The Great Barrier Reef

For three days and two nights, Dana and I stayed on a boat cruising around the Great Barrier Reef. This was a scuba diving trip run by Pro Dive out of Cairns. Details below.

On the boat we had 33 divers or divers in training, 1 cook, 1 dive planner, 3 dive instructors, 1 skipper and 1 Gilligan. You would think that the boat would be crowded, but there was an incredible use of space. We were in one of only two double bed rooms, while all of the others were bunks, but the boat never seemed crowded. The top level had an outdoor area, some rooms, and the skipper's room. The main level had the dive equipment out back, the mess hall with kitchen and tables, and more rooms. There were more rooms below deck as well. Exhaustion from the number of dives we did may have prevented anyone from getting too stir-crazy.

We did 11 dives in three days, two of which were night dives. We saw sea turtles, sharks, jellyfish, moray eels, sea snakes, giant clams, stingrays, prawns, painted crayfish, hermit crabs, shovel-nosed rays, and twice as much coral and fish life as you could see in Finding Nemo. Most dives lasted between 30-40 minutes, but the wet suit and gear set-up was what was tiring. We slept well on that rocky boat. Speaking of rocky, the ride out to the reef hit some sea-legless folks hard. Over half of the boat was spewing over the side for a few hours. Dana and I kept it together, luckily.

The food on this trip was incredible. No none was ever hungry, and the quality was superb. Craig added his own special spices to the menu... you'd be very surprised how good food cooked on a boat for 40+ people three days out at sea can taste. The meals were not the only well-run part of the trip. Tristan, our dive planner, clearly outlined our dives, pointed out what was worth seeing and made sure everyone knew what was happening. Don't be thrown by the photo. The skipper, Fozzie, filled us in on yachting stories during the day and challenged us to broomstick competitions at night. The videos of me and dana will explain... a bit.

While the days and nights (and mornings) were exhausting, it was well worth it. Not everyone did the full 11 dives, but we're both glad we did. Even the night dives were worth the struggle. Dana was nervous the first night, jumping into a black sea when no light is visible except the moon and stars... and the first thing we see is a 3 meter (9 foot) shovel-nosed ray on the ocean floor. The little eyes poking out from the shrimp on the rocks were more calming, but the next night was even more exciting. As we geared up, bread was thrown of the back of the boat, sending many large fish into a feeding frenzy and also setting off a number of white tip reef sharks. The sharks were circling, with their fins piercing the surface of the water, as we jumped into the ocean. Of course none of them bothered us. We bothered everything instead.


The Great Barrier Reef Photos

PADI Rescue Diver Course - Day 2

It is taking everything I've got to write this entry. This evening I returned from day two of the PADI Rescue Diver Course I've been doing with Abyss Scuba Diving, and sat down on the couch for a few minutes, doing nothing. I think I was trying to work out what to eat, but with Dana on the lam and my brain and body barely functioning, I lost myself into space. I managed to stand and order a pizza. A large one with lots of meat, and I am going to eat the entire thing.

Peter Letts, the instructor, told us that yesterday would be worse than today. He lied! Well, it just didn't work out that way anyway. We planned to dive Oak Park, a normally placid spot of sea. We got there and it was most unplacid. I would say the placidity was well into the negative. So we moved to The Monument dive in Kurnell, right by the first place that Captain Cook landed on Australian soil. This spot was calmer, but there was a current on the surface. This is what killed us. A lot of the skills were on the surface, so we had to constantly battle the current while doing things such as removing the gear of the "victim" and ourselves, delivering rescue breaths to him and towing him to shore. We were in the water a little after 10 and out for lunch at about 2.

The rescue course is supposed to be a challenge so I am very pleased with the day. We also learned how to safely bring an unconscious diver to surface and get him back onto land to provide CPR. The current was accompanied by surge near the shore and, as I write this, I can feel myself moving back and forth.

Simulated rescues just before lunch put me over the edge. Since we had an odd number of people, I was the lucky bugger who had to do it twice. I made mistakes both times: not removing my BC the first time and towing the victim to shore so quickly that the other rescuer, who was delivering rescue breaths, couldn't keep up. Hey, I'm trying to save this guy! It was also fun to loose my mask and snorkel for real and have to find it. I did find it.

