all in 2 boats armed with scissors, knives, razors, and trash bags, not exactly the usual gear for scuba diving in Pattaya.

The goal of the day was to make a small contribution to the worldwide "International Clean-Up the Oceans Day". Mermaid’s Dive Center was sponsoring the local clean-up, supported by the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI). PADI supplied a Project Aware Poster, certificates for the contributing divers, stickers, and trash bags. Mermaid’s Dive Team also noticed other boats from friendly competitors leaving for Koh Larn with the same gear. For once there was no competition between the Dive Centers, since all figured there would definitely be enough trash in Pattaya waters to go around.

The Mermaid’s Dive Center boat arrived first at Koh Rin, being slightly faster than The Dogboat, so named because of the two puppies that live on board. These dogs keep living by dodging scuba tanks and generally keeping out of everyone’s way. The general consensus was the dogs were there to eat all the garbage brought up.

Upon arrival divers hit their first problem of the day. Koh Rin North Rock has some of the most beautiful corals in the Pattaya area. Unfortunately, a lot of this coral is covered by fishing nets, which will eventually kill the reef and much of the marine life. Upon arrival divers could see the netting, and also a 4 knot current passing over it. The idea of 40 divers in the water with razors swimming around a huge net in 4 knots of current didn’t appeal to the safety director, so it was off to site "B".

Photo: Cutting away the mass of netting suffocating the coral in Pattaya Bay. Photo by Del Hunter.

Del Hunter, Underwater Photographer and PADI Master Instructor, was leading the project to the southwest bay of Koh Rin, where many squid boats anchor to let their captains sleep during the day. Divers knew that there would be a good supply of Singha and M-150 bottles, not to mention old clothing and worn-out shoes! There was a bit of a swell but captains managed to get the two boats close enough for the divers from the Dogboat to jump over to the S.S. Mermaid’s - with only one dunking.

Del briefed the divers on the safety aspects of cleaning up a coral reef, with PADI Staff Instructor Akemi Takehashi translating into Japanese, and the owner of Mermaid’s Dive Center, Steve Blumenthal explaining in (Brooklyn-accented) Thai. After totally confusing all of the scuba divers, they were given sharp razors and sent into the water.

Del took photos during the first dive, while Steve stayed on the back of the boat hauling up various pieces of trash. PADI Staff Instructor Chompoonute Thanabodee (G.T.) led the Thai diving team, and managed to come up with an extra large amount of very foul smelling garbage. Each buddy team managed to bring up something, and it was all dumped in an ugly pile in the stern of the boat. The Dogboat Captain, "Gaa", and his puppies made sure that nothing was thrown away that could be remotely useful, such as old hoses, fishing hooks, etc.

After an hour of reef clean-up, divers managed to get the kitchen upwind of the trash pile and had a hot lunch of delicious "Gang-a-ree-Gy" (Chicken Curry). This is a specialty of the Mermaid’s Dive Center chef, and the divers were not disappointed.

Next it was back to Koh Rin North Rock for the afternoon dive. This time the current cooperated and divers were able to attack the netting. Del managed to rescue a small crab by painstakingly cutting off the netting it was trapped in. The crab showed its appreciation by clamping down hard on Del’s little finger.

One surprise was just how heavy the netting was when taken out of the water. Divers managed to remove about half of the nets during the one hour dive time. Anyone diving Koh Rin North Rock in the future can still go and do their share; there’s plenty of netting left! Some gloves and a sharp knife are all that’s needed.

The team sailed back to Pattaya at the end of the day with horribly stinking dive boats and forty very happy divers.

For more information on saving our coral reefs you can contact Steve Blumenthal or Del Hunter at Mermaid’s Dive Center - Tel: 038-232-219(20) or Fax: 038-232-221.

Londoner unseats Jack's in PSC Darts

The upstarts from Londoner, playing in their first season, unseated 7 time defending champions Jack’s in the Pattaya Sports Club Darts League sponsored by Beck’s Beer.

The end of season presentation party was held Tuesday night, September 23rd at the Sports Corner, with Londoner taking most of the honours, including the Championship trophy.

With Londoner stopping Jacks Bar from winning their 7th consecutive title, Jacks had to be content with runners up in the closest title race PSC has had for the past few years. The Londoner team won the title by just one extra beer leg.

Pook from the Londoner took the high out trophy with a magnificent 146, also hitting a 180 along with his teammates John, Noi and Lek.

Other 180 winners were Pattaya, Jack & Od from Jacks Bar, Evis from the Cafe Kronborg, Beer from the Beer Put, Chom, Pot and Billy from Mick’s Place and Dang from the Sports Corner.

Evis and Suchin were the on-form players of the presentation night, winning the lucky draw.

