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Diving

Dives

I've recorded 582 dives so far:

Dive number	Date	Site	Location	Area	Country	Wreck	Freshwater	Depth (m)	Bottom time (min)	Total time (min)	Divers	Quality	Summary	Equipment
1	24 Feb 1980	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Derek Borthwick		Dived with Derek Borthwick. Used Susan's valve after problems with club one. Water temp warm. Saw masses of sea urchins, starfish, crabs, squat lobsters & other smaller invertebrates.	Draeger (45 cu ft), Susan's Sportsways valve, & weight belt
2	15 Mar 1980	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			23	30	30	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Dived with Malcolm Gauld. Mouthpiece split on demand valve so used Derek's. Boat dive. Weather - warm & sunny. Didn't find actual wreck, but lots of bits lying about. Saw dead men's fingers, spider crabs etc. Silty bottom. Vis 20 feet. Filled Fenzy by mouth. Dropped weight belt but had it recovered [by Derek].	Steel 60, Derek's Poseidon, ABLJ 6, 24 lbs weight
3	16 Mar 1980	Cuan Ferry	Seil Island	Oban	Scotland			8	20	20	Iain Hosking, Lizzie Daw		Boat dive again. Dived with Lizzie Daw. Strong current caused problems for the boat but we lost it underwater. Masses of kelp, some sea urchins & starfish. Couldn't find any place deeper than 8m so came up.	Aluminium 56 cu ft, own demand valve, ABLJ 6
4	30 Mar 1980	Gitana	Loch Rannoch	Scottish Highlands	Scotland			10	20	20	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Shore dive, with Malcolm Gauld. Water fairly cold (2-3°C). Very dark, but vis with torch OK, about 3m. Circumnavigated the ship, and took a look inside. No life: too acidic. P.S. Also took soundings from wreck to the shore, from small inflatable.	Steel 60, own dv, ABLJ 6
5	20 Apr 1980	Gitana	Loch Rannoch	Scottish Highlands	Scotland			10	25	25	Iain Hosking, Mike Malone		Warmer this time. Visibility very good; saw far more of the deck, entered midships hatch and looked at Captain's Cabin & 'Ladies Only'. Dived with Mike Malone.	Al 56, own dv, ABLJ 6
6	20 Apr 1980	Gitana	Loch Rannoch	Scottish Highlands	Scotland			10	15	15	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld, Murray Grant		Dived with Malcom & Murray & took a quick look at stern cabin, gents loo etc.	Steel 60, own dv, ABLJ 6
7	21 Apr 1980	St Abbs Head	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			10	25	25	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Boat dive. Wind 3-5 and strong swell. Went down with Geoff. Vis low; 4-5 feet. Lots of kelp and sea urchins but not much else. Saw puffins.	Steel 60, own dv, ABLJ 6
8	23 Apr 1980	Dunbar	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			7	25	25	Iain Hosking, Murray Grant		Shore dive. Went out with Murray and swam round a rock. Vis poor, 2-3m. Sea urchins, starfish, crabs etc. Went for a 15 min snorkel afterwards.	Steel 60, own dv, ABLJ 6
9	27 Apr 1980	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Mike Malone		A very interesting dive, with Mike Malone. Snorkelled out to Cathedral Rock, examined anemones, starfish & found a (small) lobster. Played football & swam through the arches. Vis good, about 15 feet. Weather bright and sunny and hot. Did some snorkelling afterwards.	Own dv, ABLJ 6
10	25 May 1980	Seacliffs	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			9	37	37	Iain Hosking, Lorna Miller, Robin Gray		Looking for lobsters. Found several large ones but couldn't get them out because horizontal crevices went back too far. Visibility fantastic - 30 feet or more. Light sand on bottom made it brighter. Used 90 ats.	Steel 60, own dv, ABLJ 6 (somewhat buoyant - try another 2lbs weight)
11	25 May 1980	Seacliffs	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			6	20	20	Iain Hosking, Lorna Miller		Dived with Lorna again. Very buoyant; had a lot of trouble getting down. Found another lobster - shy and retiring like the others. Also saw dozens of hermit crabs and a purple seaslug.	as before
12	15 Jun 1980	Fidra	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			7	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Looking for lobsters again. None, but thousands of brittle stars & other squidgy things. Vis unimpressive. Weather very good. Wind dropped by evening.	Steel 60, own dv, ABLJ 6, ~26lbs weight
13	15 Jun 1980	Fidra	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			10	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Snorkelled out to another island. Found 2 crabs (one with no claws) but still no lobsters. Rats!	as before
14	29 Jun 1980	Chester II	Off Fidra	Forth	Scotland			24	18	18	Iain Hosking, John Crichton		Dived with John Crichton from boat with SMB to try to find wreck. Reached bottom & followed line of dragging anchor. Vis terrible, maybe 6ft. Weren't getting anywhere, & air low (50 ats) so came up, tangling SMB round anchor line in process. Not a successful dive.	Steel 60, own dv, ABLJ 4, ~24lbs weight (buoyant on surface)
15	20 Jul 1980	Switha	Off Edinburgh	Forth	Scotland			6	40	40	Iain Hosking, Colwyn Jones		Dived with Colwyn Jones. Nature of bottom: steel plate with patches of brass & copper. Shoals of fish, giant lobster. Heavy swell. Seasick.	Steel 60, own dv, Fenzy 1
16	27 Jul 1980	Argyll	Bell Rock	Scottish East Coast	Scotland			11	20	20	Iain Hosking, Colwyn Jones		Spent Saturday night on the 'Hamnavoe' and dived the 'Argyll' on the Sunday. Very strong current, good vis. Masses of steel plate; recognised mast & spotting top with guns. Surface visibility very poor, say half a mile, and fairly high sea, calming down as the day progressed.	Steel 60, ABLJ 6, own dv
17	6 Aug 1980	Islay	Port Ellen	Islay	Scotland			12	45	45	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Fantastic dive. Swam around ship, which consists of ribs & boilers & assorted bits. Also giant sunstars, fish of all shapes & sizes, and two crabs making out. Giant lobster. White sandy bottom. Very good vis (40 ft). Warm (no gloves). Also went for a snorkel. Ship is a MacBrayne's paddlesteamer, 187 tons net, which sank in 1902 en route from Glasgow to Port Ellen.	Steel 69 cu ft, ABLJ 5, own dv, ~22lbs weight
18	6 Aug 1980	Harald	Mull of Oa	Islay	Scotland			10	12	12	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Wreck very kelp-covered. Bows impressive, with anchor & chain. Hull on its side on bottom. Conserved air for next two dives. (1909 collier.)	ABLJ 5, steel 69, own dv, 22lbs weight
19	6 Aug 1980	Mull of Oa		Islay	Scotland			6	10	10	Iain Hosking, Dougie McEwan, Lizzie Daw, Malcolm Gauld, Robert Sproul-Cran		Photographic sortie. Visibility excellent (50 feet+). White sand, lots of fish. Robert took group photograph.	ABLJ 5, steel 69, own dv, 22lbs weight.
20	6 Aug 1980	Limelight	Port Ellen	Islay	Scotland			8	10	10	Iain Hosking, Derek Borthwick		Bows of ship only. Had a look around inside. Late (9pm) and consequently cold. Where's the stern?	ABLJ 5, steel 69, own dv, 22lbs weight
21	7 Aug 1980	Agate	Kilchiaran Bay	Islay	Scotland			12	35	35	Iain Hosking, Derek Borthwick		Photographic sortie with Derek Borthwick. Steep-sided gullies with masses of scoof - propeller shaft, prop, boilers etc. Purple kelp. Strong current, but vis good. An exciting dive.	ABLJ 5, steel 60, own dv, 26lbs weight.
22	7 Aug 1980	Floristan	Kilchiaran Bay	Islay	Scotland			10	25	25	Iain Hosking, Dougie McEwan		Night dive with Dougie. Torch failed but his was bright enough for two. Spectacular wreck with locomotives, flatcars, trucks, boilers, bricks (Thistle Co.) and lots of pipes etc. Water clear, and not cold.	ABLJ 5, steel 60, own dv, 26lbs weight
23	8 Aug 1980	Floristan	Kilchiaran Bay	Islay	Scotland			12	35	35	Iain Hosking, Dougie McEwan		Examined details of wreck. Locomotive is on its left side - boiler has rolled off. Flatcars on top of one another. Millwheels. Fish individually (large territorial fish) and in shoals (pollack). Rust kicked up off wreck reduced visibility. Practised boat-handling.	ABLJ 5, steel 60, own dv, 26lbs weight
24	10 Aug 1980	Furnace	Loch Fyne	Kintyre	Scotland			31	25	25	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Shore dive. Down cliff to 31m (100 feet). Silty, sloping bottom. Then back up to 16m and along cliff. Sea squirts, hermit crabs, sponges, giant jellyfish, tubeworms (very pretty). Vis good but we kicked up some silt. PS Saw mobile clam.	Steel 69, ABLJ 7, own dv, 22lbs weight
25	24 Aug 1980	Bass Rock		Forth	Scotland			20	25	25	Iain Hosking, Robin Gray		Down cliff face and followed the bottom of the cliff clockwise. Vis poor but great variety of sea anemones & brittle stars. Few crustaceans. Also did a spot of leaping and traversed a cave under the Rock. Lost a fin in the process.	Steel 69, ABLJ 7, own dv, 22lbs weight
26	25 Oct 1980	Sgeir Neoghluasadach	Summer Isles	North-west Scotland	Scotland			23	20	20	Iain Hosking		Fell off hard boat 'Vimiera' and snorkelled to island. Descended through kelp and boulder slope to pebbly/sandy bottom. Vis pretty good, and water not cold. Current. Usual stuff - starfish, sea urchins and scallops (saw one swimming. Came up with 80 ats.	Steel 69, ABLJ 1, own dv, 26lbs weight
27	25 Oct 1980	Priest Island	Summer Isles	North-west Scotland	Scotland			20	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		2nd dive of the day, again off the 'Vimiera'. Snorkelled to shore, descended and followed the 20m contour. Huge shoal of pollack, dogfish (quite large) and lots of other fish not yet identified. Also plenty of crabs, but no pretty squidgy things.	Steel 60, ABLJ 1, own dv
28	26 Oct 1980	Little Loch Broom		North-west Scotland	Scotland			30	20	20	Iain Hosking, Murray Grant		Dived down stepped cliff on east side of loch. Unscheduled ascent halfway through dive after which continued at about 6m, looking for scallops. None. Vis not so good as yesterday. Depth gauge reads 4m shallow at 30m.	ABLJ 1, steel 69
29	16 Nov 1980	Catalina	Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			26	25	25	Iain Hosking, Rosanne Padua		Shore dive. Snorkelled out with Rosanne and went down buoy rope to the plane. Dive interrupted when I found I had no weight belt. Catalina is lying parallel to the shore, starboard wing in the sand, port wing pointing towards the surface. No cockpit, engines, tailplane, rudder etc, but recognisable as a Catalina. Covered in plumose anemones. Visibility 6-10ft. Wind force 2.	ABLJ 1, steel 69.
30	23 Nov 1980	Largs		Clyde	Scotland			2	25	25	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Mike Malone		Boring, but funny.	ABLJ 1, steel 69
31	25 Jan 1981	Lochgoilhead	At the head of Loch Goil	Kintyre	Scotland			9	30	30	Iain Hosking, Rosanne Padua		Laying mooring for a friend of Robin's. Rosanne and I were down three times, attaching a large anchor to a heavy chain to form one end of the mooring, and then marking the centre of the chain for the attachment of a smaller chain with the buoy attached. Water freezing, vis good until silt kicked up.	ABLJ 6, steel 60
32	1 Feb 1981	Eyemouth		Forth	Scotland			14	25	25	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld, Mike Malone		Entry off rocks east of harbour. Down gully onto sandy bottom. Brittle stars, dead men's fingers, urchins, starfish and a lobster. Wind force 2. Vis 20ft, current 1 knot.	ABLJ 5, steel 69
33	29 Mar 1981	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			10	25	25	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Cold & choppy. Down immediately and out to left of harbour. Found a tunnel. Strong wave action and I repeat, very cold. OK, I enjoyed myself.	ABLJ 3, steel 69
34	5 Apr 1981	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			17	30	30	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Followed same gully as last time but missed the tunnel. Found two spider crabs making friends. Not so cold as last time but a slight current.	ABLJ 3, steel 69
35	11 Apr 1981	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			20	20	20	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Dived with Geoff (who now has a dry suit). Wreck is buoyed. Down buoy line to rudder and followed keel to superstructure. Dark, but not cold. Vis 5m.	ABLJ 2, steel 69
36	12 Apr 1981	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		First attempt aborted due to current. Second attempt during slack (almost). Wreck is perpendicular to shore, bows up, buoyed. Beautiful tube worms (small heads). Vis 6m, not cold.	Steel 69, ABLJ 2
37	13 Apr 1981	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			25	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Malcolm Gauld		Dived with Malcolm & Eric in 2nd wave. Strong current, ~1 knot. Toured hold on two levels, then proceeded to bridge. Saw mast & derricks. Ran low on air so came up. Very pretty anemones, many of which we accidentally squashed.	Steel 69, ABLJ 2
38	14 Apr 1981	Pelican	Calve Island, Tobermory Bay	Mull	Scotland			18	15	15	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Wreck lies just offshore, in Calve Sound. Very silty, even sea-squirts silted-up. Circumnavigated the wreck and looked inside. Came up with 90 ats left.	Steel 60, ABLJ 2
39	15 Apr 1981	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			17	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Geoff Hide		Against all the odds, we were up at 6am for this one, and in the water about 9. No current, vis 7m. Saw superstructure, and details of hull. Very pretty sea-life.	Steel 60, ABLJ 2
40	15 Apr 1981	Ostend		Mull	Scotland			7	10	10	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Malcolm's rope search - unsuccessful. Vis low, about 3m. Bottom - shells! Cold.	Steel 69, ABLJ 2
41	16 Apr 1981	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			18	20	20	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide, Murray Grant		Started dive with Eric but he couldn't clear his ears so joined Geoff and Murray. Strong current on line as we inadvertently dived at full flood. Wreck sheltered owing to tilt. Swam through holds, bridge (and rooms behind) and stern. Too windy for bows. Great fun.	Steel 69, ABLJ 2
42	16 Apr 1981	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			22	25	25	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Evening dive so water quite cold. Swam through prop shaft housing and between keel and rock. Looked for nudibranchs but found only their eggs. Amazing local slack - lasted 2 hours!	Steel 60, ABLJ 2
43	17 Apr 1981	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			28	15	15	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		No current this time - down buoy line onto bow section, down starboard side to stern at 28m, back up port side, seeing boiler, engine room, holds and up into bows. Vis 5m. Very pretty fan-worms in companionway.	Steel 69, ABLJ 2
44	17 Apr 1981	Dartmouth	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			9	20	20	Iain Hosking, Robert Sproul-Cran		Dived with Robert to find and photograph cannon. No joy, but found a huge anchor. Carried out assisted ascent. Snorkelled around the 'Ballista' afterwards.	Twin Draegers (90 cu ft), ABLJ 5. Took off 2x4lbs - too light.
45	25 Apr 1981	Ocean Bride	Loch Sween	Kintyre	Scotland			5	60	60	Iain Hosking, Robert Sproul-Cran		Dived with Robert to inspect the boat and see if strops could be attached. Cleared out some ballast. Bottom - silt. Vis 0-2m.	Geoff's Typhoon dry suit and miscellaneous undergarments, steel 87, ABLJ 6, extra 12 lbs weight.
46	26 Apr 1981	Ocean Bride	Loch Sween	Kintyre	Scotland			5	30	30	Iain Hosking, Robert Sproul-Cran		This time we attached strops to the bows and stern, and made loops for the oil drums. Digging into the silt reduced the visibility to zero.	As previous dive
47	26 Apr 1981	Ocean Bride	Loch Sween	Kintyre	Scotland			3	180	180	Iain Hosking		The boat now raised to below the surface I tied on plastic containers and another oil drum, filled them, and undid the mooring.	As dive 45. Used steel 69 and 87. We had a portable compressor on shore.
48	29 Apr 1981	Dunbar	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Sean Williams		Took Sean Williams down for his first dive. Quite rough so stayed within cove. Dead men's fingers, starfish etc. Vis 4m max.	Steel 60, Eric's Fenzy
49	16 May 1981	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			20	30	30	Iain Hosking, Mike Malone		Down to bows and along whole length of ship. Into tunnel below bridge and lower mine tube at rear. Looked at mast, holds and sea life (enormous plumose anemones, fanworms, fish). Vis 10-15m. This wreck is vast!	Steel 69, ABLJ 2
50	16 May 1981	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			10	15	15	Iain Hosking, Mike Malone		Dived again to find 4 inch gun, which we did eventually. Meant to snorkel along to stern but low on air and too buoyant. Vis poorer. We'll be back.	Draeger, ABLJ 5
51	17 May 1981	Chadwick	West coast of Skye	Skye	Scotland			22	15	15	Iain Hosking, George Hay		Launched from Loch Poolteil and tied onto buoy below 600 foot cliffs. Current 1 knot but OK in lee of the wreck. Saw most of the hull, prop and boiler. Dead fish. Vis 7-8m.	Al 56, ABLJ 2
52	18 May 1981	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			20	20	20	Iain Hosking, Niall Lindsay		Down at bows and straight inside. Along between two decks and out by bridge. On to stern, where there are four mine tubes, and swam up one of them for quite a way, then out through a small side opening and back down inside. Vis varied - 7m at best.	Steel 60, ABLJ 2
53	19 May 1981	Balmeanach Bay	The Braes	Skye	Scotland			3	25	25	Iain Hosking, Doc Mitchell, Eric Franz, Geoff Hide		Night dive to see phosphorescence. We did. It's like bright sparks whenever you make any sudden movement, and is due to plankton and jellyfish.	Al 56, ABLJ 2
54	19 May 1981	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			15	30	30	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Dived with Eric and went round much the same area as with Niall the previous day, but in more detail eg gun mounting, mines in tubes. Vis a bit cruddy.	Steel 69, ABLJ 2
55	14 Jun 1981	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			13	25	25	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Took dry suit for its first outing, inaugurating a new period of comfort and warmth. Swam around Cathedral and studied squidgy things.	Dry suit, twin Draegers, SLJ, extra 8lbs weight.
56	21 Jun 1981	Anlaby	May Island	Forth	Scotland			12	25	25	Iain Hosking, Ross Butler		Excellent conditions. Jumped from side of 'Hamnavoe' and rearranged anchor, then joined Ross for dive. Up and down keel mainly. Saw seal, following us around. Also a variety of fish. Wreck is very broken up, but the outline is visible, and anchors, winches, prop, brass valves, bits of boiler etc.	Steel 69, SLJ 2, extra 8lbs standardised for dry bag.
57	21 Jun 1981	May Island		Forth	Scotland			11	15	15	Iain Hosking, George Hay		Round to south end of May Island to look for wreck of small lobster boat. Searched up and down shore at various depths but found only a few broken pieces.	Steel 60
58	19 Jul 1981	Eyemouth		Forth	Scotland			13	30	30	Iain Hosking, Doc Mitchell, Robin Gray, Rosanne Padua		Dived below Scoutscroft caravan site. Quite pretty rock walls and sandy bottom with a variety of fish. Some current. Good weather. Vis 10m.	Steel 69.
59	19 Jul 1981	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			15	25	25	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		2nd dive of the day. Didn't find Cathedral probably due to current but good fun anyway. Darker, almost monochromatic, and poorer vis: 7m or so.	Steel 69
60	2 Aug 1981	Fidra	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			13	35	35	Iain Hosking, Rosanne Padua		Lobster-hunting expedition - very successful. Rosanne and I caught two lobsters and seven crabs. Also saw a small octopus and some very pretty plumose anemones. Water warm. Vis 4-5m.	Al 56
61	9 Aug 1981	Glanmire	St Abbs Head	Forth	Scotland			31	15	15	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Dived just after slack, so some current. Down grapple line onto wreck, up port side to bows, down starboard side to stern, which is more intact. Boilers stand out well. Then back up to undo grapple. Life - outstanding feature was a huge, pale conger with an evil expression on its face, under a steel plate. Also pollack. Water warm. Vis 7m at least. [The 'conger' was actually a wolf fish - Ed]	Steel 60
62	16 Aug 1981	Ludlow	Off Yellowcraigs Beach	Forth	Scotland			6	40	40	Iain Hosking, Rob Mitchell		Stiff snorkel out and back. Wreck is kelp-covered and broken-up, with crabs, sea-squirts etc. Many interesting little passages and corners. Water warm. Vis 5m	Steel 60
63	30 Aug 1981	Seacliffs	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			6	25	25	Iain Hosking, Zana Juppenlatz		Swam out through harbour channel and bore right. After a long swim over kelp got to open, sandy area with rock wall to south. Many crabs in crevices and one lobster. Some fish - young cod?	Steel 60
64	13 Sep 1981	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			13	40	40	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Had difficulty finding Cathedral at first but found it at the second attempt. Far more fish than before - two wrasse (very curious), shoal of pollack or saithe + one larger one. Many smaller fish. Also large lobster sharing crevice with squat lobster and crab. Breathed from air bubble in arch using snorkel. Vis 8m. Very warm (new woolly bear).	Own tank: 82 cu ft. 150 ats used.
65	19 Sep 1981	Eilean Imersay	Ardbeg	Islay	Scotland			6	65	65	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Looked for 'John Strachan' but couldn't find it, so went scallop-hunting, with considerable success. Vis crap, about 2m.	own
66	20 Sep 1981	Islay	Port Ellen	Islay	Scotland			9	35	35	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Found wreck immediately from transits and tied buoy onto it. Saw boilers, pipes, sections of hull. Life - wrasse, pollack, urchins, starfish but not as much as last time. Conditions rough. Vis 4m.	Twin Draegers (90 cu ft)
67	21 Sep 1981	Shuna		Islay	Scotland			11	25	25	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Ewan Rowell		Wreck had been buoyed by the first wave. Very broken up, scattered around among kelp. Pretty sea life - sunstars and wrasse with luminous blue markings. Vis 3m.	own
68	22 Sep 1981	Floristan	Kilchiaran Bay	Islay	Scotland			11	10	10	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Very rough. Down buoy line to steel plates and chain, and some copper pipe. Then we lost it, and covered vast areas of seabed before giving up. Vis 3m.	own
69	22 Sep 1981	John Strachan		Islay	Scotland			8	35	35	Iain Hosking, Stuart Rayner		Much calmer in evening, so dived with Stuart Rayner to find the wreck. Spent 20 minutes searching for it (10 on surface) and were much relieved to see it looming up. Wreck is intact; brass valves on boiler and colourful sea life. Vis 5m, but getting dark.	own
70	24 Sep 1981	Otranto	Kilchiaran Bay	Islay	Scotland			15	30	30	Iain Hosking, Niall Lindsay		Wind only Force 4 so we thought we'd give it a go. Dived after a rough trip out. Main feature is the 8 boilers, but also brass portholes and bits & bobs. Kelp throughout. Wrasses and giant pollack. Very strong wave action - bit tricky trying to avoid being cut to shreds. Vis 6m.	own
71	25 Sep 1981	Eilean Imersay	Ardbeg	Islay	Scotland			9	15	15	Iain Hosking, Niall Lindsay		Scallop-hunting. Fairly successful. Silty Bottom with kelp. Vis 2m. Beautiful sunset.	own
72	18 Oct 1981	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			9	40	40	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Very low tide so Cathedral Rock easy to find. Usual pollack etc, pair of wrasse and sea-scorpions. Vis 3-4m. A little chilly.	own
73	24 Jan 1982	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			13	30	30	Iain Hosking, Dougie McEwan		Very good to get back in the water again. Sea calm but very murky - archway in Cathedral barely visible. Followed Dougie around rocks SE of Cathedral and found another tunnel. Day notable for the reappearance of Susan (and Dougie!) on the diving scene. No wrasse, or any other fish. Resident lobster pinched by an English club.	own
74	19 Mar 1982	Golden Gift	Oban Bay	Oban	Scotland			15	25	25	Iain Hosking		Jane had trouble with her ears so I carried on by myself. Night dive. Wreck very pretty, covered in sea-squirts with spider crabs, squat lobsters and giant sunstars. Fantastic dive - very relaxed (unexpectedly). Some phosphorescence too.	own
75	20 Mar 1982	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			18	25	25	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		First dive with Susan. Through holds, bridge etc. Sandals, cans, tyres, truck etc. Much silliness - somersaults, new underwater signals etc. Very relaxed dive - due to not having any gauges etc.	own
76	20 Mar 1982	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			14	15	15	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Susan Playfair		Now low tide. Dived with Eric and Susan (Susan had the torch - we were invisible). Getting a little dark, but good fun. Dive-bombed Doc and Rob.	own
77	21 Mar 1982	Creran Bridge		Oban	Scotland			5	25	25	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Drift dive (3 shorter dives actually). Mussels in abundance, very pretty bit with beadlet and plumose anemones, crabs, squat lobsters etc. Fair current, especially on second run. Vis 15ft.	own
78	27 Mar 1982	Dunollie Castle	Oban Bay	Oban	Scotland			18	25	25	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid		Fairly boring - cliffs to 10m then boulder slope leading to steeply-shelving sandy bottom. Life - starfish, with the occasional crab, sea urchin, tubeworm etc as we went deeper. Vis 4m. Saw an otter.	own
79	27 Mar 1982	Railway Quay	Oban Bay	Oban	Scotland			5	15	15	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Little evidence of excess lobsters or congers. Best thing was light steaming past the pier - very dramatic. Grossly underweight.	own. 4lbs less weight.
80	27 Mar 1982	Golden Gift	Oban Bay	Oban	Scotland			14	20	20	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid		Excellent night dive - wreck, crustaceans, fish, phosphorescence, the lot. What more could one ask for? (A - an Ocean Pro)	own
81	28 Mar 1982	Easdale	Seil Island	Oban	Scotland			25	20	20	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid, Susan Playfair		Not the quarries, but natural cliffs to the north. Amazing variety of sea life - fanworms, sea squirts, crustaceans of various kinds. Vis 6m at least.	own
82	4 Apr 1982	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			14	20	20	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Excellent dive - good u/w communication.	own
83	6 Apr 1982	Catalina	Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			25	27	27	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid, Eric Franz		Vis better than last time. Good sea life.	own
84	10 Apr 1982	Salen Pier	Salen	Mull	Scotland			14	15	15	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Plowter round pier with Susan to check out her new dry suit. OK apart from neck seal. Plenty of somersaults etc. Also plenty of scallops. Vis crap.	own
85	10 Apr 1982	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			32	20	30	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Found and buoyed the wreck, then swam down to the archway and further down. Lots of bits to swim through - great fun. Inadvertently went deeper than intended so did stops at 10 and 5m. Some current, poor vis.	own
86	11 Apr 1982	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	20	20	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Early morning dive. Through prop tube and between hull and rock. Very pretty. Torch flooded again (and jammed shut). Snorkelled to lighthouse and watched swans nesting.	own
87	11 Apr 1982	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Caught slack by sheer coincidence. Straight down to stern, and back up through holds and engine room. Latter very spectacular with missing hull plates forming a gallery, and boilers, wheels etc. Dive-bombed Geoff, Sue & Doc, and lost Eric. Torch had a burial at sea. Vis between 0 and 4m.	own
88	12 Apr 1982	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			25	25	25	Iain Hosking, Ross Butler		Caught slack by good planning. Right round wreck - down buoy line to starboard side, in through holds to bows, back up port side, up and down mast, in through bridge, then engine room and aft cabin (where I lost Eric's torch). No gloves, but not too cold. Vis poor.	own
89	12 Apr 1982	Salen Pier	Salen	Mull	Scotland			5	10	10	Iain Hosking, Ewan Rowell, Susan Playfair		Just a plowter round the pier to look for leaks in Susan's and Ewan's dry suits. Two leaks in Ewan's - none in Susan's. Flipping cold without gloves. Hardly a dive.	own
90	13 Apr 1982	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	20	20	Iain Hosking, Ross Butler		Up at 6am - in water at quarter to eight. Under wreck, through usual tubes, nooks and crannies. Strong current at start. Life - sea-scorpions. usual crustaceans and squidgy things. Vis improving. Dead calm.	own
91	13 Apr 1982	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	18	18	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Right round wreck, up into bows and swam entire length of ship under the deck - in through rear hold, past engine and boiler, through forward hold and right into bows. No torches, vis terrible, but great dive.	own
92	13 Apr 1982	Ballista	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			9	15	15	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Quick, abortive search for the 'Dartmouth' then on to dive the 'Ballista' (which was showing above water). Right round outside - in through gap in hull, up to bows, inside bridge and engine room (diesel engines). Every man's idea of what a modern wreck should look like. Good fun.
93	14 Apr 1982	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			40	15	25	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Deepest yet. Straight down to 40m. Black as pitch (no torches). Up to 30m where we were surrounded by a shoal of hundreds of fish. Usual acrobatics - passed Geoff and Mike, then on up to do planned 5 minute stops at 10m & 5m. Calm morning, water and air warm. Great start to the day (it pissed down afterwards).	own, except for Eric's Ulyxes death gauge
94	14 Apr 1982	Meldon	Loch Buie	Mull	Scotland			14	47	47	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide, Susan Playfair		Threesome with Geoff and Susan. Down at rudder and along starboard side (huge props). Got separated immediately and swam round independently. Swam down prop shaft housing, inside stern and around boilers. Found Susan wrestling with a crab and looked for Geoff, who had surfaced by this time. Leak in groin of dry suit (ugh!).	own
95	15 Apr 1982	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			26	20	20	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Bottom time restricted because of later dive on Hispania. Essentially a 26m plowter - through tubes downwards, usual somersaults etc. Really enjoyable dive. Separated temporarily. Dry suit dry again.	own
96	15 Apr 1982	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			28	26	26	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Hit slack again. Along starboard side, into bridge, engine room (deeper than last time), over side by mistake and into stern cabin to look for Eric's torch. Spent ages untying the buoy, and overstepped no stop time. Trouble with sinuses.	own, except Malcolm's depth gauge
97	15 Apr 1982	Salen Pier	Salen	Mull	Scotland			7	10	10	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Decompression dive. Boring.	own
98	16 Apr 1982	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			40	17	27	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Second deepie - much better planned, both with torches. Saw wreck very clearly - not at all narced. Through tubes on way up, and under wreck. Some current. Sinuses kicking up again.	own
99	16 Apr 1982	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	11	13	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Search for Ewan's tanks. Decent current at last...Wreck not buoyed, so had to find it again, by contouring at 15m. Down to 30m and back up slowly, very slowly, in fact all time slowest ascent. Curious wrasse.	own
100	1 May 1982	Loch Sunart		Scottish West Coast	Scotland			15	30	30	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid, Susan Playfair		100th dive! Weather conditions - hail and snow. Bottom is silt, shelving downwards and with many sea pens, crabs, scallops etc. Collected queenies for tea. Water warm. Leaks in dry suit and sinus trouble again.	own
101	15 May 1982	Seacliffs	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			9	50	50	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid, Eric Franz		Lobster hunt with Ceri and Eric. Vis fairly poor. No lobsters in clefts - all in lobster pots instead, a new innovation. Plenty of squat lobsters and one fish. Also fishing line. Evening dive - in about 7pm. Good sunset.	own (New Typhoon depth gauge - works!)