Getting out of the water after this session I was destroyed. It was a long walk back to the lunch site, but I made it. I was suffering from heat exhaustion at this point, but a few cold showers and several litres of water set me straight. I hardly ate any lunch... where the hell is that pizza! Yes, wearing a full-body diving wet suit in Sydney during summer can be a challenge.

After lunch we were set to a rescue scenario. Well, not after but during. Another divemaster was supposedly lost while diving with Pete, and we had to react. So nine lethargic divers played along. Brett and I were at the car when it started so we acted as snorkelers (diving at the surface with no gear). As a team our response was pretty weak, and the guy would have died. This is largely because we had an Annoyance. This person who did the course was one of those unbelievably irritating know-it-alls. You know the kind: the kind who know very little. The kind that finished the instructor's sentence, only to be told she's wrong. The kind who argues with the instructor when she's obviously wrong. Oops, I realised I've been using "she". Yes, this was a female. During the theory part, she dramatically closed the book and sighed when she was done first (she got plenty wrong). You know the kind. Anyway, it was a mess. We ran a second attempt and I decided to take - pizza's here.

Sorry, the pizza came. Mediocre but the best I could do given my situation. Living in the middle of the city has its advantages, such as proximity to everything that surrounds the city and yearns to be near the city, but there are drawbacks. There are not many places that do take-away (take-out) and no place delivers. So my large pizza came from Dominos. I ate the entire thing and do not feel uncomfortable at all. On Friday Brett and I split a large Dominos and were full. You Americans reading: Dominos pizzas here are a lot different. They are like the "gourmet" pizzas you get in Sydney. They're high and thick and not too large around. But I still fold each slice in half New York-style.

OK, where was I... let me go back and re-read this rambling post that adequately presents how out of my mind I am right now... ah, yes, so during the second scenario I decided to take charge. We did pretty well, even though the supposedly drowning diver was supposedly in the car park, and the rough surf caused both Brett and I to have our tanks knocked out and our fins lost (Brett found his). Peter was happy with the rescue operation as a whole though, so I'm happy.

So now I am a PADI certified rescue diver. I am tired and sore. I feel like I just ran a half marathon. I and sunburned and feel as though I am in constant motion. I am thrilled I finished the course and feel a hell of a lot more comfortable in the water now. It's funny: while doing the course a lot of saltwater got into my eyes, and my vision, cloudy and foggy, was a lot like how movies portray memories, except it was in real time. Occasionally I wondered if I was just remembering the course. Now my brain has it easy because when I remember the course it doesn't have to make it all cloudy and foggy. Your welcome, brain.

PADI Rescue Diver Course - Day 1

Today was the first day of the PADI Rescue Diver Course Brett and I are taking with Abyss Scuba Diving. I know this because 1) I am wrecked b) I've consumed about 6 litres of water since 4PM and iv) I have tan lines on my wrist.

This particular course, as taught by Peter Letts, is considered by many in the dive community to be the best PADI course of any kind offered in New South Wales. I was expected to be destroyed, and I was. The course is meant to teach you how to respond to an emergency situation while scuba diving. We had two nights of theory - Thursday and Friday - in addition to the required Emergency First Response course.

We entered the water fully geared but overweighted, making it easier to sink when required. The first task was to drop our masks and then swim down to find it. This one freaked me out a little bit partially because I'm not used to trying to eyes my eyes in the ocean without a mask and partially because it was the first skill of the day. I found my mask and was much more comfortable the rest of the day. Later skills also required mask removal, such as this one:
Brett and I were sitting back to back on the bottom. The instructor came around, pulled our masks off and shut off the oxygen to one of our tanks. The kicker is that the secondary air supply for both of us had been disconnected, so we only had only one regulator between the two of us, and we did not know who has it until the other person ran out of air. Mine was first and we did well - same when Brett's was turned off. Peter got a bit confused and shut mine off a second time (which he denies!) but we still pulled it off.

