What a weekend of diving!…
On Saturday our dive at Shiprock Reserve turned out way better than expected. From the surface, the greenish water hinted at a murky muck dive ahead, and with no other divers around, we weren’t feeling too optimistic. Nevertheless, Steve T, Steve W, and potential new member Johnathan decided to take the plunge anyway—and it paid off! Visibility was a surprising 4-ish meters, and even though the water had cooled to 19°C, the marine life made up for it with a bold pot-sized crab and a couple of laid-back wobbegongs kept us entertained. All in all, a very enjoyable and relaxed 50 minute dive. Of course, no dive at Shiprock is complete without the usual coffee and munchies at Vitalo. A solid dive with good company, and we’re looking forward to more Sydney shore dives this winter—hopefully with Johnathan joining us again soon.
Sunday it was turn for the tech divers to go check out the Dee Why, an old ferry scuttled off Long Reef in 1976 which came to rest upright in 46 meters of water. Launching from Parsley Bay boat ramp Mike, Hartley, Steve W, and surface support Dan, made the quick run down the coast to Long Reef. Promptly locating the wreck and getting the shot line directly ontop of it saw us gearing up, getting our checks done, and in the water quickly. Hitting the bottom we were met with 10m vis and awesome conditions. For an agreed 18mins bottom time to limit the deco for the OC guys saw us get around the wreck once. For a wreck 50yrs old there was plenty to explore with its 4 huge boilers standing prominently mid ship and the outline of the hull with some superstructure left to check out. Big thanks to Mike for skippering and to Dan for surface cover.
