April 2006 - The City of Brisbane
The first dive of the season was to the City of Brisbane, and despite the rainy day, it was a good days diving. For those of you who don't know this is the wreck of a freighter sunk in 1918. It is obviously well broken up, but there is still a shape to follow, with sections of the hull and the bow still clearly visible.
The weather was a bit wet and drizzly but the sea was very calm, almost eerily so, with hardly a ripple on the surface.
Eight of us went on this dive, and for most it was the first dive of the season. As well as the wreck, fish life was abundant with shoals of pouting, pollack and some cod. The water temperature was around 9 degrees which was much too cold for Pat who was diving in a wetsuit !!! It was also Pat's first UK dive which hopefully he enjoyed. Unfortunately it was just too cold for Pat to do the second dive which was a shame as it was an even better dive. (Not gloating .... honest)
The second dive was to Ship Rock also known as the ledges. This is an excellent reef and the visibility was much better at around 10-15m. We saw all the usual suspects and two very colourful lumpfish which stood out against the grey. Unfortunately as is always the case when I see something out of the ordinary, I didn't have my camera with me!!!!
We also saw the biggest eel in the world, (or at least we thought so !!) It was hidden under a rock so (fortunately) we didn't see it all. It must have been a foot thick - Honest.
So all in all a good start to the season. We have a dive planned every month and we are also now looking to put together some RIB dives, which we will plan for UK dive virgins. Keep looking at the main page for an update
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