Merimbula Eden Dive Trip

With all the talk of dangly bits and penetration, the trip could have been mistaken for a low budget porno film. Back in context though, I suppose that these are the kind of conversations that are going to go on when you go diving with Wreck divers!!.. This is why I decided to call this the "Out of Context" Eden Trip because if you walked into most of the discussions half way through, you would have been a little puzzled!!...

Thirteen of us headed down to Eden on the Thursday night, waking up on Friday morning busting to get to the first wreck... Our two groups were on separate boats for the first day, Rachael's wreck diving group doing the Henry Bolte first up and with my group of recreational divers doing the Tasman Hauler. The Hauler would have to be my favourite dive at Eden. Sitting in 30 metres of water in a bay protected from the common southerly winds of summer, the Hauler (and indeed the Bolte) were made diver safe and scuttled in 1988. The Hauler is still perfectly in tact and now covered with dual anemones to boot!... We couldn't get enough of wrecks after the first dive so we went and did the Bolte for the second dive!!... The Botle sits about 200 metres away from the Hauler. As the Bolte sits on a reef and is closer to the shore, the middle of this ship has collapsed leaving the bow and stern still in tact. After a day of diving some of the best dives in Southern NSW, I was pleased to see lots of smiling faces after the dives.

Saturday was an even bigger day with two day dives and a night dive planned. The Bolte was the first dive on the menu!. After completing the dive for the first time on Friday, it was great to return to the wreck again to get an even closer look than the day before. Personally, I managed to discover some new swimthroughs that I hadn't found on previous dives there. The cave was the next to take our interest. The cave is basically a wall dive with a large cave at the end of the wall with all sorts of little creatures. We found starfish, cuttlefish, basket stars, nudibranches, various soft corals and a friendly octopus waiting at the bottom of the anchor line.

I had been raving for about 6 months on the night dive on the Tasman Hauler, so I was keen to go out and see all the jewel anemones flower out at night and see the yellows, oranges, reds, blues and pinks that the dive is so famous for. A full boat headed out for the dive, leaving the wharf just on twilight. The wind had calmed down that afternoon and I had a funny feeling that we were in for something special. The first 10 metres had a layer of algae that didn't do much for visibility but beyond that depth opened up to a wonderful dive. All of the anemones were out in their finest glory giving everyone an experience to remember!..

The last day we split up and did two separate dives. The first group did the Empire Gladstone and the second group did the Moon. A little current had developed on the Empire Gladstone making for an interesting 62 minute dive for Vincent and Manu (Thanks guys!!). We deliberately only planned one dive on the last day so that we could all have a safe easy day drive home.

I can't believe the crew that we managed to have on the trip. Everyone had an absolute ball on the trip, all getting along like a house on fire. Since the trip, there has been several emails flying around remembering back to funny things that happened on the weekend. I read them and I feel a little sad that it all came to an end... but then again, there is always the next trip!... Greg Marshall, one of our regular divers and a wreck course student that weekend has the following to say about the weekend and the course:-

Merimbula Wreck Course Dive Report

For my first dive on the Henry Bolte the visibility was only around 5 meters, it was easy to make out the shape but to see anything else was near impossible. The Henry Bolte has broken up over the years, I look forward to revisit this wreck when visibility improves.

From what I heard, the second dive group to dive the Henry Bolte had improved visibility, and there was a lot to see on this dive. I found this the case for my first dive on the Tasman Hauler, that visibility had improved during the day. The two wrecks only lay 100-200m apart from each other.

The Tasman Hauler to my surprise was still very intact with all of its features clearly visible and sitting in an upright position. There is so much to see on this dive without having penetrating the wreck, all the fish swimming nearby and all the growth covering the wreck. As you come down the mooring line you come to the mast at 17 meters, from here you can go down to 29 meters where it’s huge propeller lays. Other highlights for this dive are a visit to the engine room, and the memorial plaque for a local diver in front of the bridge.

The two dives for Saturday were again on the Tasman Hauler, the first dive of the day was to practice tying off a reel and measuring distances, in preparation for entry into the wreck. The next dive, was what all our group were waiting for to find out what lays within the wreck, and it did not disappoint. Besides using the buddy procedures previous learn by our intrepid instructor (Rachael) we were experienced and confident enough to explore the rest of the wreck. What made the dive great was the fact the Tasman Hauler is intact and easy to explore.

The last dive done on the Tasman Hauler was at night (not part of the course), this only being my second night dive I was a little nervous, this soon went as I got into the water and relaxed. Seeing all the lights in the distance made the Tasman Hauler look very mysterious, it almost looked like it was sailing through the water. The wreck lit up with all its colours from the plants, small sponges and corals covering the wreck as you shown your torch.