Diving - 2020 11 - North West Island (Week 1)

Max Depth: 26m

Avg Water Temp: 24°

Sunday 25th Oct

After a weekend away and a sneaky hike or 2 I was dropped off at Bruce and Tracy's in the afternoon. They had already loaded most of the gear onto the back of the BT50 with only a few things left to throw in the next morning. After a nice Indian dinner we were able to catch the second half of the NRL Grand Final before heading off to bed for a good rest.

Monday 26th Oct

A relatively laid back morning with a chilled breakfast before disconnecting the fridges and loading them in. After a few more straps were tightened, checked and re-checked we were good to go. Making our way across town we stopped off just before getting to the highway to ensure everything was still tied in as it should be. All looking good so we pushed on. With the relaxed breakfast we appeared to be tail end Charlie for the drive up. Some had stayed up the Sunshine Coast the night before and had a good head start, others left early. We made good time and stopped off at Gympie to grab some fuel. There was a bit of road works but no major choke points for us.

Making it into Childers just on 2pm we stopped for a late lunch and a good stretch of the legs. We got the Gas freezer running again, just to ensure it stayed cold, while we ate. About 3min down the road after restarting Tracey asked if we had remembered that last strap (undone to get the freezer accessible.) We had not. Wasn't too big a concern though as we had contingency rope and everything was still in it's place.  

We pushed on and I managed to doze off for a nap just before 4pm... only to be awaken by a phone call. One of the wheels on the Clubs Box Trailer (with the breathing air compressor on board) had delaminated... and wouldn't you know it... No Spare!! Everyone else was ahead and we were about 45min short. We stopped in Miriam Vale, but the mechanic was already closed. Once we caught up we discussed strategies while people in Gladstone tried to get a tyre from there. Jeremy almost made it, only to find the tyre wasn't on the rim and the shop took their 5pm closing time **VERY** seriously and effectively shut the door in his face... 

The other option was to borrow some boat tyres. Seemed like a great plan. So Jeremy and Alan D took two tyres off and drove back south (as Bruce, Tracey and I started towards Gladstone again.)They got there only to discover that the Stud pattern was different, DOH! A call to RACQ put the trailer on a tow truck and taken the rest of the way. Bit of a cost to the Club but all part of the 'exciting adventures' we have with URGQ...  

Kristie spoke to various parties to formulate a plan for the gear still in the trailer, so at least we have an idea of what's in store for the morning. Pizza for dinner (with enough for leftovers tomorrow) and a relaxing drink before turning in for the night.

Tuesday 27th Oct

Woke early and had a quick last shower (for possibly 2 weeks...) and a slice of left over Pizza for breakfast. On the way to the barge dock Bruce, Tracy and I also stopped off for a Bacon and Egg roll. We were about 20min early but there was already other people there. A few from our group and other groups on the same barge. We quickly unloaded what we could then Alan D, SNR and I went off to recover the compressor from the trailer that was taken to the RACQ Depot. Filling up ~200lt of fuel in the jerry cans we got back to the barge and did the final pack.

With all the dive gear and extras we found that we had used a bit more than our allocated space in the barge crates, leaving a group of 5 to fill a half crate as that's all that was left. We had some spare room in various crates but catching the barge with other groups sure does make space more of a premium. 

Performing a final check on the boat we found the Starboard Bow Tube had deflated a little again. The Cap was on tight and when we unscrewed it, it got stuck and unscrewed the outer valve instead. After quite a lot of effort (and a few choice words) we managed to get it back into the right place, screw it on and inflate the tube. We relaxed a bit after that and enjoyed the relatively smooth run over. When getting close to North West Island we finalised the check over on the boat and found that the Engine Fin had a loose bolt. 'Engineering know how' (a wing nut) gave enough length on the screw to get it tight. SNR and I hopped in for the launch of Diver 1 and got to the task of finding a berth. It's really busy on the island, lots of boats lining the entire shore in front of the camping zone. We managed to squeak it in before the barge could get over the reef edge.  

