Diving

Shiprock Dives

I've dived at Shiprock 10 times:

Dive number Date Site Location Area Country Wreck Freshwater Depth (m) Bottom time (min) Total time (min) Divers Quality Summary Equipment
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1 Apr 1988 Shiprock Port Hacking Sydney Australia 12 40 40 Iain Hosking, Michael Brown Three stars Boat dive cancelled so we drove round the corner to Shiprock. By this time it was well after dark. Flat, sandy bottom shelves down to 11-12m (HW). Very colourful, with lots of soft coral and sponges, clams, hermit crabs, leatherjackets (very elegant fish, unfortunately much prized by spearfishermen) and two cuttlefish. Wetsuit, borrowed aluminium 60 cu ft tank and TUSA BCD. 24lbs weight.
368
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22 Oct 1988 Shiprock Port Hacking Sydney Australia 14 37 37 Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken Three stars Repeat of last time - boat dive cancelled - we'd already hired the tanks so dived here. Goatfish, catfish, rock cod, huge ugly fish, massive seaslug. Then a mother possum with a baby on her back. Not bad at all. Oh, phosphorescence too. Mirage ADV, 24lbs, own DV (serviced), hired tank.
381
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2 Jan 1989 Shiprock Port Hacking Sydney Australia 12 50 50 Iain Hosking, Mark Inall Four stars Rough weather, so plans for an inflatable boat trip scaled down to another Shiprock dive. A larger group than usual - Sarah, Mark, Andy Holroyd and Jackie as shore cover, along with John Ward, Andrea and Derek from Richmond RAAF BSAC. It was Mark's first dive in Australia and, like me, he was amazed at the quantity, variety and colours of the fish. We trogged slowly along, peering into crevices, seeing what we could see. What we saw was a moray eel, several catfish (or rock ling), scorpionfish, a big shoal of old wives (which have poisonous dorsal spines), leatherjackets, rock code, yellowtail, and on the crustacean front, hermit crabs and some really delicate little shrimps. The highlight was an octopus, which retreated over the rocks in an incredibly fluid motion. The poor thing was desperate to get away, but it wasn't until Sarah tried to grab it that it jetted off into the murk leaving two spots of ink behind it. Two cuttlefish finished things off nicely. Good curry afterwards.
383
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28 Jan 1989 Shiprock Port Hacking Sydney Australia 12 40 40 Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries Three stars Cathy's first dive since 6th November. Dived with Paul and Di (from Cathy's work). Late start - didn't get there till 10.30 (Vietnamese the night before). First encountered a fish trap (with attendant fisherman above - Paul had to explain how the line broke). Cathy found a largish octopus which gave her a fright when it tapped on her face mask with a tentacle. Found its little brother close by, trying to cover itself with rocks. Masses of fish life (porcupinefish, numerous leatherjackets, a school of old wives, senator wrasse, morwong, scalyfin, stripey and many more), nudibranchs and a few little shrimps. Strong current meant all the soft coral had the polyps out - very pretty. After the dive met a very keen diver in his car waiting for anyone else to turn up. Rather hot in the dry suit.
394
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25 Mar 1989 Shiprock Port Hacking Sydney Australia 15 45 45 Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken Three stars Was to have been the 'Tuggerah' but when we phoned Max he said 'No mate, it's been blowing all night mate,' so it was plan B again. From the tide tables it looked ideal - HW at 10.07 am at Port Hacking, but in fact the current was ferocious, and appeared to be ebbing. It rained while we changed, the vis was relatively poor, and my right sleeve leaked, but apart from that it was fine. Saw a black anglerfish, hanging on to the soft coral using its fins like hands. Also a goatfish, with an attendant juvenile, by its appearance. Usual piles of fish, especially leatherjacket. Not bad. Hired 88 (which required an extra 4lbs - I was buoyant by the end of the dive).
409
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27 May 1990 Shiprock Port Hacking Sydney Australia 14 45 45 Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster Three stars All EUSAC visitors get taken to this spot. A good dive (except for the leaky suit) with heaps of leatherjacket (including one new to me - fan-bellied), all eating the soft coral, and old wives, catfish, rock cod (ugly), flounder, magpie morwong, immaculate damsel. Best moment was Crawford's close encounter with a numbfish (electric ray). Finished off with an octopus - amazing colour changes. Discovered the cause of the leak in the left sleeve - the Draeger mushroom valve - then spoilt it by melting a hole in the cuff. Saturated during the dive - amazing that so much water can enter through one small hole.
427
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8 Sep 1990 Shiprock Port Hacking Sydney Australia 14 40 40 Iain Hosking, Bill MacFarlane Three stars Seventh dive at this spot - it's rapidly becoming Sydney's Dunbar. Bill's first post-qualification dive, and better than his open-water dives at Terrigal last weekend. All the fish turned up - catfish, moray eel, sea scorpion, fortescue, scalyfin, morwong, leatherjacket, even a couple of boxfish. Noticeable current, quite clear. Typhoon dry suit. Thinsulate woolly bear (NOT too hot - others cold). 82 cu ft tank, 28lbs lead. First dip for new Seiko watch and Scubapro Mk 10 DV (excellent!)
430
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14 Oct 1990 Shiprock Port Hacking Sydney Australia 13 29 29 Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel Two stars The curse strikes again, as 4-5m seas batter the NSW coast. This time Sarah decided to get wet anyway, but I'm afraid it wasn't the best conditions for a trainee. Zilch vis, waterborne hoons and a bit of current to make things interesting. Well, we survived, but a boat dive would certainly be nice.
522
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12 Jan 2008 Shiprock Port Hacking Sydney Australia 14 24 24 Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking Two stars Left home around 8.15am aiming at high tide (Fort Denison) 10:35am. Took longer than expected at the shop, then misnavigated so arrived at the site at 10:44. Turned out to be bang on local high tide. We were joined by a fellow called Brendan who'd missed his group so he buddied up with Cameron. Poor vis meant we lost sight of them, and Brendan [our Brendan] was underweight with 18lbs, hence the short time (Cameron and Brendan #2 had more like 45 mins). But we did see leatherjacket, porcupinefish, old wives and two cute little cuttlefish. Wet suit, Arctic, 82, ~18lbs lead. Hood, gloves were probably unnecessary - water warm. Boys hired wetsuits, tanks, BCs and weightbelts from Frogdive: ~$65 each.
526
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17 Aug 2008 Shiprock Port Hacking Sydney Australia 16 41 Iain Hosking, Laurie Collier, Sebastian Bachler Two stars Planned Oak Park at Cronulla, but we got there to find ideal conditions - for surfing. So it was back to the old, reliable Shiprock, as uninspiring as ever, but colder than I remember (14°C according to those who knew). Vis - not great. Current. Small cuttlefish, 2 nudibranchs (mottled black and white), catfish, morwong, yellowtail, stripey, leatherjacket. wet suit with NO HOOD (brrr...), 82 cu ft, Buddy Arctic, new Ikelite torch ($149(. Thinking about a dry suit...