Wreck diving the Wareatea

 Ocean diving, rEvo, Wrecks  2 Responses »
Sep 222015
 
Wreck diving the Wareatea

About the wreck Unlike other wrecks in the Ship’s Graveyard, the Wareatea was a passenger and cargo transport, built in 1883. She ran between Melbourne and the north coast of Tasmania between Federation in 1901 and the end of WWII in 1945, when she was scuttled. The wreck has great life on it with nice sponge growth and schools of fish around. While the bow is somewhat twisted and flat to the seabed the stern stands up and has the prop and rudder still in position. About the dive After a few weeks of diving in some pretty average vis, I was wondering if wreck diving was all it’s cracked up to me. Upon jumping into deep blue ocean I decided [read more…]

Dark water on the ex-HMAS Adelaide

 Ocean diving, rEvo, Wrecks  No Responses »
Sep 152015
 
Dark water on the ex-HMAS Adelaide

About the wreck The ex-HMAS Adelaide is a sister ship to the ex-HMAS Canberra. Both were deliberately sunk after a useful life of service and now serve as diver attractions. I have dived the Canberra (which sits out of Melbourne) a few times, but I hadn’t visited the Adelaide. She can be found on the NSW Central Coast, just over an hour’s drive north of Sydney. About the dive I was up in NSW to give a talk at Dive Imports on the delights of cave diving around the country. After a great night with an enthusiastic audience we were up early Saturday morning to head out to the wreck. The topside weather was fantastic with bright sunshine. Unfortunately the [read more…]

Green water on the Pioneer

 rEvo, Wrecks  1 Response »
Sep 082015
 
Green water on the Pioneer

About the wreck The Pioneer was built in 1905 and worked as a dredge ship. She was scuttled in the Ship’s Graveyard off the Barwon coastline in 1950. She sits on the sand in approximately 45m with much of hull still intact. The twin propellors, the stern and the bow are still there, covered in sponges and sealife. About the dive Despite flat seas up top it was green and murky in the water. The sunshine was percolating down through the dark water so we had a bit of light on the bottom. We dropped down the shot near the stern and I ducked under the back of the boat. Down on the sand there was a touch of current running [read more…]

Currents on the wreck of the Cambridge

 Ocean diving, rEvo, Wrecks  No Responses »
Jun 032015
 
Currents on the wreck of the Cambridge

  About the wreck The SS Cambridge went down in 1940 to a German mine laid by the Passat. She was the first Allied vessel to be lost in Australian waters during WWII. Of the 58 crew on board when the mine exploded, 57 survived and were picked up and taken ashore at Port Welshpool. The wreck sits upright in 67m on a sandy bottom. After Steve’s tales of limitless vis and huge props from a dive back in November, I was looking forward to an awesome dive on her as the highlight of a weekend diving around Wilson’s Prom. About the dive Our original intentions were to hit the wreck at about 9am for the morning slack water. The [read more…]

rEvos on the J1 submarine

 Ocean diving, rEvo, Wrecks  No Responses »
Dec 092013
 
rEvos on the J1 submarine

About the wreck The J1 sub is one of five J-class submarines outside the Heads, lying in about 32m of water. She’s starting to fall apart now, especially around the middle section where she’s broken in half. The conning tower is gone and the fish school between the struts of the hull. About the dive With the exception of a couple of weekends spent exploring in Elk River I’ve been trying to get out on my rEvo every weekend since getting back from training in Bali and caves in Indonesia. It’s been good to get into a rhythm with the unit. I now feel more confident that I’ve remembered most of the bits that I need and haven’t left the [read more…]

Shrimp on the wreck of the Ozone

 Macro, Ocean diving, Wrecks  1 Response »
Apr 082013
 
Shrimp on the wreck of the Ozone

About the site I’ve been talking a lot about cave diving recently…because that’s pretty much all I’ve been doing. I rectified that this weekend with two lovely dives out in the Bay. The wreck of the Ozone lies very close to shore and half out of the water at Indented Head, on the Bellarine Peninsula. I waded out towards the isolated danger marker and the struts of the wreck sticking up, and I reckon there were only a few times during the “dive” where I wouldn’t have been able to stand up. The hull stretches out flat on the sand and then there’s a few sticky-up bits down one end. About the dive After a lovely dive on Lonsdale Wall [read more…]

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