102	18 May 1982	Seacliffs	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			6	20	20	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid		Second lobster hunt. Forgot weight belt (rats!) so borrowed Susan's and was somewhat buoyant. Let all air out of suit so water came in great quantities => cold. But! found huge lobster in cleft - trouble was, it was inextricable. Went for a snorkel beforehand. Vis fairly poor.	own, but Susan's weight belt (24lbs) and Ceri's Ocean Pro
103	21 May 1982	Seacliffs	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			5	5	5	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid, Eric Franz		In water after 9pm so dark and very low vis, 2-3m. Dive abruptly cut short by realisation of massive leak in cuff.	own
104	30 May 1982	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	30	30	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid, Susan Playfair		Low tide, good vis (10m). Wrasse, flounder and smaller fish, squat lobsters etc. Swam around Cathedral and elsewhere. Suit dry again after repairs. So was Susan's (much appreciated).	own
105	12 Jun 1982	Sound of Kerrera		Oban	Scotland			20	20	20	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Susan Playfair		Sloping bottom, silty and dark, but good vis - at least 10m. Hundreds of squat lobsters, plus scallops, squid, sea squirts, swimming crabs, large fish. I had to shorten the dive because of sinus trouble when we surfaced halfway through. Spent a surprisingly comfortable night in Eric's tent, on the shore of the Sound.	own
106	13 Jun 1982	Easdale	Seil Island	Oban	Scotland			22	30	30	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz, Susan Playfair		Dived cliffs again. Fantastic vis: 60-100 feet. Incredible variety of life - squat lobsters, brightly-coloured sea anemones, plumose anemones, sea squirts, feather duster worms, dead men's fingers, cup coral, sun stars, starfish, sponges, nudibranchs, dogfish, wrasse, sea urchins, hydras, jellyfish, oysters and a cowrie which I found on my tank after the dive. Tremendous scenic dive.	own
107	20 Jun 1982	Eyemouth		Forth	Scotland			12	25	25	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid		Ceri was borrowing Susan's dry suit, so we first checked his buoyancy, venting and inversion recovery. Another scenic dive, notable for numbers of squat lobsters and sea anemones (one of which was eating a squid!). Also fish of various types, and jellyfish. Vis not so good, about 6m. Some trouble with sinuses on coming up - pretty sore. Saw divers jumping off 50' cliff into cove.	own
108	18 Jul 1982	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			15	60	60	Iain Hosking, Dougie McEwan, Mike Malone		Ace dive, with Dougie and Mike. Visibility exceptional - 60 feet at least, and bright sunlight. Long, leisurely dive. Saw conger in crevice - bluish-grey, and 5 or 6 feet long, judging from the size of its head. Hundreds of saithe, several wrasse (one of which Mike hand-fed) and a butterfish - not brown but pink, same colour as seaweed. Sinuses OK at last!	own
109	25 Jul 1982	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			13	45	45	Iain Hosking, Ceri Reid, Susan Playfair		Fed wrasse, made much use of underwater communications system.	own
110	31 Jul 1982	Karlsruhe	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			25	28	30	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Good first dive of the trip, after a worrying couple of minutes when we found the buoy line had dragged off the wreck. The ship is lying at a steep angle on her port side. We covered about half of her, from engine room aft. Large gun on stern. Fish life prolific. Vis 10-11m. Problems - Susan's tank harness, fin strap, my new cuff and sinuses on way up. Stung by a jellyfish on the mouth.	own, except Snipe's 87 cu ft tank.
111	1 Aug 1982	Köln	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			32	18	20	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Down buoy line to port side behind bridge. Quick look inside then swam to stern via two gun turrets. Stern almost pointed. Back to buoy line where we hung around for a while to check buoyancy for stops. Vis not so good - lots of plankton. 60s very comfy, sinuses cleared, no heater in cuff [eh?] - ace dive.	own, except twin 60s.
112	1 Aug 1982	Brummer	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			34	16	27	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Planned 30 mins at 30m + stops at 10 & 5. Changed our minds when we went down to 27 at 32 + stops. In the event we went to 34m so Susan had us surface, somewhat dissatisfied, at 16 mins. Subtly narked, I swam to the stern instead of the bows, but we saw various gun turrets and dipped inside a couple of times. Good dive. We'll be back.	own, twin 60s.
113	2 Aug 1982	Dresden	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			38	21	36	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Wreck lies on its port side. Oriented ourselves first then swam to stern, past 2 gun turrets. Back to bows, in between decks once or twice, past bridge and forward turret mounting. Bows (at last!) - very spectacular knife-edge. Back to line and stops. Blew air rings. Vis 40 feet or so.	own, twin 60s.
114	2 Aug 1982	König	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			36	21	36	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		König is a 25,000 ton battleship, lying more or less upside-down. We went down the buoy line, which is on the port side, and swam towards the bows. Saw very little that was recognisable - chief impression was of immense size. Vis not so good.	own, twin 60s
115	3 Aug 1982	Markgraf	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			45	17	17	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Perfect day - bright sunshine & flat calm. Down buoy line to a perfect landing on the bottom. Turned left for bows which were very impressive towering above us. Hawse pipes visible. Swam aft to where deck level comes above the seabed. Swam right underneath - wooden deck intact. Porthole with glass in it, still moveable. Also what might have been one of the side guns. Much purging of one another's demand valves, turning off air and flooding of masks on the stops.	own, twin 60s
116	3 Aug 1982	Destroyer	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			16	33	33	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Evening plowter - wreck very broken up. Saw one gun, masts etc. Very colourful wrasse with fluorescent blue stripes. Found leaks in Susan's dry bag and compared demand valves. Some brass in wreck, which couldn't be removed. Good fun.	own, twin 60s
117	4 Aug 1982	Kronprinz Wilhelm	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			36	14	17	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Vis poorer - 6m. Down buoy line to hull, where we shifted the shot and cut it free from the wreck. Up hull side of wreck towards bows - in and out of holes in the hull plates. Over hull to deck. Found two guns and a doorway in. Susan found a divers belt and gloves (standard divers dress type). No stop dive.	own, twin 60s
118	4 Aug 1982	Köln	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			23	32	47	Iain Hosking, Susan Playfair		Swam forward this time to see the other two-thirds of the wreck. Spent some time examining AA gun (and attendant fish) and then the bridge, under decks etc. On to bows - bow turrets missing. High speed fin back to line, past waist turret.	own, twin 60s, +12lbs
119	5 Aug 1982	UB116	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			30	20	20	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Perfect conditions - like 'Ludlow' without kelp. Wreck very blasted. Found periscope, compressed air cylinders, left boot and assorted brass and copper pipes and fittings. Fish life prolific. Light and airy. Vis 12-15m.	own, twin 60s, +12lbs
120	5 Aug 1982	F2 & barge	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			16	51	52	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Destroyer lies on port side, bridge & bows intact. Six inch gun in bow turret, AA gun below bridge. Barge is on an even keel nearby. Misty evening dive but good vis: 10-12m. Explored destroyer, followed line to barge, picking up some scallops on the way, swam around inside the barge and then returned to the destroyer. Long, leisurely dive. No stops.	own, twin 60s, +12lbs
121	6 Aug 1982	Brummer	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			36	21	36	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Circumnavigated the wreck. To stern first (though I thought it was the bows again...) and then past stern turrets, funnels, midships six inch turret, bridge, bow turret. It's possible to get into the wreck.	own, twin 60s, +12lbs
122	6 Aug 1982	Guns of the Bayern	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			36	21	21	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Dived with Eric and Derek, and Robert's camera to finish the film. Found that using the camera was straightforward [I thought - none of the shots came out], but little time was left for actually seeing the wreck. Two turrets, each with 2 x 15 inch guns, upside down. Hatches leading into the seabed. Photographs probably cruddy [they were]. Dark. Vis 8m.	own, twin 60s, Robert's camera (Nikonos III)
123	14 Aug 1982	Loch Sunart		Scottish West Coast	Scotland			18	52	52	Iain Hosking		Dived same place as last time. Masses of queenies, some camouflaged by sponge. Two common scallops, other assorted bivalves. Large whelk, squat lobsters (narrow claws), Dublin Bay prawn, crabs, sea squirts, dead mens' fingers, starfish, gurnards and worms like feathers sticking up from the bottom [sea pens]. Good vis.	own
124	19 Sep 1982	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			14	50	50	Iain Hosking, Dougie McEwan, Eric Franz, Grace Franz		Dived with Dougie, Eric and Grace. Swam to Cathedral via gully. Wrasse, pollack, nudibranchs, lobsters (one of which we caught, but returned of course, being conservation-minded divers). Vis crap. Current.	own
125	20 Sep 1982	Eyemouth		Forth	Scotland			13	32	32	Iain Hosking, Colin Gordon, Eric Franz		In at gully - swam round cliff to right, finding fins and fishing hooks on the way. Found Malcom's cave, full of wrasse. Sunny, windy day.	own
126	29 Oct 1982	Golden Gift	Oban Bay	Oban	Scotland			15	10	10	Iain Hosking, Jenny Clough, Ross Butler		Usual crabs, fish and stuff, and good phosphorescence. Short dive because Jenny was too heavy.	own
127	30 Oct 1982	Golden Gift	Oban Bay	Oban	Scotland			10	10	10	Iain Hosking, Jane Martin		Jane's first dive with a dry suit. All went smoothly, except for my sinuses, which were hell.	own
128	28 Nov 1982	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			15	20	20	Iain Hosking, Grace Franz, Julian Fuchs		Dived with Grace (because Eric's suit sprang a leak) and Julian Fuchs. Vis very poor, strong swell and current. Not ideal. Swam out to Cathedral underwater. Saw nothing. Swam back against current.	own
129	13 Feb 1983	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Grace Franz		Bloody awful. Vis less than 1 metre. Freezing cold, sea life all gone south for the winter, suit leaked.	own
130	10 Apr 1983	Pettico Wick	South side of the Forth, west of St Abbs	Forth	Scotland			14	20	20	Iain Hosking, Derek Borthwick, Derry Paul		Dived with Derry to test dry suits. Found 2 leaks in left leg. Water greeny-yellow and full of bird shit. Vis 2m. Cold, and conditions marginal.	own
131	12 Jun 1983	Bass Rock		Forth	Scotland			20	10	12	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Fairly strong westerly, maybe force 4. Also strong current in same direction. Dived off north side of the Bass. Had to crawl into the current by hanging on to the rocks. Not much fun so came up. Saw a seal.	Doc's dry suit, demand valve and boots, Jenny's woolly bear [!], Grace's gloves. I remembered everything else.
132	15 Jun 1983	Seacliffs	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			8	25	25	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Evening dive, before vet's barbecue. Vis 6m. Lobster, edible crabs, swimming crabs, spider crabs and fish. Dry!	own
133	19 Jun 1983	St Abbs Head	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			35	7	7	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Abortive search for the 'Glanmire'. Beautiful day: flat calm and blazing sunshine. No excuses.	own
134	19 Jun 1983	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			10	40	40	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Salvaged something from the day with an excellent dive at Cathedral. Good vis. Tame wrasse back, bolder than ever. 4 boats off Cathedral!	own
135	2 Jul 1983	F2 & barge	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			15	24	25	Iain Hosking, Derry Paul		Sea very lumpy, wind W 5-6 so Karlsruhe ruled out. Problems at start of dive resulted in mask and snorkel being cast into the deep. Wrecks very pretty, lots of fish, vis 30-40 ft. Inside barge and found twin AA guns that we didn't see last year.	own, Snipe's 87, AP Valves lifejacket
136	4 Jul 1983	Kronprinz Wilhelm	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			34	20	30	Iain Hosking, Robin Gray		Had a day off for sinuses to recover, and modified Draeger valve with a bit of rubber, so everything now OK. Down shot line to hull side, quick look around engine room area, but no brass telegraphs so over to deck side and saw 6 inch guns and other bits. Good blast back to Stromness in new boat. Sea rough.	twin 60s, extra 4lbs weight
137	4 Jul 1983	Karlsruhe	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			26	30	40	Iain Hosking, Grace Franz		Swam as far as bridge and looked inside battle bridge. Didn't see the telegraph. Saw both bow turrets - one has fallen onto the other.	Twin 60s, + 6lbs weight
138	5 Jul 1983	Karlsruhe	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			24	38	50	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide, Grace Franz, Rosanne Padua		First part of dive with Geoff. Checked knots holding battle bridge door open then Geoff clambered inside, found the telegraph was loose and heaved it out. Tied it to shotline and surfaced. Second half of dive, somewhat later [48 minutes], taking Rosanne and Grace down. Grace cut the ropes holding the door open, and it shut with a resounding boom!	Twin 60s, + 6lbs weight
139	5 Jul 1983	Brummer	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			34	21	32	Iain Hosking, Rosanne Padua		Saw and recognised bows at last! Wreck on starboard side. Swam aft through bridge latticework and midships gun to stern superstructure and back.	Twin 60s, + 6lbs
140	6 Jul 1983	Köln	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			32	26	41	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Flat calm and boiling hot. Good look inside battlebridge. Saw telegraph and other bits and pieces. Through bridge and past anti-aircraft guns to aft superstructure. Two stern turrets still intact. Excellent vis - 50-60 feet at least.	Twin 60s, + 6lbs
141	6 Jul 1983	Köln	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			32	23	23	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		This dive demonstrated how quickly narcs can appear when working hard. Eric found the boathook, and we saw the compass shoot past us tied below a lifting bag. Tied the boathook to the shot line and headed for the stern. Got lost and ended up on hull side of wreck. Very embarrassing. Missed line. Free stops.	Twin 60s, +6lbs
142	7 Jul 1983	Markgraf	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			44	18	60	Iain Hosking, Derry Paul		Down shotline to intrinsic port side of wreck, then round bows to starboard side where we found the porthole last year. Different from the way I remembered it. Hard fin back to the line brought on narcosis and we missed it. Re-entry decompression after a 30 minute surface interval: 5 @ 15m, 10 @ 10m, 15 @ 5m.	Twin 60s, +6lbs
143	7 Jul 1983	Dresden	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			30	14	16	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide, Rosanne Padua		Most conservative interpretation of US Navy tables gave 15 minutes at 30m after a 4.5 hour surface interval. Quick stern to stern of wreck with Rosanne and Geoff. Saw torpedo ready tubes. No stops.	Twin 60s, +6lbs
144	8 Jul 1983	Brummer	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			34	25	40	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Dedicated but unsuccessful search for the lamp room, Geoff and I were in every hole possible, and deep inside the ship we found a coil of rope. Stern more broken up than last year - one turret covered by a piece of plating.	Twin 60s, +6lbs (ie about 34lbs)
145	8 Jul 1983	König	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			38	17	30	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Chief impression still of immense size. Line went down to bilge keel forward of stern on starboard side. We swam forwards in and out of the hull. Nothing recognisable except a lifting bag floating above a steel shackle. No difficulty finding the line.	Twin 60s, +6lbs
146	17 Jul 1983	Dunbar	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			15	60	60	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide, Malcolm Gauld		Opposite end of the diving spectrum from Orkney. Three times round Johnson's Hole. Vis quite good, maybe 30 feet. Pretty sea squirt colonies and lots of crustaceans. Good fun actually.	own
147	5 Aug 1983	Golden Gift	Oban Bay	Oban	Scotland			15	35	35	Iain Hosking, John Llambias		Brilliant night dive - best yet. Sparks so brilliant and numerous that we could see our hands silhouetted against them, and one's buddy's position was marked by a column of luminescence from the bubbles. Nightlife was interesting - lots of blue-tipped blennies and some large crabs. Very good vis. Low tide.	own
148	6 Aug 1983	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			25	35	40	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Early start - in water at 11am. [eh?] Flat calm and sunny. Vis undisturbed by other divers: 25-30 feet. Down buoy line to bows and swam aft through the holds to the stern. Found boxes of rivets, tin cans, tyres, the truck, solidified sacks of cement and a pile of gas masks. Stern framework beautiful with dead men's fingers and anemones. 25m at rudder. No prop. Very quick blast back to the bows since low on air.	own
149	6 Aug 1983	Helen Wilson	Kerrera (Ardentrive Bay, opposite Oban Harbour)	Oban	Scotland			35	14	16	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Spent early part of the afternoon echo-sounding for the Sunderland. Nothing, so dived this trawler, which is in Ardentrive Bay, opposite Oban harbour, and is buoyed. Up to gunwhales in silt - superstructure still more or less intact. Left a gasmask on the wheel as our calling card. Recovered knife and tank boot. Decompressed on a barge nearby in only 4m of water, and left another calling card in its boiler. Fruitless search for seaplane afterwards.	own
150	7 Aug 1983	Belnahua		Oban	Scotland			50	7	10	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Launched from Cuan Ferry in a thick fog and island-hopped out to Belnahua. Flat calm but formidable tide race. Echo-sounded to find interesting site, then adjourned to shore to work out slack. Back at 4,30 pm in blazing sunshine. Down shotline onto hull-shaped rock formation and drifted slowly with current. Vis 60-80 feet at least. Afterwards looked for 'Benghazi' and did a lightning tour of the Garvellachs and Easdale. The 5 star rating is really for the whole day rather than just the dive.	own
151	10 Aug 1983	Switha	Off Edinburgh	Forth	Scotland			4	20	20	Iain Hosking, Heather Gates		Took Heather down near the 'Switha'. Long after sunset and getting dark. Heather had ear-clearing problems and when we did get down it was pretty uninspiring. Good boat trip, marred only by hitting LW Springs on return to Granton.	own
152	14 Aug 1983	Alfred Earlandsen	Ebb Carrs, St Abbs	Forth	Scotland			14	25	25	Iain Hosking, Janet Peattie		Took Janet down for her 4th dive. Excellent conditions - blazing sunshine and fairly calm. We quickly found a lot of steel plate in among the kelp. Quite interesting gullies, one with a huge (8-10lb) lobster, another with a dead cod. Found boiler, large enough to get inside. Very clear. Janet seems a natural.	own
153	28 Aug 1983	Wallachia	The Gantocks	Clyde	Scotland			18	30	32	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide, Jenny Clough		Dived with Jenny and Geoff. Found wreck from transits in 'Scottish Diver' and echosounder. 35m to bottom at HW - 30m to deck. Round bows first, then aft past bridge (with wheel) to stern (also with wheel) via hold full of carboys containing stannous acid (a tin solution). Very dark and murky. No current.	own
154	6 Sep 1983	Furnace	Loch Fyne	Kintyre	Scotland			20	25	25	Iain Hosking, Alasdair Hosking		Dived same place as last time, down cliff face to 20m and then south. Vis good - 30ft at least. Squat lobsters, crabs, sunstars, sea squirts, scallops, wrasse, blennies and a huge shoal of small fish. Feather duster worms all retracted (lack of current). Bright and sunny. Good site.	own
155	11 Sep 1983	Furnace	Loch Fyne	Kintyre	Scotland			20	20	20	Iain Hosking, Susan Goodbody		Vis good, lots of pollack, wrasse, feather duster worms (feeding), beer bottles, crabs, scallops etc. Good weather but windy. 10 divers altogether.	own
156	2 Oct 1983	Kintyre	Wemyss Bay	Clyde	Scotland			38	12	25	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Conditions marginal for this one. Current 1.5 knots on the surface, wind force 5, sea state 5. Geoff and I followed the sewage pipe out from the shore for about 200 yards without it dipping any deeper than 10m. At last it plunged into the depths, and stopped at 30m. We turned right and swam through the murk (vis 10-12 ft and dark) till we bashed into the ship. Swam down to bridge and back up to bows. Ship intact but wooden deck rotted. Hellish snorkel back. [Rates 5 stars for being memorable and for the sense of achievement we felt.]	own
157	29 Oct 1983	Loch Sunart		Scottish West Coast	Scotland			16	35	35	Iain Hosking, Derry Paul		Overcast and drizzle but water not too cold. Gin and tonic effect in surface layer, below which the vis was better (30 ft) but very dark. Found plenty of queenies, also hermit crabs, razor shells and whelks.	own
158	29 Oct 1983	Loch Sunart		Scottish West Coast	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Mike Malone		Getting dark - some phosphorescence. Dedicated scallop hunt.	own
159	6 Nov 1983	Wallachia	The Gantocks	Clyde	Scotland			30	20	22	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Hell. Force 5, wet (on surface), dark, deep, silty, current. Dived on ebb tide (missed slack). Lost line on first attempt. At the second attempt spent half the dive undoing the grapple, then drifted over the jars. Only 20 ats by this time so surfaced rapidly. Soaking wet. PS. Seasick too.	own
160	31 Dec 1983	Loch Sunart		Scottish West Coast	Scotland			17	25	25	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Hogmanay Dive. Wind gale force 7 and pissing rain. Hispania off so dived Loch Sunart and got scallops.	own
161	12 Feb 1984	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			10	15	15	Iain Hosking, Paul Faccenda		Took Paul Faccenda for his first dive, in the gully. Found one crab, one squat lobster, one fish and some anemones. Cold. Vis 15 ft. Dry suit almost dry.	own
162	4 Mar 1984	Loch Long		Clyde	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Mike Weitzner		Dived with Mike Weitzner after he'd taken Eileen down for her first dive. Calm, not cold, and vis OK, about 4 metres. Lots of plumose anemones, crabs and some fish.	own
163	17 Mar 1984	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			15	15	20	Iain Hosking, Andrew Gow		Abortive night dive last night but sinuses OK for this one. Two boatloads of EUSAC members plus another two of other Edinburgh SSAC divers made for quite a crowd. Vis consequently reduced to zero. Flat calm, sunny and warm - lovely conditions. Swam the whole length of the wreck to the stern. Very pretty anemones.	own
164	17 Mar 1984	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			20	15	20	Iain Hosking, John Gordon		Like this morning's dive but better vis. Dragged John Gordon from bow to stern. Surfaced in time to hear Scotland beat France 21-12 to win the Grand Slam.	own
165	18 Mar 1984	Insh Island	NW of Seil Island	Oban	Scotland			22	20	20	Iain Hosking, Mark Kelly		Cliff swept by currents to fairly bare. Some anemones, cup coral, dead men's fingers. Beautiful calm day. Good sliced peaches.	own
166	1 Apr 1984	Kintyre	Wemyss Bay	Clyde	Scotland			40	11	15	Iain Hosking, Mike Weitzner		Far better as a boat dive! Warm, calm and sunny. Found by echosounding and grappling. Down line to bridge at 38m. Swam round bridge and forward hold, found lead pipe, brass pipe and various valves and stuff (left in situ). Bows at 30m, plates missing and covered with plumose anemones. Beautiful! A lovely day.	own, except Rollo's twin 55s and 4lbs less weight.
167	7 Apr 1984	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	20	23	Iain Hosking, Mike Weitzner		Excellent dive - made up for disasters during the day. Swam straight down inside hull to archway section which we examined closely. Through tunnel; examined feather duster worms and plumose anemones. Strong current, good vis, about 30 feet.	own
168	8 Apr 1984	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			37	12	15	Iain Hosking, Pete Wilson		In water at 10 to 9. Swam through every tunnel and hole in sight, including under the hull. Headache.	own
169	8 Apr 1984	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			25	23	25	Iain Hosking, Pete Wilson		An excellent dive. Round entire wreck apart from extreme stern. Into engine room, bridge, holds and up to bows. Very light and good vis. Quite strong current.	own
170	10 Apr 1984	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	20	24	Iain Hosking, Pete Wilson		Wreck not buoyed but we found it with echosounder and grapple. Hit slack so no current. Ears and sinuses bloody awkward. Wreck very pretty - down to stern, then up past engine and boiler to forward hold. Looked around bows before coming up.	own
171	13 Apr 1984	Calve Island Cliffs	NE corner of Calve Island	Mull	Scotland			38	12	15	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster		Cliff dive. Cliffs go down vertically to 50m but we stopped to be able to dive later. Cliffs covered in sea squirts and cup coral, with occasional plumose anemones and starfish.	own
172	13 Apr 1984	Pelican	Calve Island, Tobermory Bay	Mull	Scotland			20	9	15	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster, Mike Weitzner		Short second dive. Snorkelled out from shore and down cliff to wreck. Up to bows, down to stern and surfaced. Vis good for this wreck.	own
173	14 Apr 1984	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			48	12	23	Iain Hosking, Mike Weitzner		'Bows of the Rondo'. Weather conditions marginal (force 6 + drizzle) but Pete's plan worked smoothly. Straight down to bows with no trouble, stayed for a while, swam back up slowly.	own
174	22 Apr 1984	Catalina	Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			23	30	35	Iain Hosking, Stuart Vance		Vis fairly good - maybe 30 feet or more. Found starboard engine and tailplane. Fish life - pollack, mackerel, cod, butterfish, flatfish. No conger. Masses of plumose anemones. Several crabs, squat lobsters and hermit crabs.	own
175	23 Apr 1984	Dunbar	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			10	25	30	Iain Hosking, Ben Finn		Good dive in calm, sunny conditions around Johnson's Hole. Hundreds of cowries; squat lobsters, butterfish, crabs, nudibranchs (silicone and orange) dead men's fingers, sea urchins and one lobster. Vis 15-20 feet.	own
176	25 Apr 1984	Dunbar	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			10	35	40	Iain Hosking, Eileen Hill		Warmer than Monday. We dived at 9pm, after sunset, making it a night dive. Eileen practised buoyancy control, and led for part of the time.	own
177	29 Apr 1984	Kenmore Point	Loch Fyne	Kintyre	Scotland			20	20	25	Iain Hosking, Eileen Hill		Lovely warm day. Tried one of Gordon Ridley's sites, You haven't seen a rough track till you've seen this one. Good cliff site and good vis. Eileen suffered cramp but up until then a pleasant relaxed dive.	own
178	6 May 1984	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			55	15	45	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Down grapple line to bows, swam aft to bridge section via holds, mast and winches. Explored bridge, back along deck at 50m, down to seabed at 55m and came up. Total ascent time 30 minutes. Warm, sunny day, no current, good vis. Not noticeably narked.	own, except Rollo's twin 55s. 4lbs less weight. Decompressed using 82 cu ft cylinder on line, and Snark.
179	6 May 1984	Dun Domhnuill	Garvellachs (SW corner of the islan)	Oban	Scotland			9	8	10	Iain Hosking, Eric Franz		Pretty cliff dive with dead men's fingers, anemones, sponges, sea squirts, worms and urchins. Vis quite good - 30 feet or so.	own
180	9 May 1984	Dun Domhnuill	Garvellachs (SW corner of the islan)	Oban	Scotland			8	15	15	Iain Hosking, John Hart		Training dive. Took John Hart (teacher at Merchiston) for his first dive. Sunny but vis crap: 2-3 feet. Crawford reported it was worse round behind the rock. How? No problems apart from his mask filling up and possibly 2-4 lbs overweighted.	own
181	9 May 1984	Dunbar	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			6	4	10	Iain Hosking, Marcus Hunter		Second dive to take down one of the pupils. Happy enough snorkelling out (16lbs) but couldn't clear ears underwater. Too rough to cure the problem.	own
182	19 May 1984	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			20	20	22	Iain Hosking, June Ralston		Took June along the whole length of the wreck for her second dive. Initial problems with buoyancy soon cured and we covered a lot of ground: bow guns, holds, bridge, mine tubes [!]. Vis excellent - 60 ft. Weather bad when we started, good when we came up.	own
183	19 May 1984	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			20	25	35	Iain Hosking, Doc Mitchell		Second dive of the day. Snorkelled from bow to stern and swam through lower starboard mine tube past dozens of bogies and several green spaces right up to the bows. Inside the bows and up to portholes. Forced to surface and down to finish air on the guns.	own
184	20 May 1984	Urlana	Geo Mor, NW of Idrigill Point, near Harlosh	Skye	Scotland			13	45	45	Iain Hosking, June Ralston		Dived with June again. Relaxed, shallow plowter in excellent vis with substantial wave action. Bright colours abounded, as did bits of brass. Surface scenery very spectacular. Ventured into cave on return journey.	own
185	21 May 1984	Balmeanach Bay	The Braes	Skye	Scotland			3	15	20	Iain Hosking, Paul Faccenda		Dived at 3am - it was getting light. Plenty of phosphorescence, not much else. Navigated by compass.	own
186	21 May 1984	Rhodesia	Duntulm Bay	Skye	Scotland			10	20	25	Iain Hosking, Eileen Hill, Mike Weitzner		Dived with Mike and Eileen in an ill-fated threesome. Round wreck twice, saw engine, boiler, prop (ferrous) and rudder. Left wreck to explore seabed - interesting tubeworm things.	own
187	22 May 1984	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			20	23	25	Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam		Took Adrian through the mine tubes by special request. Visibility a lot poorer than Saturday - only 20-30 feet. Entered forward of bridge and swam to stern through one mine tube, then back through another. Inflated polythene canister. Explored superstructure on shore. 16 divers in one wave on one engine!	own
188	17 Jun 1984	Ludlow	Off Yellowcraigs Beach	Forth	Scotland			5	35	35	Iain Hosking, Mike Malone		Scorching hot day, with a warm wind. Snorkelled out to wreck, which was showing at low water. Found only one section, fairly small (stern). Plenty of brass. Came face to face with a huge lobster and had a battle which he won. Good barbecue on beach afterwards.	own
189	18 Jun 1984	Dunbar	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			15	40	40	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide, Jenny Clough, Keith Chidwick, Mike Weitzner		2nd class tests with Mike Weitzner, Geoff, Jenny and Keith Chidwick. Took boat outside harbour and did tests around rocks. Did assisted ascents, underwater navigation, low visibility search (for a fisherman's creel!) and tow (easy). Attempted rope search but current, floating line and light shot made it impossible to complete.	own
190	1 Jul 1984	Fidra	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			17	35	35	Iain Hosking, Mike Weitzner		Dived at 4pm after an unsuccessful search for the 'Chester II'. Dived west of Fidra. Vis poor: 12-15 feet but we found one lobster (90mm) and 4 crabs. Warm, sunny day, calm - ideal.	own
191	5 Jul 1984	Dunbar	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			13	25	25	Iain Hosking, Liz Meldrum		Moderate swell but calm. High water (ebb). Warm. Found a shark and kept its jaws. Squatties, fish, usual stuff. Good dive.	own - wetsuit!. Took off 2 x 5lb weights, leaving around 19lbs.
192	7 Jul 1984	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			53	15	35	Iain Hosking, John Llambias		Dived with John at 3pm, over 1 hour after end of slack (HW neaps). Current on the way down. Shot line was on starboard side behind bridge, by anchor, lifting bag etc abandoned by last group the previous weekend. Disentangled it, cut excess rope, inflated lifting bag and tied it off to shot. Didn't see much of the wreck. Vis 20-30ft.	own, except Rollo's twin 55s. 4lbs less weight (24lbs)
193	8 Jul 1984	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			60	15	45	Iain Hosking, John Llambias		Dived before calculated slack. Followed shotline down to the wreck at 55m. Shot was in hold behind bridge. Finned forwards past davits, remains of funnel, crockery etc to bridge. Binnacles etc still there. Swam aft again over holds, past mast (broken) and winches, over stern and down to prop. No blades visible [probably broken off when the ship hit the reef]. Rudder intact. Forward again and into hold, along prop shaft tube to engine room bulkhead. Cyalume lightstick showed up clearly.	own, Rollo's twin 55s, -4lbs. Used 150 ats on dive, 50 on stops. Air consumption 0.75 cfm.
194	15 Jul 1984	Kintyre	Wemyss Bay	Clyde	Scotland			40	11	11	Iain Hosking, Keith Chidwick, Stuart Vance		Warm, sunny day, wind NW 3. Dived at 3pm, 1 hour after HW Greenock. Threesome with Keith and Stuart. Down line to starboard side opposite winch and swam all round superstructure. Very clear - 30ft at least. Found a large conger and a porthole with glass and clamp screw. Female cuckoo wrasse and pollack. Ace dive. Ridley's transits are not exact.	own, twin 55s, 24lbs. 100 ats used.
195	22 Jul 1984	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			55	15	35	Iain Hosking, Derek Borthwick, Dougie McEwan		Threesome with Dougie and Derek. Usual good weather, flat calm, slack, good vis (30 feet). Dropped shot onto stern, port side, and went into free-fall onto the wreck. Derek followed Dougie, I followed Derek. We swam around the crew's accommodation, steering gear, companionway and had a look at the rudder before going forward to the officers' accommodation, into the holds and back to the shot.	own, twin Luxfer 72s, -4lbs (should have left it on). 100 ats left before stops.
196	22 Jul 1984	Belnahua Quarry	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			9	25	25	Iain Hosking		2nd Class Roped Diver. Dougie tendered [he's a professional after all]. Water fresh, vis OK - 15 feet, bright. Saw cage for lowering quarryworkers, pipes for pumping water out (brass bends), miscellaneous wooden structures. Depth apparently 300 feet. Learnt how to give and receive satisfactory BSAC rope signals.	own, Geoff's tank, -4lbs.