At the surface, while the instructor and half of the divers were down doing the skill above, we had a real emergency. One of the divers started splashing around like wild and shouting that he was sinking and that the female diver next to him was pushing him under. We thought it was an exercise that Peter had organised, so I swam over and half-heartedly said, "Diver, diver, are you OK? I can help you." When I saw his eyes I could tell he was serious! I realised that his secondary air source had not been reconnected which meant that he couldn't get any air in his BC (which is what keeps you on the surface). As mentioned earlier, we were all over-weighted, so he was sinking. He could have put his snorkel or regulator in but he was panicking, and it was interesting to see the real thing while training. I swam around behind him and cradled him in front of me, inflating my BC to get his head out of the water. He calmed down and Brett came over to reconnect his hose. All was well.

The course covered quite a bit, and as the conditions worsened, bringing visibility to nearly nothing, the exercises became more challenging. We were also put on the spot. For example, without Brett seeing it coming, I had to yank his air source out his mouth to see how he would react - while we were at the ocean floor. He did well!

When the day was done, we had a nice steak at the Oaks... nearly falling asleep at the table. Right now I'm looking forward to a good long sleep tonight to prepare for tomorrow.

More on the Below (EFR)

I have to say that the Emergency First Response course was very rewarding, and I would feel much more comfortable attending to a dead or nearly dead human being now. Peter kept the course from being dry without actually getting us wet. More than half of the time was spend reacting to scenarios or at least physically doing things. Please take a course like this. Why? Because if I'm with you and you need it, I can help you. If I need it, what are you going to do, huh? Plus you get to learn how to use a defibrillator! I've had one used on me, now I know how to get someone back.

Hello, My Name Is Denis, I'm An Emergency First Responder, May I Help You? Hello? [tap tap tap] Hello? Can You Hear Me?

Last night and Monday night I attended an Emergency First Response training course at Abyss Diving with my mate Brett (pictured right). Peter Letts (pictured left) was seriously bruised up by an angry mob of scuba divers. Luckily we were there and able to help.

EFR is great training, and it's required - or an equivalent - for the PADI Rescue Course Brett and I are taking next week. While the Scuba side of things will focus on water-related first aid like CPR on a human while in the ocean, the EFR course focussed on land-based first aid like CPR on a human while in a classroom. Both cover how to treat a human whose arm has been bitten off (either by a shark or Mike Tyson).

You may have guessed by the title that the intro we are to give to non-breathing unconscious person is, "Hello, my name is ___, I'm an emergency first responder." Then we poke them really hard with a finger, whether or not they show sign of being conscious.

If they are conscious, we say, "Why the hell were you on the floor pretending to be a non-breathing unconscious person?"

If they are not conscious... I think I forget that part. Hold on, I have a book here.

Got it. We say, "The City is once again a major partner of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival." No that's the Sydney City News newsletter.

Ah, got it, "Llook out Llarry, here comes the llandlord, " and there are two llamas in a house peering out the front window. Sorry, that's my Far Side page-a-day calendar.

Well I'm certified now, so if you're a non-breathing unconscious person and you agree to let me help you, rest assured (and unconscious) that I will figure out what to do then. I promise.

Diving with Sharks

Diving with grey nurse sharks in Maroubra, just outside Sydney, was a thrill I had the pleasure of experiencing a few weeks ago. The dive site was at Magic Point, a short boat trip from shore. Though no one mentions it on the boat, we're all a little worried about seeing other sharks besides grey nurse. Great whites, bronze whalers and bull sharks could be in the area and would not be a welcome sight. Hammerheads may be around but they are fine as long as there is no blood in the water. Grey nurse sharks are very safe all the time as long as you don't pull on their tail or something. When the first shark swam up to a little more than an arm's distance away I didn't think about pulling about pulling on it's tail... I kind of freaked out and ascended a bit.

These animals are beautiful. My buddy Wade and I descended and found their cave very quickly. We sat tight and watched them swimming majestically around the area before exploring. There were about seven large grey nurse sharks at this location.

A blue groper took a liking to us and followed us for the rest of the dive as we passed coral, nudibraches, starfish and heaps of other fish. Wade also spotted a mask and snorkel combo that had already become part of the natural environment.

Photos from this dive here.

