RAD dive report from the 15th & 16th of Jan
This one has been a little while coming, but we’re happy to finally bring you Skipper Craig’s dive report from the weekend of the 15th & 16th of January:-
Well what a week…Man flu…floods of biblical proportions…freight free zones… no food on the supermarket shelves… cyclones looming and the threat of more rain would have dampened even the keenest of divers’ spirits. However in true RAD form we would not throw in the towel and remained optimistic only to be rewarded by the GODS of diving on Sunday.
In my last antidotes to diving I touched on what keeps divers diving and the rewards and rush of new adventure and experiences. Well that was the theme for this trip… I’d made a promise to some on this boat of ‘’repeat offenders’ that we’d venture back for another Bramble Bonanza. This resulted in a snowball of anticipation that was barely containable and resulted in the boat being booked solid. Put simply this boat was all about the adventure of exploring the unknown and they had all signed up for the advanced course. No one was missing out on this trip!
This trip was set out to be something different from the start, after 5 weeks off (see I am a nice boss) we welcomed back Fairs looking refreshed from holidays and more than a little annoyed she’d been missing out on all the fun of late. We also welcomed back one of our very own home grown Instructors from years gone by Instructor Martine (windscreen) who has had the unfortunate job of driving a desk for too long and was now craving that unknown buzz… the balance of the crew being Cleopatra and Rupunzel.
The weather man was predicting 15-20kts from the SE and in my experience that meant a bit of a lumpy ride over. Punching into the swell I was sure the weatherman had somehow got his facts wrong or ingested a bad batch of mushrooms in the food shortage as it seemed like it was a solid 20kts. I guess that’s why they say “please be advised that wind speeds a further 40% stronger and wave heights up to twice the maximum height predicted” well you could have just removed the “may be up to” bit and replaced it with “will be’’ and you would have been closer to the mark… still this is about diving and not the weather (man those blokes are escape goats for everything).
On the way out I decided to play a little joke on the crew to get them excited and lighten the mood a little, I drifted off course and was on a bearing for Bramble Reef, keeping it there for 5 minutes or so I smiled to myself with satisfaction to hear whispers of “we’re going to Bramble first’’, with Rupunzel getting more excited as the time ticked off I turned back for Pelorus Island to see him visibly crushed. Not today mate, just tricking … maybe tomorrow if you’re a good boy. Unbeknown to me Martine was also a little disappointed. After arrival at Pelorus HQ safe and sound I handed over the helm to Martine, she loves to drive the boat and is always looking to improve her skills. My parting words of wisdom as I went to the bow to run the lines were- “Don’t bend the boat’’. Her reply- ‘’Me Boss never, that’s too much paperwork’’.
Reversing the boat in over the coral heads into the shore to tie off the stern anchor to unload the boat is always one of the trickiest of manoeuvres on the Coral Gypsy. You rely on crew, wind plays a factor as does tide and those that know me and my flowing golden locks, know that I can be described as having “trust issues at best” when it comes to the boat and more so with the new motors. Many a dive master has fallen to the wrath and crusty nature of all skippers when parking their boat. Still Martine has been solid before and so I had no issues or at least I thought. It wasn’t until we were in shallow, the most dangerous part of the manoeuvre, that Martine hung her head out the window and shouted to me ‘’if I ding the props can my new nickname be chippy?’’, well my face must have said it all cause the joke was well and truly on me. The tone was well and truly set for the weekend.
Deep Dive was up first, a break from our norm but I still held out hope for the weatherman’s predictions of it coming down on Sunday and the subsequent venture to the fabled “Tres Amigos” being on the cards. With 2 Instructors in the water and 7 students I held little reservation that the journey to Judas Joint would be rewarding and the egg trick would be humouring. Now the current was a little brisk but that can be a positive here because when you have such a large course, it can blow away some of the fine sand that can impede upon vis.
