South Rd Brighton
Divers: Melanie, Ruby, Jacob, Peter & Mark
I know it's hard to get the weather right, and, that the weather bureau have a tough job, but boy did they get it wrong last Saturday!! The forecast was for 30-35 knot winds, huge swells and terrible diving conditions. But, when l drove down Oliver's Hill on my way to the shop on Saturday morning the water to get to the shop the water was as flat as the nightman's hat. So off we went to South Rd and the conditions were perfect, although a little cold the viz was good. Our good luck continued even once were out of the water with the food van pulling up in the carpark just we are getting out of the water, nothing like a nice lunch to warm you after a day's diving!!

Flinders Pier
Divers: Melanie, Ruby, Jacob, Peter & Mark
Eventually the wind did come and so we had to change locations for our dives on Sunday. With the wind coming directly from the West, Flinders Pier was always going to be our best option. The conditions were good at the pier although the viz was down a bit. Some others were diving further out, but with the tide out it didn't really matter how far you go it doesn't get deep here. The tide did come in whilst we were diving, bringing with it the clearer water, although by the late afternoon we had already started our dive debrief back at the Flinders Hotel. The conditions haven't been great over the past couple of weeks & with all this rain the Barwon River is pouring out some real dirty water, but I think all of this is going to turn around this weekend &that maybe this will be the start of some good diving conditions.

Mornington Pier (RB)
Divers: Jim, John, Peter & Mark
With all outside dives being cancelled due to the large swell, we decided another dip under Mornington Pier would be a good opportunity to freshen up on some skills and also Pete had the new camera to try out. The conditions were good with over 5 meter viz, flat water and with the pier being renovated - no fisherman! We had spoken to one diver getting out just as we were getting in and told us about the schools of salmon under the pier, although they had gone by the time we got in or we just didn't see them. But there was plenty to see and the hour is soon up & we are making our way back to jetty wall to exit & get changed. This dive was well worth the effort and Pete sure did learn a few things about his new camera. Hopefully next time we'll have some photos to share.

Mark

Flinders Pier (RB)
Divers: Robert, Marty, Brenden, Dave, Jim and Mark
It was about this same time last year that we had several weeks in a row where diving conditions weren't all that great. But if you're keen enough you can always find somewhere to get wet. We were hoping to get a couple of boat dives in today, but the strong North/Westerlies meant nothing was going out al all. So we drove to Flinders, had breakfast and then went for a dive under the pier. The viz was not great, but otherwise the conditions were fine. These dives are great for sorting out equipment issues etc and that was exactly what we did. So, all divers come away happy and with something to work on for next time.
Mark

Divers: Heather, Lloyd, Brenden & Mark

The weather has been very hard to pick the last couple of days & we did not hold much hope for our graveyard dive going ahead. However, the conditions were quite good for a wall dive, so that's what we did. The viz was about 5-6 metres although not much sunlight getting through meant it was dark. We descended down to 45 metres with tide still ebbing, in fact it ebbed for another 20 minutes, but once the flood did come on we were soon on our way north along the wall. With the high tides, we covered quite a bit of ground eventually swimming up & over the wall, drifting only a few metres off the bottom as we did our decompression stops. Upon surfacing the swell had dropped out completely in the bay & only the small effects of the outside swell was left.

Mark

Portsea Pier (RB)
Divers: Lloyd, Brenden & Mark
The water was as clear as a bell as we stepped off the boat and not wanting to waste an opportunity to blow off the remaining gas from our boat dive we decided to spend some time under the pier. There are some major works going on at the moment, in an attempt to save the beach from corroding away to nothing. The best entry for a pier dive these days is now off the low water. We swam to the end of the pier to do some skills, but first we had to tidy up some of the fishing line which was spread around on the sea floor. It was a little bit surgy but still a very pleasant little dive.

Mark

Mornington Pier 30th July (RB)
Divers: Brenden, Joe & Mark
The first thing I noticed as I slipped my head under the water was that the water temperature has not increased at all. Once over the first few minutes and settled in to the dive, the next thing that is glaringly obvious is the fact that the pier is being overrun by the North Pacific Sea Stars. Although all other forms of fish life still seem to coping just fine, I'll be keeping an eye out next time I'm at Mornington just to see how the numbers are going.
Mark

Mordialloc Pier
Divers:               Mark, Barb, David, Phil, Marilyn, Julie, Deon, Mick
Shore Crew:        Dennis, Sue, Vikki

Report:               The sun was shining bright on arrival at the pier and the water was like a mirror, the conditions looked perfect for the dive. After suiting up and receiving a brief from Mark, we buddied up and headed down. A crisp 9\'b0 was showing on my computer as we had a look around the shopping trolleys, the rocks and the meters and meters of fishing line. Luckily for Barb there were no rays hanging around, but a lone seahorse was prepared to line up for photos! Clear vis allowed for a through going over of the pylons and a few box and globe fish were hanging around, but no major treasure was to be found.
Afterwards we headed back to the shop for some famous snags and chatted with the new batch of DM's coming through. Next dive will be shortly advertised so make sure you check the website for information and join us for a morning of underwater amazement.

Marilyn

Mornington Pier (RB)

Divers: Brenden & Mark

Our boat dives have been cancelled for today, so Brenden & I decided to do some more skills under the pier. With the northerly blowing, the conditions were never going to be great. The harbour at Mornington really takes a hiding on a Northerly. The swell was up & the viz was down, 2-3 metres at best but that's OK we are only doing bottle drills and right next to each other the whole time. Another hour of bottom time and it's time to head along the pylons for home, the last 2 dives we have done we have gotten past the 'opening' maybe on our next dive we will get to swim around a bit more. Octopus has not moved!

Mark

Mornington Pier (RB)

Divers: Joe, Brenden, Jim & Mark
The conditions were very good as we swam out to practice some drills, The viz was about 6-7 metres and the water temp was 12 degrees. The 'opening' seems to be the place we stay, it's brighter here because of the light coming through the gap. After 60 minutes in the one area it's time to call it quits & it's time to swim back along the pier pylons to the exit. Not having moved far we haven't seen much, so back in the Royal having dinner, the only thing we have to talk is the 2 Octopus we saw.

Mark