197	23 Jul 1984	Fladda		Oban	Scotland			20	25	25	Iain Hosking		Solo dive, with boat following bubbles (left surface marker reel in car). Search for 'Benghazi'. Started at west side of Fladda and swam south over kelp at 10m. Saw corkwing wrasse (blue stripes) and dogfish. Turned west to get into deeper water out of kelp. Down to 20m in teeth of current. Drifted with current across south end of Fladda. Saw nudibranch (Dendronotus frondosus) the length of my index finger. Surfaced when I realised the boat was no longer following. Scorching day. Dived on ebb tide. Vis good, greater than 30 feet.	own, Geoff's tank
198	12 Aug 1984	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			13	60	60	Iain Hosking, Mike Weitzner		Second dive at St Abbs this year, and the first decent one. Fed the wrasse (4 now), and saw a plaice, sea-scorpion, sea-squirts and pollack.	own
199	26 Aug 1984	St Abbs Head	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			23	25	25	Iain Hosking, John Llambias		Dived below the lighthouse after a long and abortive search for the 'Glanmire'. Sea rough - ebb tide and wind against it. Dive was enjoyable - good vis, shoal of fish, deep bedrock gullies covered in dead men's fingers and crabs.	own
200	2 Sep 1984	Royal Fusilier	off Dunbar	Forth	Scotland			42	8	8	Iain Hosking, Mike Weitzner		200th dive! Hired fishing boat 'Shangri-La' from Dunbar. Found wreck from Decca co-ordinates and dropped shot into it. Wreck is lying on its port side (I think), buried past its centreline in silt. We swam to the bows past bridge etc. Covered in plumose anemones and nets. Vis OK, no current. Sunny eventually.	own
201	12 Sep 1984	Granton		Forth	Scotland			6	15	15	Iain Hosking, Jenny Clough		Jenny's 2nd Class rope search - swimline search. Getting dark - we had phosphorescence underwater, but search was successful. Used old boat and new Yamaha.	own
202	24 Sep 1984	Leith		Forth	Scotland			7	20	20	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster, Jenny Clough		2nd Class rope search with Jenny and Crawford. Searched for obstruction marked off Leith. Appalling vis: 1-2m, and some current. Weather calm and clear.	own
203	30 Sep 1984	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			10	50	50	Iain Hosking, Jenny Clough		Sunny, windy day. Jenny led the way out to Cathedral underwater. Saw wrasse and school of saithe, then headed in towards harbour wall down a series of gullies. Four large lobsters, squat lobsters, various types of anemone. Noticed small shells on kelp with iridescent stripes. Vis good - about 30 feet. Did roped tender.	own
204	8 Oct 1984	Dunbar	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, William Usher		Johnson's Hole. Took William Usher for his second dive. Good vis. Saw dead men's fingers, anemones, crabs, lobsters, squat lobsters, hermit crabs, swimming crabs, starfish, pollack, sea-scorpion, flatfish and shark's teeth.	own
205	8 Oct 1984	Dunbar	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Patrick Baxter		As previous dive, but with Patrick Baxter. [This is the BSAC-style production line, organised by Jenny Clough for Fettes College. Contrast it with the PADI-style 6:1 pupil:instructor ratio.]	own
206	8 Oct 1984	Dunbar	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	15	15	Iain Hosking, Scott Gourlay		As 204.	own
207	14 Oct 1984	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Alida Bundy		Took Alida for her 4th dive. Through gullies to Cathedral. Saw wrasse, pollack, sea-scorpion, several lobsters. Vis not too brilliant - 20 feet. Got slightly lost on the way back.	own
208	22 Nov 1984	Seacliffs	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			3	20	20	Iain Hosking, Ross Butler		Conditions worse than expected. Zero vis, current and waves. Gave up after 3rd attempt and retired to harbour. Nearly as bad as Largs beach!	own
209	25 Nov 1984	Wemyss Bay		Clyde	Scotland			36	8	8	Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam		The less said about this the better.	own
210	10 Mar 1985	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			13	33	33	Iain Hosking, Al Rankin, Paul Raisbeck		Out to Cathedral as usual. Somewhat murky and little life but very good to get back in the water.	own
211	10 Mar 1985	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			15	22	22	Iain Hosking, Derek Borthwick		Second dive of the day, with Derek Borthwick behind rock at opposite side of channel. Better vis and very nice underwater scenery - cliffs and dead men's fingers. Quite unexpected at St Abbs. Worth a return visit.	own
212	16 Mar 1985	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			18	17	20	Iain Hosking, Pete Wilkinson		Took Pete Wilkinson around wreck inside and out. Reasonable vis and some sea life - fanworms (feather duster worms), fish, crabs and sea squirts (blobs). Surface roughish	own
213	17 Mar 1985	Creran Bridge		Oban	Scotland			5	10	10	Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam		As good as the last dive with Adrian. Vis 6 feet; yellow pea soup. Reasonable current. Sinuses disgraced themselves. Adrian and I decided to separate again.	own
214	23 Mar 1985	Loch Duich	Ratagan and Inverinate	Scottish West Coast	Scotland			10	20	20	Iain Hosking, Alex Whitelaw, Bill Brysland, Jack Frost, Joy Whitelaw, Steve Baker		Open Water Rescue Course. Demonstration of Controlled Buoyant Lift; practice of CBL; direct lift; towing & EAR; landing and emergency management. Good vis: at least 15m. Sloping, silty bottom. Calm, clear, some sun	own
215	24 Mar 1985	Loch Duich	Ratagan and Inverinate	Scottish West Coast	Scotland			22	4	7	Iain Hosking, Jack Frost, Joy Whitelaw, Steve Baker		Open Water Rescue Course. Practice of Controlled Buoyant Ascent from 22m; 100m tow with EAR; landing casualty and giving EAR and ECM. Conditions good - flat calm, some sun, some rain.	own
216	24 Mar 1985	Loch Duich	Ratagan and Inverinate	Scottish West Coast	Scotland			32	14	14	Iain Hosking, Iain Ogilvy		Underwater sledge dive, with Iain Ogilvy from Inverness BSAC. Brilliant. Good vis. exhilarating stuff. Fun and games clearing flooded mask.	own
217	4 May 1985	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			23	25	30	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		First dive with Sarah. Hauled our way down to the bows in the teeth of a gale, recovered our breath and headed aft. Good plowter around holds, bridge, stern section. Visibility good, conditions perfect - ace dive.	own + EUSAC Scubapro Mk II
218	4 May 1985	Calve Island Cliffs	NE corner of Calve Island	Mull	Scotland			30	20	20	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Almost a night dive. Incredible variety of life - starfish, sun stars, feather duster worms, sea squirts, dahlia anemones, Devonshire cup coral, sleeping wrasse, things with pincers etc. Phosphorescence too. Another good dive.	Own +Scubapro Mk II
219	5 May 1985	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	20	20	Iain Hosking, Grace Franz		Absolute flat calm and no current. Down buoy line to bows and down deck to stern to look at the rudder. Then inside to swim the length of the ship, past the flywheel and up into the bows. Down to engine room again, where we saw a conger. Adrian dived without a weight belt.	Own +Scubapro Mk II
220	5 May 1985	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	15	17	Iain Hosking, Grace Franz		Evening dive. Still flat calm. Good vis. Plowter round bridge area, through prop shaft tunnels, under hull etc. Lots of fish life, feather duster worms etc.	Own +Scubapro Mk II
221	6 May 1985	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			40	11	14	Iain Hosking, Graham Russell, Sarah McCracken		Dived at full flood for added excitement. Current swept us down to 40m pretty quickly and down there it was fairly calm, but the current was then against us on the way up. Most invigorating dive yet on the Rondo, and a good end to the trip. First dive with Graham.	Own +Scubapro Mk II
222	12 May 1985	Linn of Dee	Somewhere west of Balmoral	Scottish Highlands	Scotland			7	30	30	Iain Hosking, George Runcie		Blazing sunshine, calm, incredibly clear water. Masses of fish [salmon]. Definitely recommended. Dived with George Runcie (his 4th dive).	own + Fenzy X2
223	14 May 1985	Sub-Sea Services	George St, Aberdeen	Scottish East Coast	Scotland			50	10	20	Iain Hosking, R Thomson		The first dive to be written up on a decompression stop. Quite cold now, but warm on the way down. Squeaky voice [from pressure alone - we weren't using heliox] and pen suffered decompression sickness.	Ordinary clothes.
224	26 May 1985	Bass Rock		Forth	Scotland			28	22	24	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Sarah's first dive in her new drysuit. My first dive since last July in a wetsuit. Dived the NE corner of the Bass on an ebb tide and followed the current anticlockwise. Depth 20m at first onto level bedrock, with brittle stars, plumose and dahlia anemones. At end of dive drifted over a massive drop-off going down to at least 40m. Jenny saw seals underwater.	Wetsuit, club 60, Graham's weightbelt (about 28lbs). Rest as usual.
225	2 Jul 1985	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			22	30	30	Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam		Dived after a long van journey and 2.5 hours' sleep [after Alasdair's wedding]. Down at the stern and swam through lower starboard mine tube (very murky). Ended by exploring the bows - very clear and light shining in. Sinuses dodgy. Good prat about afterwards. Moules Marinière for tea.	own. DV leaking again.
226	3 Jul 1985	Nordhuk		Skye	Scotland			28	23	23	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster		Slack at 4pm so we filled in the time exploring caves and snorkelling around seals. Grappled it in 30s. Fantastic vis meant we could see the whole wreck lying there smashed up. Good close quarters rake around. Found portholes (ferrous), pressure vessel, cogs, winches etc. Lots of fish life.	own
227	4 Jul 1985	Doris		Skye	Scotland			28	23	25	Iain Hosking, Carole Mullen		One of the best dives ever for marine life. Ballan wrasse, pollack, dogfish, cup coral (fluorescent green or red centres), anemones (similar to cup coral and dahlia), huge purple and red sunstars, sponges 1 foot high. Very unusual nudibranch: 1.5 inches long, white/transparent - gills with white blobs on end. Even saw some of the wreck. Vis excellent. Sandy bottom with dead men's fingers growing out of it.	own
228	4 Jul 1985	Chadwick	West coast of Skye	Skye	Scotland			24	23	25	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Jammy dive. Grappling the wreck was a total disaster. At the second attempt we copped out and drifted along the bottom upside-down. At the end of a brief gossip we looked up and there was the wreck! We couldn't believe our eyes. Had a quick gnash down to the prop and then up to the bows via the boilers. Back down to the boilers again when we met Adrian and Carole. Good fish life, especially the cuckoo wrasse which were fluorescent electric blue. Good vis, fair current (slack was 2 hours later than we calculated).	own
229	5 Jul 1985	Eilean Grianal	2 miles north-west of Dunvegan	Skye	Scotland			30	20	22	Iain Hosking, Graham Russell		Flat calm and pissing rain. Bombed straight down onto Sarah and Carole (saw them from more than 10m above them). Swam north from the island over a series of terraces. Saw a really bright cuckoo wrasse - yellow and blue; also squat lobsters, cushion stars, blennies, sea squirts, cup corals. Swam through a shoal of about 1000 jellyfish on the way up [and saw rain on the surface of the water].	own
230	6 Jul 1985	Sgeir an Oir Ealean	North-east side of Tongue Bay	North-west Scotland	Scotland			25	14	15	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		FTF on the 'Nitedal'. Grapple snagged but when we went down there was no wreck in sight so we drifted along above the sand with the rock to our left. Plenty of anemones so would have been a good dive if we'd had time to enjoy it.	own
231	6 Jul 1985	Dubh-sgeir Mhor	Tongue Bay	North-west Scotland	Scotland			20	13	15	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Gave up search for the 'Nitedal' and moved on to the 'Ashbury'. We found a couple of bits, and also a huge lobster which we put back because it was soft [so had just changed its shell]. Now camping in idyllic spot outside Tongue and waiting for the sun to appear. [STOP PRESS. The 'Nitedal' and the 'Ashbury' are one and the same. GR cocks it up.]	own
232	7 Jul 1985	Meall Thailm	North-east of Tongue Bay	North-west Scotland	Scotland			10	10	10	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		GR's information on this dive is not too clear, so we mistook the site and ended up diving here. Bottom - kelp. Boring.	own
233	7 Jul 1985	Meall Thailm	North-east of Tongue Bay	North-west Scotland	Scotland			23	22	25	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Hit the right site this time - a tunnel which goes right through the island (Boats can be taken through). An out of this world dive - as Ridley says, vertical walls and huge boulders (Barratt house sized, maybe) on the bottom. A seal made itself scarce as we approached. Anemones very colourful and also several crabs and lobsters. Looking up we could see waves breaking and the tunnel roof over our heads.	own
234	8 Jul 1985	Meall Thailm	North-east of Tongue Bay	North-west Scotland	Scotland			20	40	42	Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam, Malcolm Gauld, Sarah McCracken		Too good a site not to have a full dive on, so we hit it again, in a loose foursome with Malcolm and Adrian. Found three lobsters - one was huge, with one claw guarding a dead dogfish. Saw crabs sitting in holes in the rock wall, also shoals of small fish, the usual anemones and sponges etc.	own
235	9 Jul 1985	An Dubh-sgeir	Sango Bay	North-west Scotland	Scotland			18	15	15	Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam		Launched at Rispond (wettest, windiest campsite in the world). Dived into a narrow crevice between two rock formations which became a tunnel. Nearly collided with a seal in the tunnel. Came up on the other side of the island and swam back over a lurking seal on the way. Another one stayed just ahead of us all the way. Turned right and followed the gullies and underwater arches. Good vis. Fantastic dive.	own
236	9 Jul 1985	An Dubh-sgeir	Sango Bay	North-west Scotland	Scotland			20	19	19	Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam		15 minute interval from previous dive (Adrian had to pee). Followed the island round clockwise to shallow inlet and followed a crevice into a 30m long dead-end tunnel. Turned round to find we'd been followed in by a seal. Swam back towards the other tunnel over strange rock formations and cornered another seal in a cave. Finished the day by coming face to face with a seal pup in a rock pool, lifting a Seagull outboard and finding two cannon.	own
237	11 Jul 1985	Little Loch Broom		North-west Scotland	Scotland			20	35	35	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Not the Ardross Rock: Searched twice for Ardross Rock but no decent transits. Dived anyway, onto mixed sand/bedrock, boulder with some scallops and an unusual anemone thing [sea cucumber].	own
238	12 Jul 1985	Isle Martin	Loch Broom	North-west Scotland	Scotland			38	12	15	Iain Hosking, Carole Mullen		Dived on north coast of the island. Very steep slopes alternating with vertical cliffs. One of the darkest, most lifeless dives I've ever had. Counted two cuckoo wrasse, several Devonshire cup corals and one unusual anemone. Good dive but a real contrast to the north coast.	own
239	12 Jul 1985	Leuim an Fheidh	Cliffs to north of Isle Martin, Loch Broom	North-west Scotland	Scotland			30	9	11	Iain Hosking, Carole Mullen		This dive made the previous one look teeming with life. The proverbial boulder slope, with life limited to cup coral and squat lobsters. Water very dark due to peaty run-off from the hills. Saw more of those strange anemones [sea cucumbers].	own
240	13 Jul 1985	William H Welch	Furadh Mor	North-west Scotland	Scotland			20	25	30	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Wreck of a 7126 ton liberty ship. We saw maybe 1 ton, scattered among kelp. We were followed around by a dogfish for most of the dive. Good weather at last. Most of the wreckage lies between the two points on the west of the island.	own
241	13 Jul 1985	Sgeir Maol Mhoraidh	Loch Ewe	North-west Scotland	Scotland			20	12	15	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		A short dive, with some danger of death from boredom. No sign of any wreckage but then we hardly made a systematic search. Aultbea Hotel made up for it though.	own
242	3 Aug 1985	Loch Long		Clyde	Scotland			31	18	22	Iain Hosking, Carole Mullen, Graham Russell, Sarah McCracken		Forecast SW 5 so called off the 'Kintyre' and dived at the usual spot in Loch Long. Straight down to 30m in very clear water, torch beams lighting first on a washing machine, then on huge boulders covered with anemones and feather duster worms. At 18 minutes ascended to 5m and spent another half hour among plumose anemones, wrasse, codling, blennies, crabs and clabby-doos. Good dive.	own
243	4 Aug 1985	Bass Rock		Forth	Scotland			40	11	14	Iain Hosking, Phil Gibbs		Spoke to coastguards who gave us a forecast of SW 3-4 veering SE. In fact the wind was no more than 2-3. Dived NE side again with rock dropping steeply to 34m. Boulder slope continued past 40m. We came up via a stepped cliff. Dark. Butterfish and dead mens' fingers. Explored the cave afterwards - very smelly.	own (Luxfer 72 - same weight used)
244	18 Aug 1985	Kintyre	Wemyss Bay	Clyde	Scotland			44	7	10	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Actually only 'Very near the Kintyre'. Very overcast day with plenty of rain. Dived at 10 to 3, 40 minutes after HW Girvan. Surface layer very peaty to 5m - below this surprisingly clear. Pity there was no wreck - the grapple had pulled out. Surfaced to try again later.	own
245	18 Aug 1985	Kintyre	Wemyss Bay	Clyde	Scotland			36	10	12	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Grappled again, found the wreck and others dived it. Geoff and I had time only to fold up the grapple and take it off the wreck before surfacing to do stops. Oh well.	own
246	25 Aug 1985	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	30	30	Iain Hosking, Kenny Jack		Coastguard at Crail promised us a gale so we cancelled the 'Glanmire'. At St Abbs the water was flat calm. Bah! Took Kenny for a dive leader/SMB practice. Out to Cathedral via gullies. Saw the wrasse again. Kenny navigated us successfully round Cathedral and back to base.	own
247	25 Aug 1985	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			11	32	35	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Second dive of the day. Round behind rock parallel to the harbour wall, but didn't find the same spot as I dived with Derek in March. Still, good gullies and masses of life. Dozens of silicone/yellow nudibranchs, squat lobsters, saithe, corkwing wrasse, lobsters (shy), seasquirts, controversial small fish [drawing in logbook]. Pretty clear, no current, very relaxed. Dry suit held out (phew!).	own
248	31 Aug 1985	Bass Rock		Forth	Scotland			40	11	14	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		The Not the Royal Fusilier because of overrun idiot factor. Probably just as well - wind NE 6-7 and sea like a food processor. Dived with Mark Inall, straight down to 40m. Literally thousands of shrimps, plus several lobsters, crabs, butterfish, anemones. At end of dive saw a line of starfish demolishing a mussel bed.	own
249	8 Sep 1985	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			16	55	55	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		The Not the HF because Malc's landrover was MOTless. Weather - scotch mist. Sea conditions - swell (and I don't mean good). Vis not bad if you looked up. Life: lobsters, squatties, flatfish, shrimps, wellington boots, dead men's fingers.	own
250	12 Sep 1985	Beagle	North of Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			34	16	20	Iain Hosking, John Llambias		250th dive! Memorable because of weird weather conditions which made good at last. Grappled wreck on first pass. Second pair down - covered the whole length of the wreck including the prop. Very dark, pretty murky, covered in line and nets. Saw phosphorescence. No significant current. Good fun.	own + Fenzy X3
251	13 Sep 1985	Beagle	North of Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			34	16	20	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Conditions rougher than yesterday - 4-5 - but sunny and light on the wreck. Vis not so good: 2m. Noted masses of monofilament line and rope, and someone's grapple and chain. Spent some time around the bow section - masses of plumose anemones. Guided to the site by a dolphin.	own
252	13 Sep 1985	Catalina	Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			24	12	15	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Calmer (but wetter) than this morning's dive. Anchored on telegraph cable transit at 18m and contoured at 23m. Missed it so came back at 20m and hit starboard wing. Tied SMB on and released it. Dark, but good vis. Masses of life - sea scorpions, a pipefish, sea pens and other exotica. Engine has disappeared.	own
253	14 Sep 1985	Catalina	Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			25	27	30	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Dived after a visit to the aquarium. Dropped shot straight onto wreck using new transits. Tied one SMB line onto starboard wingtip and carried out circular search for cockpit. We can now state that it isn't in a semicircular area with a 26, radius from the wing. Found a motor and marked it for John and Ruth. Plenty of life on the bottom, including a gurnard, 6 inches long. First I've seen. Sea pens not phosphorescent. Wreck murky but swarming with fish.	own
254	21 Sep 1985	Kintyre	Wemyss Bay	Clyde	Scotland			36	14	16	Iain Hosking, Bill Brysland		Launched from the Watersports Centre, Cumbrae. 45 minute boat trip into a northerly force 3. The wreck showed up clearly on the echosounder and we hooked in on the first pass at 40m. On the wreck found the grapple was across the superstructure and on the starboard side. Swam up to bows at 30m and back down again. Decorative carved karzis by the bridge. Engine visible - two large upright cylinders. Vis good for this wreck, weather not.	own - John's watch. Boat - Avon 520 + Yamaha 30.
255	21 Sep 1985	Little Cumbrae	West side	Clyde	Scotland			30	7	9	Iain Hosking, John Parkinson		Pete Bicheno's exercise - sampling of a water column 30m deep. John Parkinson and I made temperature measurements every 2m (12.4 - 12.9 degrees centigrade) and put the lids on the sampling jars. Pete and Chris made visibility measurements every 5m. Depth of water: 110m. Vis OK.	own. Boat: 5m Chinook with Yamaha 30.
256	22 Sep 1985	Beagle	North of Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			34	16	18	Iain Hosking, John Parkinson		John Llambias' exercise. Conditions marginal. Wind easterly 5-6. Sea state 4. Despite this hooked into the wreck on the first pass. John and Eileen Kelly (National Coach for Northern Ireland) laid a distance line. We measured the depth of the ship's side and the distance from the foredeck and recovered all lines. Vis good - had some time to swim up and look at the bows. Conditions very rough on the journey back - boat swamped.	own. Boat: 4m Avon Searider. Out of its depth in the conditions.
257	22 Sep 1985	Largs		Clyde	Scotland			8	2	2	Iain Hosking, Pete Bicheno		First Class exercise. Laid a box of sand in 8m with a buoy 2m below the surface. Descended to check depths. Definitely as requested. Bottom - fine sand.	own
258	22 Sep 1985	Largs		Clyde	Scotland			8	4	4	Iain Hosking, Ken Farrow		Second part of the exercise. Used the other group's transits to find their box of sand. Transits poor, but found box anyway. Descended to measure the box:64cm x 44cm x 25cm. Ken attached a lifting bag and the box was raised.	own
259	12 Oct 1985	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	20	22	Iain Hosking, Kenny Jack		Drove all the way from Aberdeen especially for this one. Cold but conditions good (no rain). Launched at Lochaline and rendezvoused at the rock with the archway. Wreck as usual. Current surface and vis not too hot. Plenty of fish, coral and squidgy things.	own
260	12 Oct 1985	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	15	17	Iain Hosking, Kenny Jack		Boat trip [from Lochaline] started off rough but ended calm. Current was not calm. Hauled our way down the line and headed straight for the engine room to visit the conger. Then down to the stern and up inside to the bows. Getting into the boat was tough.	own
261	12 Oct 1985	Ballista	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			9	30	30	Iain Hosking, Kenny Jack		Very relaxing and comprehensive tour of the 'Ballista' and the 'River Tay' underneath. Large sea scorpion and plenty of things that scuttle. A lot more interesting than I remember it.	own
262	13 Oct 1985	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			24	32	35	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Down the line to the bows, back to bridge via holds, into engine room, through an area with valves and pipes. Comprehensive tour of engine room and then into the aft holds. Over stern to prop shaft (and missing hull plate). Forward along starboard side to Captain's bath. Climbed mast, into chain locker and up. I think we saw about everything.	own
263	19 Oct 1985	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			52	15	35	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Unpromising start to the trip when the car blew up, but despite all odds dropped the shot on the engine casing and went for it. Attached strobe to line and swam off. Found ourselves back at the light. Taking a different direction we swam forwards, past mast and winches to the lamp room. Found a light bulb. The wreck made much more sense on the way back - noted the 'greenhouse' over the engine room, funnel, soup plate. Fair current on the stops, which we occupied by untying Sarah [eh?], losing the soup plate and eating an apple. Vis not as good as previous dives, and more narked than usual. Engine room is much more broken up than other parts of the wreck - very disorientating.	own (Rollo's twin 55s)
264	20 Oct 1985	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			54	15	35	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		On site well before slack. Dropped shot immediately forward of the bridge despite barely-visible transits. We were the second pair down. Spent a couple of minutes at the shot, then crossed over to the starboard side, back over the bridge (now collapsed) and aft along the port side to the engine room. Noted portholes, binnacle and pedestal. Vis OK, less narked than yesterday. On stops checked suit for leaks: none.	own, twin 55s
265	9 Nov 1985	Kintyre	Wemyss Bay	Clyde	Scotland			40	11	13	Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam		Spent ages looking for the 'Wallachia' but the echosounder died and the transits weren't good enough to grapple successfully, so we went for plan B. While looking for the 'Kintyre' we were hit by a snow squall. All worth it, though, because Adrian and I actually found the wreck. We saw a lot of it - bogs, bows, winches, boiler, engine and resident conger, or ling. Very dark, but a good dive.	own
266	16 Nov 1985	Rosehearty	Somewhere north of Aberdeen	Scottish East Coast	Scotland			18	35	35	Iain Hosking, Ewan Rowell		Ewan's idea. Rumours of a Cox and Danks destroyer remain unproven. Life: one sea scorpion. Vis: up to expectations. Rain, current and dark complete the formula. Hard to believe we did it. Others: Ewan, Paddy [who brought his Rolls Royce], Robin Harding, Mitch and Trevor.	own (+13 patches)
267	23 Nov 1985	Falls of Lora	Loch Etive	Oban	Scotland			28	20	20	Iain Hosking, Graham Russell, Sarah McCracken		Sarah's idea. Another Mythological Site. HW 'slack' 3.30pm. We dived then and hit a current immediately. We were just beginning to feel smug about keeping together when we were split up and whirled along by an estimated 5 knot gale. Ended with a gentle plowter in a large diameter whirlpool. Brilliant.	own. USD Deepstar DV
268	2 Jan 1986	Calve Island Cliffs	NE corner of Calve Island	Mull	Scotland			36	14	16	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster		First dive of '86. A beautiful day - clear and cold with wind force 3. Water quite clear but not gin clear. Down to 34m in free-fall mode and spent the time drifting along in the current, upside down half the time. Pretty cup coral, like sweets. Afterwards we had man overboard drill, a prat about and a bit of target practice.	own
269	15 Feb 1986	Falls of Lora	Loch Etive	Oban	Scotland			15	6	6	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		Prelude to next, amazing dive. Extremely fast. What do you do when bearing down on a cliff at 9 knots in a cloud of bubbles? Came up after getting into a backwater.	own, except aluminium 72 and a made-up weight belt.
270	15 Feb 1986	Falls of Lora	Loch Etive	Oban	Scotland			26	15	15	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		The definitive gnash. Barrelled under bridge doing Superman impersonations, through gullies into a quiet section with masses of sponges. Then picked up by Mk II current and taken down to a sandy bottom at 26m. Dark but good vis.	own (as 269) 27lbs.
271	16 Feb 1986	Falls of Lora	Loch Etive	Oban	Scotland			22	10	10	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster		Sunnier and winder day (easterly 3). Full of anticipation after Mark surfaced to report he'd been in a Kenwood mixer. Very fast at the start, then slower through gullies. Reached pebble slope at south edge where a very insistent upwelling dumped us on the surface.	own (as 269), 29lbs.
272	16 Feb 1986	Falls of Lora	Loch Etive	Oban	Scotland			22	10	10	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster		See 271.	see 271
273	8 Mar 1986	Belnahua Quarry	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			10	20	20	Iain Hosking, Ian Harrington		Failed to dive the HF due to weather (Wind force 7, sea state 4) so 'Let's do 50m in the quarry!' Good idea, except the fantastic vis lasted till 8m, below which was a pit of a yellowish evil-smelling substance not at all conducive to diving in. So we stayed above it and raised a rusty bolt with a makeshift lifting bag. Haven't had so much fun since I crashed the car.	own, Rollo's twin 55s.
274	9 Mar 1986	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			28	23	25	Iain Hosking, Ian Harrington		Almost a year since my last dive on the Breda. It hasn't changed a bit - as silty as ever, especially after 8 other divers have been all over it. To make this a worthwhile dive it is essential to hit it first thing in the morning. Relaxed dive.	own, twin 55s
275	28 Mar 1986	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			20	30	30	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide, Jenny Clough		Late start, so didn't get in the water until after 4pm, by which time the wreck had all but disappeared. Good dive, bit murky, especially through the mine tubes. Sporadic squalls. Didn't get back to Kyleakin until about 6pm, by which time Andy's car had all but disappeared. LW 3pm. Springs (equinoctial).	own + Ewan's twin 40s. Usual weight.
276	29 Mar 1986	Chadwick	West coast of Skye	Skye	Scotland			21	33	33	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide, Sarah McCracken		Amazingly brilliant weather. Woke to blazing sunshine, and the Cuillins across the water. Out to the Chadwick in slightly rough conditions (sea state 5). Geoff joins the ranks of the Master Grapplers by casually dropping the grapple straight into the wreck after lining up a couple of boulders on the shore. No messing. We dived second (feeling queasy) and hit the bottom in tremendous visibility (especially when the sun came out!). Twice around the wreck, through the arched bit twice, down to the prop, round the boilers. Saw several attractive brass valves, bits of copper pipe, lumps of coal, millions of cup coral, scores of tiny nudibranchs (purple with white spots), red sunstars, crabs (one with an outrageous coat). Ace dive! Slack 11.30 GMT (12.30 EST), ebb tide.	own, + Ewan's twin 40s.
277	30 Mar 1986	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			18	25	25	Iain Hosking, Andy Hopkins		Very leisurely start: in water about 2pm. Swam in through 'T' shaped doorway and through two decks to reach the starboard upper mine tube. Swam the whole length of the mine tube in very good vis, then round stern and back through the starboard lower mine tube, which took us into a dead end. Surfaced to blazing sunshine!	own Ewan's twin 40s.
278	30 Mar 1986	Golden Harvest	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			10	15	15	Iain Hosking, Andy Hopkins		First time on this wreck (a trawler which sank in 1977). The wreck is intact, lying on its starboard side, and covered in life, including dead men's fingers, anemones, starfish of various kinds, and masses of fish. Very colourful, being so shallow. An ideal second dive after the Port Napier, especially on a sunny day like this. Strong current.	own, Ewan's twin 40s.
279	19 Apr 1986	Belnahua		Oban	Scotland			58	4	7	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		Not the HF. Both echosounders packed in, weather bad, and worsening, cold, set. Crossed fingers, dropped the shot, went down the line, narked, shook hands, came up, drank, ate, drank, drank.	own, Rollo's twin 55s
280	20 Apr 1986	Easdale Quarry	Easdale, Seil Island	Oban	Scotland			55	10	20	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		The legendary Easdale Quarry at last. Truly lifeless, with massive slabs of rock going down past 55m. Water clear until the silt is disturbed. Not as narcotic as yesterday, but a somewhat more satisfying dive. [4 stars for being memorable]	own
281	11 May 1986	Falls of Lora	Loch Etive	Oban	Scotland			18	22	22	Iain Hosking, Ian Kyle		Good dive with plenty of variety. Strong current at start but it soon petered out. Good vis. Masses of sunstars and sponges. Whelks laying eggs.	own
282	2 Jul 1986	Kronprinz Wilhelm	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			36	23	40	Iain Hosking, Kenny Jack		Very satisfying first dive of the trip since we immediately hit the aft 12 inch gun turrets. Also saw two of the 6 inch guns and worked our way into the hull. Weather - somewhat chilly and foggy. Vis - good with bits in it. Not much sea life but some phosphorescence.	own, twin 55s, -4lbs, ie 24lbs total.
283	2 Jul 1986	Brummer	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			34	25	40	Iain Hosking, Kenny Jack		Tour around the aluminium-framed bridge, then aft to the engine room, aft mast and superstructure. Forward again to bridge, and on to the bows. Saw most of the wreck, I think. Good dive but foggy and cold.	own, twin 55s, 24lbs
284	3 Jul 1986	Markgraf	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			44	18	33	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall, Sarah McCracken		Threesome with Sarah and Mark. Bows very impressive still, rearing vertically out of the sand. Fairly fast trip around to the starboard side. Sarah helped me lug a lump of wreck as far as the bows before dropping it. Knackered.	Twin 55s, 28lbs
285	3 Jul 1986	Markgraf	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			44	12	27	Iain Hosking, Kenny Jack		Return visit to recover the lump. Line tied on quickly before carrying on with the dive, mainly along the port side of the wreck. The bloody thing stuck in the wreck while being pulled up. Good barbecue on Hoy afterwards.	Twin 55s, 28lbs.