Announcing Children's Sports Camp

During the school holiday in October, the Ambassador City Jomtien Hotel will hold a sport camp for children between the ages of 8 - 12 years old. The camp will feature sport training by a former national athletics coach, as well as sightseeing, basic dancing and painting lessons by a professional teacher.

The sports camp will run from October 20-22, 1997, and cost B3,400 per person.

The program includes hotel accommodation, 4 meals/day, sightseeing, painting equipment and many other things, including special rates for parents during the camp.

Interested persons can contact the public relations or guest relations at the Ambassador City Jomtien Hotel, Tel (038) 255 501-40.

Stormy Sunday quiz heats up

On the rainiest Sunday evening for a year, quizzers braved the hostile elements to support their favorite pub on September 21st. Which TV detective had a dog called Fang? Does water ice exist on Mars?

With only four rounds to go, family and friends of the Rising Sun (believed to be the only English bar in Pattaya to sport a Japanese name) had a first-rate score of 80% but were pipped in the honors league by Cheers with 83%. Palmer’s intellectual giants were missing on Sunday and they managed only a modest 56%. The middle positions in this league are being fought between Pleasure Dome and Mick’s who respectively scored 71% and 82%. The rest of the field are also rans, but special mention should be made of Bob’s and Londoner who, in recent weeks, have totaled up some impressive scores. The average mark on the evening was 72.5%.

As the season draws to a close, Bangkok based question setter Roger Harris and his friends are dealing with a growing number of appeals which are customary at this stage as bars jockey for position. Sometimes these are right, e.g. in a famous proverb the sweetest fruit can be "forbidden" or "stolen", but they are often long shots. It has been suggested, for example, that Tunis is to the east of Tripoli and that Syria’s flag has three stars. Maybe, testing the administrators’ mettle is half of the fun. Still, the level of general knowledge in the town is very high and the resort deserves its growing world wide reputation as the intellectual heart of the Orient.

Expats and tourists are always welcome at these fun evenings provided they understand English. Sadly, it is not yet possible to have written translations of the questions in Serbo-Croat, although there is doubtless someone locally who could accomplish that. Bar flies, computer wizards, housewives, teachers and ex sailors all mingle at the weekly Sunday gatherings just before 8:30 p.m. Answers to the questions above are Columbo (the name Fang is mentioned twice in the series) and Yes (according to Discovery channel).

The latest scores are:

Sunday Quiz

	Points
Rising Sun	1122
Cheers	1104
Palmer’s	1072
Pleasure Dome	1068
Mick’s Place	1062
Bob’s	1004
Britannia	950
Londoner	939
Poteen Still	889
Wild Chicken	729

Stevens lands top trophy in PSC fishing tournament

Gary Stevens, angling with the PESCO fishing team, landed a 6.8 kilogram Queen Fish to win first place in the Pattaya Sports Club Deep Sea Fishing tournament on Friday, September 19. Gary landed the prize winning catch off Ko Phi on a boat helmed by Captain Gay.

Gunter Drbal, fishing with Atlantis Club Cafe I, placed second with a 6.1 kilogram King Mackerel he landed off Ko Phi with Captain Dang at the helm.

Three boats wit seven fishermen participated in the tournament and were treated to a beautiful day with calm seas and light breezes. Aside from the winning catches, an additional 4 large Queen Fish, two large Pompano, and one shark were landed during the tournament, as well as many smaller fish, including Snappers and Groupers. Two large Sailfish were hooked, but unfortunately were not landed.

The next Pattaya Sports Club fishing tournament is scheduled for Friday, October 17.

Chairman tops the leader board, again

For the second time in three weeks, PGS Chairman Peter Johannson topped the leader board in the weekly Pattaya Golf Society tournament at Sriracha on Tuesday, September 23.

On a soggy course that received 14 hrs of rain the night before the tournament, and despite many "plugged" balls in the fairway, Peter carded a net 3 under par, scoring 39 Stableford points to win the weekly outing.

Roy "Tiger" Mitchell finished second, scoring 32 points after finishing net 4 over par. George Meigh placed third with 30 points, followed by Colin Morgan with 28 in fourth, and William Rice rounding out the top five with 26 points.

Peter Johannson won nearest the pin honors on the 180 yard "crocodile hole", while Colin Morgan earned the honors on the 178 yard #12 and the 153 yard #17.

Shaky Pete's wins inaugural PSC Charity Classic

Phoenix Golf & Country Club in first class condition! Charity mulligans available for the golfing impaired! Sunny weather in the middle of the monsoon? Great food - pig, hamburgers and hot dogs, cold beer, 34 golf prizes along with 70 lucky draw prizes! It was a good day for Pattaya golf and the hundred golfers taking part, and a great day for Pattaya Charities. Generous golfers and sponsors together raised over B130,000 for three local charities: the Fountain of Life, the Blind School and Pattaya School No. 6.

