Date: Saturday 25 June 2011
Location: Blairgowrie Marina
Divers: Andrew, Keith, Matt, Sing
Water Temp: 12 C
Visibility: up to 8 m
Wind: Northerly about 25 km/hr

We began the day at the shop hiring gear and in Keith's case he was picking up his brand new Mares scuba package. For Keith this was his first dive post certification and for Matt this was dive 4 post certification. His last dive was in the Philippines while on holidays. Sing had not dives in Melbourne since his open water course 12 months earlier. Once we had all the gear we needed we headed down to Blairgowrie Marina/Pier for a dive. As we drove past Rye Pier everyone noticed the white caps there due to the Northerly wind. Before leaving Aquability I logged on to see what conditions were like (http://www.aquability.com.au/a/Cameras/Blairgowrie ) for a live cam Aquability has access to. When we parked at Blairgowrie the conditions were much better due to the protection of the "sea wall". There were about a dozen divers, including Adrian's Advanced Open Water students, already here in various stages of kitting up in the car park. We had a dive brief, kitted up and walked down to the beach.

First thing we did was a neutral buoyancy check for Keith. Under the pier the visibility varied from a few metres to what Matt felt was about 8 m, due possibly to the number of divers under the pier. At the beginning of the dive there was no current which was great for diving. Blairgowrie I feel is one of the best dives for aquatic life and this dive did not disappoint. The key that many people forget is take your time, go slow and look. Some of the things we did see on the diver were sea biscuits, 11 armed sea stars, crabs, fan worms, seahorses, sponges and towards the end of the dive a Banjo Shark. Due to the water temperature some of the marine life has moved to warmer waters. Sadly we did not see any blue ringed octopuses that inhabit the pier or the giant ray that usually makes an appearance on the open water courses.

By this time we were also wanting to move to a warmer place and so the dive ended. Sing was feeling a little tired after the dive so after saying his farewells left. The rest of us talked about the dive and gear as well as what we would like to do for our next dives. All in all a great day, thanks goes to Sing, Keith and Matt for coming along and I look forward to the next time.

For those of you who would think this might be for you then contact Adrian.

Andrew