Thirteen Brisbane SAC members descended on Ken’s place for the October long weekend. Although glorious sunny weather was forecast the swell and wind predictions were ominous. 

The launching of the boat was a breeze every morning. Ken slipped the boat into a calm and shallow gutter and we leisurely climbed on board and motored along the gutter parallel to the shoreline, exiting the gutter where the channel deepened. 

Throughout the weekend Manta Bommie was firing on all cylinders. With a balmy water temperature of 21 degrees, at least seven manta’s were in residence on day one. Guitar sharks were spotted, leopard sharks, a large turtle as well as an aggregation of bull rays stacked high in the sand. Grey nurse sharks were spotted at a number of locations.

The weather forecast turned out better than expected. Our surface intervals were interspersed with dolphin, turtle and whale sightings and breaches. The highlight to one surface interval was a juvenile hammer head travelling along the surface, parallel to the boat. How lucky were we?

An added interest to our last day’s diving was to first find, then dive on the wreck of a Douglas Dakota C-47 Skytrain. Ken managed to find the location and it was an easy descent down to the plane. Gavin took a number of shots hopefully to be manipulated with the photogrammetry software to create a 3D image. The swarms of tropical fish made photography of the structure a bit difficult!

The weekend was an unmitigated success. COVID safe practices were adhered to at all times. The food was as excellent as always. Many thanks to Mark for organising us all. No mean feat in itself.

Greta Derrick