Shaky Pete’s Bar, famous in Pattaya for it’s group of besotted sandbaggers, used a paltry 73 mulligans to score 137 points. Tied at 136 points, the Nightmare Team, well known for their ‘savoir faire’ and using 86 mulligans, on count back beat the Tahitian Queens (well known for other things) who used only 82 mulligans.

Using the peculiar tournament scoring system, only the top three Stableford scores counted while the fourth score was used in case of a count back. The Nightmares’ fourth man came through beating out the Tahitian Queens’ fourth by a single stroke.

In fourth place the Easy Riders, with 133 points using 88 mulligans, won on count back over the Swinging Willbury’s. Once again the fourth man decided the match by a single stroke .

PSC Charity Classic Winners:

Champion: Shaky Pete’s with Paul Kraft, Herbie Ishinaga, Dennis Willet, and Dene Mundy, 137 Points, 73 mulligans.

Second: Nightmares with Steve Beard, Clive Pearce, Moe Deverdenne, and Marc Jernigan, 136 Points, 86 mulligans.

Third: Tahitian Queens with Woody Underwood, Jerry Lien, Jimmy Little, and Vic Cross, 136 Points, 82 mulligans.

Fourth: Easy Riders with Billy Thompson, Ian Pike, Dick Holt, and Bill Collis, 133 Points, 88 mulligans.

Two special prizes were donated by Don Antonio. One was awarded to Teresa Holley for winning the Women’s Long Drive. The second was awarded for skills of a different kind to the fabulous "Guzzlers’ Team" of the Café Kronborg who, on advice of Captain Bjarne, decided not to use mulligans on the green and as a result scored a monstrous 78 points to edge out the Dream Team for last place.

Technical hole prizes were won by a variety of golfers, some good, but most lucky as shown below. The tournament had one double technical prize winner, Neil Hughes, who attributes his skills to cold beer and early nights. Stan Fry of Orchid Trading/The Classroom managed to win his own prize on Mountain #8. The altruistic Stan then offered this prize (a TV) for auction, the proceeds going to charity. Other philanthropic prize winners from the ‘lucky draw’ who followed Fry by offering their winnings for charity auction, were Richard Holt and John Moore.

Technical Prize Winners:

Ocean Course:

Hole 1, Matt Swire won the Straight Drive sponsored by the Diana Group. #2, Dougie Powell won Closest to Pin 2nd Shot sponsored by Bill Thompson. #3, Ian Harley won Longest Putt sponsored by Ray (Papa San) Rogers. #4, Neil Hughes won Nearest to Line 2nd Shot sponsored by Penthouse Hotel & Cats Fun Pub. #5, Susie Olds won Closest To Pin sponsored by Tahitian Queen. #6, Neil Cameron won Nearest to Flag sponsored by Ecosystem Sciences. #7, Brian O’Gorman won Closest to Pin sponsored by Classroom. #8, Neil Hughes won Longest Putt sponsored by Delaney’s Irish Pub. #9, Clive Pearce won Long Drive (Hdp 19+) sponsored by Mercure Hotel.

Mountain Course:

Hole 1, Tom Kennedy won Nearest to Flag sponsored by Mercure Hotel. #2, Jim Montgomery won Nearest to Line sponsored by Asset Management Int. #3, ‘Eoin’ won Straight Drive sponsored by Vintage Consultants. #4, Gert Hansen won Closest to Pin sponsored by Harry Riley. #5, Alex Pool won Closest to Pin 2nd Shot sponsored by Las Vegas. #6, Paul Ovens won Longest Drive (0-18 Hdp) sponsored by Foster Wheeler Inc. #7, Richard Holt won Nearest to Water sponsored by the Rotary Club of Jomtien/ Pattaya. #8, Stan Fry won Closest to Pin sponsored by Orchid Trading. #9, Joe Banks won Nearest to Sign sponsored by Thai-German Industries.

Major sponsors and contributors to be thanked for a wonderful day include Pro-Kennex (Thailand), the Pattaya Sports Club and Pattaya Sports Club-Golf. All of the Lucky Draw sponsors, too numerable to mention, did a wonderful job. Individuals contributing greatly on the day were Ken Crow and Herbie Ishinaga who cooked all the hamburgers and hot dogs, as well as Ivan Town who counted all the money. At Phoenix Golf Course the staff and various managers did a wonderful job. While lastly the PSC Charity Classic Committee made up of Mike Franklin, Bill Collis, Harry Riley, Bill Thompson and Steve Beard offer their thanks to all Pattaya golfers who took part and the three PSC Golf groups: PSC Golf at the Hare House, the PSC Splinters at the Green Bottle and PSC Golf at the Café Kronborg, for their strong and generous support. We will see you again next year!

Copyright © 1997 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
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