The dive started out with a bit of confusion despite the magnificent morning weather as both Suzanne and Peter turned up as extras to dive with Forster Dive Centre. Nick had indicated by phone that morning that there was room for two extras but once the boat was loaded he realized that other non-GLUG divers had brought friends unannounced to dive, some being in the extra extra large category. So although both Suzanne and Pete tried to pull out, the very gracious Rachel and Heather insisted that they would give their dive up and go out the next day with Nick.
So after an embarrassing start and a farewell from Rachel and Heather, the group headed out to Latitude. The dive buddy groups for the first dive were Suzanne, Tony and Anita; and Brian and Peter. Despite the sun fading before the first dive the visibility was not too bad, about 7- 9m. Due to a fairly strong current we decided to do a roaming debris survey and collection rather than use transect lines. The findings comprised a single aluminium can and an anchor was found by the non-GLUG group but was left in situ. The habitat comprised mostly of kelp-covered rock. In terms of fish species there were plenty of bait fish, red morwong, a leather jacket, a single striped catfish, lots of blue grouper, wobbegongs, crimson-banded and other wrasses and a tropical long nose butterfly. The highlight species were several - a small green turtle and a beautiful large spotted eagle ray with a tail length of at least 2 metres. The maximum depth of the dive was 19-21m and dive time was around 50 minutes.
The surface interval was not very pleasant. The sun was gone and the wind had sprung up and there were some seriously noisy chundering companions from the non-GLUG contingent. They were very sick and not very happy, but spent most of their time bouncing around in the water while the non-sickies tried to ignore their noises and chunder and pretend to enjoy the lovely soup, bikkies and lollies provided by Nick. There was much discussion as to whether the second dive could go ahead or whether we should offload the off-colour divers first, but we ended up at Bennett’s Head bommy and all went below.
Dive pairs consisted of Janne and Tony, Brian and Peter; and Suzanne and Anita. The habitat was again kelp-covered rock on a sand floor base. The visibility was poor (2-5m max) and the current was strong. Again we did a roaming debris collection and I found a broken crab trap. Again there were plenty of baitfish around and lots of ornate wobbegongs, a few Port Jackson sharks and fiddler rays. I found a beautiful gastropod buried in the shell and soon found out how razor-sharp is the edge of the shell-opening. Max. depth was around 11m and dive time around 50 minutes, but the decreasing visibility and increasing current made heading for the top a more desirable option.
Back on board dear Nick experienced boat problems as the steering broke and he did a very professional job steering us through the bar using his reverse gear when necessary. Back at the Dive Centre the gear washing and hot shower services were most appreciated and our dear Heather and Rachel had returned to greet us and show the fruits of their labour. They had snorkeled in Breckenridge Channel and collected more debris than us! Well done girls – they also stayed on for the scrumptious GLUG BBQ organized by Anita and Janne.
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