Photo via Jeremy

We headed off in search of the Camp Host who seemed really nice. They had tried to discourage people from camping near the Compressor Bunker (as we had arranged it's use.) As she was explaining an Old Mate (who's tent was near the Bunker Area) walked past and mumbled "You can't book specific sites" in a grumpy tone at us. Camp host gestured and said; "Sorry but that's the attitude some people have." I said it was fine and he has every right to camp right next to the compressor that we would be running 7 hours a day and that it's gentle humm is really quite pleasant when you think about it, as he walked away with a scoff.   

After that was the task of unloading all the gear. With a few separate groups (and a lot of our extra dive gear) there was a lot to come off. Mostly everyone pitched in and helped, even a few of the camps that were just staying came up. Some were getting Water/Fuel/Ice delivery and they only took theirs then left (fair enough) but others were really helpful and hung about. All in all it was dark before I got back to our tent area. Skipping the tent for the night I managed to get my shade up before a storm blew over with lots of heavy rain. It exposed a lot of ponding areas, one of which was under Bruce/Tracys tent! With their area flooded out they found shelter in Kristie/Jeremy's big tent for the night. Most others only managed the bare essentials too. A little bit of Scotch was had for 'Hooray we made it!' after the rain had subsided before most turned in for the night.  

Wednesday 28th Oct  

I woke up to the birds at about 430 and had a toilet break, going back to snooze until just past 530. First task was to fetch the boat and park it closer out front. Nothing like a nice refreshing swim in the morning. Graham was just on his way back from a Sunrise walk and was able to lend a hand with the Anchor placement. After the shock of last nights landing (for those with us for the first time; It's always hectic... but not THAT hectic) the morning left many tasks still to be done... including me actually setting up a tent. Pretty much everyone got to the task of moving/rearranging/erecting tarps and tents. Then most of the morning was spend tinkering with lights, kitchen areas, boxes and chairs.  

There was whispers of an afternoon dive but they were mostly carried away with the breeze. Most people still tired from a broken sleep and a morning of arranging camp. Low tide struck early afternoon and Diver 1 was high and dry, sitting pretty on it's tyres. Right next to it was a great little lounge pool that was perfect for a swim to cool down from the heat of the day and the work of the morning. Mitch dropped in a line and was getting plenty of bites, but each breaking loose before he could snag them completely. Others not keen on a swim had a good game of cards going and others still spent the afternoon relaxing and reading.  

Sunset drinks was a good catch up to plan for tomorrow everyone was finally setup and could take a moment to relax. Up until the point where the lightning off shore was too close for comfort and the rain started to fall on our heads. We had a chance to plan for the early morning dive, on the boat and going at 7am. As the night went on Kristie did a run to check on the boat and found it a bit sideways. The rear anchor had dragged a little so I chucked another spare on it and a longer rope tied off to a tree. Should last through the next storm... though hope it doesn't come. I was very alert/awake when armpit deep fixing the boat with Kristie, but crashed soon after basically heading to bed at 830. 

Thursday 29th Oct

After the early time to bed I woke around 2am. Needed to head off for a pee anyway so took a stroll to see Diver 1 sitting proud on the tyres. Tide would have just turned and begun coming in. Went back for a snooze before rousing again at ~5:20am. Quick Breakfast then down to retrieve the boat. Jeremy was there to lend a hand and we took it for a small putt to empty out some water. At 6:45 I did a loop of camp to round up the stragglers (Note: All except Mitch and Jeremy...) to get them down to the beach, and it must have worked because they got their hussle on and we were able to launch just before 7. I was skipper and we headed along the Southern edge of the reef to a pretty good drop off. Not long after they dropped in there was a huge Admiral Anchor stuck on a rather large bommie. It was near the top of the high tide and they still drifted about 500m.  

