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My Yachting Adventures
Below is a list of links to the main pages about my yacht, Catlypso and My Yachting Adventures:
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  • My Yachting Adventures.
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    Michael's 4WD Trips
    Click here for a list of my Four Wheel Drive and Camping Trips.
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    Click here for an article about Home Brewing.
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    "Bare Island Isolated Reefs have sea dragons, red indianfish and sea horses"
    My Recent Dives - June & July
    Saturday 6 June 2009 - The Pinnacle - Central Coast
    Supposed to dive Foggy Cave but Bob did not have GPS co-ords. This is off Forresters headland. Not really a Pinnacle. A series of boulders and some small cracks. Followed the wall to SE and three huge kingfish went past. Went this way till we saw the sandy bottom. Then back to anchor and  shallower. Not bad in this area. A few fish and a couple of large cuttlefish. At end saw about 15 to 20 huge kingfish as we ascended. Visibility fair.

    Saturday 6 June 2009 - Two Poles - Central Coast
    Located off north end of Terrigal Beach? Surgy. A sand gutter that runs NW-SE. Only about 10m wide at the most. Towards NW becomes rock and then past here it reforms, but still rock. North side steeper. Away from sand lots of cracks that have ladder-finned pomfrets and one-spot pullers. One huge wobbegong and some agreesive cuttlefish. Others saw more wobbegongs. Heaps of gorgonias, very beautiful. Visibility fair.

    Sunday 7 June 2009 - Foggy Cave - Central Coast
    Mooring missing, so had to anchor. It was about 15 m off wall to E and about 50 m to SE of cave. Swam over but no sharks. Lots of yellowtail in front of cave. By the time we did this we had to turn back. Then spent a little time near anchor. Visibility fair.

    Sunday 7 June 2009 - Bateau Bay Reef - Central Coast
    This is straight off Bateau Bay. Site is a bit of a hole in reef that runs NW to SE. We went to SE from anchor. A few fish. Saw a blue devilfish and some cuttlefish, one of which was agressive. Some small gorgonias, sponges and sea squirts. Visibility fair.

    Monday 8 June 2009 - Skillion Cave - Central Coast
    Went in next to higher platform and exited back right near this. Swam out on surface and then descended right onto cave entrance. Went in but very surgy. Came back out and then to N. Went around a few corners and then came back to cave. This time went in further. Came out a bit higher up, Then to S following wall, doing L turns. Finally ended up in crack that led right to exit. Easy to get out. Visibility fair.

    Wednesday 10 June 2009 - The Balcony
    Robyn´s first dive for over 2 yrs. Lots of ladder-finned pomfrets and seapike, esp under boat. Saw 2 sea dragons, one large wobbegong and one large bullray. Some yellowtail higher up. Very strong W winds. Visibility very good.

    Saturday 13 June 2009 - The Split
    Tried to do SS Tuggerah but raging current. Had to rescue Phil G who drifted off from the Shiprock boat. Lucky he is a member of our Club! Went back to Split. Still a strong current here. Very hard to get to bottom. Slight current on bottom so only did Split. Small sea dragon and a butterflyfish. Lifted anchor and drifted till we were only on sand. Kelly saw a shark (small mako?) doing safety stop. Visibility fair.

    Sunday 14 June 2009 - Wattamolla Point 
    Club dive. Saw a lot of whales on way down. Still a strong current as Yves diving Marley with deep gear but millpond. A bit of a current here. Lots to see, including a pygmy sea horse that Kelly found, a wobbegong and lots of silver sweep. Visibility fair.

    Saturday 20 June 2009 - Middle Ground
    Very large and rough seas. Two boats for Club dive (changed from Tuggerah after figuring winds too strong). Strong NE winds that got even stronger. Saw lots of whales, including one leaping out of water. Not too bad a dive, lots of sweep. Others saw a sea dragon and wobbegong, we saw one cuttlefish. A bit of sand floating in water. Dave lost his anchor as it was stuck in a crack. Pissed down while having morning tea. Will have to go back and salvage. Visibility fair.

    Sunday 21 June 2009 - Bare Island Deep Wall
    Totally different to yesterday, seas way down and no wind. Cancelled today's Wedding Cake Island dive (5 boats) yesterday. Probably still would not have got there. Lots of sweep and small bream. One PPH and sea dragon. Some large flathead and a couple of medium kingfish. Visibility fair deep but very poor shallow.

    Thursday 25 June 2009 - Bare Island Right
    Club night dive, 9 of us. Too rough to get in on W point so went in before pool. Probably the worst night dive I have ever done. Visibility was one metre. Went to 8.5 m before calling it off. Only 12 mins!! So bad did not even see "sharks fin" even though we were following reef edge. Visibility very shithouse.