One of the reasons to undertake a deep adventure dive on an Advanced Open Water course is that it gives you the opportunity to potentially experience Nitrogen Narcosis in a controlled manner. Now what defines being ‘narked’ can be entirely differing and somewhat subjective, but if your laughing so hard that your regulator is falling out of your mouth because your mate has a last name like Domratchev and they have to write it backwards on a slate and he’s struggling to spell it let alone write it backwards then I’d say you’re both pretty well guilty of being Narked. If the test for Nitrogen Narcosis does not get you then I guarantee the egg trick will test you…I’ve never seen a student be able to “protect the egg” at Judas Joint for more than a minute.
Next dive was the Navigation Dive and I’m sure the objective was to navigate a square and not a circle. Regardless of everything, some people just don’t get it and navigating is not their cup of tea. A sense of direction, to some, is an elusive thing underwater, much like the Holy Grail. As I sit in my hammock (see I navigated to the right place) writing this blog I’m reminded of this factor as one of our Dive master candidates (Rapunzel) leads a group of fun divers, he’s just popped up for a sneaky peak to find the boat and has been caught out.
Foolishly he elects to surface for a 100m surface swim back to the boat hanging his head in shame for he knows that a friendly ribbing is sure to follow given the jovial nature of the weekend. Shouts of Geographical embarrassment are forth coming but they are toned down a little because we all have done it, still it’s part of the friendly nature of the Aussie way to hang it on your mates. At RAD we have made the PADI Underwater Navigation Specialty part of the Dive Master course and a “Blue Dot” on the DM task board…Sorry mate no blue dot today… his excuse and a colourful one at that was a “great dive mate I was chasing a slimey mackerel that was being chased by a tiger shark that in turn was being chased by a stark white nudibrach with black rings on it” not to mention the lion fish, friendly giant barracuda, and the nudi was real I’d never seen that one before.
The night dive was a hit had by all and it looked like a circus from the top, (sadly my man flu was still ongoing) there were Squid, octopus and a crayfish that you could put saddles on, all came out to play.
Upon waking after a restful night, disturbed only by the whispers of the night, in this case a chainsaw like ripping noise in the form of satisfied divers sleep.
We were keen to break camp, after a hot cooked breakie, we were on the water in record time and you guessed it I was on a mission to try for the Tres Amigos. My plan was for an early rise and to get out before the wind picked up. Scooting along at 26kts it was looking like my plan and the weatherman’s was coming to fruition. 5-10kts was forthcoming and we made it to the fabled Tres Amigos. Fairs jumps in and looks down to be greeted with 20m Vis and a plethora of fish and coral… the quote of the week “Boss you’re all right, 5 weeks off and this is the bomb! Bring it on, I’m going to get lost”. Well if you know Fairs then you know her as a straight shooter and that’s just what she did… went and got lost. Coming up over 200m away from the boat for a tender pick up. “Boss no excuse, I got lost but you got to see what we found”. Bombies like houses, gutters in the reef teaming with life (sharks, turtles, bait fish, trout, clam’s and corals in awesome condition). So all was forgiven because I know when she’s excited and I wanted a piece of this action.
We moved the boat 200m up from the current location to dive this wonder. Everyone was blown away, I snorkelled it (damn my man flu) and rated it highly, I’ll even go so far as to say it was better than Wheeler Reef. Depths were shallow around the 10-12m making it suitable for all, the colour was amazing and what blew me away was the variety of fish life. Stay tuned for photos on RAD’s FB page as “chippy” had her camera out.
One of the joys of exploring the unknown is just that it’s unknown and when you have a great dive like this. It is used as a talking point with your buddy for eternity, kind of your own secret bond. That nothing like the hustle and bustle of everyday living can take away from you. It’s like a sanity buffer that makes it all worthwhile.
What did they call the dive site you ask? El Questo -yes I know it’s not proper Spanish but if you don’t know what Spanish is for “The quest” then you’ll get the meaning.
Until next time, happy dives
Craig Randall, Remote Area Dive