Wreck Diving - Part 3

Sunday we had a very early start for our dive on the Valiant. Fellow diver Wade helped me out immensely by picking me up outside Town Hall at 5:45AM. Let me just take this opportunity to comment on the timing of this dive. It's one thing to have to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn, but just a week away from daylight savings, this time was well past the buttcrack of dawn... this was nearly mid-spine! I shot out of bed when I noticed how bright it was outside. "Shit! I overslept!" But no, it was 4:30. Too late, I was up and soon walking in the rain through QVB to Town Hall. I love living in Sydney CBD but it's not ideal for diving, especially when you don't have a car.

Wade and I travelled north to beautiful Palm Beach for our scheduled 7AM boat departure. The temperature was about 12C/52F, and at 6:30AM we were squeezing into our wet wetsuits wondering why we don't have another hobby for days like these - like crocheting. The boat left a bit late, but you can understand the delay given the skipper had to dive into the water in his skivvies to fetch the boat. Water in the bay was calm but as we approached the heads we started to hit some major swells. At one point, I swear, the entire boat was in the air. If the dive had not been scheduled to start so early - and so we were all already there - I'm pretty sure it would have been cancelled. After a 15 minute trip to the Tasman Sea we were looking for the buoy. We noticed a fishing boat not far off but often completely obscured by swells between our two vessels. It was a fishing boat looking to catch some of the fish hanging out in our wreck. The fisherman buggered off, and we spent the next 10 minutes trying to grab the buoy to tie a line to the mooring. Fellow diver Andy nearly went overboard several times while trying to hold onto the buoy the seas were so rough. The buoy was completely underwater in the larger swells.

Eventually the boat was tied up and we were gearing up. Since the boat was alternating between tilting 45 degrees one way and then 45 degrees the other, it was a challenge to get our gear on. The skipper was great and helped us all along and into the water without incident. Did I mention it was quite cold? The clouds and rain didn't help, but once we were in the water things were not so bad. Swimming to the mooring line, about a kilometre from Barrenjoey Head, I thought about the fact that it was great white season in New South Wales. Sure I was dressed like a great white's favourite dish, seal, but I was able to remind myself the extreme odds against being eaten. That worked. We descended.

Chris and I spent about 22 minutes down at 28 metres. Visibility was OK and the wreck was very interesting. We inspected it and looked for an entry point. There was a bit of surge, even at that depth, so we were tossed about a bit. Some saw a couple of massive moray eels but we didn't see them. The wreck had a load to inspect: many places to swim up to and poke your head in to have a look around with a torch. Schools of bullseye are always fun to surprise. The just look so... surprised! After some reel work, Chris and I ascended and did a three minute safety stop at 5 metres (to keep us from getting the bends). After I removed a gloved hand from the mooring line I saw a small brown twiggish thing on it. It seemed to be moving across my hand. "Wow, that's neat!" I thought, "That piece of something inanimate appears to intentionally move across my hand as if it were a sentient being." After it made about five deliberate moves in the same direction I realised it was alive. I still don't know what it was but it was about a centimetre and a half long and moved liked an inchworm. Maybe it was a centimetreworm?

Back on the boat for our interval. For non-divers: you have to wait a specific amount of time, depending on depth and bottom time, before re-entering the water. We all thoroughly enjoyed this time shivering and vomiting from seasickness. Actually only a few divers got sick. The rest of were too frozen for our bodies to realise the disturbance to our equilibrium. After about 40 minutes we were in the water and returning to the sunken ship. This time we actually penetrated the wreck. One of main reasons for doing a wreck specialty course: to learn how to safely penetrate a wreck. It can be dangerous if you don't follow the correct safety precautions. What could make it dangerous? Not being able to find your way out of the wreck before you run out of air. To make sure you can find your way out, you tie a line outside of the wreck and pull it along as you explore. Then you follow the line back out. Also, you have plenty of sources of light AND ensure you can always see the natural light of the exit. Getting stuck is not a major concern because all certified divers are trained how to get out your gear and work on it while underwater - and there's always your buddy's alternate air source. The main reason you would not be able to get out: silt. Many wrecks are undisturbed for a long time and once a diver enters, the fine silt may get stirred up. Saturday's dive site was full of silt and it was quite disorienting. You often did not even know if you were rising or sinking without looking at your depth gauge. If you have a reel, however, you don't have to see to get out. There, mom, I hope that makes you feel better. I'm cautious and will always play it safe. It is thrilling to enter a wreck, even one as small as the Valiant.