    Saturday 27 June 2009 - Middle Ground
    Went back to get Dave's anchor. We were right next to it but Dave was a bit E. I pulled it out backwards and claimed salvage rights! Attached it to the cross-over weight and pulled it up when we got back on boat. Went over most of reef, saw a blue devilfish. Lots of sweep and yellowtail. Nice dive. Saw a few whales when anchored. Visibility good.

    Sunday 28 June 2009 - North Head Drift
    Club dive, 3 boats and 16 divers. Kelly had ear problems so she stayed on boat while we did a drift from Green Wheely Bin Reef in. Peter saw a seal (so did those on the other boats) and we all saw a huge bullray. Also saw a large cuttlefish and another ray. Not a huge amount of fish but very colourful. Visibility good deep but fair shallow.

    Thursday 2 July 2009 - Shark Point Night Dive
    Club dive, 7 of us. Went SW till 22 m then followed reef edge N and E to 26m. Saw some sea dragons, lots of shrimp and prawns. A few PJs and horned sharks. Heard at least four humpback whales thru the whole dive, very loud. Headed back from deep W to exit point. Easy exit. Visibility good deep but fair in a couple of spots.

    Sunday 5 July 2009 - Fish Rock - SWR - Land of the Giants
    Club trip away for the week. Anchored south side of the rocks, hanging out deep. Lots of whales. Five went under the boat, one streaming bubbles. Went N along wall, 2 GNS and one turtle. Went back to anchor and then into gutter to W. Estuary cod in a small cave at head of gutter. Lots of fish here and near anchor. An eagle ray near end. Seas slight. Visibility fair.

    Sunday 5 July 2009 - Fish Rock - SWR - Colorado Pass/Pinnacle
    Anchored on top of The Pinnacle. Went S to Colorado Pass and saw lots of GNS, about 12 to 15. Heaps of wobbegongs. Headed back to Pinnacle and S towrds cave. More wobbegongs and just sighted a Qld groper. Back to anchor. Seas slight. Visibility fair.

    Monday 6 July 2009 - Fish Rock - SWR - Fish and Chips
    Moored on second last mooring but had to move to last as charter boat came. Went along main gutter to SE (10 GNS) and then over NE to F and C. Then to Deep Entrance. About 5 GNS here. A couple more in the guttern in between. Lots of wobbegongs. Good dive. Seas rough. Visibility fair.

    Monday 6 July 2009 - Fish Rock - SWR - Fish Rock Shallow Entrance
    Moved to second mooring. Lost Dave so went to Cave. About 7 GNS in front of cave. All scoured out shallow. Got some nice photos here. Hundreds of jewfish swam past while in gutter. Went back to mooring. About 5 GNS here. Seas rough. Visibility fair.

    Wednesday 8 July 2009 - Fish Rock - SWR - Land of the Giants
    Much rougher today, only spot to dive. Anchored on The Pinnacle but anchored slipped off into sand gutter. Secured it on a rock. Went along wall to E. Saw at least 35 GNS. Back into Colorado Pass for a while, about 6 GNS here. Also saw a bullray and an eagle ray. Great dive despite conditions. Seas very rough. Visibility fair.

    Wednesday 8 July 2009 - Fish Rock - SWR - The Pinnacle
    Anchor moved to The Pinnacle. Went along wall to E and S. Lots of fish here. Huge school of black fish and kingfish. Heaps of bannerfish and some eels. Also saw a huge Qld groper up close. Lots of sweep under the boat. Seas very rough. Visibility fair.

    Sunday 19 July - Pizza Reef
    Took Minnesota Mark out for another dive. Flat as a tack but no whales. Many seapike, a few bastard trumpeters (not as many as normal), Kelly saw a blue devilfish. One huge bullray on S side of gap, no tail. Visibility good.

    Wednesday 22 July - Underwater Wilderness
    The almost perfect Sydney Winter dive! Warm and sunny (20C at 9 am), millpond seas, 20 metre visibility, whales near boat and heard underwater as well as thousands of fish in a great underwater terrain of gullies and swim-throughs. All we needed was warm water and a seal or dolphin. Did over one hour. Very nice dive indeed. Visibility very good.

    Saturday 25 July 2009 - Pizza Reef
    Club dive, 5 boats and 25 divers. Slight current from N on surface and less on bottom. Eddy L saw a seal but no-one else did. Not as many bastard trumpterers as normal. Not as good a dive as normal, but a great day. Visibility fair.

    For more details about these dives and other dives this year,
    click here.

    Written by Michael McFadyenMichael on 08 June 2009 21:324014 Reads - Print
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