Aussie Diving 1 to 15 April, 2010

[Sas]

Hey so who got some dives in over the Easter break?

I did four over the weekend. First was a drift dive on Friday. Was supposed to be a wall dive but the boat was delayed because of an incident and we missed slack. The current was crazy strong and we all got swept off the line and one point, most people got separated though me and my buddy managed to stick together and we ended up with a third buddy unexpectedly. I shot up an SMB but it was so strong that the SMB was horizontal in the water (we were in 12m of water and it pulled out all 30m of my line). The others said later that the dive buoy on the drift line was also pulled 10m under the water due to the current.

On Sunday I did two hours under Blairgowrie Pier as a nice solo dive. Saw lots of critters, but had average viz and the current was very strong, making it a bit uncomfortable towards the end.

Then on Monday I got out to Phillip Island for some more dives. Had fantastic viz, pretty calm surface and only minor surge underneath. We dived some rarely dived sites called 'The Arches' and a shipwreck from 1905 called The Speke. The ship was scattered everywhere and not very intact. There were lobsters everywhere, lots of fish, and the landscape was quite interesting.

Bit of the Speke

Old Wive school at The Arches

Pinchy under a ledge - one ledge I found half a dozen of them!

Baby blue devil

Cute puffer

Octopus in a bottle

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Great shots Sas I love the Occy in the bottle what a find!

 

[fredaroony]

We went out to The Monuments at Kurnell yesterday and I experienced the worst viz in about 15 years! Below 7 metres you needed a torch!

Going to stick to good old reliable Shelley this weekend.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Interesting fish said when they dived Bare last time it was pretty bad.. like doing a night dive! *sigh* but right now I would be happy to be able to do a dive in cr%& viz

You guys have to dive for me vicariously:worship:

 

[Gudge]

We got out for three dives over Easter, one on Good Friday on Bundegi Reef and two on Monday on a site called Razors in Lighthouse Bay that we haven't dived for a very long time. The visibility wasn't the best (probably due to the recent coral spawn) so I stuck to small critters at close range using my 100 macro lens with a close-up lens attached to the front. You can see all our favourite shots here:

April 2010 - Ross Gudgeon (Gudge)'s Photos- powered by SmugMug

My favourite shots are these:

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Wow.. just lovely... going to go check the link now Gudge.. thanks for sharing

 

[lyricnz]

Then on Monday I got out to Phillip Island for some more dives. Had fantastic viz, pretty calm surface and only minor surge underneath. We dived some rarely dived sites called 'The Arches' and a shipwreck from 1905 called The Speke. The ship was scattered everywhere and not very intact. There were lobsters everywhere, lots of fish, and the landscape was quite interesting.

Hi Sas,

Dude, are we ever going to end up on Rusty's at the same time?

I was with them Saturday and Sunday, and had some pretty good dives:

- Sat/1: George Kermode, took a newish diver around for a soft look see. I still love this wreck

- Sat/2: AA Reef. Decent scenery, but no luck on the cray hunt

- Sun/1: Pinnacles. Great dive, but very strong current. Five divers in, and only the young/fit guy could make it to the bouy! The boat had to come back, and tow us on, hahaha! At the bouy, we hand-over-hand down the line to the site. Once on, super-nice dive, had that "flying through a valley" experience between the bommies. Strong surge.

- Sun/2: Two Cave Bay. Pleasant enough, but no crays found. Lost an integrated weight pocket w. 3kg, and didn't notice till I was back on the boat. Noticed that I was a bit lopsided, and had to paddle just a bit at my safety stop w. 70bar, so I guess I'm still overweighted

I'll be back on Rusty's this weekend, I expect - normally Sunday. You?

Cheers, Simon

 

[Sas]

Hi Sas,

Dude, are we ever going to end up on Rusty's at the same time?

Haha yea true, we should organise to catch up sometime and do some dives! I'm in Mt Gambier this weekend and club dives the week after, maybe the week after that? I'll message you closer to the time or something.

I heard thigns were a bit rougher for you guys, I've gotten real lucky with the weather when I've done Phillip Island dives. One of my buddies still got seasick though, even underwater! Poor guy.

You should dive the Arches, crayfish everywhere! One guy caught a couple but they were pretty small. I found half a dozen under a ledge at one point. But of course, I left them there

Cool you can drop another 3kg

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Hi Sas,

Dude, are we ever going to end up on Rusty's at the same time?

I was with them Saturday and Sunday, and had some pretty good dives:

- Sat/1: George Kermode, took a newish diver around for a soft look see. I still love this wreck

- Sat/2: AA Reef. Decent scenery, but no luck on the cray hunt

- Sun/1: Pinnacles. Great dive, but very strong current. Five divers in, and only the young/fit guy could make it to the bouy! The boat had to come back, and tow us on, hahaha! At the bouy, we hand-over-hand down the line to the site. Once on, super-nice dive, had that "flying through a valley" experience between the bommies. Strong surge.

- Sun/2: Two Cave Bay. Pleasant enough, but no crays found. Lost an integrated weight pocket w. 3kg, and didn't notice till I was back on the boat. Noticed that I was a bit lopsided, and had to paddle just a bit at my safety stop w. 70bar, so I guess I'm still overweighted

I'll be back on Rusty's this weekend, I expect - normally Sunday. You?

Cheers, Simon

:lol: we will have to tell Jon on you.. did you take some of those weights back heheh

Glad to see you are getting some decent dives in... where are the pics .. I am begging for vicarious dives right now during my long dry here in the cold white north

 

[lyricnz]

:lol: we will have to tell Jon on you.. did you take some of those weights back heheh

No, I'm still carrying the 9kg that I was with Jon (down from 14!)

This weekend, after I dropped the weight pocket, at 70 bar it felt like I was 1-2 kilo light (guess). With an empty tank, I would have another 1.4kg of buoyancy, so I guess I still need the missing 3kg

Glad to see you are getting some decent dives in... where are the pics .. I am begging for vicarious dives right now during my long dry here in the cold white north

My pics are pretty terrible - I haven't even pulled them off the camera. I'll try and do that this week