Me in poor visibility 11M below the surface near Oak Park off the coast of Sydney.
Here is the cave before it got silted up
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Oak Park 27 September 2009
Dive master was Brett. Buddy was Dave.
Very cold in the water (14 degrees) and visibility was quiet poor (about 5 M max). First dive: I noticed the same bell ringing that I had heard in Gordon's Bay a few weeks ago. I remember asking the other divers if they heard the bell and some did but most didn't. I put it down to the fact that I was the only one not wearing a hood so I was able to hear it better. I thought this was too strange a coincidence to hear the same bell at a separate dive site so I tried to see if there was any rhythm or timing to the bell - I noticed the bell rang every time I drew air from my regulator so the sound was some sort of metallic resonance coming from my tank. Once I recognised the noise for what it was it didn't sound so much like a bell ringing. The ringing was there on the second dive as well - I will post a question on a dive forum about this as I am sure I am not Robinson Crusoe here. We swam to the Cave and a few divers went in but it silted up very quickly and my buddy knocked his first stage on the way out of the cave and it started to slowly leak. I took a look and indicated to him that he had a leak but we continued the dive and made regular checks on his PG. There were no further problems with his equipment for the rest of the dive. We exited with 70bar at the planned exit point.
The hour long lunch break was pretty cold and seemed longer because the Soup Natzi had told me "no soup for you today!" because I didn't get my booking online before 5pm the previous day. Another lesson from today's dive is to make sure I book at least 24 hours in advance to give the guys at Abyss enough notice to feed me (or god forbid I actually planned to feed myself:))
Second dive was fairly uneventful for my buddy and I but the other group did lose a diver and the divemaster had to go back and get him. I am not sure of the whole story but that is a problem when you dive in groups rather than in buddy pairs. At the exit we waited to let Brett know that we were out and 3 of the group of 5 came out at one exit point while Brett and another diver came out of the other exit point.
Dave took some photographs and said he will email me them I may post them when I receive them.
Very cold in the water (14 degrees) and visibility was quiet poor (about 5 M max). First dive: I noticed the same bell ringing that I had heard in Gordon's Bay a few weeks ago. I remember asking the other divers if they heard the bell and some did but most didn't. I put it down to the fact that I was the only one not wearing a hood so I was able to hear it better. I thought this was too strange a coincidence to hear the same bell at a separate dive site so I tried to see if there was any rhythm or timing to the bell - I noticed the bell rang every time I drew air from my regulator so the sound was some sort of metallic resonance coming from my tank. Once I recognised the noise for what it was it didn't sound so much like a bell ringing. The ringing was there on the second dive as well - I will post a question on a dive forum about this as I am sure I am not Robinson Crusoe here. We swam to the Cave and a few divers went in but it silted up very quickly and my buddy knocked his first stage on the way out of the cave and it started to slowly leak. I took a look and indicated to him that he had a leak but we continued the dive and made regular checks on his PG. There were no further problems with his equipment for the rest of the dive. We exited with 70bar at the planned exit point.
The hour long lunch break was pretty cold and seemed longer because the Soup Natzi had told me "no soup for you today!" because I didn't get my booking online before 5pm the previous day. Another lesson from today's dive is to make sure I book at least 24 hours in advance to give the guys at Abyss enough notice to feed me (or god forbid I actually planned to feed myself:))
Second dive was fairly uneventful for my buddy and I but the other group did lose a diver and the divemaster had to go back and get him. I am not sure of the whole story but that is a problem when you dive in groups rather than in buddy pairs. At the exit we waited to let Brett know that we were out and 3 of the group of 5 came out at one exit point while Brett and another diver came out of the other exit point.
Dave took some photographs and said he will email me them I may post them when I receive them.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
The Leap and The Steps 26 September 2009
The Leap and The Steprs are both inside Botany Bay National Park near Kurnell. The dive master was Emma my buddy was Dylan.
First dive: we entered at the leap and it is easy to understand why it is called the leap. You have to leap about 1.5M into the surf (swell wasn't too bad today) with you scuba gear on and clear the rocks below. It seemed pretty daunting at first but it was quiet easy and safe. We drifted with the incoming tide around to the Steps and exited there. Visibility was quite bad and the water was very cold (13 degs).
Second Dive was from the Steps and we swam a heading of 290 degrees until our air reached 150 bar and turned around on a reciprocal heading. Again visibility was bad but we did spot 1 PJ and 2 Weedy Sea Dragons. We surfaced near the kelp forest and swam 100M to the exit point at the steps. All up two very successful dives and a boost to the navigation skills.