After the second dive the dive day, as well as the course, was over. The sky cleared just as we were out of wet suit and back into dry clothes. Now I'm a certified Wreck Diver. And the day was still young - enough time for some lawn bowls!

Wreck Diving - Part 2

I left off my last post with where the Saturday wreck specialty dive was finally set to be: the Wollomstrom wreck in Gunnamatta Bay. As you can imagine for a day where the original dive was cancelled and backup was soon to follow, it was a rough day for diving. The bay is sheltered, so the water would not be rough, but it was cold, windy and rainy. It's dense with private vessels and the entrance to the beach is through a popular local park. Along the beach is a netted swimming area. This is the perfect place for kids to ask you questions as you get in the water like, "Can you look for my Buzz Lightyear?" and ask you when you get out, "Did you see any sharks or bodies?" To which my answers were, respectively, "Sure, but I'd be better off if Woody were with me," and "Thankfully no."

After gearing up and wading into the gentle surf, we put our fins on and swam a bit out to a mooring not far from the ferry channel. As previously mentioned, visibility is shockingly bad, so we took a bearing with our compasses, descended, and set off. My buddy (Chris) and I swam at about 10 meters depth for several minutes. We passed an old, sunken telegraph pole, but soon it was clear we missed the wreck. Since we couldn't ascend without risking coming up in the channel, we used our compass reading to go back the way we came. Most of the time the visibility was so poor that we had to hold hands, but every now and then we enjoyed the sight of a starfish on the silty bottom. When decided to ascend. I was nervous about where we where, and, being the first to pop out of the water, I quickly spun around in search of a boat to knock me unconscious. Nope: when we ascended we were not far from where we set off... so we felt good about the navigation and gave the wreck search another shot. About a minute into our second attempt we spotted another diver and were startled to find the wreck so close. It was, just as I remembered, a pretty weak wreck dive. But there were some fish and we surveyed the wreck before returning to the mooring we set off from.

After a short dive interval full of Tabasco-laden tomato soup, we were back in the water. This time we were supposed to draw a map of the wreck on our slate. To save time the instructor went down first. He was to tie a reel onto the mooring, find the wreck, and give a tug to signal for us to follow. For twenty minutes we waited at the bottom watching the barnacles on the mooring. Eventually Chris and I set off on our own. We found the wreck straight away but the silt was so stirred up that there was nothing to draw. After some brief exploration I suggested to Chris that we return to shore underwater rather than return to the mooring. Relying again on our compasses, and holding hands, we set off. Soon enough we were up against the netting for the swim area. Chris knew that there were heaps of White's Seahorses here so he inspected as I checked out the pillars and bottom. Chris was unable to locate a seahorse, but I found a few gems: another wreck! An old pram (baby stroller) on its side and completely taken over by marine life. You know it's an old pram when there are four wheels the size of individual size pizzas. Next I found a hat sitting upright on the bottom. I don't think it had been there for too long but I wasn't going to disturb it. There were heaps of jellyfish to poke and shine our torches through, Finally, Chris and I swam past footprints and soon were past where we had put on our fins.

I really enjoyed the dives this past Saturday. While I would not recommend the site to a dive, it's a good place to learn and try to make the most out of a site.

Sunday we were off very early for the Valiant...

Wreck Diving - Part 1

This past weekend I completed my wreck diving specialty course, and there certainly could have been a better weekend for it. I have been excited about the course for some time. Wrecks are fantastic dives for many reasons. They provide shelter and so are quickly taken over by marine life and act as a reef. All sorts of fish love to hang out in them. Wrecks are visually striking and excellent photography sites. They also encourage a diver to research its history, which is often as interesting as the dive itself. And so the wreck course was on.