286	4 Jul 1986	Markgraf	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			44	18	33	Iain Hosking, Kenny Jack		Got the bastard this time. It had caught in an extremely unlikely spot. After untangling it, we headed through the hull to the other side. Under the decks - saw a turret (maybe). Good satisfying dive. [but the 'lump' was ferrous!]	Twin 55s, 28lbs
287	4 Jul 1986	F2 & barge	Scapa Flow	Orkney	Scotland			15	16	31	Iain Hosking, Kenny Jack		Down shot line onto black seabed. Momentary doubt as no wreck in sight, then relief as I saw the line joining the two ships. Followed it to the destroyer, where we looked around the bows and gun before gnashing back to the barge. In and out of the rooms, saw a vice and two sets of twin anti-aircraft guns. Ballan wrasse, pollack and small fish. 10m stop on mast, 5m stop free (drifted over the destroyer).	Twin 55s
288	7 Jul 1986	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			55	15	45	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		First pair onto the wreck. Recce trip, with Mark. Eyes pressed against mask as we noticed far more artefacts than I've seen before - binnacle, pedestal, portholes etc. We got up to the bows - very impressive with starboard anchor chain curving away to the seabed. Sea life - dead men's fingers, cup coral, wrasse.	Twin 55s
289	8 Jul 1986	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			52	15	45	Iain Hosking, Ian Kyle		Checked line, headed forward to examine line of portholes at front of officers' mess. Pedestal now gone. Going back to the line, found and recovered a binnacle. Very nice. Very wet on stops.	Twin 55s
290	9 Jul 1986	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			52	15	45	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Down line to greenhouse. Swam aft (by mistake) till we saw the spare prop, then forward to the estimated position of Sarah's gauge. No sign. Looked for the second compass. No go either. Experimented with sawing off a porthole. No go. Sarah found a lead acid battery in a glass case which was plonked into my goody bag. She also saw a squid. On the 15m stop I managed to drop the battery. Damn.	Twin 55s
291	10 Jul 1986	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			55	15	45	Iain Hosking, Graham Russell		Mega dive. Last chance to save the day, and Malcolm's steering pedestal, reckoned to be more than 150kg. In fact it slowly and gratifyingly rose off the bottom when Graham filled the lifting bag. For the rest of the dive we disentangled another pedestal and swam under the bridge into the boiler room.	Twin 55s
292	10 Jul 1986	Belnahua		Oban	Scotland			7	15	15	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		Malcolm's pedestal having been recovered to shallow water lashed to the boat, we had to shorten the lifting bag line and tie on a line to shore. Easily done with much jungle warfare amongst the kelp. Little did we know the task had only just begun.	Snash's twin 50s, 28lbs
293	11 Jul 1986	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			58	15	55	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		Fantastic weather - mirror-calm and sunny. Slick operation to raise the pedestal followed by a trip to the stern. Bottom at 58m. Prop blades sheared off. Good vis.	Twin 55s, 28lbs
294	12 Jul 1986	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			51	15	45	Iain Hosking, Ian Kyle		Trip to the bows. Visibility extremely good - could easily see the front of the bridge from the 'greenhouse'. Swam forward over the holds to bows - hung off bows looking back at the ship. Saw Geoff's lamp. Looked inside lamp room. Leisurely swim back to the line. Camped on Belnahua afterwards	Twin 55s, 28lbs
295	13 Jul 1986	Helena Faulbaums	Belnahua	Oban	Scotland			54	15	45	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster		Last dive of the trip. Crawford and I raised the lamp he found yesterday and found a few more portholes. Overcast, chilly day but still calm.	Twin 55s, 28lbs
296	10 Aug 1986	Loch Lomond Cliffs	Loch Lomond	Clyde	Scotland			34	9	11	Iain Hosking, Alison Young		A short, deep, dark, lifeless and worrying dive. Beautiful day, though, so fine for a trip in the country.	Ewan's twinset, 24lbs
297	23 Aug 1986	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			15	45	45	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall, Simon Nash		A swell dive! HW springs. Strong wave action and poor vis. Shoal of pollack or saithe and wrasse. Getting out was somewhat interesting. (Snash: 'EUSAC White Water Boys!')
298	1 Sep 1986	Kintyre	Wemyss Bay	Clyde	Scotland			38	11	13	Iain Hosking, Ross Butler		Found wreck on second pass with grapple despite u/s echosounder. Surface layer very murky so pitch black at depth. Saw winch in front of aft hold, superstructure, boiler, bows, anchor. Ace dive. Rough.
299	13 Sep 1986	Catalina	Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			22	35	37	Iain Hosking, Graeme Jeffries		Perfect conditions for the Catalina. Flat calm, sunny and down there we got peace from all the tourists. Pretty clear. Plenty of pollack, gobies, blennies, squat lobsters, plumose anemones. Transits pretty good [in white log book].	Kevin's Rowi suit, 24lbs.
300	18 Sep 1986	Beagle	North of Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			33	16	18	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster		Still perfect conditions. Several buoys on the Beagle so we added ours. Down onto the bows, swam round forward hold, then aft along starboard side, past a locked-in conger. Very impressive rudder and prop. Vis not too brilliant.	Kevin's Rowi suit, 24lbs.
301	18 Sep 1986	Wallachia	The Gantocks	Clyde	Scotland			33	8	10	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster		Conditions even better. Wreck was buoyed so we were able to update our transits. 2 hour surface interval so we had a time penalty, but an excellent dive. Saw the bridge, wheel, engine room 'greenhouse', spare wheel, jars and beer bottles. Down over stern to see prop and rudder. Tried 91-year old beer. Horrible.	Kevin's Rowi suit, 20lbs lead, club 78.
302	19 Sep 1986	Wallachia	The Gantocks	Clyde	Scotland			34	16	19	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Very good dive, with minimal current and good visibility. Saw from funnel forward to bows. Bows are very tall and imposing, and draped in nets. Forward hold contains beer bottles and tins. 20 minutes from Largs.	Rowi suit, 20lbs, club 78
303	19 Sep 1986	Beagle	North of Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			32	13	15	Iain Hosking, Geoff Hide		Practice for First Class. Grappling for the wreck made very tricky by the presence of two other buoys, both tied onto the wreck. Swam right round the wreck - saw anchor, emergency steering gear and conger. Masses of monofilament.	Rowi suit, 20lbs, club 78
304	20 Sep 1986	Beagle	North of Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			34	21	23	Iain Hosking, Gordon Fyfe		First Class practical. Down grapple line, no wreck, so dived again down existing buoy. Carried out survey of monofilament and debris.	Rowi suit, 24lbs
305	21 Sep 1986	Beagle	North of Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			35	14	16	Iain Hosking, Jeff Cooke		Followed line to stern and had a good look at the prop and rudder. Saw conger, prawn (or shrimp), tiny squatties and sink etc aft. Good dive. [It's worth recording that the day's task was, as I wrote in the white logbook, 'to lift an earthenware jar for the instructors - a task just as slimy as giving the teacher an apple, maybe worse'. The second pair recovered the jar so Jeff and I didn't have to demean ourselves. I helmed the boat from the Wallachia to the Beagle, downwind in a force 4: 'Only had it airborne once - probably the last nail in the coffin of my exam, but by then I was past caring.']	Rowi suit, 24lbs
306	27 Sep 1986	Wallachia	The Gantocks	Clyde	Scotland			28	22	24	Iain Hosking, Graham Russell		Dedicated stoneware jar search. Marginal conditions. Wreck was buoyed. Jars fixed in place much more securely than we thought - bent knives trying to free them. A taxing dive.	New Avon dry suit - dry!
307	28 Sep 1986	Beagle	North of Great Cumbrae	Clyde	Scotland			34	16	20	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		What a fantastic dive! Down line expecting it to get dark, and it didn't. Could see the whole wreck laid out below us from well above it. No torch necessary. Apart from the good vis and interesting artefacts we were also the subject of examination by a shoal of fish. Didn't want to come up.	Twin 55s, 24lbs
308	4 Oct 1986	Bass Rock		Forth	Scotland			21	28	30	Iain Hosking, Ian Harrington		Beautiful, sunny, cloudless day. Quite good sea conditions, but old boat very soft on the way out (we pumped it up for the journey back). Undulating rock bottom covered in brittle stars. Highlight of the dive was a convoy of huge jellyfish, two of them lion's manes with 3m stinging tentacles (ask Ian!). A good day out.	Mark's suit, fins, weightbelt, tank, knife. Malc's woolly bear and mask. Own tank.
309	5 Oct 1986	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			15	45	45	Iain Hosking, Simon Nash		EUSAC lemming-like St Abbs trip - 18 people, including 3 from Fettes. Yo-yo dive - swim out, surface, look around, find Cathedral, dive it, turn round to come back, get lost, surface, look around, down again, etc etc. The wrasse found us and demanded to be fed, and we attempted to use the underwater communication system.	Mark's suit + most of his kit. Malcolm's woolly bear and mask. A little wet.
310	11 Oct 1986	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			26	27	30	Iain Hosking, Kenny Jack		Stunning dive. Very clear, sunlight on wreck, thousands of fish -shoals of pollack and dozens of wrasse - some very big. Line came down to the stern - we headed forward, through the engine room and into the bridge, then out through the roof and on to the bows. Saw rust 'stalactites' in the chain locker very like those on the 'Titanic'. Back through holds and round starboard side.
311	11 Oct 1986	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			40	11	13	Iain Hosking, Kenny Jack		Another fantastic dive. Slow descent to rudder then a more rapid drop down to 40m. Very good vis. Back up at 32m we dropped down to the port side and found a very narrow gap under the wreck at 36m. Met a male cuckoo wrasse on the way out. Back through the larger gap, and up through the tube. Saw another cuckoo wrasse.
312	12 Oct 1986	Cessna 150	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			32	18	20	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		This was the wing from Peter Gibbs' plane which crashed on Christmas Eve 1975 and which was finally found this year by Dick Grieves. We carried out a search from the wing to see if any other wreckage lay nearby, using compass bearings, but found nothing. Proved the compass by swimming back to the wing, and picked up plenty of scallops, which made a good lunch. Last dive with Sarah for a while [she was off to Australia].	Twin 55s
313	14 Dec 1986	Falls of Lora	Loch Etive	Oban	Scotland			25	15	30	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		Hell of a long gap since the last dive. Weather ideal - calm, sunny, clear. Mark and I had three attempts - on the first two we were spat out very quickly. On the third we went through the gully system just as fast as we could cope with. Hit a slack patch, then found the current again and hit the cliff! Suddenly everything went dark - I was pummelled from all sides and felt a strong pressure on my ears as I was dragged down. With one hand on my suit inflator and the other on my mask I eventually hit the surface. Mindblowing. A seriously difficult dive. (Times: a: 5 mins, b: 3 mins, c: 7 mins). Tide: near neaps, incoming tide.	Club 78
314	21 Dec 1986	Wallachia	The Gantocks	Clyde	Scotland			30	20	32	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		The less said about this the better. Perfect conditions made irrelevant by the fact that Kirkintilloch got there first. Graham had a jar, but all Mark and I did was break one and lose the lifting bag (duly returned by Joe Murray). Aaargh!	Club 78
315	31 Dec 1986	Heather Island		Oban	Scotland			30	20	32	Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam		Last dive of the year. A good cliff if fairly murky. Plenty of life - feather duster worms, seasquirts, squatties, sunstars, fish, scallops and crinoids. Supposedly cold but with the new suit as warm as toast. Hello 1987!
316	2 Jan 1987	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			26	27	30	Iain Hosking, Christine Spreiter		Very, very sore head at 8am, so very glad to be diving last wave. Clouds and rain cleared to give us a beautiful day. Flat calm, snowy mountains, flawless execution of the dive plan (about 16 people in the water). OK, so it would have been nice to have had a torch. We had a very atmospheric dive, bows to stern, via holds and engine room. Surfaced as the sun was setting. Definitely started 87 the way I hope it continues!
317	17 Jan 1987	Paddy Hinkley's Quarry		Forth	Scotland			8	10	10	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Another long-awaited dive, this time under ice. 15 divers, 3 hours. The ice was very thick (thick enough to jump up and down on). Dived singly, roped. Very muddy, but weird to see the ice overhead and the silvery air bubbles. Not at all cold. [Malcolm held the other end of the rope.]
318	15 Feb 1987	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	30	32	Iain Hosking, Helen Jones		Second training dive of 1987. Six trainees in the water. I took Helen through the eastern gully and through a succession of gullies and bouldery bits with plenty of dahlia anemones, sea urchins and dead men's fingers. Several squat lobsters. Beautiful day, though cold. Helen managed fine.	Fenzy 4
319	15 Feb 1987	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	15	17	Iain Hosking, Helen Jones, James Traenor		Took James in for his first dive. Found a starfish tackling a mussel and crinoids (brittle stars), as well as dahlia anemones, sea urchins, dead mens' fingers and squat lobsters. The dive was short only because I was finishing off the tank from the previous dive. Heavier swell.	Fenzy 4
320	14 Mar 1987	Wallachia	The Gantocks	Clyde	Scotland			30	20	22	Iain Hosking, Pete Wilkinson		Finally hit the water at ten past six after a comedy of errors. Very good dive despite dark, cold, flooding torches etc. Lots of 'mice' (nudibranchs) under the stern. Found 100 year old whisky and groups of tin crystals.	Malcolm's Diamond suit (left own in lockup!) and DV.
321	15 Mar 1987	Loch Long		Clyde	Scotland			20	20	22	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Cathy's first dive. She survived the cold, dark, crowds, traffic, Jasper, mud, me, flooding suit and buoyant fins, to see sea anemones, flatfish, crabs, clabby doos, sea cucumbers and join the ranks of EUSAC! Bravo!
322	22 Mar 1987	Eyemouth		Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Paul Mullan		Took Paul Mullan in for his first dive. COLD! Not much life at first sight, but on closer examination quite a variety of nudibranchs, anemones, sponges, starfish and dead men's fingers. Played with a sea-lemon (nudibranch). Some current. (Turned right from Weasel Loch.)
323	22 Mar 1987	Eyemouth		Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Craig McQueenie		Took Craig McQueenie in for his first dive. Turned left at Weasel loch (won't do that again). Suffered the unnerving sensation of feeling water pouring down the back of my neck (confirmed by a post-mortem on the woolly bear). Very, very cold.
324	23 Mar 1987	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Craig McQueenie		Very cold, very clear. Found Cathedral Rock quickly, but got lost on the way back. Long snorkel. Life - lobster, squatties, plumose anemones, dahlias, sponges of various kinds.	Mended leak in back of knee. Dry! Brilliant!
325	23 Mar 1987	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	15	15	Iain Hosking, Jason Bryans		Took Jason Bryans in for his first dive. Again, out to Cathedral no bother, got lost on the way back. Still dry. Very pleasant to be the only divers there.
326	24 Mar 1987	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	25	25	Iain Hosking, Jason Bryans		Dived Big Green Carr. Round left hand side of t he rock past cliffs with crevices full of squat lobsters and crabs. Found a large (10 inch long) sea scorpion which allowed me to pick it up and carry it over to Malcolm. Very pale colouration, very lethargic. Also noticed limpet-like, flattened molluscs and very small anemones. Beautiful overhangs with wall-to-wall dead men's fingers and plumose anemones. No big green cars at all.
327	24 Mar 1987	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Paul Mullan		Dived Big Green Carr again. Didn't see the seascorpion (must be lying low) but saw greyish, smooth nudibranch and crabs camouflaged in purple seaweed.
328	25 Mar 1987	Pettico Wick	South side of the Forth, west of St Abbs	Forth	Scotland			14	20	20	Iain Hosking, Dougie McEwan		Bloody rough. Stiff swim out to rock at 310 degrees from shore. Turned west and found rock faces with dead men's fingers, then a rock chimney.
329	25 Mar 1987	Pettico Wick	South side of the Forth, west of St Abbs	Forth	Scotland			12	20	20	Iain Hosking, Leslie Macdonald		Even rougher. Swam at 270 degrees straight to the rock walls. Sea scorpion, sea urchins, sea oak, lots of sea things. Pretty stiff snorkel back.
330	25 Mar 1987	Pettico Wick	South side of the Forth, west of St Abbs	Forth	Scotland			9	15	15	Iain Hosking, Craig McQueenie		Completely ridiculous. Jumped into huge swell with zero vis. Fought against waves all the way. One nudibranch.	Used Dougie's stab jacket. Not bad.
331	11 Apr 1987	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			24	27	30	Iain Hosking, Phil Gibbs		Down line to stern and forward to the passageway on the second level of the hold. Swam along this for a while, but very murky so turned round and came back. Into engine room, forward to bridge, then out and swam along beside the rail to the bows. The anchor chain lies out along the seabed. Back to the stern - saw rudder (no prop). Seabed falls away on this side. Outboard engine knackered on the way back [due to motorcycle 2-stroke oil] so our boat was towed. Mark and I got bored and jumped off, swam to Calve Island, waded to the mainland and walked back, swimming a lake on the way.
332	11 Apr 1987	Calve Island Cliffs	NE corner of Calve Island	Mull	Scotland			36	14	17	Iain Hosking, Phil Hume		Conditions couldn't be more different from this morning. Late evening in a cloudless blue sky and almost flat calm. Took Phil down for his first dry suit dive (using my old Dunlop). Cliffs as impressive as always - covered in Devonshire cup coral, sea squirts and sponges. Curious fan-like formations (bendy, like bracket fungus) and a cushion star 5 inches across and bright orange. Dead men's fingers not too common.
333	12 Apr 1987	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			35	14	18	Iain Hosking, Simon Kirk		Took Captain for a complete tour of the wreck down to the tunnel under the hull at 35m (LW), Through prop shaft tunnel, somersaults off the 'superstructure' and backwards and forwards under the ship (lots of feather duster worms). Visibility spectacularly good, and weather perfect. Hell of a good dive.
334	12 Apr 1987	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			40	17	27	Iain Hosking, Simon Kirk		HW dive. Slightly choppier, less sun, but just as slack. Straight down to 40m - vis not quite so good. Swam under the hull from starboard (small hole) to port (larger hole) - now at 38m. Up to break in hull - through another small gap. Saw lots of Devonshire cup coral on the wreck and strange cup-like things on stalks. 10m stop on rudder, 5m stop on line. Pratting about afterwards.
335	13 Apr 1987	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	20	22	Iain Hosking, Martin Harrison		Up at 5.30am in torrential rain for this one. West coast out so this was plan B. Due to faffing about didn't get in the water till 11. Water was brilliantly clear - best vis yet on the Thesis. Swam down past the engine and boiler to the hold, then the bows. Good 'cage' effect, where the bow plates have gone. Back down to the stern. No conger, no prop. Stern was deeper than 30m
336	13 Apr 1987	Thesis	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			30	15	17	Iain Hosking, Martin Harrison		Dived within 6 hours so had a 5 minute penalty. Swam down to the stern first, then back to the engine room area. Through the 'gallery' saw a brass valve apparently lying on the seabed outside the wreck - pretty firmly fixed but worth thinking about. Swam up beside the ship, looking underneath - rewarded by sight of large fish, including a large and beautifully-coloured cuckoo wrasse.
337	14 Apr 1987	Meldon	Loch Buie	Mull	Scotland			14	40	40	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		Launched at Carsaig in flat calm. Wreck easy enough to find, with rudder post above water level (on which the old boat was holed). Stern intact, with prop and rudder - wreck becomes progressively more smashed up as you go forwards. Others have said that the bows are nice, like the Thesis, but we didn't see them. We did see a wrasse and a lobster sharing a pot. Finished by swimming along the prop shaft tunnel to the end - by far the best part of the dive. It rained all the way back.
338	14 Apr 1987	Ostend		Mull	Scotland			8	30	30	Iain Hosking, Mary Ledwith		Few sites would have changed so completely between dives (the last was in 1983) - it is now a marina. The Royal Navy were up recently from Rosyth and they removed 60 crates of ammo and set off a few charges. They also left it buoyed. Mary and I found a few rounds of 20mm, some scallops and two very pretty nudibranchs.
339	15 Apr 1987	Calve Island Cliffs	NE corner of Calve Island	Mull	Scotland			40	11	14	Iain Hosking, Mary Ledwith		Straight down to 40m and a nearly square profile dive. Cushion stars, blennies, blue sponge and squat lobsters stand out. Usual large number of seasquirts and gigantic dead men's fingers.	Air consumption 23.6 litres/minute!
340	15 Apr 1987	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			38	10	12	Iain Hosking, Phil Hume		Phil had a 2 minute time penalty, making this a short dive. We had time to get to our planned depth and back up to untie the line. Swam under the hull. Brilliant weather - bright, sunny and calm. Few pints in Salen afterwards.
341	16 Apr 1987	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			24	23	25	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		Full flood and springs! NFP. Tough pull down the line to the stern, into hold and through tunnel to forward hold, then up onto the bows and into chain locker. Back into the teeth of a gale to the engine room (more collapsed than I remember). Back to stern and up.
342	16 Apr 1987	Pelican	Calve Island, Tobermory Bay	Mull	Scotland			22	26	28	Iain Hosking, Alison Young		Rumours of good vis on this wreck scotched. Just as I remember it, but explored more systematically. Bows must have looked impressive when it was afloat. No engine, boiler, screw or prop shaft. One sleepy wrasse and several varieties of sea squirts. Alison and I have finally wiped out the memory of Loch Lomond cliffs.
343	17 Apr 1987	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			47	13	23	Iain Hosking, Phil Hume		Perfect weather conditions for this dive - flat calm and blazing hot. We didn't hang about, but gnashed straight on down to the bows in 4 minutes flat. Depth was 47m inside the wreck. Leisurely trip back up to the stern. Stops not too boring.
344	3 May 1987	River Tweed	English side	North-east England	England			3	15	15	Iain Hosking, John Clarke		Why, why, why? Went diving 'cos I couldn't think of anything else to do. Down to Eyemouth to fill bottles - the gully was like a frothy milkshake. Met Dave Nance [from Orca] who suggested the Tweed. Asked if I had a camera. Hah! We saw lots of mussels, two flatfish, a dead fish, a hot water bottle and a spade. Oh, and a prawn.
345	9 May 1987	Breda	Benderloch	Oban	Scotland			22	20	22	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Private trip to Oban, for the select few - Cathy, Sarah, Jackie and me, One car, old boat and tents (economy drive). Massive disorganisation meant launching at 3pm. Launched from North Connel. Exhilarating boat trip out to the Breda, planing over white horses. Dived from bow to stern - plenty of feather duster worms, dead men's fingers and plumose anemones.
346	9 May 1987	North Connel		Oban	Scotland			7	10	10	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Given tea and after eights for looking for an old couple's sewage outlet. Didn't find it, but saw old moorings, masses of weed and unpleasant fuzzy brown growth that thrives on human waste products. Not nice. Current.
347	10 May 1987	Easdale	Seil Island	Oban	Scotland			22	25	25	Iain Hosking, Jackie Beaumont		Haven't dived here since 1982. Further round to the cliffs than I remember, through reasonable gullies. Like a small version of Calve Island cliffs, with Devonshire cup coral, sea squirts, sunstars, dahlia anemones and so forth. Fairly choppy - sea state 4 with white horses galore.
348	16 May 1987	Raasay, south end		Skye	Scotland			26	25	25	Iain Hosking, Kevin McGuire		First dive of the most memorable Skye trip in the history of the world. The van disintegrated at the end of the drive up [gearbox], and we spent hours trying to sort out some transport. Since no time was left to launch elsewhere Geoff stuck a pin in the chart and settled on this site, with its attractive mud slope to x metres. Life - hermit crabs and Cerianthus lloydi, which is a type of anemone living in a disgusting rubbery tube in the seabed. Rain. Wind. Waves.
349	17 May 1987	Doris		Skye	Scotland			24	30	30	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		This was a brilliant dive. Weather came good at last, and we dropped into a steep-sided gully with dead men's fingers, anemones, cup coral and nudibranchs. Headed down over kelp to the main body of the wreck which lies in beautiful shell sand. Cathy spotted several nudibranchs - other sea life included sea pens, tubeworms, a shrimp and a wrasse. After the dive - The Nightmare continues... The old boat exploded.
350	17 May 1987	Meanish Pier		Skye	Scotland			15	20	20	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		The Not The Chadwick (engine failed) so we did a night dive to look for scallops. No scallops but squat lobsters, fish, a shrimp and phosphorescence. Cooking chickens failed so no tea. The Curse strikes again. Crawford had a custard shampoo, Snash a margarine one. Yuk.
351	18 May 1987	Urlana	Geo Mor, NW of Idrigill Point, near Harlosh	Skye	Scotland			10	45	45	Iain Hosking, Bob Harker		Bloody hell, what a trip! Had an excellent dive on the Urlana, saw seals etc, then punctured the boat on the way back [it wasn't even our boat]. So, no caves. Anyway, plenty of brass shell cases etc on the wreck. Heavy wave action, little life, vis not bad. A good rake around.
352	19 May 1987	Port Napier	Kyle of Lochalsh	Skye	Scotland			20	35	35	Iain Hosking, Sarah Soffe		Today's disasters - flat on the van [and locking wheel nuts...], trailer lighting plug sanded flat. Despite this, got to the Port Napier - down at the bows and back to the midships hole in the deck, through this to the starboard upper mine tube and back to the stern (despite Sarah not having a torch). Forward again, saw both bow guns, round to the bows (found Admiralty anchor), back again (!) through the deck and up through the middle of the hull. A comprehensive exploration.
353	22 May 1987	Loch Long		Clyde	Scotland			25	25	25	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster, Sarah McCracken		Night dive - surfaced at exactly midnight. A brilliant dive, literally, with incredible phosphorescence. Sarah led. Plenty of life - colours showed up well in the torch beams - several sorts of sea anemone (big plumose ones at the end), masses of peacock worms, all out and arranged very tastefully about the rocks, with sea squirts in among them (transparent and pink varieties). Fish - pollack and small cod-like things - three dorsal fins and barbels (pout? dab? poor cod?). Also tiny purple sea urchins, east coast type squat lobsters and a starfish looking like a wedding cake - pink knobs on white. We turned our torches off and played at Disneyland for a while. Crawford and Sarah were easily visible by columns of bubbles and sparks. Oh, and a whole shoal of jellyfish. Good dive.
354	24 May 1987	Otter Ferry	Loch Fyne	Kintyre	Scotland			34	16	18	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster, Sarah McCracken		Beautiful day but site not too remarkable. Torch failed on entering the water so I tagged along behind Sarah and Crawford, seeing less and less as we got deeper. Good few drinks at Strachur that night, and slept on the beach. Drove back through Hell's Glen at 4.30am next day.
355	13 Jun 1987	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			25	27	29	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		A fine day - new boat and engine so planed out to the wreck in double-quick time. Dived second, in quite a current. Vis was very good, and lots of fish - big ballan wrasse, smaller corkwing wrasse (very pretty), blennies and pollack. Swam through the tunnel and had a good rake around the engine room. Left a buoy on the wreck to return later.
356	14 Jun 1987	Hispania	Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			24	32	34	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		Our first boat dive on a wreck at night. Surface visibility exceptional, underwater ditto. The phosphorescence was incredible - we descended and ascended without torches, and the mast left a wake of phosphorescence behind it in the current. In between we saw most parts of the wreck, including the tunnel past the bridge (epic), the engine room and chain locker. An absolutely magic dive.
357	27 Jun 1987	Loch Ailort		North-west Scotland	Scotland			28	20	22	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Trip organised by Glasgow University Sub-Aqua Club (Phil Gibbs is a member of both clubs). Dived on a stepped cliff with good overhangs. Lots of life - sea squirts, feather duster worms, nudibranchs and fish (blennies, mainly). Thousands of feather stars feeding by making a tripod of three legs and waving the others over their heads.
358	28 Jun 1987	Priest Rock	Sound of Arisaig	North-west Scotland	Scotland			20	46	46	Iain Hosking, Douglas Smith		A long, leisurely scenic dive. One of these sites where the seabed appears bare at first. Saw about 6 varieties of starfish, and then noted a sea cucumber. Soon realised there were dozens. Several nudibranchs including some quite large ones, and lots of jellyfish. Saw corkwing wrasse and pollack. Beautiful day - calm and warm. Drove to Mallaig afterwards.
359	26 Jul 1987	Loch Long		Clyde	Scotland			20	20	20	Iain Hosking, Clive ?		Drove to St Abbs to find it was spectacularly too rough for diving, so turned round and drove to Loch Long. 270 miles altogether. Clive's first dive. Rather murky, and weather very wet.
360	2 Aug 1987	Fidra	North Berwick	Forth	Scotland			10	40	40	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		EUSAC beach barbecue at Yellowcraigs. Saw puffins on the way out. Dived on a flat, rocky bottom with boulders and crevices containing lobsters, squat lobsters and shrimps. Highlight of the dive was an octopus parked in a hollow with his legs arranged decoratively around his head. He changed colour as we watched, then jetted off at speed, trailing his legs behind him. Beautiful sunset, good barbecue.
361	9 Aug 1987	Soyea Island	Lochinver, Sutherland	North-west Scotland	Scotland			13	44	44	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Last dive in Scotland for a while. Jim Crooks looked after us well, filling our tanks for £1 and charging £5 for a dive from his very nippy little boat "Osprey" which is about the size of a mini with twin 50hp Yamaha outboards. The water was clear as crystal, and the seals were correspondingly bold - swimming right up to us before turning with a flick of the fins and disappearing behind rocks and kelp. Also interesting sponges, crabs, fish and dead men's fingers. Excellent meal in the pub - squid rings in garlic and scampi for about £1.50 each. Lovely!
362	19 Mar 1988	Lake Jindabyne	The flooded town of Jindabyne	Snowy Mountains	Australia			16	35	35	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		The weekend's diving was organised by out local dive shop, Scuba Warehouse, and it included accommodation in caravans, water skiing and heavy drinking. Cathy and I survived this unusual introduction to Australian diving with only minor heatstroke. Visibility so-so, water green. Submerged trees were the highlight of this dive but we also found the remains of a house and a bottle dump. Altitude was 300m so the correction is ¼ of measured depth. In practice the dive ended due to a severe case of buoyancy.	24lbs lead, hired BCD
363	20 Mar 1988	Lake Jindabyne	The flooded town of Jindabyne	Snowy Mountains	Australia			14	35	35	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		While others accepted a penalty due to the previous night's drinking (Arriving late means you're an 'F' diver; drinking late means you're a 'B' diver...) we adopted a simpler approach by using RNPL tables as usual. This dive was much better than the previous day's. We saw more: the foundations of a house, with fence, doorway, gate and windows; a veritable forest of trees below the thermocline (visible as a light line in the water); bottles; a cow bone; freshwater sponges and waterweed. After the dive we headed west through Kosciusko National Park to Albury. A good weekend.	24lbs lead, hired BCD.
364	1 Apr 1988	Shiprock	Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			12	40	40	Iain Hosking, Michael Brown		Boat dive cancelled so we drove round the corner to Shiprock. By this time it was well after dark. Flat, sandy bottom shelves down to 11-12m (HW). Very colourful, with lots of soft coral and sponges, clams, hermit crabs, leatherjackets (very elegant fish, unfortunately much prized by spearfishermen) and two cuttlefish.	Wetsuit, borrowed aluminium 60 cu ft tank and TUSA BCD. 24lbs weight.
365	10 Jul 1988	Bass and Flinders Point	Cronulla	Sydney	Australia			6	70	70	Iain Hosking, Glenda Robbie, Mark Robbie		Organised by Glenda and Mark Robbie and their friend Gary, from South Africa. Beautiful day - water very inviting. Started by looking for relics of a demolished pier and continued along the rocky shore. Saw a small stingray, a large octopus, a pretty blue and orange nudibranch and fish galore - leatherjacket, small black and white fish with yellow tails, and single green, blue and black fish.
366	19 Sep 1988	Julian Rocks		Byron Bay	Australia			20	30	32	Iain Hosking, Ashley Dunne, Cathy Humphries		Dived Hughie's Trench. Boat dive from Byron Bay Dive Centre - good value (threw in the DV hire for nothing). Smooth operation - one-man launch of a large, heavy and powerful dive boat, and a total time of around 1.5 hours for 7 divers in the water. Weather fantastic, and water fairly clear, though not spectacular. Saw a large loggerhead turtle, a small moray eel (which Cathy fed) and a couple of wobbegong sharks, plus numerous smaller, colourful fish. One of them bit me, the bastard. Dolphins on the way back. Brilliant.	Wetsuit, hired BCD and DV (mine was in a bad way)
367	20 Sep 1988	Julian Rocks		Byron Bay	Australia			20	30	30	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Calmer weather than yesterday. Dived Cod Hole - a tunnel with a particularly high concentration of fish - bullseyes, jewfish, moray, wrasse, scalyfin (a damselfish), wobbegongs and others too numerous (or unknown) to mention.	Wetsuit, new Mirage ADV, 24lbs, hired DV.
368	22 Oct 1988	Shiprock	Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			14	37	37	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Repeat of last time - boat dive cancelled - we'd already hired the tanks so dived here. Goatfish, catfish, rock cod, huge ugly fish, massive seaslug. Then a mother possum with a baby on her back. Not bad at all. Oh, phosphorescence too.	Mirage ADV, 24lbs, own DV (serviced), hired tank.
