Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1983 (Part 1)

 Back in the Day, Cave diving, Nullarbor  3 Responses »
Nov 152012
 
Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1983 (Part 1)

When Toad Hall was discovered on the 1982 trip, Cocklebiddy Cave earned the world record for the longest underwater cave penetration from the surface. So when the team returned in 1983 to push beyond Toad Hall and dive into the third sump, they knew they were making history. Dad took some great photos of the adventure, so I’ll be splitting the story of the 1983 trip over the next three Thursdays. L to R, Hugh Morrison, Robyn Allum, Simon Jones (back to us), Ron Allum far right. Ron explains his newly designed home-made aluminium sleds to the divers. Ron had become skilled in aluminium welding as he built a boat and made these in his back yard. Note the constant [read more…]

Road signs in Little Blue

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  No Responses »
Nov 122012
 
Road signs in Little Blue

About the site Little Blue Sinkhole is a dive site and local swimming hole in Mt Gambier. Managed by the local council and found on Mount Salt Road, a set of stairs and floating pontoon make for easy access to the water. After an incident last year where a stolen government car was pushed into the water large rocks have been added around the hole to prevent future vehicles ending up in the drink. The council also periodically adds “Diving Prohibited” signs to the top of the cliff. I’ve inferred that this happens regularly by the sheer numbers of Diving Prohibited signs at the bottom of the underwater cliff. As I talked about in One Tree Sinkhole, Little Blue has [read more…]

Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1982 (Part 2)

 Back in the Day, Cave diving, Nullarbor  4 Responses »
Nov 082012
 
Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1982 (Part 2)

After leaving the other divers at the first rockpile, Hugh Morrison, Ron Allum and Dad pushed the 15 tank sled 100m into the second sump before returning and rearranging. A change of strategy from following the roof to swimming at a constant depth improved the buoyancy control. The sled was also deflated to be slightly negative, with the three push divers using their own buoyancy to compensate. With Ron and Hugh holding each side of the broomhandle and steering the front end, Dad took the back of the sled and pushed. Staying at a constant depth mid-tunnel, they made excellent progress through the second sump. Here Hugh and Ron park the depleted sled on the roof half way through sump 2, [read more…]

Seadragons under Flinders Pier

 Ocean diving, Reef diving  4 Responses »
Nov 052012
 
Seadragons under Flinders Pier

About the site Flinders Pier is a long, shallow dive out off the eastern side of the Mornington Peninsula. Because it’s on the opposite side of the Peninsula to Portsea, Rye and Mornington Piers it can be a good dive when the wind is blowing the wrong way. It’s also known for very reliable sightings of the weedy seadragon population that lives there. The pylons and under-pier area has kelp and seaweed, which turn to seagrass as you swim off the sides. You do have to watch out for fishing line, as it was busy up top with fishermen while I was there. About the dive My plan yesterday was to make some great shots of the seadragons, which was [read more…]

Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1982 (Part 1)

 Back in the Day, Cave diving, Nullarbor  5 Responses »
Nov 012012
 
Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1982 (Part 1)

The 1982 Cocklebiddy trip had representatives from both West Australia and South Australia. With new techniques for combining tanks into a sled, the trip hoped to push past the end of the West Australian line in the second sump and see what lay beyond. Left to right: Hugh Morrison, Ron Allum, unsure, Keith Dekkers, Simon Jones in yellow, unsure. The 1982 trip was led by Hugh Morrison from West Australia. Dad, still based in South Australia, knew Hugh from his FAUI instructing and invited himself along as trip photographer. The other South Australian representative was Ron, who was keen to get back to Cocklebiddy and came as photographer’s assistant. Various bits of gear have been hung on the shrubbery to [read more…]

3D mapping the pillar in Tank Cave

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier, Other  No Responses »
Oct 292012
 
3D mapping the pillar in Tank Cave

For those CDAA members who attended the talks associated with our Annual General Meeting over the weekend, you will remember JDZ’s introduction to some new cave mapping techniques. Cave explorers are familiar with counting knots in the line and noting depth, direction and azimuth all the way home. Dive complete, you exit to dry land, translate your scribbled notes for entry into a computer program and check out the stick map of your progress. This time consuming exercise has been the only way for your average diver on a budget to produce accurate maps of our underwater travels. Beyond being time consuming, errors can creep into a survey over time. This is especially true in complex caves with multiple branching [read more…]

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