Diving

off Royal National Park

Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel

Remarkably good vis this time. Good wall and heaps of fish - Port Jackson shark, blue groper, old wives, yellowtails, morwong and a cuttlefish. Good feed afterwards.

486

27 Jan 1996

off Royal National Park

Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries

First dive of 1996; first with Cathy since April 94; first boat dive with Cathy since Jervis Bay, November 91. Left at 8am and got to Shiprock Dive at 9.15, where we learned that although the seas were calm a huge patch of murky water had come down from the north and the vis was poor. And so it was, but we enjoyed it anyway, looking at nudibranchs, shrimps, sponges, cup coral and fish (stripeys, wrasse, leatherjackets, yellowtail, mado and a Port Jackson shark). Huge feed afterwards because the 12 o'clock mob had cancelled. Back home by 2.30pm.

Wet suit since both dry suits were perished. Other gear as usual. Comfortable at start; getting cold by the end.

488

7 Jul 1996

off Royal National Park

Iain Hosking, John Arkwright

Up at 5am - cold (but not too cold) and dark. Left Valley Heights at 6am and arrived at Port Hacking at 7. Beautiful day - hardly a cloud in the sky. Sea choppy but only a slight swell. I was with Andrew Kennedy and Martin but John didn't have a buddy so I joined him. I jumped into the water first and had a bit of a shock with the cold water, and a reg that I don't think was performing up to scratch, so I hung on to the boat until my breathing had settled down to normal. We descended and turned left (south). Straightaway we saw a Port Jackson shark which didn't seem too bothered by us, probably because the viz was so good. Above us there was a shoal of yellowtail and beside us was a swim-through, and this set the tone for the dive. We covered a lot of ground, always in and out of overhangs, tunnels and caverns. with some lovely light effects so that I wished I'd brought the underwater (disposable) camera with me (that we bought in 1991 for the white-water rafting at Cairns). Always there were fish - bullseyes, leatherjacket, mado, old wives, blue groper, rock cod, sergeant major, scalyfin, eastern blue devil, a coral trout (or code? - beige with blue spots), wrasse, morwong and blennies. Although we were quite shallow for most of the dive (around 10m) the wave action was almost non-existent, and a fingertip was enough to hold on. The water was surprisingly warm, and I only felt chilly after 35 minutes or so. A nice, relaxed dive. (We would have been home by 12 if it weren't for the detour to Drummoyne for Andrew to return his kit.)

Wet suit, 82, Arctic. No torch - all u/s due to flooding. Reg probably needs a service.

489

15 Sep 1996

off Royal National Park

Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy

Organised by Sarah. Others - Andrew, Annette, Maria, Peter (+Susie), Sandy, Justin, Rona. Left home 7.50. Arrived Shiprock Dive 9am. Bought torch. Left quay 10am. Beautiful sunshine - not cold. Water not cold either - no sudden shock like last time. The visibility wasn't tremendous - maybe 20-30ft - but we had a relaxed dive and saw plenty of fish including blue groper, Port Jackson, moray eel, yellowtail, morwongs, scalyfin, leatherjacket. Obviously we were in a different part of the site from the last dive I had there because there weren't as many swim-throughs or walls, but it was still enjoyable. Afterwards we had fish and chips at Bronte beach and took the boys for a quick play in the sea. Bracing.

Wet suit, 82, Arctic etc. Not cold. Others with dry suits suffered leaks.

512

9 Jun 2002

off Royal National Park