369	4 Nov 1988	Spot A	Latitude Rock, Cape Hawke	Forster	Australia			18	36	38	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries, Sarah McCracken		Boat dive organised through Forster Dive Centre. Beautiful day, sea quite lumpy. Visibility good on the surface, poor to terrible on the bottom. Spot A is where all the fish hang out. Those I recognised included bullseyes, scorpionfish, huge groper, lionfish (butterfly cod), wobbegong shark (which swam out from under Cathy's feet), moray eels. The groper were a new sight for us (although I've seen so many photographs they seem like old friends) - very impressive, one a lovely powdery blue. Excellent dive. Afterwards - collected oysters and ate lots. Thai meal at night.	Wetsuit, ADV, 24lbs, own DV, own tank (just tested)
370	5 Nov 1988	The Pinnacles, Forster		Forster	Australia			32	18	20	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries, Sarah McCracken		Overcast day - almost Scottish (but warmer). The Pinnacles is supposed to be a shark-infested spot, and right enough, there was a large grey nurse there. Everyone saw him except Sarah and I. Fish - mados, morwong, blenny. Not so much life stuck to the rocks, but quite a few sea tulips, whatever they might be. Visibility infinitely better than yesterday, and less wave action. Very relaxing dive.	Wetsuit, BC
371	6 Nov 1988	Cape Hawke (north side)		Forster	Australia			8	35	35	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Planned dive with sharks to the north bombed out due to rough seas, so we headed for the sheltered side of Cape Hawke. Initial impression was of sand, weed and debris washing backwards and forwards, but all around were shoals of mado and yellowtail, and looking closer we found a whole host of fish including very colourful wrasse, blennies, a banded parma, two tiny orange fish with electric blue markings and a black spot on the tail which turned out to be the young of the banded parma, some tiny black and white fish, a round puffer or box fish with brown blotches on the back, and a large ray, about four feet across, which effortlessly and elegantly flapped away out of our range. Other life included the same very colourful nudibranch I saw at Cronulla, a translucent snail, sea tulips, seasquirts and many sponges. Still cold, but a lovely relaxed dive. (See drawings in white logbook no 8, page 81.)
372	20 Nov 1988	Royal Shepherd	South Head	Sydney	Australia			27	19	31	Iain Hosking, Scott Brown, Tony Longhurst		First dive on PADI Deep Course (and first Aussie) wreck dive. Timescale: 6am wakey wakey; 6.30 leave, 7.30 arrive Little Manly, 8am boat arrives, 9am dive starts, 9.30am dive ends. Dived in a party of 7 - six students and one instructor. Chaotic at start, compounded by poor vis (Sydney's sewage). Main purpose of the dive was air consumption calculations, to which end we recorded times and cylinder pressures on a slate. As for the wreck - it's sitting in sand, and the hull has largely disappeared. From the bows aft we saw the winch, boiler, engine (with huge flywheel), propshaft, prop and rudder. Fish - one large groper, resting under the propshaft, mado, bullseyes and an angelfish.	Wetsuit/BCD/octopus (Cathy's 2nd stage). Air consumption averaged 21 litres/minute.
373	20 Nov 1988	North Head		Sydney	Australia			21	24	39	Iain Hosking, Scott Brown, Tony Longhurst		Second dive on the PADI Deep Course. The exercise was to practice breathing from an octopus while following a line on the bottom. I donated air on the way out, received it on the way back. We had time for a plowter before surfacing - saw groper, blennies, scalyfins young and old. Carried out simulated stops. Tony tested our reactions when a buddy gave the out of air signal. Mine were fast, but UK-conditioned - I forgot I had an octopus and gave him my valve.	Wetsuit/BCD/octopus (Cathy's 2nd stage). Air consumption averaged 18.5 litres/minute.
374	26 Nov 1988	South Head		Sydney	Australia			36	14	29	Iain Hosking, Scott Brown, Tony Longhurst		Dive 3 on the course. We pretended it was to 42m for 15 minutes, so we decompressed for a dive to 45m for 20 minutes, but actually it was to 36m for 14 minutes. Got that? The water was cold and far too lumpy for comfort (even noticed the swell at 36m). The bottom was sandy, with a few ballast blocks and bits of wood, possibly from the 'Nemesis'. Life - one small wobbegong. Vis - not bad.	Wetsuit/BCD/octopus (Cathy's 2nd stage). Air consumption averaged 16.5 litres/minute on the dive, 36 litres/minute on the descent.
375	27 Nov 1988	Coolooli	Long Reef	Sydney	Australia			37	10	20	Iain Hosking, Scott Brown, Tony Longhurst		4th and last dive on the PADI Deep Course. No exercises or drills, just a good dive in clear water on an old dredger. The 'Coolooli' lies on its side in about 42m, so we went no deeper than the side of the hull. However, the water was clear enough to see the whole wreck. It was only sunk in 1980, so not much growth yet, but some very attractive fish, including leatherjackets and wrasses. Very cold.	Wetsuit/BCD/octopus (Cathy's 2nd stage).
376	3 Dec 1988	Satara	Seal Rocks	Forster	Australia			43	15	33	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		The wreck is fairly intact, and dotted with Devonshire cup coral. The phosphor-bronze prop is particularly attractive. Visibility was good, and the fish life prolific. Very relaxed and enjoyable dive (helped by taking a seasickness tablet beforehand). The stops appear to be Rory's special stops - certainly not the ones from the US Navy tables.	own tank, filled to 230 bar.
377	4 Dec 1988	Catterthun	Seal Rocks	Forster	Australia			55	15	60	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		The day got off to a bad start when Rory found his boat had been cut adrift, but once at sea all troubles were forgotten in the anticipation of an excellent dive. And so it was. From 40m we could see the wreck spread out below us like a map - it was incredibly clear and bright - maybe 150 foot vis and no need of a torch. We landed on the engine cylinders, which stand 40 feet high, and swam forward past the boilers to the bows. The wreck has largely collapsed and all sorts of interesting goodies were visible. Next time we have to do longer than 15 minutes. Stops were apparently enlivened by a shark swimming round us, which as usual I didn't see. Stops are for 20 minutes at 63m, plus an extra 5 minutes at 3m. See https://www.michaelmcfadyenscuba.info/viewpage.php?page_id=82	own tank, filled to 260 bar, equivalent to 104 cu ft!.
378	10 Dec 1988	Undola	off Royal National Park	Sydney	Australia			45	16	28	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		This is a lovely little wreck, best thing I've seen around Sydney. Very dodgy dive, though. Calculated I had enough air for 15 minutes at 43m, plus stops, but that didn't take account of a respectable current. Visibility was good - there was still lots of brass to see on the wreck (valves and things), plus kitchen tiles from Aberfoyle Quarry and a 'Shanks Barrhead' loo [Barrhead is where they make Irn Bru.] Very colourful fish, including baby scalyfin and a sizeable six-spined leatherjacket (with a black and yellow spot on the side). Towards the end of the dive the fun started, as Mark called us down to look at the prop, then I noticed I had about 30 bar left. When the anchor was lifted (using a lifting bag!) the 6m bar was lifted to 2m, and Sarah's borrowed Brain was flashing 'Dec 6' at me. Plus I now had zero air. After what seemed an age the bar dropped back to 6m, whereupon the Brain said we could now go to 3m. I grabbed the spare air, only to find it didn't work, and I had to borrow air from another diver with a twinset. Eventually surfaced after 28 minutes. Never again will I do that depth for that time with that tank.	own tank (200 bar)
379	18 Dec 1988	Barron's Hut	off Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			25	27	30	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Out on Max's boat again, with Martin, Sarah and Alex (from EUSAC). Good wall dive, with lots of sheltered ledges, nooks and crannies for the wildlife, a cave running back into a chimney, and huge boulders it was possible to swim under. Lots of sponges, scalyfin (saw one chase off another), wrasse, a couple of groper, some worried sea urchins, nudibranchs and some beautiful branching soft coral - red with white coral polyps. Lots of Devonshire cup coral too. Very colourful - good dive, good food, good company.
380	18 Dec 1988	Osborne Shoals		Sydney	Australia			22	30	30	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Liked the previous dive so much it made sense to have another one (even at $20 a throw). This site is just out from the mouth of Dolan's bay. Still good weather. Got off to a bad start when the mouthpiece broke off on my DV. Then the anchor chain bounced up because of the swell and ripped my mask off. Things improved after this, though, and we had a very relaxed plowter around in the swell. Saw bullseyes, yellowtail, trevally, a boxfish and a ray. We had a spot of bother getting Sarah off to Orange afterwards, but she's safely on the train now. She also has a car.
381	2 Jan 1989	Shiprock	Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			12	50	50	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		Rough weather, so plans for an inflatable boat trip scaled down to another Shiprock dive. A larger group than usual - Sarah, Mark, Andy Holroyd and Jackie as shore cover, along with John Ward, Andrea and Derek from Richmond RAAF BSAC. It was Mark's first dive in Australia and, like me, he was amazed at the quantity, variety and colours of the fish. We trogged slowly along, peering into crevices, seeing what we could see. What we saw was a moray eel, several catfish (or rock ling), scorpionfish, a big shoal of old wives (which have poisonous dorsal spines), leatherjackets, rock code, yellowtail, and on the crustacean front, hermit crabs and some really delicate little shrimps. The highlight was an octopus, which retreated over the rocks in an incredibly fluid motion. The poor thing was desperate to get away, but it wasn't until Sarah tried to grab it that it jetted off into the murk leaving two spots of ink behind it. Two cuttlefish finished things off nicely. Good curry afterwards.
382	14 Jan 1989	Tuggerah	Royal National Park	Sydney	Australia			46	14	25	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall, Sarah McCracken		Took Mark and Sarah out for a real Sydney wreck (birthday present for Mark). Met Peter (the Swede) and Jeff, who dived with me on the 'Undola' last month, and Richard. Sea horrible - divers all chunderous - but worth it. Visibility on the surface was brilliant - clear blue water - well over 100 foot vis. Not so good on the bottom, though - about 40 foot. Thousands of fish forming not so much a veil around the wreck as a wall. Headed to the bows first, where Sarah met a numbfish, and was totally shocked by the experience. They're very lazy, and I was lucky not to be fried while digging it up. Anyway - back to the boiler (with resident small moray) and the stern, with yellowtail, old wives and toadfish. Back to the line inside planned time despite being temporarily lost in fish. Deco stops and anti-chunder stops.	(wet sleeve)
383	28 Jan 1989	Shiprock	Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			12	40	40	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Cathy's first dive since 6th November. Dived with Paul and Di (from Cathy's work). Late start - didn't get there till 10.30 (Vietnamese the night before). First encountered a fish trap (with attendant fisherman above - Paul had to explain how the line broke). Cathy found a largish octopus which gave her a fright when it tapped on her face mask with a tentacle. Found its little brother close by, trying to cover itself with rocks. Masses of fish life (porcupinefish, numerous leatherjackets, a school of old wives, senator wrasse, morwong, scalyfin, stripey and many more), nudibranchs and a few little shrimps. Strong current meant all the soft coral had the polyps out - very pretty. After the dive met a very keen diver in his car waiting for anyone else to turn up.	Rather hot in the dry suit.
384	14 Feb 1989	Muir Rock	Bicheno	Tasmania	Australia			15	35	35	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		First dive as a married couple. Arrived in Devonport 8.30 and drove over to Bicheno. In the water at 3.30pm after a very smooth boat launch and a short trip out. Visibility - probably unprecedented. Strong wave action - swell pushed us through swim-throughs between huge boulders. Heaps of fish - leatherjackets, porcupinefish (globe fish), yellowtail, trevally, wrasse, morwong, bullseyes and a ray (banded stingaree). Appetites definitely whetted, despite bad weather.
385	15 Feb 1989	Hairy Wall	Bicheno	Tasmania	Australia			33	10	12	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Pissing with rain before, during and after dive. As usual in this country all jumped in and descended together. Not me, though - a last check revealed that my tank was empty. Back out, cursing. Saw a fairy penguin. Steve (not in our group) came up sick, so I relieved him of his tank and followed the bubbles to the others. Caught up with Mark and Cathy, but lost them again looking at seawhips covered in pretty pink anemones. Tony arrived and signalled that time was up, and that was it. Frustrating.
386	15 Feb 1989	K? reef	Bicheno	Tasmania	Australia			22	30	30	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Very clear, very relaxed. Fish - long-snouted boarfish, toothbrush leatherjacket, bastard trumpeter (yes, that's its name), globe fish, banded morwong, butterfly perch and two sharks, which I thought at first were Port Jacksons, except that their heads were more shark-shaped. Very lazy - sleeping in a cave. Also saw cuttlefish. Cathy picked up several empty abalone shells. Very rich site. Crayfish on this dive, and all others - the dive centre didn't let their divers take them.
387	16 Feb 1989	The Castle	Bicheno	Tasmania	Australia			27	29	32	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		The Castle is one of the more spectacular Bicheno dive sites - a wide tunnel, 70 feet long, lined with crayfish, dozens on one ledge alone. We emerged onto a shelf of rock, sloping up on our left, with a wall on our right. Numerous morwong, bullseyes and one or two globe fish. Returned along a winding gully above the tunnel. Maybe the strangest thing of all was the sound of the rock moving in the surge - quite spooky as Cathy and I were last and had to wait quite a while in the tunnel entrance listening to the grating of thousands of tons of rock over our heads.
388	16 Feb 1989	Split Rock	Bicheno	Tasmania	Australia			22	28	30	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Pretty tame - kelp, rocks, small cliffs, sponges, abalone, a cray or two, senator wrasse. The sort of dive that would amaze anyone straight from Dunbar. We wandered through this garden of coloured sponges, picking up abalone shells no longer required by their owners. Vis -tremendous, and weather now improved.
389	17 Feb 1989	Paradise Reef	Bicheno	Tasmania	Australia			36	13	14	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Should have been the 'Golden Bommies' but communications breakdown meant Cathy and I did our own thing. Strong current - we drifted at first then took shelter behind a wall. Saw a cowfish and an opened 'brain anemone' plus sea whips, otherwise life similar to other dives here. Cathy tore her wrist seal with one of her rings. Repaired over lunch.
390	17 Feb 1989	Alligator Rock	Bicheno	Tasmania	Australia			22	30	35	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Site comprises boulders and a vertical wall going down to around 26-28m (estimated). Good weather at last - sun shining down through the kelp above, and lighting up the cliff face. Water was incredibly clear, and Cathy enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere - she came face to face with a boarfish, and found a pretty nudibranch - 3 inches long, bluish-mauve with reddish-purple spots. Heaps of sponges, and sea-whips with coats of pink anemones. Took a close look at black sea-urchins and found they are actually deep red. Small shrimps find refuge in behind the spines, which are moved towards an intruder. New fish - Tasmanian trumpeter, or 'stripey', and some kind of carp, greyish with white markings on its side resembling calcified worm casts. After the dive Cathy went snorkelling with Andrew Kennedy, and was quizzed by a policeman about catching fish.
391	18 Feb 1989	The Steps	Bicheno	Tasmania	Australia			30	20	25	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		Still sunny, but rough - many white horses. Descended to weedy bottom at 16m, swam anticlockwise round reef to SE corner, where there's a big cave formed by house-sized boulders. Max depth here of 30m. Abundant fish - bullseyes most common, then leatherjacket, banded morwong. Saw scalyfin for the first time in Tasmania (white-ear). Other fish - blue-throated wrasse, catfish and ornate cowfish (in weed at the end of the dive). Usual masses of sponges. Basket star - a black and white starfish with branched legs. When unravelled from the sponge it looks like [illustration in logbook]. Found two cuttlefish under an overhang and witnessed their amazing colour changes. They go red when startled (ie when they first see you) and spread their tentacles wide. When relaxed their colour matches the background. It happens very quickly. With torch off it was easier to see the changes - one showed bands of light and dark moving swiftly forwards to its head (4-5 per second). Amazing. Vis was tremendous - saw the boat from the bottom at 30m. Watched the others get into the boat (and cavitation bubbles from the prop) from the 6m stops. Forgot to unplug suit inflation hose before getting into the boat, and pulled the fitting out of the suit. Very wet!
392	18 Feb 1989	Muir Rock	Bicheno	Tasmania	Australia			20	33	35	Iain Hosking, Mark Inall		Heavy swell meant that the tunnels and swimthroughs were exhilarating, to say the least. Mark and I dived into every crevice we could find, including some dead ends, where it was necessary to brace your hands against the sides of a tunnel to avoid being plugged into the end like a cork into a bottle. First highlight was a banded stingaree, sandy-coloured, buried with only his tail and eye showing. Played with it for a while before turning our attention to a globe fish which was persuaded by Mark to inflate itself with water. I just about collapsed laughing when this spiny ball was batted towards me. In this condition it has little attitude control and it could only just move forwards. Once left in peace it deflated itself in about 10 seconds. Other life - morwongs, bastard trumpeter, white sea-urchins, Devonshire cup coral, a shoal of yellowtail, sea carp and the usual bullseyes and leatherjackets.
393	18 Feb 1989	Bicheno Slip	Bicheno	Tasmania	Australia			10	30	30	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Night dive. Well-prepared with 3 torches and a lightstick each, but it still wasn't enough. Followed the stone jetty out of the bay - Cathy found a large conger under the jetty. We also saw a number of cardinalfish, looking stunned in the torchlight. Leatherjackets also behaved strangely, allowing themselves to be handled. Still couldn't tell what kind they were. 3 kinds - brown overall, fawn with blue spots on the back and blue stripes on the face, and light brown with dark brown blotches (the dorsal fin folded into a groove it its head). Also saw an ornate cowfish which was completely unperturbed by us. The highlight was the seahorses which we found attached to the kelp. With some persuasion they would wrap their tail around a diver's finger. Unfortunately we struck a heap of problems at this point - Cathy was too buoyant (air in BC) so her fins were coming off. My torch (Birchley) ran down and Cathy's failed and I accidentally pulled her DV out. However, we navigated back safely, and even saw phosphorescence.
394	25 Mar 1989	Shiprock	Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			15	45	45	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Was to have been the 'Tuggerah' but when we phoned Max he said 'No mate, it's been blowing all night mate,' so it was plan B again. From the tide tables it looked ideal - HW at 10.07 am at Port Hacking, but in fact the current was ferocious, and appeared to be ebbing. It rained while we changed, the vis was relatively poor, and my right sleeve leaked, but apart from that it was fine. Saw a black anglerfish, hanging on to the soft coral using its fins like hands. Also a goatfish, with an attendant juvenile, by its appearance. Usual piles of fish, especially leatherjacket. Not bad.	Hired 88 (which required an extra 4lbs - I was buoyant by the end of the dive).
395	27 Aug 1989	Cape Solander	Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell	Sydney	Australia			12	50	50	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Oh dear, a five-month lay-off - a new record. This dive was Cathy's idea, and an excellent reintroduction for her after a six-month layoff. We had perfect weather - a few puffy cumulus in an otherwise clear sky, and calm water inshore with white horses beyond. The entry is off flat rocks, and then it's onto bare boulders at 5m, and sponge-covered rocks at 10m. We saw a huge cuttlefish almost immediately - Cathy spotted him in the open. Then it was over the boulders, among mado and little yellow and black blennies. In among the sponges were numerous assorted nudibranchs, and the fish included a blue groper, wrasse, leatherjacket, goatfish and scalyfin. I think it was mating season for scalyfin - one was chasing the other round and round. But the highlight was a weedy sea dragon. This improbable fish floated motionless inches from our noses. Amazing. A return visit is indicated. (LW slack at 11.00am)
396	3 Sep 1989	Fly Point		Nelson Bay	Australia			24	32	35	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		We're trying to dive more often now. Nelson Bay was said to be excellent for shore diving, so here we are. Up at 7.45 am (stayed in caravan at Anna Bay). Fly Point is a popular spot for the local dive schools. The site, in short, is unspectacular as far as geology is concerned, being a shallow slope to sand at 24m, but the fish life is comprehensive. We started with a family of cuttlefish, which changed from black and white stripes, through orange, to light sandy, then it was mado, wrasse, a hungry big groper, small moray eels, a wobbegong, rays and an octopus, which spread itself out very decoratively over the rocks and turned its body black and its legs sandy-coloured. Ran out of air too soon (Judith in Scuba Warehouse only filled my tank to 150 bar) and surfaced to find two boats racing one another between us and the shore. Nerve-wracking snorkel back to the exit. Probably not a site to repeat. (HW slack 10.20am. Current - appreciable)	Cathy now has her own tank - an 88 cu ft aluminium one. Her BC failed, though. I swapped my hose onto it underwater.)
397	9 Sep 1989	Tuggerah	Royal National Park	Sydney	Australia			45	16	32	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Cockup with tank fill and neck rings meant that Max was swearing at me on the way out, but that apart it was a good dive. Max hooked the welding rod grapple into a 1 inch hole in the wreck and pulled the line in taut so that it was a short swim to the wreck. Clouds of nannegai as usual and half a dozen wobbegong. One was 7 foot long and looked pregnant, while another, 6 foot long, was tangled in a net at the prop. In Martin's words I scored 150 brownie points in the wobbegong world by setting it free, an interesting task involving twisting the net tightly around its head so it couldn't bite me while I cut the net open further down. Stopped at Frog Dive in Merrylands to buy twin bands ($55). Heaps of air next dive...	Cathy's 88
398	16 Sep 1989	Hallcaine		Sydney	Australia			45	16	41	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		First dive with the Terrigal club (Brisbane Waters Aqualung Club) - birthday present from Sarah. Sea not as calm as expected - very chunderous. But a beautiful day. Fortunately felt OK in the water, and guesstimate of weight required was about right. The wreck was a wooden steamship, so only the machinery is left - boiler, engine, anchor, winches and two bronze props. Plenty of the stuff that glints, though the telegraph has gone. Fish - nannegai, little morays, scalyfin. Also colourful nudibranchs and cup coral. Vis not bad. Suit wet.	82 + 88 cu ft + 2 DVs. About 20lbs lead. Could do with 4 more.
399	8 Oct 1989	Camp Cove	East of Watson's Bay	Sydney	Australia			7	50	50	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		New site at picnic area next to small (but very busy) beach. Car parking a matter of luck on a hot day like today (we were lucky). Description in Tom Byron's book (p15): lots of morays, plenty of colourful nudibranchs, some lion fish and a number of giant sea slugs. We saw no morays, no nudibranchs, one lion fish (tiny) but several cuttlefish - colour changes amazing as always. They change colour if you move your hand next to them. Fish - bullseyes, mado, stripey, blennies, sweep and the scalyfin, territorial as usual. Cathy found a cowrie. Good caves at the start of the dive, full of sponges. I had buoyancy problems because of using Cathy's tank - mine no longer fits the backpack, which is sick. Hence very wet.	New yoke. Cathy's tank, 28lbs.
400	14 Oct 1989	West Point	Pitt Water	Sydney	Australia			7	30	30	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Out on 'Jennifer' - a 40 foot concrete Hartley motor cruiser - with Cathy, Hayden and Andrea. Sheer luxury - beautiful weather, good company, champagne flowing. We dived on the remains of our air from the last dive, but at this depth it gave us a decent dive. Saw mado, blennies, senator wrasse, morwong, yellowfin, little trevally and a cowfish, plus nudibranchs and bullseyes under the overhangs. Nothing edible, but in the evening collected half a dozen buckets of oysters by snorkelling along the shore. These went down very ell with the duck, prawns and champers, to the sounds of whipbirds, friars and mopoke (owl).	BC, 28lbs.
401	15 Oct 1989	Lion Island	Broken Bay	Sydney	Australia			6	15	15	Iain Hosking		Now on the 3rd dive from one fill of Cathy's tank. Looking for crayfish. None. The usual fish, plus nudibranchs. Buoyant because of the near-empty tank. Discovered once again that snorkelling is not possible with a drysuit.	Cathy's 88.
402	22 Oct 1989	Cape Solander	Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell	Sydney	Australia			12	30	30	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries, Eleanor Mullally		Threesome with Cathy and Eleanor. Could certainly never have predicted that a year ago. I'm afraid it wasn't as good as last time. Good weather, but a considerable swell, making entry tricky and exit downright dangerous. We descended quickly to get some calm water (and peace and quiet - the shoreline was very busy). Vis good at first, but relatively murky at depth. Saw a big wrasse (or groper) then nothing much except scalyfin and goatfish. Sponges were good, though. Found a couple of small moray, then lost Eleanor due to buoyancy problems (hers). Swam back on the surface and lost one of Eleanor's fins in the swell. Fairly warm in the wet suit, but legs heavy.	BC, 28lbs.
403	3 Jan 1990	Spot A	Latitude Rock, Cape Hawke	Forster	Australia			18	38	38	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Back to Forster again, for the first time in over a year. Rory has now sold the Forster Dive Centre to Aari Braak, who owns the Tikki Boatshed and Marina, but he still works there, as well as doing commercial work locally and in the Philippines. Today was a scorcher - localised sunburn despite all precautions. Much better than last time (4/11/88) and same fish - groper (which didn't get a feed out of us), morays, a lionfish (hiding in a crevice), scalyfin, mado, stripey, bullseyes and sea carp. The Thai restaurant has now closed (pity) so we laid on a seafood barbecue for Lianne and Scott (plus Mitchell and Tracy) at Tuncurry. Good day. (No significant current even though 2 hours after slack, but strong wave action.)	BC valve stuck open again, letting all the air escape - a very unpleasant situation. Bought silicone spray in an attempt to cure the problem.
404	13 Jan 1990	Not the Yambacoona	Terrigal	Sydney	Australia			25	15	17	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		8am start so drove up to Terrigal the night before and camped. Up with the lark and on the beach shortly after 7am. Already hot. Much hotter inside the drysuit. Descended along the anchor line to find Bruce Smith executing a circular search for the wreck. He didn't find it, so after milling around for a while we came up.
405	13 Jan 1990	Haven Sponge Gardens	Terrigal	Sydney	Australia			20	30	32	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Donned the wetsuit in an attempt to keep cool. BC inflation hose burst before the dive so reduced to mouth inflation. Had to dismantle and reassemble it on the dive before it would hold any air. Vis pretty poor. Saw boulders, sponges, scalyfin (many juveniles), wrasse, shrimp (cleaning station?) and a huge whelk-like thing.
406	3 Feb 1990	Guerrilla Bay	South of Bateman's Bay	Bateman's Bay	Australia			10	30	30	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		[No date or time recorded - see Cathy's logbook? Obviously somewhere between 20th January and 14th April.] In Cathy's words 'more like a swim than a dive.' Unexciting terrain and sea life (bare grey rocks, sea urchins and scalyfin, with a few sea carp. Beautiful day, though.
407	21 Apr 1990	Nerong	Norah Head, Terrigal	Sydney	Australia			40	15	30	Iain Hosking, John ?		Up at 6am for this one. Forecast of rain belied by clear blue skies and a (relatively) calm sea (still felt seasick). Wreck is a steamship, circa 1918, of an old design with the engines mounted aft. Hull is rotted away down to engine room level, the boiler being very prominent. Two props, two anchors at the bows, Several wobbegong, two large cuttlefish, carp, rays and smaller fish (yellowtail etc). Good dive.	BC, Cathy's 88, 30lbs lead.
408	26 May 1990	Manly	Around the corner from Shelly Beach	Sydney	Australia			15	50	50	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster		Recommended by Phil Marshal. Tricky descent to the water down a cliff and across boulders, which continued underwater. Exposed site so few squidgy things, but lots of fish - sea carp, morwong, yellowtail, bream, a moray eel, pomfret (ladder-finned) etc. Also abalone and cuttlefish. Found a goody bag. Beautiful day.	No BC (they're worse than useless), 82, 26lbs.
409	27 May 1990	Shiprock	Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			14	45	45	Iain Hosking, Crawford Foster		All EUSAC visitors get taken to this spot. A good dive (except for the leaky suit) with heaps of leatherjacket (including one new to me - fan-bellied), all eating the soft coral, and old wives, catfish, rock cod (ugly), flounder, magpie morwong, immaculate damsel. Best moment was Crawford's close encounter with a numbfish (electric ray). Finished off with an octopus - amazing colour changes.	Discovered the cause of the leak in the left sleeve - the Draeger mushroom valve - then spoilt it by melting a hole in the cuff. Saturated during the dive - amazing that so much water can enter through one small hole.
410	9 Jun 1990	Fairlight	Manly	Sydney	Australia			8	60	60	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Wet suit dive due to hole in drysuit cuff. Planned 'Hole in the Wall' at Avalon but sea conditions were unnerving so we decided discretion was the better part of valour and nipped down to this site which Henny knew about. An amazing site for such a shallow dive, with heaps of fish - mado, scalyfin, yellowtail, wrasse, morwong, bream, goatfish. One bit me - a cardinal wrasse I think. Henny, Cathy and I dived - Bill snorkelled. He found a porcupine fish, which became offended and puffed itself up. The terrain was interesting, with lots of overhangs and tunnels. At the end we swam over weed and seasquirts and Cathy spotted a garfish - long and thin with a pipe-like snout and a tail like a spike. Weird. Although it was winter I wasn't at all cold in the wetsuit - there's obviously life in it yet.
411	13 Jul 1990	St Abbs	South side of the Firth of Forth	Forth	Scotland			14	38	38	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Acclimatisation dive for spoilt expats, plus test run for £1200-worth of new dive gear. Pleasant day, though hazy. St Abbs very quiet, water calm, but murky. Found Cathedral without problems - saw saithe plus the usual three ballan wrasse. Did not find our way back so easily, and ended with a hefty snorkel back. Luca's ice-cream in Craigmillar.	All-new: Typhoon Hi-spec drysuit, Thinsulate woolly bear, Spiro Supra DV, Aladin Pro, EUSAC 78, borrowed weights (about 28lbs - too heavy).
412	14 Jul 1990	Auliston Point	Loch Sunart	Scottish West Coast	Scotland			33	22	22	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		First dive of the EUSAC 1990 St Kilda Trip. Very unusual conditions - absolutely flat calm, hazy and warm. The site is very like Calve Island cliffs - a rocky slope, followed by a vertical drop-off to 36m. Plenty of Devonshire cup coral, tubeworms, dead men's fingers and seasquirts. 'Jean de la Lune' (skippered by John Muir) is very comfortable and civilised.	Rollo's twinset (twin 55s) plus 20lbs lead. Weights rearranged so none are in the small of the back. Too light.
413	15 Jul 1990	Dun Mór	Sanday	Outer Hebrides	Scotland			31	26	26	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		St Kilda Trip. Left Tobermory 8.30 am. Breakfast en route to Canna. Sea calm, but weather glum. 10 divers dived a cliff, but sorry to say we missed it. Still, plenty to see, including sea cucumbers, squat lobsters, crabs, cup coral, nudibranchs and shoals of fish (pollack?)	24lbs. Too heavy.
414	15 Jul 1990	Sgeir à Phuirt	Canna	Outer Hebrides	Scotland			28	23	23	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		With the 'Jean de la Lune' moored at Canna we used the squidgy to run out to the reef. Several seals struggled into the water as we approached. Decent cliff face to 28-30m, with masses of plumose anemones in white, orange and green shades. Also dahlia anemones and the little white anemone, east and west coast squat lobsters, shoals of pollack, cup coral and nudibranchs. Vis too poor to see the seals. Overnight at Canna - now headed for the Outer Hebrides and hopefully St Kilda.	2 x 6lb, 2 x 4lb, 1 x 2lb (22lbs). Just right.
415	17 Jul 1990	Am Plastair	Soay	St Kilda	Scotland			42	18	18	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Monday was spent sailing from Canna to St Kilda, arriving at sunset. This was our first dive on St Kilda. Dived on the Soay side of the stack. Dropped into the water under brooding cliffs with clouds swirling around their tops, and descended to the bottom at 40m Vis not too good, and water very green, but underwater life very pretty, with some anemones I hadn't seen before, with green centres and red tips to the tentacles. After dive - breakfast, a walk round the village, lunch and a climb to the south peak of Hirta, overlooking Dún. [4 stars for the setting and atmosphere, rather than the dive]
416	17 Jul 1990	Mina Stac	NE of Hirta	St Kilda	Scotland			23	32	32	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Another atmospheric stack below dramatic cliffs. Good views of Boreray. Dropped down the cliff to a large archway with a rock in the middle. Good vis, compared to this morning. Continued drifting down-current over boulders covered with anemones. Found a whopper of a crab - left it in peace. Came upon Malc and Mary - gosh, our torches are bright these days. Surfaced to some boat-handling games. Plenty of puffins and fulmars.
