Aussie Diving April 1-15

[Sas]

Great pictures petunia + Gudge!

I wonder what destroyed the sponge petunia... Was there a storm? I guess something might have been trying to eat the seahorses and ruined it :depressed:

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Great pictures petunia + Gudge!

I wonder what destroyed the sponge petunia... Was there a storm? I guess something might have been trying to eat the seahorses and ruined it :depressed:

I would say the destruction was man made... some people are more into getting a picture than they are concerned about the critters and environment.

Denis and some of our other group members dived the day before and it was there .. no storm or high seas... only the one they were in is ripped away

 

[burna]

Michael's finds at Portsea - a very old bottle, a newer but still pretty old bottle, a florin, a penny, bits of china and also a bullet. He collects lead pieces too that litter the pier and probably has enough lead now to stock a dive shop. He is going to make lead weights out of a mould with them all.

Nice haul guys.

Bummer about last nights weather, but thems the breaks I guess.

See...I'm am here on Scubaboard! :sofa:

 

[Sas]

Nice haul guys.

Bummer about last nights weather, but thems the breaks I guess.

See...I'm am here on Scubaboard! :sofa:

Hey welcome to Scubaboard Australian section! Yea I was so disappointed we couldn't dive. :depressed: Haven't missed a midweek night dive in ages. Will aim for next Tues!

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Nice haul guys.

Bummer about last nights weather, but thems the breaks I guess.

See...I'm am here on Scubaboard! :sofa:

kewl... welcome aboard now we will enjoy some dive reports from you too:blinking:

 

[burna]

kewl... welcome aboard now we will enjoy some dive reports from you too:blinking:

Thanks. Here's my first report.

Well, I finally got my new drysuit wet today down at St Leonards. I got down there early and did a weight check before everyone else turned up. I had 13 kgs of lead on which is all I have and I reckoned I was about neutral with a full 12.2 ltr steelie, so I chucked on another 3kgs so had a whopping 16kgs all up!

I have never worked so had on my buoyancy as I did in the first 30 mins of that dive, was flailing around like crazy, floaty feet the whole bit. My feet were really floaty even without any air in the suit. After 30 mins I settled down and started to get the hang.

After the AOW students went passed like the Queen of the Netherlands I found I had lost my insta-buddy. When I finally found him he was getting out (wetsuit divers, sheesh!) So I went solo - great.

Viz was great 'cept when I caught up to the 'dredges' again and after 1hr 12 mins I thought I'd better head back seeings as how I was first in, everyone else was prob'ly out and my insta-buddy had gotten out ages ago. I was feeling really comfortable by this stage and really happy with my buoyancy, had floaty feet under control.

All up a great dive. I reckon a few dives under my belt and I'll be able to shed some of those kgs. (I take 10kgs in a 5mm wettie) I was wishing I'd gotten 2 tanks as I'd have hung around for another solo dive. Viz was really good (20+m), all the usual stuff to see. I couldn't get over the size of some of the snagged hooks and lures. What do these fishos think they're gunna catch under there? Maybe they were trying to catch that tyre they were snagged into!!

Anyone else out today? How'd you guys go last night Sas?

Cheers

 

[Sas]

Thanks. Here's my first report.

Well, I finally got my new drysuit wet today down at St Leonards. I got down there early and did a weight check before everyone else turned up. I had 13 kgs of lead on which is all I have and I reckoned I was about neutral with a full 12.2 ltr steelie, so I chucked on another 3kgs so had a whopping 16kgs all up!

Yea that is the down side of drysuits With my old BC I wore 15kg but now I think I am down to about 10-11kg with a SS BP and a not buoyant BC.

I have never worked so had on my buoyancy as I did in the first 30 mins of that dive, was flailing around like crazy, floaty feet the whole bit. My feet were really floaty even without any air in the suit. After 30 mins I settled down and started to get the hang.

Oh I always get floaty feet too! I gave up and now wear ankle weights Anyway, good to hear you're getting things under control.

Anyone else out today? How'd you guys go last night Sas?

Yea it went *really* well. Got enough people on board . They checked the viz at Rosebud Reef but it was zero due to the dredge so we moved to Pope's Eye. Viz was great there (was flooding for many hours before) and despite current I had a great time until my mask broke. My buddy landed on my head at about 40mins and broke my mask. I tried to fix it (hard in the dark with no vision and thick gloves!) and then he tried and managed to get it to a stage where it would stay clear for a few seconds I did another ten minutes holding it to my face to see a bit as we worked our way up the wall but my eyeballs froze a bit I got a new mask today but will try to fix the old one.

Earlier we did Eliza Ramsden and had bad viz and surge but heaps of fish to see and that wreck is always fun to dive. When the boat arrived back we used up the rest of our air under Portsea Pier I don't have any pictures as I was diving with my friend who is fairly new and wanted to make sure he was fine (I can get distracted a bit with my camera).

Planning on a night dive this Tues still, I have a full tank you can borrow if you're still free

 

[burna]

Planning on a night dive this Tues still, I have a full tank you can borrow if you're still free

Yep, sure am.

 

[Sas]

Yep, sure am.

Cool, we'll decide tomorrow night the spot after checking the weather (meeting up with Michael) and I'll let you know

 

[firstdive2005]

great pics sas. The velvetfish, are they common? My daughter lives in Sydney and I'm going to pay her a surprise visit soon. How is the diving in June around that area? Thanks kev