Diving
Dives
I've dived with Cameron Hosking 12 times:
| Dive number | Date | Site | Location | Area | Country | Wreck | Freshwater | Depth (m) | Bottom time (min) | Total time (min) | Divers | Quality | Summary | Equipment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
520
|
29 Dec 2007 | Bare Island | La Perouse | Sydney | Australia | 11 | 27 | 27 | Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking |  |
Accompanied Cameron and Brendan on their PADI Open Water Course through Frogdive in Guildford - instructor is Sean). Buddied up with Jim. Conditions were perfect - sunny and calm. Water warm (though some students thought it was cold). saw a groper, rays, wrasse, scalyfin, rock cod and nudibranchs. | Wetsuit, old hood, no gloves. Own 82 (with fill dating from last test in Sept 2003). Arctic, shot belt with all weights (a little heavy - remember to take out 3lbs for the wetsuit). | ||
| 521
|
29 Dec 2007 | Bare Island | La Perouse | Sydney | Australia | 9 | 32 | 32 | Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking | |
Accompanied Cameron and Brendan on their PADI Open Water course. They looked relaxed and confident, even during drills like mask clearing and compass navigation. They're now qualified divers and looking forward to the next dive. 1 hour interval between dives. | Wetsuit, old hood, no gloves. Own 82 (with fill dating from last test in Sept 2003). Arctic, shot belt with all weights (a little heavy - remember to take out 3lbs for the wetsuit). | ||
| 523
|
18 Jan 2008 | Fish Rock | South West Rocks | NSW North Coast | Australia | 20 | 39 | Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking |  |
Shark Gutters and Aquarium. Met at Ship Rock Dive Centre at 7.30am. Others: Rickie (Scottish), Marjorie (French) plus Katherine, Ben, Patrick and Katherine's hubbie + Lochie. Bosun: Jon. Dive leaders Larry and Simon. Moored on Shark Gutters and formed a group with Rickie and Marjorie. led by Larry. Saw sharks as soon as we hit the bottom, at least 20 of them.Next highlight was a pair of clownfish defending their anemone. Colourful wrasse, stripey, bullseyes and other fish abounded. The water was blue, with vis around 20m. Ricky had to abort early (ears) and Marjorie later (low on air). Larry escorted Cameron and Brendan back to the line when their air ran low, and we then paid a quick visit to the "Aquarium", where a shark was visible behind a veil of stripey and bullseyes. Amazing. | Wet suit, Arctic, 82, 18lbs lead. No hood or gloves - stung by jellyfish on hands and ear. | |||
| 525
|
20 Jul 2008 | Cape Solander | Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell | Sydney | Australia | 11 | 21 | Iain Hosking, Cameron Hosking |  |
Cameron drove down, via Scuba Warehouse in Parramatta, where I met Judith for the first time in 20 years. Late start, made later by Cameron's buoyancy problem. Found one of the bags of weight had come loose. Retraced our steps and found it. Carried on. Patience rewarded when Cameron grabbed my ankle and pointed out a weedy sea dragon. Rushed back - gates close at 5.30pm. Water 17°C according to Manly Hydraulic Laboratories. Weather - overcast. Sea fairly calm. | Wet suit, 82 cu ft. Too much weight! No hood. | |||
| 530
|
25 Jan 2009 | Shelly Beach | Manly | Sydney | Australia | 7 | 59 | 59 | Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking | |
Took both Cameron and Brendan diving for the first time since South West Rocks a year ago. For the future, remember diving is a day-long activity. We left Scuba Warehouse around 12pm, Andrew's at 1pm and were in the water around 2pm. Out at 3pm and back to the dive shop (via Andrew's to pick up Alexander and Angus) at 4.20pm (they close at 4). Saw plenty of yellowtail, bullseyes, wrasse, scalyfin and a few big groper, plus a couple of cuttlefish and three wobbegongs. Single stingray at the end. | Dry suit, ~28lbs weight (2 belts), 82, camera, no gloves. With more weight I was warmer, but not drier. There must be a leak. | ||
| 532
|
28 Mar 2010 | Cape Solander | Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell | Sydney | Australia | 12 | 47 | 47 | Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking |  |
Some wave action. Poor vis at the surface; better below. Didn't find any weedy sea dragons, but Brendan found an octopus and Cameron a cuttlefish. Shoal of large, sleek fish with a yellow stripe along the sides. Took some photos demonstrating how green and murky it was. Must find some new sites. | Dry-type suit, 82 cu ft, Arctic, 2 weight belts. Hired BCs and weights from Abyss. Cameron wore my wetsuit and Brendan Andrew's. | ||
| 538
|