There are heaps of wrecks around Sydney, owing to plenty of harsh waters. Saturday we were supposed to do the Bombo down in Wollongong. The Bombo served in WWII and continued on for commercial shipping afterwards until it sank in 1949. The story is quite interesting but tragic. 12 crew died, 2 survived... and they were so close to shore. The wreck, 32 meters down, is in the middle of a high-traffic shipping channel. I was supposed to dive this site a few months ago but the large number of massive ships - and miscommunication regarding their schedule - forced us to abort. I was thrilled to get another chance to see it, but this past Saturday the seas were too rough for the site and Friday the location was moved to inside Sydney Harbour.

The new plan was to do the Royal Shepherd and the Centurion. The Centurion sunk one night in 1887, the Royal Shepherd sank one night in 1890, both with no casualties except the cargo. Both seem to have been simply the result of sloppy seamanship. I had been to this site before and there were loads of fish. Large cuttlefish, pufferfish, some small sharks... Unfortunately Sydney Harbour was even too rough to dive and Saturday morning our location was changed again.

And so on over to the Itara in Gunnamatta Bay. Note the lack of link to more info on the Wollomstrom. It's a small tugboat that sank in the silty bay, known for its terrible visibility. Surprisingly I had been to this site too: the last time the Bombo dive was cancelled. The vis would get so bad you had to hold hands with your buddy. But this was a course and tough conditions help you improve diving skills. I had a good buddy and knew we would make the most of it... even if the most exciting thing about the dive is the knowledge that if you came surfaced directly above the wreck there would be a good chance your head would be knocked off by the ferry or one of the many pleasure craft. More on that tomorrow.

Diving Photos - The Leap to The Steps

As promised, I've uploaded some photos from my dive this past weekend. Details of the dive and a short video of a baby cuttlefish can be found here. Some of the highlights from the dive:

Large Snail (Whelk?)

Just cruising along. I think this type is called a whelk. If you know, please let me know.

Eastern Blue Groper

These are very curious fish. They swim amoung divers and seem to be begging for food. Thankfully it is illegal to spearfish them.

Weedy Sea Dragon

Weedy Sea Dragons are classified as near threatened. They are fragile creatures who maintain their depth with a tiny bladder. They blend in well with the weeds, but you can corral them into view without touching or harming them.

Port Jackson Shark

We saw two good-sized port jacksons but I did not get any good shots. This is one of the many eggs we came across. The spiral, pinecone-looking thing IS actually an egg.

Baby Cuttlefish

Ah, cuttlefish - my favourite creatures of the sea. This little guy is just a baby. Hopefully he will grow to be one or two feet long. His tentacles are up so that he can easily grab prey and pull it into his mouth to be crushed by his strong, parrot-shaped beak. His colour and texture change depending on the surface he hovers above. If you watch the video you'll see him turn smooth and white when he moves over the sand.

View the entire gallery here.

Baby Cuttlefish - Diving The Leaps and The Steps

I took my camera diving this past weekend and managed to get some decent shots. Good old Kurnell - Captain Cook Park. Sunday was a lot cooler than Saturday but the rain held off. "Why would you care if it rains? You're underwater, you knob!" you may say. Well yes we are underwater, but I'm not a knob.

For the first dive we jumped in at The Leap - so called because you just step off the side of a rather high, sheer rock into the surging sea. We swam out about 15 meters before dropping and doing a drift dive down to a point called The Steps - so called because you have to walk up many, many steps to get to the carpark. "Why don't you walk down at The Steps rather than up it? It seems awfully silly to make yourself walk up it," you may say. Because then how would we get out of the water at the aforementioned high, sheer rock? Now who's silly.

The first dive was a bit murky thanks to a southerly blowing in from... the South. Still, we saw a huge sea snail, some blue gropers, a weedy seadragon, loads of nice coral and fish. The second dive was great, with better visibility and loads more to see: many more gropers, about eight weedies, port jackson sharks, and two baby cuttlefish. These are my favourite things to find while diving. These are the smallest I've seen - most have been about a foot to two feet long. These were a mere four inches. In this video you can see the guy with his tentacles up, in hunting pose, backing away from the camera before changing his colour to match the white sand and jet-propelling him away from me:


I'll get more photos from the dive up soon...