Back on the boat again for the double dive. We snuck out on good time and had plenty of water to make it off the reef edge before the tide was out too far. We had ~6.5 hours, plenty of time for a double dive in a more remote spot. Mike was Skipper, Bruce driving as Trainee, and not diving so there was plenty of time to head to a further site. We headed to Broomfield Reef just over an hours boat ride away via the the southern edge of North West Reef. With the reef as protection it was a fairly smooth ride. We had a few marks from Kerry's friends to head towards. We poked our nose out past the reef but it quickly became a washing machine with the outgoing current opposite the wind.  

Back tucked in near the reef we dropped in on a brilliant spot with huge bommies and great coral. Quite a bit of life around as well with big schools of Damsel fish, Giant Clams, Nudi's, shrimp and a friendly little reef shark to entertain us on the safety stop. Back on the surface we had fairly calm conditions for lunch, leftover salad from last night. Less than a km to the next site. A lot more of the same type of landscape, towering bommies found among the sand. This time we had Giant Green Moray eels as well as huge clouds of bait fish from a few different species.   

The drive back was a little rough but not too long. We arrived back at the reef edge a little early and had to wait around for enough water to carry us. We hooked onto a public mooring for almost 40 min before we felt we could safely sneak it in. Made it back just in time for sunset drinks. Sadly because of the late arvo return not all the tanks could be filled before the 6pm shutoff time so they had to sit and wait until 9am in the morning. After dinner a few of us played a Japanese twist on the Card game 'Sevens' which made it a bit more strategic. Just as we were wrapping up Kristie and Jeremy came back from their walk with news of a mummy turtle starting to dig out a nest to lay her eggs so a few set off to bear witness to nature. Slightly later night than last night for me, but I was still in bed fairly early. Just after 930.  

Photo by Kristie

Friday 30th Oct

Out for the early dive today with a plan to drop in on a wall I had spotted on the contours of the charts. Wasn't quite as steep as it looked on the charts but it made up for it with life. There was 11 Nudibranch in a 0.5m diameter area. That Bommie itself held at least 22, that we could find! It was a really pleasant drift we barely made it 300m in the ~57min dive time. Jeremy saw a turtle off in the distance and we saw a bit of fish life but the Nudi's stole the show. It was an unmarked spot so we put it in the sounder as 'Rudi Nudi'. On the drive back to camp we saw plenty of turtles having,,, err... 'special time' together.

Back on shore it was a fairly quick change over for the next set of divers to get out. Alan D got to the task of filling tanks and showing a few others how it's done. I took the chance to go for a bit of a wander and check out some camps. Bumped into Bob, someone I had met unloading the barge, with a very impressive tarp setup with Poles and Agriculture Poly pipe instead of ridge line poles. A very neat setup. I Imagine the Star Pickets would add a little weight though. We had a bit of a scare with the Toilet paper situation. As the Camp Hosts had to vacate early, they stocked up a little before they left (on the same barge we arrived on) but supplies were running low. A call was put out by one of the other groups (we think) as Maritime QLD came out with a few rangers and stocked up for us.   

I spent the rest of the afternoon charging dive torch batteries etc and chasing the sun with the solar panels. I also climbed a bit up 'Telstra Tree' and managed to squeak in a bar of phone service to get an updated weather report. Looks like we might have a few windy nights ahead and Tuesday might be lumpy seas as well. After dinner Kristie went off scouting and found two mummy turtles digging holes and getting ready to lay eggs. Giving them enough time to get settled first they then took Kristina and Emma who were both very excited to see the action. Very late night for them though, bed at 9:45pm! They were only barely in bed before me.

Saturday 31st Oct

Wind had picked up a bit and heading out on a lowish tide meant the waves were standing up. Mitch did a really good job keeping the nose of the boat pointing the right direction but even then we had a few splash over the bow. We were soon past it though and with the scuppers down the water quickly drained. Around the southern side was still nice and protected so we dropped in along the wall again. Lots more Nudi and a few bigger fish. Another really pleasant drift, only going about 200m total.  