First dive: we entered at the leap and it is easy to understand why it is called the leap. You have to leap about 1.5M into the surf (swell wasn't too bad today) with you scuba gear on and clear the rocks below. It seemed pretty daunting at first but it was quiet easy and safe. We drifted with the incoming tide around to the Steps and exited there. Visibility was quite bad and the water was very cold (13 degs).
Second Dive was from the Steps and we swam a heading of 290 degrees until our air reached 150 bar and turned around on a reciprocal heading. Again visibility was bad but we did spot 1 PJ and 2 Weedy Sea Dragons. We surfaced near the kelp forest and swam 100M to the exit point at the steps. All up two very successful dives and a boost to the navigation skills.
Friday, September 25, 2009
International Coastal Clean Up Day 19 September 2009
We went to Kurnell and I was volunteered to lead Kim and Frank to the site as they did not know where it was. I knew where Kurnell was from my old triathlon days but I wasn't sure where the dive site was. I figured I would spot the Abyss truck when I got there and everything would work out. Needless to say 3 carparks later we eventually found the dive team.
The dive master was Bill and my dive buddy was Steve. We had a fairly uneventful first dive. We spent a bit of time going over the sand before making our way north to the wall. Visibility was very bad at times with Steve becoming a blur at 2 metres at the worst point. I spent most of the dive keeping my eye on Steve and was amazed at how loud a large ship sounded as it went past. At one point I thought this huge steel hull would come ripping through the kelp towards us it sounded so close.
We exited by the large white sign and had a bit of difficulty navigating over the shallow rocks with a bit of swell.
The time between then and the second dive was more eventful. We had a BBQ and collected some cash for the National Coastal clean up designated charity. Upon setting up my gear I left it standing just out of reach of my fins and mask. I decided to try to grab my fins and mask with it balanced standing up (what was I thinking!) My nerves got the better of me and I quickly turned around to see if the gear was falling. No there it was upright, steady as a rock and not a breeze in the air. Whew! I felt more relaxed and turned to get my fins and snorkel. Reaching down to grab my fins BANG-PSSSSSS a huge gas explosion behind me! I turned to see my gear lying on the floor with gas belting out from the first stage a full throttle. I reached down and turned the knob for what seemed like 400 turns before the noise eventually stopped. The tanks had rolled over and bumped the first stage enough to pop the O-ring - this totally freaked me out and made me feel like a complete idiot.
The guys from Abyss were really cool about it but I was really shaken by the whole experience. I decided my second dive was canceled but the guys from Abyss dive club got me another tank and another set of regs and within minutes I was ready to go. I was really not in a good frame of mind for diving at this point and as I entered the water I seemed to totally calm down. It was as if my mind just shut out the drama to focus on the dive at hand. We saw a few Weedy Sea Dragons and my buddy Steve was counting and measuring them. We returned to shore after about 40 mins with another dive under my belt.
Lesson from this dive - be very careful with your gear when setting up. Always lie it tank down in a clean place.
The dive master was Bill and my dive buddy was Steve. We had a fairly uneventful first dive. We spent a bit of time going over the sand before making our way north to the wall. Visibility was very bad at times with Steve becoming a blur at 2 metres at the worst point. I spent most of the dive keeping my eye on Steve and was amazed at how loud a large ship sounded as it went past. At one point I thought this huge steel hull would come ripping through the kelp towards us it sounded so close.
We exited by the large white sign and had a bit of difficulty navigating over the shallow rocks with a bit of swell.
The time between then and the second dive was more eventful. We had a BBQ and collected some cash for the National Coastal clean up designated charity. Upon setting up my gear I left it standing just out of reach of my fins and mask. I decided to try to grab my fins and mask with it balanced standing up (what was I thinking!) My nerves got the better of me and I quickly turned around to see if the gear was falling. No there it was upright, steady as a rock and not a breeze in the air. Whew! I felt more relaxed and turned to get my fins and snorkel. Reaching down to grab my fins BANG-PSSSSSS a huge gas explosion behind me! I turned to see my gear lying on the floor with gas belting out from the first stage a full throttle. I reached down and turned the knob for what seemed like 400 turns before the noise eventually stopped. The tanks had rolled over and bumped the first stage enough to pop the O-ring - this totally freaked me out and made me feel like a complete idiot.
The guys from Abyss were really cool about it but I was really shaken by the whole experience. I decided my second dive was canceled but the guys from Abyss dive club got me another tank and another set of regs and within minutes I was ready to go. I was really not in a good frame of mind for diving at this point and as I entered the water I seemed to totally calm down. It was as if my mind just shut out the drama to focus on the dive at hand. We saw a few Weedy Sea Dragons and my buddy Steve was counting and measuring them. We returned to shore after about 40 mins with another dive under my belt.
