Engine rooms in Truk Lagoon

 Ocean diving, rEvo, Wrecks  1 Response »
Jan 052016
 
Engine rooms in Truk Lagoon

After an epic 2 weeks, 23 different wrecks and nearly 4,000 photos I’ve made it home from Truk Lagoon. As I churn through the photos (Why do I have way too many “final picks”? How does one choose between a giant propellor shot and a well lit cargo hold interior? How many trip photos can one reasonably ask friends and family to look at?) I was struck by how much I learned about ship layouts during my visit. The normal wrecks dived in Melbourne were mostly scuttled in the 1930s or 40s. This means both that anything interesting was removed first, and they’ve had a lot more time to break down. In many cases all that’s left is the hull and [read more…]

Truk Lagoon: The San Francisco Maru

 Ocean diving, rEvo, Wrecks  No Responses »
Dec 242015
 
Truk Lagoon: The San Francisco Maru

Truk Lagoon is a long way from anywhere. After United cancelled their flight from Cairns to Guam I re-routed my trip via Hong Kong. This made the first leg of the trip nine hours in the air instead of three while leaving the second leg to Guam at five hours. After two international flights, a 14 hour stopover in delightful Guam and the TSA going through every item in my hand luggage, I arrived in Chuuk late on Sunday night excited for two weeks of diving. With some creative packing and use of the hand luggage allowance I managed to make it with rEvo, camera and extra strobes. I’m diving at Blue Lagoon Resort and enjoying their excellent rebreather services. After [read more…]

Egg laying squid under Rapid Bay Jetty

 Ocean diving, Reef diving  No Responses »
Dec 152015
 
Egg laying squid under Rapid Bay Jetty

About the site Rapid Bay Jetty in South Australia is a known leafy sea dragon spot, and they were the main attraction that had drawn me out for a dive there. The old jetty gets down to 10m deep and there’s masses of life hanging out between the pylons. This includes some very healthy looks seagrass beds on each side which attract a whole array of creatures. About the photos For the first 10 minutes of the dive Ken and I had swum under the old jetty itself with eyes carefully peeled for leafies. The vis was fantastic. I was oscillating between being sure I was going to find a dragon and being convinced there was one hidden in plain sight [read more…]

Leafy seadragon under Rapid Bay Jetty

 Ocean diving, Reef diving  1 Response »
Dec 082015
 
Leafy seadragon under Rapid Bay Jetty

About the site Rapid Bay Jetty is a well known dive site in South Australia. On a hot Saturday morning for the first weekend of summer it was busy with divers staggering up and down the pier between the stairs and the car park. Once underwater however we only swam past other buddy pairs occasionally. The jetty is known for its resident leafy sea dragons. Unlike the weedy sea dragons we get in Victoria, leafies have more ornate body decorations. I’d never seen one in the flesh despite a prior dive in this exact location a few years back. I had my fingers crossed for a little more luck this time. About the dive Despite arriving around 9am it was already stinking [read more…]

Rusty stuff on the Milora

 Ocean diving, rEvo, Wrecks  No Responses »
Dec 012015
 
Rusty stuff on the Milora

About the wreck The Milora was a steam powered coal cargo transport, built in 1921 in Melbourne and initially named the Emita. She had a cargo of 2,800 tonnes of coal on board when she ran aground in the Port Phillip Heads in September 1934. After removing 1,800 tonnes of coal she was refloated a week later with most of her hold flooded, and taken to Williamstown between two tugs. By 1935 she was found to be uneconomical to repair, stripped of her valuable parts and taken out and scuttled. The Milora now sits in about 40m of water. Originally 100m long, she is one of the larger wrecks in the Ship’s Graveyard and a great dive. About the dive We’d done [read more…]

Kelp Forests in Peru

 Ocean diving, Reef diving  No Responses »
Nov 242015
 
Kelp Forests in Peru

About the location Lima is closer to the equator than I imagined, but compensates with ocean temperatures that are quite similar to Melbourne. The cool Humboldt current passes up the coast on its way to the Galapagos Islands. Combined with a capital city of nearly 9 million inhabitants, this makes for less than stellar vis on the coast. Local diving includes trips out to swim and snorkel with the huge sea lion colony, and rumours of great kelp forests. About the dive Given I was in town for three weeks I was pretty determined to get wet at some point. Some friends at work were kind enough to point me in the directions of Naylamps School of Diving who were [read more…]

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