10 Apr 2011 | North Bondi | Sydney | Australia | 6 | 14 | 14 | Iain Hosking, Cameron Hosking |  |
By this time the forecast rain had set in, but not to be discouraged, we entered the water anyway, only to find Cameron had seriously blocked sinuses and couldn't descend, even slowly. Changed in the rain and returned the tanks to Coogee, and managed to navigate back via Moore Park, where a Bulldogs vs St George game had just finished. More gridlock. What a day. | Dryish suit. New TUSA Element II dive computer, 21 lbs, hired 88 cu ft tank (own out of test). Borrowed Deborah's fins. | |||
| 539
|
30 Mar 2013 | Shelly Beach | Manly | Sydney | Australia | 9 | 57 | 57 | Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking | |
Refamiliarisation for the three of us, especially Brendan, who is off to Cairns on Thursday. Warm day, busy beach ("packed in like penguins", Brendan predicted), good conditions: calm and clear. Plenty of fish: groper, wrasse, scalyfin, leatherjacket, wobbegongs and stingrays. Angus, who was snorkelling, saw 5 small cuttlefish in formation. Air and water temperature both 22°C. | Dry suit, Arctic, hired aluminium tank, 25 lbs | ||
| 540
|
31 Mar 2013 | Bare Island | La Perouse | Sydney | Australia | 14 | 53 | 53 | Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking | |
After a cloudy start to the day the weather came good and La Perouse was at its multicultural best. We were lucky enough to find a parking spot near an ice-cream van, where Cameron, Brendan and I kitted up while Alexander, Angus and Steph found a nearby beach for boules and boogieboarding. We walked down the hill, over the bridge, down the steps on the left and back under the bridge to a flat rock shelf popular with anglers. On submerging, I set a compass course to the left, ie anticlockwise round the island. The vis wasn't nearly as good as yesterday and we were glad of the torches to help stay in touch. Keeping the boulder slope to our left we contoured down to 14m. On the way we found a sizeable cuttlefish in a crevice, and several species of nudibranch, as well as scalyfin, morwong, wrasse, leatherjacket, goatfish, bullseyes and old wives. Towards the halfway mark we were joined by a groper who became an instant friend, sticing close to us, making eye contact and showing a keen interest in whatever we were looking at. Patches of sea urchin spines on the seabed provided clues as to his possible motivation for this friendly behaviour. Cameron and Brendan took their time and looked closer than I probably did, and were rewarded with sightings of small octopus and prawns that I missed. At 100 bar we turned around and followed a reciprocal course back to the entry point, past the same cuttlefish, picking up my dropped snorkel on the way. Exiting was straightforward except for the fishing line, but the owners of said line didn't seem too troubled, and helped disentangle us. Brendan was able to use his knife for its intended purpose. Afterwards I had a round trip to Manly to return the tanks and hire gear, while the others chilled on the beach. Evening meal at the Springwood Gardens Chinese restaurant for Angus' bithday. Air temperature 24°C; water 21°C. | Dry suit, Arctic, hired aluminum tank, 25 lbs | ||
| 543
|
21 Dec 2013 | Cape Solander | Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell | Sydney | Australia | 13 | 49 | 49 | Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking | |
Relatively little life. Looked for weedy sea dragons but didn't find any. The boys found a squid, though. | Dry suit, hired aluminium tank | ||
| 544
|
6 Apr 2015 | Shelly Beach | Manly | Sydney | Australia | 9 | 62 | 62 | Iain Hosking, Cameron Hosking, Alexander Hosking, Jeremy ?, Max Hogarth | |
Took Max Hogarth for his first Australian dive, along with Cameron, Alexander and Jeremy. Busy day at the beach. Plenty of fish; no Part Jackson sharks but one wobbegong. | Dry suit, hired aluminium tank | ||
| 555
|
8 Jan 2017 | Oak Park | Oak Park | Sydney | Australia | 10 | 55 | 55 | Iain Hosking, Cameron Hosking | |
First dive with Cameron since April 2015. Warm, sunny day but white horses and an onshore wind made entry interesting and exit alarming. Poor vis as it was well stirred up. Plenty of smaller fish such as mado, bullseyes, scalyfin, wrasse, blennies, leatherjacket, blue-tailed devilfish. Extensive sponge gardens in bright shades of purple, orange and yellow. Highlight was a small cuttlefish which effortlessly ran through a full set of colour changes. We were assisted on our exit by a couple of off-duty divers - thanks! | Fourth Element dry suit, steel tank, Arctic, 27 lbs. First dive with Shearwater Petrel 2 dive computer |