417	18 Jul 1990	Rubha Bhrengadal	Boreray	St Kilda	Scotland			37	29	29	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		An unbelievably good dive. Jumped ino a fairly rough sea, and began with a knackering snorkel to the cliff. Descended and had trouble with Cathy's fin, then torch. We swam past the entrance to the tunnel (everyone did) and turned back. The tunnel mouth was indicated by two seals swimming out of it. Vis was excellent, and we could see the far end of the tunnel from the entrance. The tunnel was narrow vertically but wide horizontally, and boulders covered the floor. A large lobster lived under one of them. At the far end we emerged next to the cliff face and turned right, over a rock fall into an enormous crevice perhaps 8-10 feet wide and a hundred feet deep. We finned slowly along this taking in the scale of the scenery, observed for most of the distance by seals. (They cock their heads on either side like a dog.) One seal made his escape past us and ran full-tilt into Snash who was following behind. The seals were light grey with dark mottling, and a silvery sheen, and they were big. Apart from the seals we met a shoal of pollack, and the squidgy life included walls of jewel anemones, dahlia anemones, sea squirts and dead men's fingers. Exciting exit (rough).
418	18 Jul 1990	Seal Cave, Rubha Ghill Caves	E end of Hirta	St Kilda	Scotland			30	30	30	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Sea now rougher so chose this site hopefully in the lee of the island. Dropped off near the cave and dived into it - it's the size of a large church. The floor was round boulders decreasing in size from 3 foot diameter at the entrance to football size further in. We swam some way in before turning round and following the cliff round to the south. Walls of jewel anemones, cup coral, crabs, pollack and a seal, which observed us from a distance. Found four crabs pulling an octopus apart.
419	19 Jul 1990	Soay, East of Am Plaistir	North side of Soay	St Kilda	Scotland			50	30	40	Iain Hosking, Ted Brindley		'Just a reef off Soay' according to John's initial description. He then mentioned an archway. It turned out to be a vertiginous descent through clear, blue water to a pebbly bottom at 50m. Ahead was the archway, with a little pile of bones in the middle. At the back of the arch were three exits - we chose the right one - tall and narrow - and then re-entered the arch through the left one. Back through the arch we followed the boulder slope to 14m. Some of the boulders were at least garage-sized, with swim-throughs. Shoal of pollack and a very shy seal topped off the dive. (Weather - overcast, blowy, occasional drizzle, but didn't matter.)
420	19 Jul 1990	The Sawcut	Dún	St Kilda	Scotland			36	30	30	Iain Hosking, Ted Brindley		The mist drew in so far we couldn't see Village Bay, nor most of Dún. Dropped in next to the Sawcut and proceeded inwards in a westerly direction m'lud. The Sawcut was about 4 feet wide and 100 feet deep. Visibility must have been 100 feet. We sat at the far end of the cut watching the other divers below us, and their bubbles rising all the way to the surface 25m above. Eventually we drifted out and to the left, but baulked at swimming into the tunnel against the current. Instead, somersaults etc were the order of the day.
421	20 Jul 1990	Sgarbhstac Submarine Arch	Boreray	St Kilda	Scotland			51	28	28	Iain Hosking, Iain Fairbrother		This is the site that gets the longest write-up in Ridley's book, and you can see why. Conditions were perfect as we dropped off the boat and descended to depth. As we dropped over the lip of the arch the whole scene came into view. The bottom was clean. grey stone and the visibility was excellent - we easily saw all the other divers silhouetted against the far opening, with the bubbles going up to the roof 20m above. We spent a few minutes on the bottom drinking in the view, then ascended slowly up the walls (covered in jewel anemones) to the apex at 30m. Then further up there was an air pocket, which allowed Iain to apologise for kicking out my DV at 50m. Stops were spent hanging onto kelp and watching the sealife.
422	20 Jul 1990	Levenish, north face		St Kilda	Scotland			30	33	33	Iain Hosking, Iain Fairbrother		Amazing - a St Kilda dive without tunnels or clear blue water. This was murky by St Kilda standards and Levenish Tunnel was strictly off-limits. [Derek Borthwick's buddy was killed there.] Swam under one house-sized boulder, and saw a couple of shy seals, but for the rest of the dive it was closeups of squidgies, especially a weird crustacean called a coprellid, which seems to have exploded in numbers. See Cathy's log for a sketch.
423	21 Jul 1990	Stac Lee	SE face	St Kilda	Scotland			41	24	24	Iain Hosking, Alex Gray		Overcast again, and rougher. Seas were running into a cave in Stac Lee and compressing the air inside, which spat out a plume of spray. It looked dangerous. We dived over a slope to 40m, in a heavy swell. Saw one seal - shy, as usual when the viz is poorer. For the rest of the dive it was anemones, velvet crabs and dead men's fingers, and swell.
424	21 Jul 1990	Stassa	Rodel Bay, Harris	Outer Hebrides	Scotland			27	33	33	Iain Hosking, Alex Gray		Conditions - sunny and calm. Low sun angle, green water, poor vis - lots of silt, especially with 12 divers down at once. The wreck lies on its starboard side, and is buoyed at the bridge. We swam forwards to the bows, then back to the bridge, engine room (in through 'greenhouse' hatch and out through the bottom of the hull) then to the stern. Spare prop (iron) is on the seabed below the stern accommodation. The main prop must have been bronze, because it's gone. Spent the night in Lochmaddy.
425	22 Jul 1990	Oigh Sgeir Light	West of Rhum	Outer Hebrides	Scotland			25	45	45	Iain Hosking, Graham Russell		Oigh Sgeir is a flattish lump of basalt west of Rhum. Conditions absolutely perfect - the sea glassy calm, the sky blue with unlimited surface vis. We saw a panorama of the entire Outer Hebrides, from the Butt of Lewis to Barra Head. After some bowsprit-jumping Graham and I descended down a cliff of basalt pillars with an overhang at the top. A short meeting of the EUSAC headstanders was followed by a plowter along the boulder slope looking at sea cucumbers. Came upon Andy and Iain Fairbrother, then Adrian who was menaced by a crab claw on the end of a stick. Jewel anemones, nudibranchs, fish. Spent a long time watching fish feed off a sea urchin. Hilarious dive.
426	23 Jul 1990	Rondo	Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull	Mull	Scotland			50	21	21	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		End of Trip 'Bows of the Rondo' dash. Murky green water, dark, atmospheric wreck (top has collapsed). Shook hands at the bows and then headed straight back up (into the current). Stops on the rudder. Still perfect surface conditions.
427	8 Sep 1990	Shiprock	Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			14	40	40	Iain Hosking, Bill MacFarlane		Seventh dive at this spot - it's rapidly becoming Sydney's Dunbar. Bill's first post-qualification dive, and better than his open-water dives at Terrigal last weekend. All the fish turned up - catfish, moray eel, sea scorpion, fortescue, scalyfin, morwong, leatherjacket, even a couple of boxfish. Noticeable current, quite clear.	Typhoon dry suit. Thinsulate woolly bear (NOT too hot - others cold). 82 cu ft tank, 28lbs lead. First dip for new Seiko watch and Scubapro Mk 10 DV (excellent!)
428	22 Sep 1990	Cape Solander	Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell	Sydney	Australia			12	40	40	Iain Hosking, Bill MacFarlane		Dive delayed once again by lack of BC hose (on Bill's BC) - this time I put one on but it turned out to be the burst one. Drove into Cronulla to buy another one - I suppose a spare's always handy. Very pleasant dive, with reasonable visibility. Plenty of fish - all the usual, plus groper. The highlight was a cuttlefish which ran through the most amazing colour changes - from sandy to a good imitation of pebbles and rocks, light purple/pink (sponge) to deep red and purple when he got annoyed. Also an octopus, but no weedy sea dragons. ($5 entry fee to park.)	Buddy Arctic
429	7 Oct 1990	The Gutter	Bass Point, Shellharbour	Sydney	Australia			15	35	35	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Beautiful sunny day, sun sparkling on the waves. A fair swell made entry and exit interesting, but didn't cause much inconvenience below 10m. Water pretty clear and masses of fish, many of which appeared to be following us, in particular a big groper (eastern blue) and his mate, leatherjacket, scalyfin, mado and various wrasse and blennies. Looks like a good spot for a return visit on a calm day.
430	14 Oct 1990	Shiprock	Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			13	29	29	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		The curse strikes again, as 4-5m seas batter the NSW coast. This time Sarah decided to get wet anyway, but I'm afraid it wasn't the best conditions for a trainee. Zilch vis, waterborne hoons and a bit of current to make things interesting. Well, we survived, but a boat dive would certainly be nice.
431	20 Oct 1990	Underwater Wilderness	off Royal National Park	Sydney	Australia			15	39	39	Iain Hosking, Bill MacFarlane		Out on the 'Cape Bailey' booked through Frogdive, Merrylands. Run by Andrew and Angela. Beautiful day, and sea almost calm for a change (though with a slight swell of 1-1.5m). The site is south of Barron's Hut (I think) and is a gutter running SW from a favourite fishing spot. Clear water (60-70 ft). Blue groper (4 males + 2 brown females), Port Jackson sharks, scalyfin by the score, mado, rock cod, scorpionfish and some good swim-throughs. Cost: $20.
432	4 Nov 1990	Seal Rocks		Forster	Australia			25	25	25	Iain Hosking, Bill MacFarlane, Cathy Humphries		[no depth or time recorded in log book] Late start from Sydney and a leisurely Saturday, ending with a Malaysian meal with Rory and Jo McMahon. Rory's bourbon measures were a little too generous so felt seasick this morning. The dive was good, with heaps of fish, and a cuttlefish, but the highlight of the dive was the huge turtle, which put in an appearance at the beginning and end of the dive (and tried to bite one of the divers - Jaws in slow motion). I didn't see the four sharks that everyone saw except Cathy and I.
433	11 Nov 1990	East Shark Island		Sydney	Australia			12	37	37	Iain Hosking, Graham Russell		Out on the 'Cape Bailey' again, with Sarah and Steve. Too rough to dive off the National Park, so we chose this site. A single gully, kelp either side, strong wave action, poor vis. Saw morwong, blue groper, bullseyes etc. Graham's first Australian dive.
434	17 Nov 1990	Coolooli	Long Reef	Sydney	Australia			49	20	46	Iain Hosking, Graham Russell		One of the best wreck dives ever, reminiscent of Scapa Flow. Up at 5am, left at 5.45, at Palm Beach 6.30, boat left 7, in the water at 8am. Keen. Wreck lies on its starboard side. We swam straight through the middle - out at the bows, past the buckets, then back over the deck, along to the stern and back. Beautiful inside - very accessible, and full of fish, mainly bullseyes, but some leatherjackets, morwong, sea perch, sea scorpions etc. Inside engine room - generators are still there. Other divers - Martin, Graham, John, Adam, Sarah and Sarah. (One of the Sarahs is from Scoutscroft, Eyemouth.)	2 x 63 cu ft tanks with 2 DVs, 28lb shot belt. Just right.
435	2 Dec 1990	Cape Solander	Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell	Sydney	Australia			13	46	46	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Nice, safe dive for Andrew and Michelle who haven't been in the water since New Year. Sunny day and very hot. Sea calm, vis not that great (outgoing tide, 1 hour before HW). Plenty of nudibranchs, an octopus, big leatherjacket, a small moray, wrasse, scalyfin and wonderful sponge gardens. Saw three new fish: velvetfish, which is very reluctant to move, even when prodded, and two very colourful ones - one with blue stripes on the head, the other smaller, like a blenny with red spots on the head.
436	8 Dec 1990	Bombo	Wollongong	Sydney	Australia			32	29	29	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		This was another 5am wakey wakey job. Martin drove us down, and we used the boat of a couple of blokes he knows. Sea was pretty calm, but on a very strong swell, and the other group of divers had to abort their dive when one of them became sick. We dropped down the anchor line to the stern, and had a look through the engine room (full of nannegai) then swam through to the port side, up the wreck and in again at the forward swim-through. Here we surprised a lovely big cuttlefish 1.5 feet long, with frilly tentacles, orange and red. We also surprised a moray eel when my weightbelt fell off. Vis not too good, but a very enjoyable dive.	Hot
437	18 Dec 1990	The Pinnacles, Forster		Forster	Australia			40	27	27	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Very unfortunate dive. No echo sounder on Rory's boat so we depended on transits - except it was too hazy. Very hot day - sunburnt. Water clear at the surface but absolutely pea-soup at depth. Didn't stray more than 20ft from the anchor yet lost it. Spent the whole dive playing with Cathy's BC, then were faced with a long snorkel back to the boat. Sea rough. Big swell.	Wetsuit, BC, 20lbs lead (began the dive with 28lbs - big mistake).
438	19 Dec 1990	Spot A	Latitude Rock, Cape Hawke	Forster	Australia			21	44	44	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Out on Forster Dive Centre's considerably larger boat, with Ari. Offshore wind so much calmer - no white horses. 7 EUSAC divers (Cathy, Sarah, Graham, Iain Fairbrother, Malcom, Adrian and me) + Steve. An absolute mass of fish, including wobbegong, morays, marbled moray (very nasty-looking teeth, like hypodermic syringes), ray, groper, morwong, scalyfin, wrasse, bullseyes plus two cuttlefish. Vis not startling but better than yesterday. Good dive.	Wetsuit - cold by end of dive. 21 degrees C.
439	19 Dec 1990	One Mile Gutter		Forster	Australia			11	74	74	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Very shallow dive, so very relaxed. Swam up and down the gutter and out over the sand. Just as many fish as this morning, but a different selection, generally smaller. Many boxfish, a puffer fish, shoals of mado, bullseyes, yellowtail, stripey and some gropers. The mado were chasing off the scalyfin. A long wrasse took a bite out of my finger. Highlights were the eagle rays (2 mating) and a shoal of squid, looking like pelagic fish. Also cuttlefish, a wobbegong, with shrimps on its head. Porcupine fish.	Wetsuit - not cold.
440	20 Dec 1990	The Pinnacles, Forster		Forster	Australia			40	34	34	Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam		Up early for this one - 6.50 am. Overcast day. Clear blue water and a definite thermocline. No steep rock formations, just domes with gullies in between. Saw three wobbegongs and Adrian saw grey nurse sharks. So did everyone else. High air consumption.	Wetsuit, 82, 20lbs lead
441	20 Dec 1990	Latitude Rock		Forster	Australia			58	16	16	Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam		Swam straight down onto the sloping side of a rock reef, then over the steep side (past anchor rope abrading on the rock). Turned left into a shoal of bullseyes - some are yellow with a grey top and others are the reverse. Roughies look similar but are brown with a white and black stripe (#137 - bullseyes are #334 and #332). [There's more, but I didn't finish writing it up.]	Wetsuit, 82, 20lbs.
442	21 Dec 1990	Satara	Seal Rocks	Forster	Australia			45	19	19	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		All psyched up (and kitted up) for a dive on the 'Satara' but Ari couldn't find it! Anticipation turned to disappointment, frustration, then exasperation, and we voted to dive on the approximate transits. We found a dogfish. Others found a lump of coal.
443	21 Dec 1990	Seal Rocks		Forster	Australia			24	24	24	Iain Hosking, Iain Fairbrother, Malcolm Gauld		Began the dive attached to Ian Fairbrother and Malcom, but lost them. Persisted in my vain search for sharks. None. Swam back above an atmospheric gully. Heaps of blue groper. Surfaced to a long snorkel in worryingly rough seas.	Drysuit, twin set etc as in this morning's abortive dive on the 'Satara'.
444	3 Feb 1991	Camp Cove	East of Watson's Bay	Sydney	Australia			7	40	40	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel, Therese Zolfel		Last dive here was October 1989, and I don't think I expected to dive it again. Poor vis, shallow depth. The caves are still nice, though. One moray eel (small).	Wetsuit, 82, 20 lbs.
445	16 Feb 1991	Galava	Terrigal	Sydney	Australia			52	15	42	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		According to Tom Byron (p153) the wreck is 'almost intact'. Everything's relative, I suppose - it's just a boiler and some ribs sticking out of the sand, so a little disappointing. But lovely greeny-yellow soft coral on the boiler. Lovely clear day, calm, dozens of dolphins after the dive.	Twin 63s, BC, 28lb shot belt. Note - HOT on boat, so stripped off after the dive and got sunburnt. Remember sunscreen/shirt.
446	23 Feb 1991	Bowen Island		Jervis Bay	Australia			21	0	42	Iain Hosking		Out with John from Pro Dive. Site consists of huge boulders with swim-throughs. Lots of fish (including Eastern Blue Devil) and even coral. Lovely big cuttlefish - really curious. Nice, cool day.	Typhoon, 82, 28lbs.
447	23 Feb 1991	Cathedral Cave	Point Perpendicular	Jervis Bay	Australia			13	0	35	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries, Martin Zolfel		Swell up a bit. Began dive with a swim into the cave - 5m up to 3m deep with waves pounding over our heads. Then down a boulder slope to an other-worldly experience with another large cuttlefish.
448	24 Feb 1991	Point Perpendicular		Jervis Bay	Australia			24	0	44	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Swell still appreciable so back to Point Perpendicular, which is sheltered from the north-east. Dropped into 13m and swam to the south of a prominent rock. Found a reasonable-sized cuttlefish, then a couple of small ones. Cathy found a little yellow nudibranch, then what looked like a minute (less than 1cm) wobbegong or other fish. Decided I was definitely overweighted with 28lbs of lead.
449	24 Feb 1991	The Docks	NW of Point Perpendicular	Jervis Bay	Australia			20	0	49	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries, Graham Russell		Better than this morning's dive. Took off a heap of lead and was much more comfortable. The water was also lighter because the sun was higher. Saw a blue devil fish in the docks, then swam south-east over jumbled boulders with lots of sponges and coral. Found a cuttlefish (as usual) and Graham saw a shark.
450	16 Mar 1991	Dee Why	Long Reef	Sydney	Australia			48	17	39	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Slept in! Should have been up at 4.30 am, at Martin's at 5.30, Long Reef by 7. Instead I slept in till 5.30, then drove hell for leather direct to Dee Why. Arrived dead on 7, had the fastest kit-up in history. Beautiful weather, short boat trip, clear water. Wreck is upright and intact, but the wooden deck has gone. Swam down to the bow/stern (it's a double-ended ship) and into the boiler room - 4 huge boilers. Fish life - yellowtail, kingfish, wrasse, mado. (Out on Herb Adams' boat 'Venturer'.)
451	31 Mar 1991	Birchgrove Park	Avalon	Sydney	Australia			50	15	40	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		The 'Birchgrove Park' seems to be one of those wrecks that people speak of in hushed tones. When it came to it, it seemed too easy - Herb Adams found it with no trouble, the sun was out, the water calm, all equipment worked fine, the visibility was good. The wreck lies on its port side, and is broken up at the forward end of the boiler. The prop (ferrous) is still there, and it's possible to penetrate inside. But watch out for nets.
452	4 May 1991	Not the Foggy Shark Cave	Terrigal	Sydney	Australia			36	16	16	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Out on the BWAC boat. Terrible dive. Seasick, missed the site, current - it had the lot. Beautiful day - 1001 better ways to spend it.	Cathy's 88, unreliable shot belt (random detach feature), Arctic.
453	22 Jun 1991	Bowen Island		Jervis Bay	Australia			20	39	39	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Beautiful surface conditions, though cold. Surprisingly windy. Into green water - relatively murky, about 10m. Anchor practically landed on an octopus - black & white colour scheme. Down on the seabed I was fiddling with Cathy's weight belt and put my hand down to steady myself - ZAP! - a couple of sharp jolts from a numbfish. I didn't even see it - it must have swum off quickly. Lots of fish - mado, leatherjacket, morwong, groper and a 'toby' I think - a type of toadfish. Lovely coral. Others on the trip: Steve, Sarah, Cathy and Maria.
454	22 Jun 1991	Bowen Island		Jervis Bay	Australia			20	41	41	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Still choppy, so no mega dives outside the bay. Instead a very relaxed dive in the greenish murk that passed for water. Heaps of fish - I lay on my back for ages blowing bubbles which the mado then tried to eat. From below they look totally different - silvery and sinuous. Cathy's weights better, but she was wet.
455	23 Jun 1991	Gorgonia Wall	Point Perpendicular	Jervis Bay	Australia			36	16	26	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Not The Arch, unfortunately, but this was an impressive enough site - a vertical wall beside a sandy 'street'; looked like a building. In the horizontal crevices were fish, a small cuttlefish and some very pretty starfish (like birthday cakes, or colour blindness tests). At the end of the street was a blue devil fish - beautiful colours. At this point Cathy was obviously very relaxed because she was all for continuing through a gully but it was time to go. Water much calmer today, and much clearer.
456	23 Jun 1991	The Docks	NW of Point Perpendicular	Jervis Bay	Australia			20	39	39	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries, Maria Branson		This was probably the best dive of the weekend. Must have been a different part of the site from last time, because the scenery was much more impressive, with several swim-throughs. Started out by heading under a huge toblerone-shaped boulder. Underneath was a 1 foot puffer fish, and then, as it narrowed down, a Port Jackson shark, which pushed its way out past me. Then it was in and out of several caves, with beautiful gorgonia and squidgies. After squeezing through one swimthrough I looked back to see Cathy follow and Maria get stuck. In one cave I came face to face with a very large wobby. Just for good measure we found a 2 foot long cuttlefish. Perfect dive.
457	26 Jul 1991	Inscription Point	Kurnell	Sydney	Australia			7	14	14	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Took Martin in to try out a prospective dry suit (Avon with zip). Inconclusive due to lack of weight, but he's buying it anyway ($600). Strong swell - boulder bottom with one or two scalyfin and morwong and a heap of abalone.
458	7 Aug 1991	Nonnkina Bommie		Holmes Reef	Australia			25	20	29	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Beautiful dive after a nauseous trip out (mainly overnight). New and unfamiliar equipment meant I had to go back for more weight. Also the Mirage BC held no air. First impression was of stunningly clear water. Then we saw the bommie with a constellation of fish all around it. Most were familiar only from magazines but I was delighted to see a pair of clownfish in close attendance to their anemone, driving off passers-by. As well as the fish (which I'll identify later) we saw numerous different kinds of coral, crinoids and, on top of the bommie, a beautiful big crayfish, in a pink/lilac/white colour scheme. Surfaced to see mysterious white mounds on the horizon, which after we'd climbed into the boat turned out to be beaches on a very extensive coral reef (covers 90 degrees of our field of view). Fish positively identified: rock cod (spots), trevally (shoal), butterflyfish (long nose), longfin bannerfish, angelfish, half-and-half chromis (front black, back white), wrasse (a multitude of colours and shapes), steephead parrotfish, fire dartfish (like a blenny with a sabre-like dorsal fin), striped surgeonfish (yellow, longitudinal black stripes with blue/white stripes in centre of black stripes - poisonous blade either side of the tailfin), clown triggerfish (dots on top, white patches underneath.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
459	7 Aug 1991	The Caves		Holmes Reef	Australia			21	20	40	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Beautifully clear. Very effortless drift beside and above the reef. Lovely pastel coral shades - green, blue, pink, yellow - and a heap of fish. The clown triggerfish stood out, and some fish were beautiful combinations of silver, pink, blue, purple but I can't yet identify them. Nice blue and yellow tubeworms too. Quite a fin back to the boat at the end of the dive.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
460	7 Aug 1991	The Twins		Holmes Reef	Australia			13	38	38	Iain Hosking, Garth O'Friel		Shallow plowter around a couple of bommies with Garth and Tracy. Heaps of fish, including yellow goatfish, butterflyfish, blue-spotted fantail stingray, black-backed butterflyfish, moorish idol, surgeonfish, damselfish, fire dartfish and attractive coral. Meanwhile Cathy was trying out her navigation skills with the compass for the PADI Advanced Diver qualification.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
461	7 Aug 1991	The Twins		Holmes Reef	Australia			15	33	33	Iain Hosking, Simon Caleri		Night dive, buddied up with Simon (from London) - Garth and Tracy following. Very atmospheric - the boat lights illuminating the sandy seabed like studio lights. Extremely clear water meant that the UK600 was overkill for this dive. Highlights were the sleeping turtle (2 foot long) and the parrotfish within its mucous membrane. Also found other fish, asleep and awake, and hermit crabs, shrimps and a worm with a retractile tentacle.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
462	8 Aug 1991	Cathedral		Holmes Reef	Australia			41	5	26	Iain Hosking, Garth O'Friel		Dived with Garth as part of a foursome with Simon and Tracy. Garth had buoyancy problems so our descent was slow. Down below us we could see Simon and Tracy, and beyond them the dropoff, so visibility was at least 50m, probably 60m. We joined them eventually, and looked over the edge of the dropoff (and at the Advanced course playing Pictionary) before finning up the slope. Saw nudibranchs, lionfish, clams, parrotfish, butterflyfish.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
463	8 Aug 1991	The Abyss		Holmes Reef	Australia			30	20	39	Iain Hosking, Ken Brown		This must be my reward for years of cold, dark, murky diving. I've had dives like this in my dreams... A wall dropping vertically to incredible depths (1000m on the chart) absolutely covered in life. Along the wall is a spangling of fish of all shapes and sizes; below (in places) was a coral landscape in shades of blue. Upwards the sun shone down through coral fans and caves ('labyrinths of coral caves...' - Pink Floyd). A slight current meant we covered a lot of ground at finning speeds of dead slow or stop. Notable were two families of clownfish (with juveniles), my first giant clam (only 9 inches long but beautifully coloured), unicorn fish (whitemargin and orangespine), moorish idol, parrotfish (don't ask me what kind - saw it eating), pyramid butterflyfish, white sea perch and lemon damsel.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
464	8 Aug 1991	Viking Bommie		Holmes Reef	Australia			17	33	33	Iain Hosking, Catherine Mullery, Cathy Humphries		Had a preview of this site by snorkelling round it, with the Kodak disposable u/w camera. Lovely. Used the Fuji disposable in a housing on this dive. Nice clams, parrotfish, butterflyfish and coral. Bommie is so small you can swim round and round it on one dive, which is what we did. Main oddity: garden eels, all round the bommie.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
465	8 Aug 1991	Predator's Playground		Holmes Reef	Australia			7	22	22	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		This is intended to give divers a feel for what it's like to be in a net for a change, with the fish looking in. The fish in this case included two white-tipped reef sharks, and what may have been a grey nurse, with attendant remora. Finally, sharks on a dive.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
466	8 Aug 1991	Nonnkina Bommie		Holmes Reef	Australia			18	50	50	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Back to the site of the first dive of the trip. 6pm and the light is going, but there's still a lot of activity. This time we were much more attuned to the Reef and knew what we were looking for. The lemon damsels look lovely against the blue of the sea floor. We saw a lionfish, several clams, clown triggerfish and a barracuda, and swam through an arch decorated with large yellow gorgonians. After circling the bommie two or three times we ended up on top, where fish darted around among pastel patches of living coral. Surfaced just as the sun was setting.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
467	9 Aug 1991	Briggs Reef		Great Barrier Reef	Australia			16	65	65	Iain Hosking, Guy Werner		Last dive of the 'Rum Runner' trip. After another lively overnight trip from Holmes Reef this is the actual Barrier Reef. The difference in visibility was immediately obvious - down from 200 feet to about 30-50 feet. But the coral formations were fantastic in both shape and colour. We swam into the current first to have a leisurely drift back. Surface conditions quite rough.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
468	15 Aug 1991	Yorky's Patches	South-west of Hastings Reef	Great Barrier Reef	Australia			19	40	40	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Dived off 'Sea Trek', a brand new boat (this is its 22nd day on the Reef). Weather - sunny, windy (force 3-4). Sea - blue with white horses. Fairly secluded spot 1.5 hours from Cairns. Visibility - pretty poor - 30-40 feet. But lovely coral - staghorn, brain etc. Very colourful. Not so many fish as at Holmes Reef, but all very active - nibbling algae and so on. Saw a new type of clownfish (single thin white stripe) and black and white puffer fish. Relaxed dive.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
469	15 Aug 1991	Michaelmas Cay		Great Barrier Reef	Australia			14	40	40	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Second dive from 'Sea Trek'. Slightly more sheltered area behind the reef. Better visibility (40-50 feet) and more fish life - coral trout, surgeonfish, butterflyfish, bannerfish, yellowtail. Also black coral in long, twisted shapes. Saw a giant clam more than one metre across.	New wet suit. 20lbs weight.
470	2 Nov 1991	The Docks	NW of Point Perpendicular	Jervis Bay	Australia			18	35	35	Iain Hosking, Cathy Cunningham, Cathy Humphries		Back in Jervis Bay, and back to The Docks. A grey day, but good to get back in the water again. Saw cuttlefish and the usual fish.	82, Arctic. Valve seemed to be leaking air into the suit - had to pull the hose out.
471	2 Nov 1991	The Tubes		Jervis Bay	Australia			24	30	36	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken, Steve Harris		Knocked this morning's dive into a cocked hat. Only three divers in the boat, in fact in the whole of Jervis Bay. Much sunnier out at Point Perpendicular. Dolphins rode the bow wave on the way out. That was the first surprise - then we saw a scalyfin chasing a stingray, a weedy sea dragon (spotted by Steve), a garden of sea-tulips, big sea-scorpions, a cuttlefish, a blue devil fish and a moray eel. Our navigation was perfect - down a sandy slope, then left through the tulip garden, up to an area of huge jumbled boulders, then back at 5m through all these house-sized boulders, with sunlight streaming past us. Sarah and I are now level pegging in dives - 471 each.	Valve dismantled and lubricated - now fixed.
472	3 Nov 1991	Point Perpendicular		Jervis Bay	Australia			21	26	31	Iain Hosking, Cathy Cunningham, Cathy Humphries		Sun back behind the clouds so glum underwater. Concentrated on smaller life eg a tiny, blue nudibranch (probably the one at the bottom of p52 of the nudibranch book). At this point we saw a stingray about three feet across which glided off into the murk. Then back to the littlies.
473	3 Nov 1991	Fairey Firefly VX381		Jervis Bay	Australia			13	13	13	Iain Hosking, Derek ?		Finished off our air on this site (thanks to Ian from Pro-Dive for finding it for us). The Cathys dived together while I dived with Derek who remembered us from Lake Jindabyne in February 1988. The site is very murky and atmospheric. Still an elegant aircraft. Dozens of catfish under wings and tail.
474	3 Nov 1991	Point Perpendicular		Jervis Bay	Australia			16	45	45	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken, Steve Harris		Dived with Sarah and Steve again as the Cathys took it easy. Again more spectacular than the first dive of the day (sorry lads) with extremely large boulders especially towards the end of the dive. Swam back at a shallow depth (5m) with sun slanting through clear water and navigated our way straight to the boat.
475	1 Dec 1991	Bombo	Wollongong	Sydney	Australia			32	22	27	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel, Mary-Ann ?		Just under one year since the last dive on this wreck. Visibility not brilliant but another hot day with a fairly calm sea. Heaps of nannegais - enough to spoil the vis! Very atmospheric inside, with other divers' torches shining through the murk. Dived with Martin and Mary-Ann (nurse from Nepean). Good dive.
476	12 Jan 1992	Midway Reef	Dee Why	Sydney	Australia			33	22	25	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Scenic dive. Sea not rough but with a strong swell that affected a couple of the divers. Reasonable vis. Plenty of fish (including catfish and a large shoal of sweep) but not much colour because the sky was overcast. (Left Faulconbridge 8.15am, arrived Dee Why 9.30am.)
477	11 Apr 1992	Gap Cave	Boat left from Watson's Bay	Sydney	Australia			22	30	33	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Scenic dive. Up at 6.30, left Martin's 7.50, arrived Watson's Bay 9am. Boat left at 10. Back at 12. Vis OK. Large cuttlefish, lots of fish, including leatherjackets and groper. Lovely weather. Slight swell. Organised through Herb Adams.
478	6 Jun 1992	Long Reef	Dee Why	Sydney	Australia			23	39	39	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		On Herb's boat (cost $30). Beautiful day. Seas calm, westerly. Strong current. Bottom - boulders and kelp. 3 cuttlefish, one in a large swim-through under a house-sized boulder. Nice light effects here. Saw a new fish [drawing in logbook] - looked like a strip of kelp - same colour of green and with very little control. Long snorkel back to the boat.	Wetsuit, Sportsways DV, Arctic.
479	4 Apr 1994	Shelly Beach	Manly	Sydney	Australia			9	43	43	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		Cathy suggested this dive. Tame, safe, long hike to the water but plenty of fish, including a blue groper.	Pretty warm!
480	4 Jun 1994	Barron's Hut	off Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			26	30	30	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Out with Max again. Up at 5am - pitch black and cold. Left wharf 8am. Good vis. Blue groper, cuttlefish (2 foot long), box fish, wrasse, old wives, stripeys, morwongs. Good gorgonians. Heaps of after-dive food.	Used Max's tank (filled to 260 bar!) and BC.