Lesson from this dive - be very careful with your gear when setting up. Always lie it tank down in a clean place.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Voodoo 12 September 2009
Voodoo is located on the south side of the Kurnell National Park at the end of Sir Joseph Banks Drive.
I completed 2 dives here on Saturday 12th September. I went with a group from Abyss dive club and our Dive Master was named 'Cem', not sure if I spelled that correctly?
We inspected the entry and exit point before our dive and found the seas quite flat. Apparently the name Voodoo was given to this location by some old surfies that said the waves here well up like some kind of magic, so it is not a dive spot that can always be accessed. Our dive master, 'Cem', told us that in his experience this site is unfit to dive 3 out of every 4 times he has been here due to the waves.
We decided that today was a good day to dive and 'Cem' briefed us on the dive and the intricacies of entry and exit. I was buddied off with one of the other 'no mates' divers and met my new buddy named Markus. Markus had a European accent something like German but I wasn't sure exactly and never asked him.
We went back to the car park to gear up and went through the necessary checks before returning to dive. It was a particularly hot day and we were overheating in our wet suits and I can remember being relieved to get in the water which was a chilly 17 degrees.
We arranged to follow 'Cem' and his buddy for the first dive as 'Cem' was very familiar with the area. Within a few minutes we came across a Port Jackson shark. OMG I thought "SHARK!" but 'Cem' got hold of it by the tail and started to stroke it like a big pussy cat. These creatures really are very placid and nothing seemed to excite them. We saw a blow fish that 'Cem' scared and it did what it is famous for, it blew up like a wedding balloon. We saw countless PJ's (Port Jackson Sharks) sitting on the floor and a few cruised around us, they are the most remarkable creature.
We found a curious blue groper and ended up at 5 m where we cruised the kelp back to the exit point while completing our safety stop. All up a most enjoyable dive.
We returned to the car park and had some lunch. We stayed out of the water for 1 hour before gearing up to return for a second dive. This time Markus and I decided to go it alone and we planned to follow the same route as the first dive. After we descended the area looked somewhat familiar and we followed a heading north before turning SW. We didn't find as many exciting things on our own and got down to 19.5M. I signaled to Markus that we should ascend as we had obviously gone to far out and were dropping off the reef. We climbed back into the reef and found a few PJ's and a very nice cuttlefish. We did our 5M safety stop but we had become disorientated. We surfaced about 250M away from the exit and had a nice relaxing snorkel back to the exit.
All up a great days diving and some lessons learned about navigation (or lack of ability with such).
I completed 2 dives here on Saturday 12th September. I went with a group from Abyss dive club and our Dive Master was named 'Cem', not sure if I spelled that correctly?
We inspected the entry and exit point before our dive and found the seas quite flat. Apparently the name Voodoo was given to this location by some old surfies that said the waves here well up like some kind of magic, so it is not a dive spot that can always be accessed. Our dive master, 'Cem', told us that in his experience this site is unfit to dive 3 out of every 4 times he has been here due to the waves.
We decided that today was a good day to dive and 'Cem' briefed us on the dive and the intricacies of entry and exit. I was buddied off with one of the other 'no mates' divers and met my new buddy named Markus. Markus had a European accent something like German but I wasn't sure exactly and never asked him.
We went back to the car park to gear up and went through the necessary checks before returning to dive. It was a particularly hot day and we were overheating in our wet suits and I can remember being relieved to get in the water which was a chilly 17 degrees.
We arranged to follow 'Cem' and his buddy for the first dive as 'Cem' was very familiar with the area. Within a few minutes we came across a Port Jackson shark. OMG I thought "SHARK!" but 'Cem' got hold of it by the tail and started to stroke it like a big pussy cat. These creatures really are very placid and nothing seemed to excite them. We saw a blow fish that 'Cem' scared and it did what it is famous for, it blew up like a wedding balloon. We saw countless PJ's (Port Jackson Sharks) sitting on the floor and a few cruised around us, they are the most remarkable creature.
We found a curious blue groper and ended up at 5 m where we cruised the kelp back to the exit point while completing our safety stop. All up a most enjoyable dive.
We returned to the car park and had some lunch. We stayed out of the water for 1 hour before gearing up to return for a second dive. This time Markus and I decided to go it alone and we planned to follow the same route as the first dive. After we descended the area looked somewhat familiar and we followed a heading north before turning SW. We didn't find as many exciting things on our own and got down to 19.5M. I signaled to Markus that we should ascend as we had obviously gone to far out and were dropping off the reef. We climbed back into the reef and found a few PJ's and a very nice cuttlefish. We did our 5M safety stop but we had become disorientated. We surfaced about 250M away from the exit and had a nice relaxing snorkel back to the exit.
All up a great days diving and some lessons learned about navigation (or lack of ability with such).
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