Le Polynesien WWI Wreck

 Ocean diving, Wrecks  No Responses »
Nov 082016
 
Le Polynesien WWI Wreck

Le Polynesien was a consolation dive for us after some more exciting prospects failed to materialise on the depth sounder. After a few hours of searching we decamped to this well-known WWI wreck. She was a French ocean liner, launched in 1890 and carrying passengers between France and far flung parts of the globe. Prior to her war re-fit as a troopship she had capacity for 582 passengers in four classes. In the last year of WWI she was tracking 7 miles out of Valletta Harbour en route to Greece when she was struck by a U-boat torpedo. She now sits on the bottom in about 65m of water. Le Polynesien is huge – 152m long – with one massive propellor [read more…]

2017 Calendars

 Cave diving, Ocean diving, Other  No Responses »
Oct 102016
 
2017 Calendars

2016 seems like it’s only just begun and 2017 is already sneaking up on us. With the end of the year in sight, my 2017 calendars are now on sale. Calendars come in both cave diving and ocean flavours with lots of space to note your important dates for the year. The caves side features a number of beautiful shots from the Timorese caves with a good mix of local and exotic. On the ocean front this year’s calendar is dominated by big animals in blue waters – whales, sharks, mantas and more. The photo pages are A4 (approx 12″ x 8″) with the dates grid on the page below. The calendars are ringbound with a punchhole for hanging. Even better, prices [read more…]

Fish on the Lonsdales reefs

 Ocean diving, Reef diving  No Responses »
Feb 162016
 
Fish on the Lonsdales reefs

Two weeks from today I will be on the lovely Carpe Vita in the stunning Maldives with thanks to Liquid Diving Adventures. I’m doing a run to the Deep South for an 11 night liveaboard. We hope to see sharks of all varieties – from fast hammerheads to small reef sharks to really big whalesharks. With some mantas, turtles and tropical reef thrown in for good measure it promises to be a great trip. With that in mind I thought I had better get out into the ocean and get back into the habit of chasing down some fish. Sven and I headed out from Portsea for a look at the reef off Point Lonsdale. While the seas were relatively [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…]

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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