481	12 Jun 1994	Middle Ground	Out from Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			32	20	25	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Strong winds all week, so very rough seas and poor vis. Circled the anchor line and came up, dropping the weight belt on the way. Weight belt recovered by Richard and buddy. Thanks guys.
482	30 Jul 1994	The Balcony	off Royal National Park	Sydney	Australia			18	40	40	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Remarkably good vis this time. Good wall and heaps of fish - Port Jackson shark, blue groper, old wives, yellowtails, morwong and a cuttlefish. Good feed afterwards.
483	29 Jan 1995	Akka	The Gantocks	Clyde	Scotland			25	25	28	Iain Hosking, Malcolm Gauld		A cold, dark, wet morning in Edinburgh turned to a beautiful day on the Clyde, calm, clear and cold. Even Dunoon looked lovely. Bacon rolls and potato scones at Port Glasgow. Found the wreck with no trouble. Freezing cold going down the line. Water green but clear. The wreck is big, with plenty of swimthroughs. Covered in plumose anemones and plenty of crabs. Some fish. Baked potatoes afterwards - lovely.	Geoff's dry suit and woolly bear + stab jacket + valve. 100 cu ft steel tank + various other borrowed bits and pieces. Dived from Graham and Mary's boat. Graham found a ship's log. (This looks like an artillery shell with canted fins It spins around when towed behind the ship, and the number of revolutions in a given time interval yields the speed.).
484	4 Jun 1995	Osborne Shoals		Sydney	Australia			18	40	40	Iain Hosking, Sarah McCracken		Sarah's idea, approved by Cathy. Went out with Karl St John ($30). Pissing with rain, but reasonable vis. Big cuttlefish (came out of his cave for a closer look), yellowtail, morwong, blue groper. Afterwards: Guinness at the Mercantile and a visit to the Rocks Sunday Market. A good day.	Dry suit was actually a wet suit. Didn't notice till after the dive, though.
485	3 Dec 1995	Barron's Hut	off Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			26	32	35	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel, Sarah McCracken, Steve Harris		Beautiful morning - warm and sunny. Left Dolan's Bay Wharf at 10am and it was a short, comfortable trip on Max's boat Sea Tamer II to the site. Kitted up quickly and dropped in. My buddy was Martin but we dived in a loose foursome with Sarah and Steve (Sarah on her first dive since June, Steve on his first since February). Reasonable vis, 30 feet or more, and warm until we hit a distinct thermocline at 22m. There was a real gin & tonic effect where the warm current from the north hit the cool southern water. Martin led us straight to the cave & chimney, where we entered in the cool water and emerged a few metres up in the warm layer. We then covered the whole site, including several swim-throughs. One contained a moray eel under a rock, which appeared to be moving in on my finger. Sarah also saw what might have been a baby wobbegong in this area. There were plenty of fish, including several varieties of leatherjacket (including one with a big yellow spot on its side), scalyfin (frequently in energetic combat), old wives, yellowtail, blue groper and an eastern blue devil with vivid blue markings. We had time to see several nudibranchs too, including the common Bennets Hypselodoris (wine-red dots), Red-lined Flabellina (purple fronds) and Variable Aphelodoris (bird poo). The cup coral were also very pretty. After a precautionary stop (because we were on the limit of decompression according to Mr Aladin) we surfaced to sun, soup, salami and cheese & bacon rolls. Delicious. Still $30, plus a $10 contribution to Martin for petrol. Home by 2pm.	Dry suit, 87, Arctic etc. Found the leak as soon as I put my head under the water - a 1-inch tear in my neck seal which meant that the dry suit functioned more as a wet suit. I followed the progress of the water throughout the dive - down my neck, then down my chest, then arms and finally, on the ascent, into my boots.
486	27 Jan 1996	The Balcony	off Royal National Park	Sydney	Australia			21	40	43	Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries		First dive of 1996; first with Cathy since April 94; first boat dive with Cathy since Jervis Bay, November 91. Left at 8am and got to Shiprock Dive at 9.15, where we learned that although the seas were calm a huge patch of murky water had come down from the north and the vis was poor. And so it was, but we enjoyed it anyway, looking at nudibranchs, shrimps, sponges, cup coral and fish (stripeys, wrasse, leatherjackets, yellowtail, mado and a Port Jackson shark). Huge feed afterwards because the 12 o'clock mob had cancelled. Back home by 2.30pm.	Wet suit since both dry suits were perished. Other gear as usual. Comfortable at start; getting cold by the end.
487	5 Apr 1996	Barron's Hut	off Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			28	29	33	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Out with Max again. Clear, sunny day. Water clear, blue and not choppy, but on a 1.5 metre swell. This made it difficult to dive close to the rocks, so we chose Barron's Hut again. I was quite happy with the choice, and also with the clear water as we descended. We saw 6-spined leatherjacket straight away (with the big yellow spot on the side) then a large (2-3 foot) cuttlefish, out in the open and quite relaxed. Going through the chimney it was nice to have good visibility for a change (because only Martin was ahead of me and he took care not to kick up the silt). After this we swam over the top of the rock (covered in sponges with the occasional nudibranch and Sergeant Baker) to the slab-sided gully. We were followed here by the blue groper but though they might be used to getting a feed from others they weren't getting one from us. In fact we saw no live sea urchins on the entire dive. We found another, smaller cuttlefish in a cave and watched him go through a range of colour changes. Other life: nudibranchs, basket star, crimson biscuit star, pretty lemon-yellow/blue fish. Began our ascent on the no-decompression limit and did a 1 minute stop at 3m.	Wet suit. Warm throughout the dive.
488	7 Jul 1996	The Balcony	off Royal National Park	Sydney	Australia			17	44	46	Iain Hosking, John Arkwright		Up at 5am - cold (but not too cold) and dark. Left Valley Heights at 6am and arrived at Port Hacking at 7. Beautiful day - hardly a cloud in the sky. Sea choppy but only a slight swell. I was with Andrew Kennedy and Martin but John didn't have a buddy so I joined him. I jumped into the water first and had a bit of a shock with the cold water, and a reg that I don't think was performing up to scratch, so I hung on to the boat until my breathing had settled down to normal. We descended and turned left (south). Straightaway we saw a Port Jackson shark which didn't seem too bothered by us, probably because the viz was so good. Above us there was a shoal of yellowtail and beside us was a swim-through, and this set the tone for the dive. We covered a lot of ground, always in and out of overhangs, tunnels and caverns. with some lovely light effects so that I wished I'd brought the underwater (disposable) camera with me (that we bought in 1991 for the white-water rafting at Cairns). Always there were fish - bullseyes, leatherjacket, mado, old wives, blue groper, rock cod, sergeant major, scalyfin, eastern blue devil, a coral trout (or code? - beige with blue spots), wrasse, morwong and blennies. Although we were quite shallow for most of the dive (around 10m) the wave action was almost non-existent, and a fingertip was enough to hold on. The water was surprisingly warm, and I only felt chilly after 35 minutes or so. A nice, relaxed dive. (We would have been home by 12 if it weren't for the detour to Drummoyne for Andrew to return his kit.)	Wet suit, 82, Arctic. No torch - all u/s due to flooding. Reg probably needs a service.
489	15 Sep 1996	The Balcony	off Royal National Park	Sydney	Australia			20	32	32	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Organised by Sarah. Others - Andrew, Annette, Maria, Peter (+Susie), Sandy, Justin, Rona. Left home 7.50. Arrived Shiprock Dive 9am. Bought torch. Left quay 10am. Beautiful sunshine - not cold. Water not cold either - no sudden shock like last time. The visibility wasn't tremendous - maybe 20-30ft - but we had a relaxed dive and saw plenty of fish including blue groper, Port Jackson, moray eel, yellowtail, morwongs, scalyfin, leatherjacket. Obviously we were in a different part of the site from the last dive I had there because there weren't as many swim-throughs or walls, but it was still enjoyable. Afterwards we had fish and chips at Bronte beach and took the boys for a quick play in the sea. Bracing.	Wet suit, 82, Arctic etc. Not cold. Others with dry suits suffered leaks.
490	28 Sep 1996	Valiant	NE of Barrenjoey Light	Sydney	Australia			28	20	23	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Dived with Atlantis Divers at Palm Beach ($30). Weather overcast and the sea very choppy. I began to feel a little queasy as we circled the buoy waiting for a fisherman to disconnect himself from it. Down at 28m it was mercifully still and peaceful. The vis was sufficient to see the whole wreck, and we swam once round it and inside the crew's quarters and engine room. Plenty of fish - bullseyes, stripey, yellowtail, blennies, goatfish, sergeant baker and a moray eel.	Wet suit, 82 cu ft tank, Arctic & torch.
491	26 Oct 1996	The Pinnacles, Avalon	North of Avalon Beach	Sydney	Australia			19	40	40	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Used Atlantis Divers again. Left Faulconbridge 7.30 and had plenty of time before the boat left Palm Beach at 9. The trip out wasn't as rough as that to the Valiant and the headland gave the site some shelter from the southerly. The site is noted for sea dragons and I concentrated on the weed where the rock met the sand until one materialised in front of me. He was quite long - about 12 inches - and I know it was a male because he was carrying eggs, maybe 2 or 3 dozen, each a few mm in diameter, stuck to his belly. He was a 'common' sea dragon (not that common - I haven't seen one in five years, not since Jervis Bay in November 1991) and he didn't move much, obviously believing that camouflage was his best means of defence. Other sights on the dive - Andrew found a small cuttlefish, asleep under an overhang, and the prolific fish life included two porcupinefish (or globe fish), black reef leatherjacket, old wives, roughy, morwong, sergeant baker, blue groper and scalyfin.	Wet suit, 82, Arctic
492	25 Apr 1997	Fish Reef	off Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			28	22	26	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		ANZAC Day dive, and at 6 months between dives I won't make 500 by the year 2000. Today was overcast, and the swell was huge, but the visibility was excellent. The water was clear and blue and as we descended the bubbles of the first pair down could be seen all the way from the bottom to the surface. We swam in a clockwise direction around the reef, past shoals of pomfret under overhangs, impressive gorgonians, sponges (with plenty of nudibranchs), groper, leatherjacket, sergeant baker etc. I was just thinking that a cuttlefish would complete the dive when I turned a corner and saw one. It was about 14 inches long, and I hovered there for ages watching the colours change in waves and spots. Suddenly I saw a huge shadow out of the corner of my eye and jumped (making Martin laugh). It was a huge black stingray, 4 to 5 feet across and at least as long. It sailed past like a battleship, completely indifferent to me. It certainly made the dive worthwhile, even when after unkitting in the boat I had to jump back into the water and lost my breakfast. The seas were huge, especially from the point of view of a head floating at water level. Good food and company rounded off the dive well, and it's still only $30.	First dive following the repair. It could more accurately be described as a damp suit.
493	16 Aug 1997	Barron's Hut	off Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			27	30	30	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		8am departure from wharf. Up at 5am - cold & frosty. Only 3 on the boat - Martin and I, and Richard. Sunny, little swell. Vis OK, not great, but very pleasant to swim through the cave and chimney with no silt. Lots of Port Jacksons, a ray, leatherjacket, morwong. Saw a scalyfin chasing a Port Jackson. Mounds of grub afterwards.	Cathy's tank - too light, so damp. Add an extra 3lbs for my steel tank, 6lbs for an aluminium one.
494	13 Sep 1997	Seal Colony	Steamers Beach	Jervis Bay	Australia			30	20	24	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Liveaboard trip on board "Ocean Trek". Long trip out in a southerly swell (I slept there and back). Kitted up quickly, jumped in and swam down the anchor line to a sandy seabed. No seals to be seen at first. We swam shorewards and the first seal appeared as we hit the rocks. We were soon surrounded by 6-8, which swam all around us with graceful ease. As quickly as they appeared they vanished again, but it wasn't long till a solitary seal reappeared. He stayed very close, practically twining himself around me. He didn't take his eyes off us, and big, round beautiful eyes they were. At the end of the dive he was rejoined by his family, including one very big seal with a young one beside her (I'm assuming it was a mother), and they stayed with us through the deco stop.	82 cu ft tank. Damp but not cold.
495	13 Sep 1997	The Docks	NW of Point Perpendicular	Jervis Bay	Australia			19	39	39	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Much less swell here, so much more relaxed before and after dive. Dropped in and swam to shore. Big swimthroughs with shoals of nannegai, plus umpteen other varieties, including leatherjacket, wrasse, cale (charcoal grey fish with a hump back, about wrasse size), groper, morwong. Andrew believes he saw a grey nurse shark, but I didn't (as usual).	82 cu. ft. Damper, still not cold. (Water temperature supposedly 16 degrees).
496	13 Sep 1997	The Slot	Point Perpendicular, adjoining The Docks	Jervis Bay	Australia			19	39	40	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Dropped in at The Slot, which was beautifully clear, with a bottom of white shell sand and a couple of resident Eastern Blue Devil. At the end we had to brace ourselves against the surge. The view up to the surface was lovely. Once out from The Cut we swam round the cliff back to The Docks, into and out of a couple of caves. Fish: more Eastern Blue Devil, morwong, herring cale, leatherjacket, groper, a moray eel and three Port Jacksons. Also masses of sea tulips and sponges.	82. Dry suit undersuit now quite soggy.
497	13 Sep 1997	Boat Harbour	East of Longnose Point, N side of the Bay	Jervis Bay	Australia			19	28	30	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Boat Harbour is just NW of the Docks, on the N. side of the Bay. Four of us dropped in (the other two being Dave and Amanda) descended to sand at 17m. Followed a compass course W. to the reef and turned left. We covered a fair distance, and saw plenty that was different to the daytime: a cuttlefish, bright red with annoyance at being disturbed; a weedy sea dragon; sea anemones feeding; brittle stars; a large (6") mollusc moving along the sand with its siphon out on front; a moray eel out and about; fish tucked in every crevice, resting, and spectacular phosphorescence. Andrew and I turned our torches off for the last few minutes and just played at making waves of sparks. Surfaced to a long swim back to the boat. The Aladin says I am stuffed full of nitrogen (residual nitrogen time 16 hours; no fly time 6 hours). The last time I did 4 dives in a day was the 6th August 1980 - that was the 'Islay', 12m/45 mins, the 'Harald', 10m/12 mins, the Mull of Oa, 6m/10 mins and the 'Limelight', 8m/10 mins. This day has definitely been more provocative, decompression-wise.	Damp suit really.
498	14 Sep 1997	Darts Point	N. side of the Bay	Jervis Bay	Australia			25	30	31	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Descended and followed a course of 210 degrees from 25m up to 5m. Masses of sponges, umpteen different kinds of sea star, a couple of morays, some nudibranchs, and plenty of scalyfins etc. COLD.
499	14 Sep 1997	Shark Rock	N. side of the Bay	Jervis Bay	Australia			15	39	40	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Last dive of the trip (after missing the previous dive due to the tank shoulder strap pulling the drysuit zip open 6"). Jumped off the boat and swam towards the rock. Descended to 15m and saw the square shape of the rock loom up in front. Immediately we saw why it was called Shark Rock as a grey nurse cruised along the foot of the rock, 3 smaller fish keeping close formation beside it. We turned left and contoured at 14m, past rock face and jumbled boulders, with a sandy bottom below. At 100 bar we turned back, and within a minute saw a cuttlefish, exactly the same colour as the weed. We watched one another for a minute and then he streamlined himself and cruised off into the depths. A little further along a glimpse of brown tail revealed a large wobbegong in a cave. At 50 bar we came up to 5m and spent a couple of minutes there before swimming back to the boat. I've just done more dives in 2 days than I normally do in a year.	Dry suit dry again, and the woolly bear warm (it spent a couple of hours in the dryer).
500	13 Dec 1998	Hole in the Wall	Avalon	Sydney	Australia			18	40	50	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Another year+ layoff. Very choppy, so seasick. Mask leaked. Suit leaked. Viz OK. 3 cuttlefish, large groper and a good swim-through.	Another soggy suit dive. Legs and feet dry till end - back and sleeves soaked. Underweight? Try an extra weight belt next time.
501	8 May 1999	The Apartments	Long Reef, Collaroy	Sydney	Australia			22	38	40	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy, Ramon ?		Good (but not brilliant) conditions - sea calm, air temp mild, vis good. High 10/10 cloud so no sun on the dive. 7 divers on the boat so not too crowded. We were first down, and swam first anticlockwise round the bommie, then through the middle (nice swim-through), finally clockwise to the line. Good big shoals of yellowtail (or pomfret?) and nannegai, plus the usual denizens: morwong, maori wrasse, blue groper, goatfish, stripey, old wives, sergeant baker. A large (2m) wobbegong and a cuttlefish were memorable, but best was hanging motionless in the middle of a big shoal of silvery yellowtail, feeling thousands of eyes on us.	Dry suit dry and warm at last. Added an extra 8lb weight belt to the 21lb shot belt, making 29lbs altogether. After the dive, changed the shot belt buckle to a metal one (more secure). No torch - couldn't find it. Borrowed aluminium tank - 72 cu ft?
502	6 Nov 1999	Fish Reef	off Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			27	25	30	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Dived with Max Western again (cost now $35). Left Faulconbridge 8am; arrived Dolan's Bay 9.20am. Wind from NE & stronger than ideal. Very pronounced swell even at 27m, enough to stir up the sand, and to make it difficult to examine objects close-up. Limited life - nudibranchs, scalyfin, morwong, groper, cup coral and an unidentified fish in a shoal of about 10, 2' long, silver underneath and green on top, with long dorsal & ventral fins towards the back and a lobed tail with black edges. I can't find it in the fish book.	Dry suit, my 82 cu ft tank.
503	15 Jan 2000	The Wall, Long Reef	Collaroy	Sydney	Australia			21	38	45	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Left Faulconbridge 7am. Weather glum at first, but brightened on the way - finally warm and sunny. Big swell so didn't do Midway Reef as planned. The Wall is a big site with plenty of fish - morwong, leatherjacket (black reef, yellow-striped), eastern blue devil, blue groper (male + female), juvenile scalyfin, old wide, various wrasse and two cuttlefish. The second cuttlefish was eating a morwong head-first. Jane (Stu the skipper's girlfriend) saw it snatch the fish under an overhang. We only saw the tail of the unlucky fish. Vis not that hot, but enough for Andrew to navigate his way back to the line. Followed up the dive with a bacon & egg butty, then back to the mountains to face the music. Sunday - cycled to Faulconbridge Point Lookout with the boys.	82 cu. Ft, plenty of air for this dive. No torch (forgot the batteries).
504	12 Mar 2000	Fish Reef	off Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			26	30	32	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		Woke at 5.30am and left Faulconbridge at 6.15. After a week's rain we expected zero viz but it was OK (plus it was fairly calm). Round the rock looking at fish, nudibranchs and cup coral. Highlight was an octopus - white legs and black head. Finished 11am.	own
505	9 Apr 2000	Barron's Hut	off Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			27	32	34	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy, Martin Zolfel		Another 8am dive, leaving at 6.15am and arriving at Dolan's Bay Wharf at exactly 7.30. At least with daylight saving ended we had light. Dived with Andrew, Martin and Paul from across the road. Good conditions - sunny with only around 1m swell. Vis reasonably good. Swam through the cave and then north to the split. Saw two 6 foot wobbegongs and two cuttlefish, as well as stripeys, leatherjacket (brown/black with yellow circles round the eyes), groper, morwong, bullseyes, goatfish (feeding energetically in the sand) and nudibranchs, one with orange spots as well as the usual dark red-spottedone. Usual Max Western feast after the dive, plus hot cross buns. Lazy afternoon.	Dry suit, no lifejacket (left it in the car). Too heavy with both weight belts, so too much air in suit, so too warm(!)
506	23 Apr 2000	Barge, Forster	off Forster	Forster	Australia			30	20	26	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Too rough for The Pinnacles so we did this barge. Descended optimistically through oceanic blue water but hit the bottom in about 2m vis. Crept along to the barge and swam twice round it, the second circuit being just as interesting as the first. Highlight was a moray about the size of a pencil which I tempted out with its reflection in the torch.	own Dived from the Fisherman's Wharf boat
507	23 Apr 2000	Idol Bay		Forster	Australia			10	42	44	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		A shallow second dive in a fishy paradise, made more challenging by strong wave action. Lots of juvenile warm water fish including spotted box fish (tiny one, like a pea) and lovely colourful blue fish with yellow tails. Groper, toadfish, pipefish, butterflyfish, leatherjacket, cowfish, fiddler ray, shovel-nosed ray, nannegai, cup coral, wrasse. Saw one wrasse slurp up a small school fish while it was distracted by a heavier swell than usual.	own, except hired tank (85 cu.ft. steel). No lifejacket - very comfortable without it.
508	23 Apr 2000	The Pinnacles, Forster		Forster	Australia			34		28	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Still a strong southerly blowing so a rough boat trip out. We were first in (lucky) and descended into fairly clear water, seeing a group of grey nurse sharks immediately below us. They swam away slowly, but returned at a lower level. We watched from behind a huge boulder. There were about 12 of them, from 9 feet long down to 5 feet, swimming slowly and gracefully amongst smaller fish. A single lionfish added a touch of the ornate, and we saw the usual wrasse, butterflyfish and cup coral, but the sharks were of course the highlight.	own
509	24 Apr 2000	Latitude Rock		Forster	Australia			12		43	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Not quite as interesting as Idol Bay yesterday, but similar, with lots of gullies, rock outcrops and sandy patches, and strong wave action. Saw porcupionefish (globefish) but no spotted boxfish. Couple of moray, groper and nudibranchs. The variety still puts Sydney in the shade.	own. Dry suit very wet. Sopping, in fact.
510	20 May 2000	Julian Rocks		Byron Bay	Australia			18		30	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		Cod Hole. Organised through Sundive. Left ~8.30am in old beat-up Landcruiser, which launches the boat by reversing at speed into the water and stopping suddenly. Immediate impression in the water and looking down was blue water and enormous visibility, then masses of fish, beginning with a... [2 yrs later]...a WHAT? I suspect I was not totally sober when writing this up. Nor am I now, but Andrew wrote that we saw leopard sharks, scorpionfish, clownfish, old wives, morwongs, crested morwongs, wobbegongs, angelfish, snapper, cod, jewfish, goatfish, orange basset and an eagle ray. I see no reason to argue.	wet suit
511	20 May 2000	Julian Rocks		Byron Bay	Australia			15		45	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy		The Needles and Hugo's Trench. Also written up 2+ years later. Andrew wrote that a guide (an English lady, as I remember) took us all over the place, seeing turtles, huge lobster, coral prawn, trevally, trumpetfish and lovely coral. Had a beer at the shop after the dive, then a couple at the B&B, then a few while waiting for Trish, then many, many more. Ended up dancing at a nightclub with English backpackers half our age. Walked back from a party about 5.30am. Very sore heads next day [Ritz Rail trip]	wet suit
512	9 Jun 2002	The Balcony	off Royal National Park	Sydney	Australia			18		45	Iain Hosking, Martin Zolfel		5.30am wakey wakey, shower, breakfast, picked up by Martin at 8am. Thin crescent moon in a night sky. First dive in over 2 years. Dry suit looking untrustworthy, but warm enough in wet suit (but very hard to put on). Blue skies, mild conditions, sea calm with a 1m swell. Dived with Martin - leisurely fin around, over and under huge boulders, surrounded by bullseyes, yellowtail, stripey, blennies, leatherjacket, sergeant bakers, rock cod, old wives and attendant blue groper which even followed us through the swimthroughs. Highlight was a big cuttlefish which went through the full repertoire of colour changes. Other divers: Andrew and Andrew, David, Cathy, Carol, Olivia and others. Good food as usual. $40.	wet suit, 82 (with 2-year old air), ~ 18lbs lead
513	21 Sep 2002	The Docks	NW of Point Perpendicular	Jervis Bay	Australia			20	36	39	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy, Charlie Oldfield, Martin Zolfel		Beatiful sunny day. Water murky (full of long, jelly blobs). Good swimthroughs. Port Jacksons, morwong, stripey, bullseyes, hawkfish, wrasse, leatherjacket, yellowtail, boarfish, moray and last but not least, a weedy sea dragon. MV "Indulgence" owned and run by Adrian (Cornish) and Annie (a great cook!). Organised through Frogdive, $340.	Wet suit, Arctic
514	21 Sep 2002	The Docks	NW of Point Perpendicular	Jervis Bay	Australia			20	35	38	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy, Martin Zolfel		NE of previous spot. Started with squeezing into a cold, wet wetsuit (first time in 11 years). Swam to the point on compass bearing and Martin immediately saw another weedy sea dragon. It allowed us to get right up close to it - fascinating. Then Andrew found a numbfish, swimming free. He didn't touch it. We enjoyed the sunshine in the shallower depths, and navigated on a reciprocal bearing back to the boat. Fish: boarfish, scalyfin, wrasse, etc as this morning's dive. A pair of moray eels in the one hole, crimson-banded wrasse, senator wrasse.	Wet suit, Arctic.
515	21 Sep 2002	Propeller Gutters		Jervis Bay	Australia			9		34	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy, Martin Zolfel		Shallow plowter. Fish: Port Jackson, resting under a rock with its head on the back of a wobbie. Clown toby (Canthigaster callisterna), leatherjacket (various, including mosaic, Eubalichthys mosaicus). Also a new and unidentified fish: sketch in logbook.	Wet suit, Arctic
516	21 Sep 2002	Huskisson Pier		Jervis Bay	Australia			4	30	30	Iain Hosking		Solo night dive (Andreew and Martin wimped out) from the boat up the creek and back. Clear water, several octopus, all sizes from 4" to 2'. No less than 12 globefish (Diodon nicthemerus). Several estuary catfish (Cnidoglanis macrocephalus) with poisonous spines, leatherjacket inc toothbrush (Acanthaluteres vittiger). Anglers would be happy with the 11 luderick (blackfish) under the pier. I didn't write this in the logbook, but I do remember wondering whether sharks liked this area at night.	Wet suit, Arctic
517	22 Sep 2002	Julie-Ann		Jervis Bay	Australia			9	23	25	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy, Charlie Oldfield, Martin Zolfel		The "Julie-Ann" is a fishing boat which sank last week. Apparently the vis was good a couple of weeks ago in the area, but not now. Charlie reckons someone's tipped a bucket of pot noodle over it. Andrew when Adrian came up: "Did you place the charges?"	Wet suit, Arctic
518	22 Sep 2002	Green Island		Jervis Bay	Australia			9	40	40	Iain Hosking, Matt McKenzie		Very poor vis, but lots to see. Took the camera again and tried shots of Port Jackson, stingray, bull ray (huge), leatherjacket and scalyfin as well as some of the stuff that doesn't run away, like sea squirts. Sunny day again. Matt wrote: Massive bat ray, wobby and Port Jackson. Vis ok. Light on air. Short but sweet.	Wet suit, allow 88
519	21 Sep 2003	Middle Ground	Out from Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			33	20	20	Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy, Martin Zolfel		Blue water (with jelly-like things at the surface). Flat rock reef. A few morwong, small cuttlefish, 2 wobbegongs (nearly head-butted one of them) and about a dozen Port Jacksons. Shoals of yellowtail and bullseyes. Not too cold. Steve [Sea-Tamer's new owner] is still producing the soup, salami, biscuits, cheese etc.	Wet suit, hired tank (22.6% O2) + BC
520	29 Dec 2007	Bare Island	La Perouse	Sydney	Australia			11	27	27	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking		Accompanied Cameron and Brendan on their PADI Open Water Course through Frogdive in Guildford - instructor is Sean). Buddied up with Jim. Conditions were perfect - sunny and calm. Water warm (though some students thought it was cold). saw a groper, rays, wrasse, scalyfin, rock cod and nudibranchs.	Wetsuit, old hood, no gloves. Own 82 (with fill dating from last test in Sept 2003). Arctic, shot belt with all weights (a little heavy - remember to take out 3lbs for the wetsuit).
521	29 Dec 2007	Bare Island	La Perouse	Sydney	Australia			9	32	32	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking		Accompanied Cameron and Brendan on their PADI Open Water course. They looked relaxed and confident, even during drills like mask clearing and compass navigation. They're now qualified divers and looking forward to the next dive. 1 hour interval between dives.	Wetsuit, old hood, no gloves. Own 82 (with fill dating from last test in Sept 2003). Arctic, shot belt with all weights (a little heavy - remember to take out 3lbs for the wetsuit).
522	12 Jan 2008	Shiprock	Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			14	24	24	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking		Left home around 8.15am aiming at high tide (Fort Denison) 10:35am. Took longer than expected at the shop, then misnavigated so arrived at the site at 10:44. Turned out to be bang on local high tide. We were joined by a fellow called Brendan who'd missed his group so he buddied up with Cameron. Poor vis meant we lost sight of them, and Brendan [our Brendan] was underweight with 18lbs, hence the short time (Cameron and Brendan #2 had more like 45 mins). But we did see leatherjacket, porcupinefish, old wives and two cute little cuttlefish.	Wet suit, Arctic, 82, ~18lbs lead. Hood, gloves were probably unnecessary - water warm. Boys hired wetsuits, tanks, BCs and weightbelts from Frogdive: ~$65 each.
523	18 Jan 2008	Fish Rock	South West Rocks	NSW North Coast	Australia			20		39	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking		Shark Gutters and Aquarium. Met at Ship Rock Dive Centre at 7.30am. Others: Rickie (Scottish), Marjorie (French) plus Katherine, Ben, Patrick and Katherine's hubbie + Lochie. Bosun: Jon. Dive leaders Larry and Simon. Moored on Shark Gutters and formed a group with Rickie and Marjorie. led by Larry. Saw sharks as soon as we hit the bottom, at least 20 of them.Next highlight was a pair of clownfish defending their anemone. Colourful wrasse, stripey, bullseyes and other fish abounded. The water was blue, with vis around 20m. Ricky had to abort early (ears) and Marjorie later (low on air). Larry escorted Cameron and Brendan back to the line when their air ran low, and we then paid a quick visit to the "Aquarium", where a shark was visible behind a veil of stripey and bullseyes. Amazing.	Wet suit, Arctic, 82, 18lbs lead. No hood or gloves - stung by jellyfish on hands and ear.
524	18 Jan 2008	Fish Rock	South West Rocks	NSW North Coast	Australia			20		42	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking		Unfortunately Cameron was too seasick to join us on this dive, and Ricky had to surface again with ear problems, so Larry escorted Brendan, Marjorie and myself into the cave. The entrance was white shell sand with sharks circling (including a humpbacked one). We kept to the right into the tunnel (sharks on the left) and up to the bubble cave, where Larry asked if we were happy to go further into the cave. All were, so we continued in past the veil of bullseyes. All over the rocks were little black sea cucumbers. At the end, Larry indicated we should look further in, and dozens of golden eyes gleamed back at us: crayfish, all clumped together. Beside them were a large, black ray and a wobbegong. Turning back, Brendan was attacked by a vicious scalyfin. Also saw moray eels, adult and juvenile (black/white), clownfish and batfish. Impressive.	Wet suit, Arctic, aluminium tank, 21lbs lead. No hood or gloves.
525	20 Jul 2008	Cape Solander	Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell	Sydney	Australia			11		21	Iain Hosking, Cameron Hosking		Cameron drove down, via Scuba Warehouse in Parramatta, where I met Judith for the first time in 20 years. Late start, made later by Cameron's buoyancy problem. Found one of the bags of weight had come loose. Retraced our steps and found it. Carried on. Patience rewarded when Cameron grabbed my ankle and pointed out a weedy sea dragon. Rushed back - gates close at 5.30pm. Water 17°C according to Manly Hydraulic Laboratories. Weather - overcast. Sea fairly calm.	Wet suit, 82 cu ft. Too much weight! No hood.
526	17 Aug 2008	Shiprock	Port Hacking	Sydney	Australia			16		41	Iain Hosking, Laurie Collier, Sebastian Bachler		Planned Oak Park at Cronulla, but we got there to find ideal conditions - for surfing. So it was back to the old, reliable Shiprock, as uninspiring as ever, but colder than I remember (14°C according to those who knew). Vis - not great. Current. Small cuttlefish, 2 nudibranchs (mottled black and white), catfish, morwong, yellowtail, stripey, leatherjacket.	wet suit with NO HOOD (brrr...), 82 cu ft, Buddy Arctic, new Ikelite torch ($149(. Thinking about a dry suit...
