[the seal]

first winter dive
first dive with gear
first dive with a_dolphin

Sunday, the 3rh of July 2004 was preparing for my first winter hunt. Desperately trying to make everything perfect, double checking I haven’t forgotten anything for the next day. Improvised a float and flag from a body board and had some socks coated in rubber latex to keep my feet warm. Kept on working till midnight, before going to be and not getting much sleep from the anticipation of the next day. It was five fifty, I decided to look at my alarm clock which was about to go off in five minutes. So I waited till the last second to turn it off before getting out of bed. I then made good the time I had preparing my things, placing them into my huge Nike bag. Packing lunch and putting some things from downstairs outside that I had made last night in the front yard next to the row of garbage bins. Simon came for me at seven thirty and we arrived at long bay at 8pm.
He parked the car on the north side after having a drive past the south to see the conditions. At the car park there were about 15 other divers getting ready to go spear fishing from my club, the dolphins. At 8: 30 we were ready and there was a roll call and we agreed to meet back at 12 noon. We went in groups to different parts of Long Bay, Simon decided that me, him and Peter should go for the longest swim. We trekked for 20min through some very thick bush before we could see the ocean from cliffs and a steep decent where the water had cut a path down. There we put on our oversized flippers, mask snorkel and all on before jumping in the water. I was the first one in since after walking for 20min with a wet suit on carrying equipment, not as much as the other two though, I was cooked. I just swam round at first getting used to the flippers and suit while waiting for Simon and Peter to get in. They got in and swam to the north side of the little cove we were in where there were lots of crevasses, ledges and caves. There they dropped their guns on a little plateau covered in sea weed and swam off looking into different cracks and crevasses. I guessed correctly that they were looking for lobsters, stupidly I just swam through the little tunnels and caves for fun not looking for anything. Rather just testing myself and occasionally almost drowning when the current went the other direction and pinned me against a rock.
Sadly no lobsters, ): . we kept on swimming and I was getting uncomfortable in the gear I was wearing. It felt like I was out of my element so to speak since previous experiences had taken me through swimming with no flippers and just board shorts for warmth, and never a weight belt. My mask needed to be readjusted since it was too tight when the wet suit hood was under it, the flippers where somewhat strange for their size but I decided I should just get it over with. I went back for my hand spear and looked around the rocks to find something to end my frustration. It was a Morewong, or dumb mowie as most call them. I hit it once next to the gills and pulled it closer to me to grab it, at that moment it escaped but was to dump to swim away so I just shot it again at the bottom and pulled it up. Simon was close by so I gave it to him and he put it through his chord going to his float. We swam to the other side of the cove stopping just in the middle to do a dive. There I decided to readjust the weight belt Simon lent me, on doing so I remembered to check for the knife on the weight belt, which to my horror wasn’t there. I reasoned that I may have put it in the holster incorrectly after killing the mowie and it could have fallen out. To my luck I could see something at the bottom just about shining through to the surface. I took a few breaths and dived down grabbing it and heading to the surface very relieved. We continued to the point where Simon scored a 3 kilo black fish where it was really silty and my mask was hurting may face and making it hard to equalize ear pressure. Simon and peter took turns vanishing into the depths but I was not in the right state. We kept on swimming and the visibility increased, but no fish. After a while I got a leg cramps and another and another and another. Eventually I could control them and swam ahead doing some diving at a shipwreck and talking to a guy on a boat supervising some scuba divers, where I started to enjoy the long swim. We swam for another 45min to the boat ramp and car park before getting out. All in all, I felt like I had jinxed the group since we were some of the few to catch any fish. A very quiet day and a tough trial by fire from Simon, who was very happy I had made the swim. I was happy I was alive, but those are my issues. We had swam for 3 and a half hours over about 2 or more kilometers of ocean arriving an hour late to the car park. Everyone had left except someone who got his car stolen; we left after helping him out, changing clothes and filleting our fish. I ate my lunch like a concentration camp victim while sharing it with the others before we left. We parked on a large traffic Island to get some drinks and then talked for an hour. Then I and Simon headed to get some food to eat on a jetty while watching the sun set and talking about various things. He finally dropped me off at home and just threw half of the gear I had used on me and told me to do what ever I want with it basically before driving off. I learned a lot and burned all my energy doing it making it a very good day and my first winter dive. The 4th July.

Australia day dive 26/1/05
Took new DIY gun out for a test
Moon= near full
Tide=low
Swell=1m
visibility=6m
Got in from walies bath’s, at cooge, swam round until I found the fish I wanted but couldn’t get close enough and missed. Then it happened, I felt something slide and quickly grabbed it, my weight belt had undone. I wondered why and looked at it as a piece of it fell of to my frustration, I knew it was broken. So I did the only reasonable thing to do, I undid my wetti and shoved it down!
Though somewhat uncomfortable and that it would slowly progress down my right leg over the rest of the dive it still did the job. Saw rock black fish and silver drummer around the wave breaking area and right in the white wash. Around 5kg mark some of the silver’s. saw a small surgeon but that was it. Only shot a mowie at the end that was 5cm over legal-30cm, when I got out I saw some guy looking at me and said “what did that fish ever do to you!” And I was thinking, another jack ass, but it turned out to be john from dolphins. The gun’s darn line release broke, the fiber glass broke and I shot the fish with tangled line. Longest hold around 45sec. got cold after a while.