9/4/2006 - the Barge and the Dredge

Did the Barge and the Dredge this weekend.  First time I have ever done the Barge, even though it's only about 50m from the Dredge (apparently?).  Just timing I guess.  There has been a fair bit of rain about so the vis was very poor - about 4m both dives!  Lucky our president is very good at finding the sites (or using the GPS/Sounder), and put us right on top of them.

Despite the crappy vis, there were heaps of nudi's on the deck of the Barge.  I saw 3 very vivid yellow ones about 2-3cm, a tiny white and purple one and a huge (10cm +) orange one.  Lots of fish around too.  It's funny, when the vis is bad, you don't see them until you virtually run into them. 

The Dredge is an old local favourite - reliable in the worst conditions.  If we can't dive the Dredge, we don't dive.  Only found 1 yellow nudi on the deck of this wreck, but I'm still not as good at spotting them.  There were some extra-large cuttlefish underneath the boat, one looked like it was going to attack my arm!  They are cool, I love psyching them out and watching them change colours.    Vis was again about 4m, but it must've been 10m + inside the wreck - at least until after I'd been in there .  Actually buoyancy has been getting better, am much better at the hovering thing, and don't kick up half as much as I used to.  New weight belt went well, started off using all 10kg that LH gave me, but was way too much, so dropped another kg today.  Probably could drop an extra kg on top of that, in the 15-20m we were in today.  Only problem is the pouch belt tends to slip around and hang upside down on me.  If I push it down around my hips, it restricts my leg movement, and for some reason just cannot get it to sit right around my waist.  Then again have only used it for 2 dives, so maybe should advance to next step and use the integ weight pockets my BCD came with!!

Water temp has dropped from 22C to 19C.  Seems like a only a little but really started to feel it after 30min.  Used a lot more air too, probably because I was starting to feel cold.  Maybe because frog kicking uses much less energy, so I'm not being active enough to stay warm?!  Am so paranoid about stirring up the vis though (and I know I still do a bit), so what to do?  Laps at deck level? Underwater jogging?!

Glad I went out today anyway, was absolutely stunning on the water - flat, hardly any breeze, clear skies.  If the vis was good it would've been perfect!  Probably won't get to dive next weekend as most of the club is going to Yorke Peninsula camping for Easter, taking ALL the hire gear and both boats.  I really should be going too, be an awesome trip, but have made myself stay behind to WORK ON MY PHD so I can justify going the following long weekend to Mt Gambier (ANZAC Day here).  Seems a bit reversed, as I'd get heaps better diving at Easter - more sites I can dive there - while Mt Gambier I'm restricted to cray-diving (if, and only if, the ocean's flat) and Ewen's Ponds.  If I thought my little VW could make it down to Yorke, or I get a last minute offer of a lift......I'd be very tempted!