527	8 Nov 2008	Shelly Beach	Manly	Sydney	Australia			9		48	Iain Hosking, Bridget Aitchison, Marion Aitchison, Richard C?		Foursome with Bridget, her daughter Marion (15) and Richard. Up at 6am, left at 7, arrived (via M4, ANZAC Bridge, Harbour Bridge) at 8.15am. Parking $8 for 2 hrs, $16 for the day. Quick to kit up, and warm in the water. Swam along the boulder slope to the right, past wrasse, scalyfin, groper, bullseye and yellowtail to a spot with half a dozen wobbegong. Richard took plenty of photos. Marion (who had ear problems) also had a camera. Water 20°C	Dry suit, 82 cu ft, Buddy Arctic, 21 lbs weight. $149 to have seals replaced on dry suit - well worth it, though right sleeve was pretty wet. Maybe another 3 lbs would help maintain positive pressure. To buy: knife straps.
528	17 Jan 2009	Cape Solander	Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell	Sydney	Australia			15		43	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking		$7 park entrance. Overcast cleared ot a sunny afternoon. SE wind so white horses, but easy entrance over rocks. Around 1 hr after high tide. Drifted east in the ebb current and had an energetic fin back. Brendan found a cuttlefish early on, and after much searching we found a weedy sea dragon and took a few photos. Viz reasonably good. Enjoyable dive.	Dry suit (more like a damp suit), 21 lbs, 82 cu ft tank. u/w camera (housing containing cheap film camera). Brendan - my wetsuit, hired BC + tank + reg ($65) + new knife ($65).
529	18 Jan 2009	Bare Island	La Perouse	Sydney	Australia			15		48	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking		Warm Sydney summer day - everyone was at La Perouse so parking was very hard to find. Long walk in full kit up the road, over the bridge, down the steps, under the bridge to the right. Easy entrance to water - snorkelled out and descended to around 5m. Gradually found 7m then over weed down to 15m. Plenty of sponge gardens, nudibranchs (4 varieties), scalyfin, blennies and a decent-sized cuttlefish. No sea dragons. Tricky return with waves on rocks. Hiked back to car, quick change and back to Scuba Warehouse by 5.05pm (it closes at 4pm on Sundays). [Now closed all day Sunday]	Dry suit, 21 lbs (definitely too light!), 82, u/w camera again. Brendan - my wetsuit again, hired gear and the knife, which he lost.
530	25 Jan 2009	Shelly Beach	Manly	Sydney	Australia			7	59	59	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking		Took both Cameron and Brendan diving for the first time since South West Rocks a year ago. For the future, remember diving is a day-long activity. We left Scuba Warehouse around 12pm, Andrew's at 1pm and were in the water around 2pm. Out at 3pm and back to the dive shop (via Andrew's to pick up Alexander and Angus) at 4.20pm (they close at 4). Saw plenty of yellowtail, bullseyes, wrasse, scalyfin and a few big groper, plus a couple of cuttlefish and three wobbegongs. Single stingray at the end.	Dry suit, ~28lbs weight (2 belts), 82, camera, no gloves. With more weight I was warmer, but not drier. There must be a leak.
531	13 Sep 2009	Balmoral Beach		Sydney	Australia			5	23	23	Iain Hosking, Robb Whitewood		Underwater treasure hunt organised by Frog Dive. Like the previous one I participated in (at Panthers Aqua Golf in 1992 and not even logged), with one important difference. The idea was to search for tokens (in this case, potatoes) and exchange them for raffle tickets. Unlike that event, here each diver was only allowed one ticket. There goes the plan. I met and buddied up with Robb Whitewood (whose partner Allison wasn't diving) and out we went with about 200 others. Robb found a potato straight away but we had to do a line search to find mine (memo: a length of cord is a handy addition to the kit). Didn't win anything in the raffle, though. Weather: clear and sunny. Allison sent pictures from her iPhone.
532	28 Mar 2010	Cape Solander	Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell	Sydney	Australia			12	47	47	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking		Some wave action. Poor vis at the surface; better below. Didn't find any weedy sea dragons, but Brendan found an octopus and Cameron a cuttlefish. Shoal of large, sleek fish with a yellow stripe along the sides. Took some photos demonstrating how green and murky it was. Must find some new sites.	Dry-type suit, 82 cu ft, Arctic, 2 weight belts. Hired BCs and weights from Abyss. Cameron wore my wetsuit and Brendan Andrew's.
533	7 Jun 2010	Molokini	Maui	Hawaii	USA			25	48	50	Iain Hosking, Bob Britton		From the red lookbook (#10): Well, here's a new site. Snorkelled Molokini yesterday with TWC crew: Matt & Erin, Dan & Lea, Brett, Tristan, plus Justin and his friend Sean. Came back this morning to do it justice. The boat dropped us off the western arm of Molokini and we drifted anticlockwise round the outside. Plenty of fish, including species endemic to Hawaii. An unusual lobster (flat paddle-like claws). Finally ended up at the shark cleaning station as the current stopped. Three white-tipped reef sharks about 9ft long swam in circles below us, occasionally with mouth agape to be cleaned. Absolutely magical. All the better that they didn't tell us about the sharks - it was a complete surprise. Bob took underwater photos. Other divers included Ray (dive leader), Jackie (2nd dive leader), Jim (who used to work at Woomera) and his son Darran and daughter Amanda, who trains dolphins for the US Navy. Originally booked with Mike Severns, but the boat had engine failure, so they were good enough to book us on Ed Robinson's boat for a 10% spotter's fee. 50 mins, 25m (estimates as my Aladin died up Mauna Kea). Beautifully clear, blue water.	3mm one-piece wetsuit, ~12lbs lead, hired tank, reg and BC. Own mask and fins, snorkel, torch, boots and computer (RIP).
534	7 Jun 2010	Prawn trawler	Kihei/Weilia	Hawaii	USA			20	48	50	Iain Hosking, Bob Britton		On the way back Ray asked us what we wanted to do for a second dive. I said "turtles", someone else said "wreck" and we combined both with a prawn trawler scuttled as part of an artificial reef (along wit hcar tyres in frames). Found one turtle inside the wreck - another one was waiting for us back at the line. Notable others in amongst the butterflyfish, tang and pennant fish were trumpet fish in various colours.	3mm one-piece wetsuit, ~12lbs lead, hired tank, reg and BC. Own mask and fins, snorkel, torch, boots and computer.
535	10 Jun 2010	Eel gardens	off Kona Airport	Hawaii	USA			25		50	Iain Hosking		Preparatory dive for planned night dive with mantas. Eel gardens first - they stick up from the sandy bottom feeding on plankton. Then coral reef (well, coral on volcanic boulders) with butterflyfish, pennant fish, boxfish, eels, trumpet fish; the usual suspects. Also a divided flatworm. Watched a blue and yellow wrasse operate its cleaning station for quite a while. Finished with half a tank of air because the damaged Aladin was overreading depth and time.	Kona Honu Divers' gear: wetsuit, Cressisub slip-on fins, BC, reg. Own mask, torch and (now dead) Aladin. It didn't like going up Mauna Kea, even in a pressure-proof capsule.
536	10 Jun 2010	Kona Airport	off Kona Airport	Hawaii	USA			20		50	Iain Hosking		Not the night dive with mantas. Lights set up, circle of divers sitting on the seabed with torches pointing upwards, an atmosphere of expectation. Above us were columns of silvery fish, and winding its way around us was Frank the Eel. But no plankton worth speaking of, so no mantas. Disappointing is an understatement. But watched an eel hunting (quite creepy, especially if you're a small reef fish), crabs and an octopus. Rated 4 stars for its inherent value as a pleasant night dive. Deck crew: Bo. Other divers: Father and son from Utah; single guy from Austria; another father and 2 sons.	Kona Honu Divers' gear: wetsuit, Cressisub slip-on fins, BC, reg, torch. Own mask and second torch.
537	10 Apr 2011	North Bondi		Sydney	Australia			9	21	21	Iain Hosking, Deborah Jamison		Chapter of accidents. Tanks out of test and empty. Triathlon so Harbour Bridge closed and city gridlocked. Frog Dive and Scuba Warehouse both closed on Sunday. Other shops had nitrox only. Eventually hired tanks from Pro-Dive Coogee and met Deborah at North Bondi. Even parking was a drama. Kitted up to find...no fins. So had to split the dive into two, one with each buddy. Eventually entered the water off rocks with Deborah and she took off like a ferret up a drainpipe. I was watching air consumption so had to call a halt after 20 minutes to preserve air for 2nd dive with Cameron. Saw boulders, sea urchins and various fish, being mercilessly hunted down by spearfishermen. Highlight was one small but scared coral trout.	Dryish suit. New TUSA Element II dive computer, 21 lbs, hired 88 cu ft tank (own out of test). Borrowed Cameron's fins.
538	10 Apr 2011	North Bondi		Sydney	Australia			6	14	14	Iain Hosking, Cameron Hosking		By this time the forecast rain had set in, but not to be discouraged, we entered the water anyway, only to find Cameron had seriously blocked sinuses and couldn't descend, even slowly. Changed in the rain and returned the tanks to Coogee, and managed to navigate back via Moore Park, where a Bulldogs vs St George game had just finished. More gridlock. What a day.	Dryish suit. New TUSA Element II dive computer, 21 lbs, hired 88 cu ft tank (own out of test). Borrowed Deborah's fins.
539	30 Mar 2013	Shelly Beach	Manly	Sydney	Australia			9	57	57	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking		Refamiliarisation for the three of us, especially Brendan, who is off to Cairns on Thursday. Warm day, busy beach ("packed in like penguins", Brendan predicted), good conditions: calm and clear. Plenty of fish: groper, wrasse, scalyfin, leatherjacket, wobbegongs and stingrays. Angus, who was snorkelling, saw 5 small cuttlefish in formation. Air and water temperature both 22°C.	Dry suit, Arctic, hired aluminium tank, 25 lbs
540	31 Mar 2013	Bare Island	La Perouse	Sydney	Australia			14	53	53	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking		After a cloudy start to the day the weather came good and La Perouse was at its multicultural best. We were lucky enough to find a parking spot near an ice-cream van, where Cameron, Brendan and I kitted up while Alexander, Angus and Steph found a nearby beach for boules and boogieboarding. We walked down the hill, over the bridge, down the steps on the left and back under the bridge to a flat rock shelf popular with anglers. On submerging, I set a compass course to the left, ie anticlockwise round the island. The vis wasn't nearly as good as yesterday and we were glad of the torches to help stay in touch. Keeping the boulder slope to our left we contoured down to 14m. On the way we found a sizeable cuttlefish in a crevice, and several species of nudibranch, as well as scalyfin, morwong, wrasse, leatherjacket, goatfish, bullseyes and old wives. Towards the halfway mark we were joined by a groper who became an instant friend, sticing close to us, making eye contact and showing a keen interest in whatever we were looking at. Patches of sea urchin spines on the seabed provided clues as to his possible motivation for this friendly behaviour. Cameron and Brendan took their time and looked closer than I probably did, and were rewarded with sightings of small octopus and prawns that I missed. At 100 bar we turned around and followed a reciprocal course back to the entry point, past the same cuttlefish, picking up my dropped snorkel on the way. Exiting was straightforward except for the fishing line, but the owners of said line didn't seem too troubled, and helped disentangle us. Brendan was able to use his knife for its intended purpose. Afterwards I had a round trip to Manly to return the tanks and hire gear, while the others chilled on the beach. Evening meal at the Springwood Gardens Chinese restaurant for Angus' bithday. Air temperature 24°C; water 21°C.	Dry suit, Arctic, hired aluminum tank, 25 lbs
541	5 Oct 2013	Latitude Rock		Forster	Australia			14	14	14	Iain Hosking		Most of the time spent sitting on the bottom waiting for the others	Dry suit, I think
542	5 Oct 2013	Bennetts Head Bommie	Underneath Bennetts Head Lookout	Forster	Australia			10	51	51	Iain Hosking		Much better dive; shallow, relaxed, little current	Dry suit, I think
543	21 Dec 2013	Cape Solander	Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell	Sydney	Australia			13	49	49	Iain Hosking, Brendan Hosking, Cameron Hosking		Relatively little life. Looked for weedy sea dragons but didn't find any. The boys found a squid, though.	Dry suit, hired aluminium tank
544	6 Apr 2015	Shelly Beach	Manly	Sydney	Australia			9	62	62	Iain Hosking, Cameron Hosking, Alexander Hosking, Jeremy ?, Max Hogarth		Took Max Hogarth for his first Australian dive, along with Cameron, Alexander and Jeremy. Busy day at the beach. Plenty of fish; no Part Jackson sharks but one wobbegong.	Dry suit, hired aluminium tank
545	4 Oct 2015	The Pinnacles, Forster		Forster	Australia			37	24	27	Iain Hosking, Nick Heiniger		Pretty deep for a first dive following a 6-month layoff. Took the GoPro for its first underwater outing (having checked it's rated to 40m). Clear, blue water, plenty of fish life including mado, bullseyes, cod, wrasse and a large male seahorse (long, like a sea dragon) carying eggs. Pity the SD card was full by that stage :-/. Seasick afterwards. But also saw humpback whales breaching, so well worth it. Nick from Forster Dive Centre recommends the pink Travacalm (I think).	Wet suit, hired aluminium tank, BC, 24 lbs. The wet suit (from 1991) was inflexible and restrictive, particularly on initial entry into the water.
546	4 Oct 2015	Bennetts Head Bommie	Underneath Bennetts Head Lookout	Forster	Australia			9	32	32	Iain Hosking, Nick Heiniger		Relaxing second dive around the bommie, and into the little cave in the middle. Plenty of fish life including an eagle ray and a Port Jackson shark looking very relaxed lying on top of a wobbegong. Heard whales singing throughout the dive; rather magical. Saw them on the surface too, along with a pair of dolphins.	Wet suit, hired aluminium tank, BC, 24 lbs
547	30 Dec 2015	Latitude Rock		Forster	Australia			12	48	49	Iain Hosking, Nick Heiniger		Not written up at the time so I'm working from photos. These prove that it was a sunny day, the water was clear and we definitely saw blue groper and a wobbegong. I also recall that I wasn't seasick, thanks to the wonders of Travacalm.	Hired wet suit, alloy tank and BC. 21 lbs
548	30 Dec 2015	Bennetts Head Bommie	Underneath Bennetts Head Lookout	Forster	Australia			9	43	43	Iain Hosking, Nick Heiniger		Second dive of the day, and also not written up at the time, so if we didn't see the wobbegong on the first dive, it was on this one.	Hired wet suit, alloy tank and BC. 21 lbs
549	2 Oct 2016	Latitude Rock		Forster	Australia			19	30	30	Iain Hosking, Nick Heiniger, Iain Hosking, Nick Heiniger		Another sunny day with Forster Dive Centre, made magical by the sight of breaching humpback whales before the dive, and whalesong during it. Fish life included the ever-personable blue groper, stripey and bullseyes, and Nick also found a slipper lobster. This may have been one of those dives where sharks were seen (grey nurse), but not by me.	Hired wet suit, alloy tank and BC. 18 lbs in shot belt
550	2 Oct 2016	Bennetts Head Bommie	Underneath Bennetts Head Lookout	Forster	Australia			11	44	44	Iain Hosking, Nick Heiniger		Second dive of the day, under Bennett's Head lookout (from which we saw humpback whales yesterday).This site features a little cave (big enough for two divers), and highlights were a large eagle ray out in the open and another unidentified ray under a rock. Toadfish were amusing as always, and a little black and white octopus in a crevice rounded out the dive.	Hired wet suit, alloy tank and BC. 18 lbs in shot belt
551	16 Oct 2016	Long Bay	Fisherman's Road, Malabar	Sydney	Australia			6	34	34	Iain Hosking, Kevin Doherty		Organised by Ed from Scuba Warehouse; two tanks and barbecue for $60. This dive guided by Terry. Beautiful weather above the surface belied the murky desert beneath. High point was a car wreck. Dive was cut short by the high air consumption of one of the dives; I finished with 120 bar (the nominated return threshold). Insufficient weight for the dry suit; I pocketed a couple of rocks to little effect. Good barbecue afterwards, and a friendly crowd	Fourth Element dry suit, steel tank, Arctic, 21 lbs
552	16 Oct 2016	Long Bay	Fisherman's Road, Malabar	Sydney	Australia			10	53	53	Iain Hosking, Kevin Doherty		Second dive of the day. Kevin agreed we should dive as a pair, and we headed east towards a fisherman on a rocky point. We had a lengthy snorkel before we hit a diveable depth, and then there was a long spell at 3m, over a depressing amount of rubbish and little life other than stripey and goatfish, but we eventually saw a ray, and the return trip was much better, amongst sandstone boulders and overhangs. I even caught a glimpse of an octopus; an orange leg in a crevice with shells stuck to his suckers. He retreated fast, though. It was hard to escape the impression that the sea life was either fished out or scared.	Fourth Element dry suit, steel tank, Arctic, 27 lbs
553	2 Jan 2017	The Pinnacles, Forster		Forster	Australia			37	20	26	Nick Heiniger, Iain Hosking		Didn't intend a solo dive but that's how it worked out. Overcast and dark. Visibility terrible down to 30m, then cleared a little, but very dark. Highlight was two grey nurse sharks in a gutter. Very glad to find the line again for the ascent	Fourth Element dry suit, steel tank, Arctic, 27 lbs
554	2 Jan 2017	Latitude Rock		Forster	Australia			19	30	36	Nick Heiniger, Karl Brindell, Iain Hosking		Dived with Karl Brindell. Notable for lionfish, turtle and moray eel. Water very green.	Fourth Element dry suit, steel tank, Arctic, 27 lbs
555	8 Jan 2017	Oak Park	Oak Park	Sydney	Australia			10	55	55	Iain Hosking, Cameron Hosking		First dive with Cameron since April 2015. Warm, sunny day but white horses and an onshore wind made entry interesting and exit alarming. Poor vis as it was well stirred up. Plenty of smaller fish such as mado, bullseyes, scalyfin, wrasse, blennies, leatherjacket, blue-tailed devilfish. Extensive sponge gardens in bright shades of purple, orange and yellow. Highlight was a small cuttlefish which effortlessly ran through a full set of colour changes. We were assisted on our exit by a couple of off-duty divers - thanks!	Fourth Element dry suit, steel tank, Arctic, 27 lbs. First dive with Shearwater Petrel 2 dive computer
556	27 Jan 2017	Fly Point		Nelson Bay	Australia			11	16	16	Iain Hosking		Gear test (new Scubapro Mk25 and Oceanic Chute 2 BC). Solo dive. Calm conditions. Plenty of fish but no cuttlefish or octopus this time. Sea pens and a ray instead. Conclusion was that I need to add a little more weight. But it is a smaller tank.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 25lbs (not enough)
557	28 Jan 2017	North Rock	Broughton Island	Nelson Bay	Australia			18	37	40	Iain Hosking, Dani Coombes, John Smith, John Paterson, Tim Claessen, Jaap van der Must		Dived with Let's Go Adventures out of Nelson Bay. Met up at 7am, departed at 8 and an hour's trip out to Broughton Island in postcard-perfect conditions. Large turnout - 20 paying customers plus three dive leaders and the skipper - but very well organised. I dived with 4 other experienced divers, led by Dani. Briefing covered keeping close to the edge of the gullies and travelling in single file so as not to spook the sharks, as well as signals, a turnaround at 100 bar and a 3-minute safety stop. The water was fairly clear, and on the bottom it wasn't long before I realised we had company in the shape of half a dozen or so large grey nurse sharks. We swam down the left of the gully while they patrolled up and down the centre, then we turned around and came down the other side. The GoPro videos pretty much do it justice, so I can't add much more in words. Dani was a good dive leader, chasing up and down like a sheepdog to keep her flock together, and ensuring that all signals were clear and acknowledged. Her dayglo-orange fins and yellow mask band made her easy to spot underwater. Back on the boat it was good to see everyone being signed back in and their depth and time recorded. A memorable dive, well up to expectations.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs
558	28 Jan 2017	Looking Glass	Broughton Island	Nelson Bay	Australia			15	30	33	Iain Hosking, Dani Coombes, John Smith, John Paterson, Tim Claessen, Jaap van der Must		Once all divers were up we headed clockwise round Broughton Island to a sheltered spot for a bite to eat (rolls & cheese, chicken noodle soup, biscuits and lollies). Then we were first group in for the second dive. This was through a series of spectacular underwater canyons, with fairly appreciable wave action (which would appear to be the normal state of affairs, judging by the floor of the canyons which consisted of sizeable rocks worn smooth). Technique was to let the surge wash you forwards, then hang of with fingertips or elbows to resist the backwash. At the farthest point, we rounded a corner to find ten or more grey nurse sharks silhouetted against the green water beyond. Dani said afterwards it was the most she'd seen at that point, so we felt very fortunate. All too soon it was time to turn around and return the way we came, surfacing via the anchor line (good navigation by our dive leader). The trip back went much more quickly than the outward journey with much to reflect on and talk about. I'd recommend Let's Go Adventures to anyone, and would certainly return to Nelson Bay myself.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs
559	1 Oct 2017	Latitude Rock		Forster	Australia			17	29	29	Matt Clark, Iain Hosking		Good weather: sunny & light winds (S, 8 km/h). Reasonably large swell (2-3m) but little chop, The swell did mean a lot of wave action even at 17m. Visibility good where it wasn't stirred up; water was blue. Highlights: turtle and lionfish.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs
560	1 Oct 2017	Bennetts Head Bommie	Underneath Bennetts Head Lookout	Forster	Australia			9	40	40	Iain Hosking, Matt Clark		Nick was keen to find a spot with less wave action than the first dive and fell back to this popular but shallow spot. Very light and clear (once again, when not stirred up by the wave action). Highlight was several eagle rays.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 29lbs
561	26 Jan 2019	North Rock	Broughton Island	Nelson Bay	Australia			16	46	49	Iain Hosking		Same site as 28 Jan 2017, and another sunny day. Very warm; wore boardies and t-shirt out to the site and donned the dry suit there. Only real problems were poor vis and heavy swell. But we did see grey nurse sharks. The afternoon dive at Looking Glass was better.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs
562	26 Jan 2019	Looking Glass	Broughton Island	Nelson Bay	Australia			17	36	39	Iain Hosking		Didn't write this up at the time but the videos tell the story. Grey nurse sharks galore.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 29lbs (+ 4lb in BCD)
563	25 Jan 2020	North Rock	Broughton Island	Nelson Bay	Australia			18	44	47	Iain Hosking		Same site as 28 Jan 2017 and 26 Jan 2019, but no grey nurse sharks this time (at least not seen by me).	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs
564	25 Jan 2020	Looking Glass	Broughton Island	Nelson Bay	Australia			15	40	43	Iain Hosking		Dive organised through Let's Go Adventures. Dive leaders Jason and Charlie. Same site as 28 Jan 2017 and 26 Jan 2019. No shortage of sharks this time; Charlie (the dive leader) counted 16. Some good vide with the GoPro 5 in its new housing. First half of the dive was in the slot canyon with the sharks, second half outside to the left (south) with a tight swim-through and plenty of fish. Average water temperature 24°C; range was 23-28°C.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 29lbs
565	30 Dec 2020	Latitude Rock		Forster	Australia			10	51	52	Iain Hosking		Diving organised through Dive Forster; Ron Hunter, daughter Gabby and Keith who shares the leading of the dives. Boat was the "Avanti", a twin-engined catamaran with 4 exits, 2 boarding ladders and a toilet. I visited the shop on Sunday, where Ron said Wednesday looked like the first day with good conditions; the wind changing to southerlies which would clear the water somewhat. The forecast had rain, but it turned out to be a beautiful day for diving, sunny and calm. The sea was flat except for a long, lazy swell. There were around 10 divers all up. After a briefing I was paired up with David, from Chester in the UK, but as I jumped in without my weightbelts I joined the second group. Ron and Keith led us to a gutter where grey nurse sharks swam lazily up and down beside us while we lurked in the kelp. The first was a male (white claspers behind its pelvic fin), which looked huge, and the other two looked like females. They seemed so close we could reach out and touch them. Return to the line was leisurely, with time to take in all the other sea life; gropers, scalyfin, mado, blennies, eastern blue devil; the usual suspects. We had a distant view of an eagle ray swimming away from us. Visibility was average; perhaps 10m, but for my first dive at Forster since October 2017 this was very pleasant, and rates 4 stars.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs
566	30 Dec 2020	Latitude Rock		Forster	Australia			12	41	42	Iain Hosking		For the second dive we remained moored at the same spot, but visited a different part of the site. Here there was a rock amphitheatre, where the grey nurse sharks swam against a black cliff, with a shoal of mado above for visual effect. Pity I left my GoPro at home. One female swam out of the amphitheatre to the left and continued anticlockwise while I turned to watch. As for the first dive, she seemed close enough to touch, and I could see the texture of her skin, the small eyes (which were fixed in me) and the rows of teeth. She continued off into the distance, but before she disappeared I was witness to her gulping down a small fish, which I haven't seen before. The rest of the dive was also interesting, with a couple of wobbegongs, the usual other fish and two different types of nudibranchs; one pale blue with purple spots and the other creamy white with a dark brown of black frill. As for the previous dive this rates 4 stars because of the sharks and good conditions. Good to have Forster back in play. Cost for the two dives was $130, and I filled my two tanks afterwards for $24.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 29lbs
567	7 Feb 2021	Magic Point	Cronulla	Sydney	Australia			17	45	48	Iain Hosking, Gordon Pearce		Departed Sans Souci wharf (just west of Rocky Point Road) at 8am in unexpectedly good conditions. Briiefing was comprehensive, and the boar anchor was right above the cave where a couple of grey nurse sharks hang out, so there they were as advertised. Visibility wasn't great but managed to capture a few atmospheric video clips. When we'd seen enough of the sharks (and probably to their relief) we headed left round the end of the reef, where a wobbegong was lying on a ledge. Then back to where the anchor had been, only to find it wasn't there any more. This meant a free ascent, a midwater stop and a fair snorkel back to the boat.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs
568	7 Feb 2021	Magic Point	Cronulla	Sydney	Australia			20	37	40	Iain Hosking, Gordon Pearce		After a mug of soup and a relief stop (yes the boat has a loo) the boat anchored in a slightly different (and deeper) part of the reef. We followed other divers up a boulder slope to the reef and explored left and right. High point for me was a cuttlefish, which displayed as much curiosity about us as the reverse. Water was noticeably colder; I put gloves on. As before, didn't locate the anchor line, so free ascent, midwater stops and an even longer snorkel back to the boat. Bit of a fitness test.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 29lbs
569	6 Nov 2021	Looking Glass	Broughton Island	Nelson Bay	Australia			20	36	35			Not the best dive at this site. Heavy swell, GoPro battery flat, dive computer battery low, no sharks and safety sausage accedentally deployed. But no-one died. Charlie was the dive leader, and I buddied up with Jordan from the ANZ (and his friends Christian and Megan)	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs
570	6 Nov 2021	Looking Glass	Broughton Island	Nelson Bay	Australia			19	36	39			The boat moored at the same spot, but for this dive Charlie led us on a tour of the caves and swim-throughs outside Looking Glass itself. Much more relaxing. Fish life featured groper and wobbegong. Buddied with Jordan and Christian.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 29lbs
571	30 Dec 2021	Hayden's Rock	off Forster Main Beach	Forster	Australia			8	38	38			Shallow, but lots of grey nurse sharks. Dive led by Keith; other divers Dave, Fiona and Shane.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 29lbs
572	30 Dec 2021	Latitude Rock		Forster	Australia			12	42	43			Started with a spot at the end of a gully with grey nurse sharks. Ended by following Keith through a soup of grey weed looking for a turtle, then back to the line (which was well done).	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs
573	2 Jan 2023	The Pinnacles, Forster		Forster	Australia			32	24	30	Iain Hosking, James Hagarty		Sorry to say this was not a particularly enjoyable dive. We had high hopes given good conditions and clear blue water on the surface, but This changed to a soupy green at depth. Also, there was a noticeable current so most of the time was spent hanging onto rocks. Saw one wobbegong.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 29lbs
574	2 Jan 2023	Latitude Rock		Forster	Australia			12	49	49	Iain Hosking, James Hagarty		The second dive made up for the first. Headed inshore to Latitude Rock in search of sharks, snd found them plus heaps of other fish. Strong wave action, but nothing we couldn't swim against. Filmed a large puffer fish in a cave, and Keith (dive leader) feeding a blue groper with a sea urchin. Other divers: Harriet (Hattie) from Sydney's Underwater Research Group, SAndrew, Peter, Nick, Charlie (Marine Science graduate and trainee divemaster) and James.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs. New Fourth Element undersuit (jacket & pants)
575	27 Jan 2023	Cod Rock	Broughton Island	Nelson Bay	Australia			16	43	46	Iain Hosking, Paul ?, Molly Jordan, Gillian Anderson-Fox, Guilleamo Disp, Anthony Bathista, Brendan Waters		Well organised dive with plenty of safety checks. Good weather, uncrowded boat (8 people including crew). Visited the cave first, then through a lava tube, looked around the other side and back. Fish life included a large porcupine fish and the usual morwaong, wrasse, and stripey.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs. New Fourth Element undersuit (jacket & pants). Replaced shot belt with one from the shop with 21 lbs.
576	27 Jan 2023	Looking Glass	Broughton Island	Nelson Bay	Australia			15	46	49	Iain Hosking, Paul ?, Molly Jordan, Gillian Anderson-Fox, Guilleamo Disp, Anthony Bathista, Brendan Waters		Good conditions at Looking Glass with minimal swell. Saw only one grey nurse shark (but others saw two). Finished outside the gully and went briefly into Little Looking Glass. Wobbegong, groper, bullseyes etc.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. Weights as for previous dive.
577	24 Sep 2023	Magic Point	Cronulla	Sydney	Australia			19	22	27			Met at Abyss in Ramsgate at 11am. Boarded the boat at Sans Souci at 12 noon. 30 minute boat ride round to the north. Buddied up with Nathan who was easy to spot by his dayglo fins. No shark in the cave, but a large ray instead. Didn't see much else as my mask fogged up.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 13 kg (29lbs) weight. Go Pro 5. Green C-cell torch. Max (Abyss dive leader) reckons I carry too much lead.
578	24 Sep 2023	Magic Point	Cronulla	Sydney	Australia			16	29	33			Second dive got off to a bad start with an awkward step entry, but was more enjoyable than the first because the mask drops meant I could actually see. We headed south of the cave, guided by Max. Most pics were of the other divers, but I took a few seconds of video of a blue groper.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 13 kg (29lbs) weight. Go Pro 5. Green C-cell torch (which I dropped at the start of the dive, but recovered).
579	29 Dec 2023	Hayden's Rock	off Forster Main Beach	Forster	Australia			10	56	57			A good, relaxing dive to make up for the horrible non-dives on 30 September. Warm day so chose to use the new wet suit. Group led by Jimmy from Dive Forster, with James bringing up the rear. Both easy to identify with green shirts over their wet suits. Decent visibility and plenty of grey nurse sharks.	New Scubapro wet suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank (filled to 250 bar). 18 lb weight belt (plus weights in BC). Go Pro 5. Green C-cell torch. New Fourth Element fins.
580	29 Dec 2023	One Mile Gutter		Forster	Australia			8	48	49			Ron refers to this site as South One Mile because it's at the south end of One Mile Beach). Another shallow dive to suit snorkellers. No sharks, but saw an eagle ray (maybe two), smaller rays, wobbegong, Port Jackson skarks, green spotted puffer fish, eastern blue devil and much else.	New Scubapro wet suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 18 lb weight belt (plus weights in BC). Go Pro 5. Green C-cell torch. Lost the (old) compass from the BC pocket; left with just a metal buckle attached to the lanyard. High pressure hose had a slow leak, so Gabby replaced it at the shop afterwards.
581	21 Jan 2024	Fairlight	Manly	Sydney	Australia			9	46	46	Alexander Hosking		Warm, sunny day. Fairlight recommended by Dive Centre Manly as Shelly Beach was exposed to the NE wind. Scored a good parking spot and lugged all the gear down to the beach to change there. Very shallow at first, and poor vis. I was underweight, wihch looked like a showstopper until I figured out that the BC had to be vented repeatedly. The inlet valve may have been jammed partially open. Alexander was OK with my wet suit and 18 lbs of weight. Life: eastern blue devil, wobbegong under a ledge, wrasse, sponges.	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 10 kg (21lbs) weight + whatever is in the BC. Go Pro 5. Green C-cell torch.
582	5 Oct 2024	Hayden's Rock	off Forster Main Beach	Forster	Australia			10	43	43	Iain Hosking, James Hagarty		Shallow dive, strong swell and somewhat underweight made for a very unsatisfactory experience. No second dive as the suit leaked. Air hose inlet?	Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 21 lbs (insufficient).