Lots of bommies to hang around and find plenty of Nudi's on. About 40min into the dive I saw a heap of Ink floating in the water and followed the remnants to find a few very active Octopus. I headed off to Kristie and told her to swim over but failed to mention the octopus, so she thought I was just telling her a direction and got distracted by Nudi's. I sent Coralie off for them and then was distracted by some Nudi's myself. By the time I got back to them Kristie was already swimming off but only from one side of the rock, so I called her back to see the other one tucked behind.  

Back on the surface the conditions on the NW (where the channel is) were still a little rough but we had plenty of water as we were near high tide so we snuck in directly over the reef. We had a few new divers to train on the compressor but when I went up there was already plenty of hands so I took off on a stroll instead. I also took the opportunity to climb the tree again and check the weather.   

Tonight was our "Heroes and Villains" night on the island so everyone came to Sunset Drinks all dressed up. It's great to see all the various costumes come out that people managed to squeeze into their kit. Other campers on the island usually give us a few smiles too. With the dress up comes the group dinner night. Over in our area, as we had a bit of free tarp space, so we had to do a little tidy up to fit everyone in. Pot luck dinner means lots of questions about who's food was who's and what is/isn't spicy/vegetarian. 

Photo via Jeremy

Sunday 1st Nov

Another single dive out this morning but almost glassy conditions. We went a bit further around than 'Nudi Rudi' to another spot on the wall. The dive started really well with us dropping in on a Manta Ray, but that was one of 2 highlights on the dive. About half way along Graham saw a shark we're still not sure what it is. The rest of the dive was 90% Stag Horn coral with the occasional bommie spotted amongst it. Few Nudi's, but ones we've seen before. Giselle attempted her first underwater SMB Launch which went about as well as my first try... not spectacularly. That's ok though, trips like these are a great time to practice. With a few pointers she was keen to try again next dive. 

The group of Firefighters are off early Monday morning so they've set up a 'Camper Box' reminiscent of the 'Hiker Box' famous on the PCT. Free for all food so they didn't have to carry it back on the barge. Sauce, Flour, Custard, Tinned Food and even some Soft Drink. We scored some flour for Kristies baking and some Custard for desert. They had freezers full of fish they had caught when over, so they needed to ditch some weight/make some space for that. I hid out the heat of the day in the shade, but as it was fairly still wind wise and the heat radiated a bit around camp. 

When it was a bit cooler in the afternoon I took off for a lap of the island, reading 4.5km on Strava.  

Monday 2nd Nov

Early dive this morning, 6:30am. Back over to the wall but a bit closer this time. We dropped near the Admiral Bommie, hoping to drift over it, but ended up going the opposite direction. As soon as we dropped in we saw a Manta Ray swimming off into the distance. Lots of staghorn coral again but spotted with a few Bommies. We found a few different Nudi's, Kristie is starting to learn a few of the ones on the Identification App and is happy to see ones she recognises. Coralie and I also found a Persian Carpet Flat Worm which I love seeing underwater. Just as Alan R and I surfaced and I had handed my camera up to Mitch he pointed out a Dolphin Swimming near by. I popped my head back under and saw it swimming off, too late to retrieve my camera to get a picture. When I was on board the others popped their SMBs and it looked like the Dolphin was going to swim right through the group but none of them reported a sighting when they got up. 

I went Surface watch for the second and we dropped in roughly the same spot, but with the current going the other direction. Reports back were for the fastest current we've had on the trip so far. As a result there were a few fish about but not much in the way of staying steady for Nudibranch pictures. As we rounded the corner of the island we spotted a familiar boat sitting at camp; Pete, Nelly's husband, had managed to make it out on his boat. Good timing as the wind was reported to blow up this afternoon. 

The wind did pick up a little but also swung around to the SE so in front of camp was nice and still. Perfect for sunset drinks and a good night to end week 1 on!