Aussie diving, 1st Feb to 15th Feb.....

[thanksforallthefish]

And then I am out for a birthday dive next Sunday :balloons: Will hopefully distract me from the fact that then I will no longer be in my early twenties

Oh ... you poor old dear ... want to borrow a walking stick

We got two 90 minute dives in on Bundegi Reef today. I was shooting macro again today and I've got a heap of shots to go through. Here are fourI to go on with:

It wouldn't be Bundegi without a Batfish shot:

As usual Gudge fantastic shots.

I remember the first time I saw one of those it was at Nelson Bay ... cant remember exactly what type it was, but after the dive asked my buddy if he saw the weird little fish ... he said yes (cautiously), I asked him what it looked like ... his reply was a mouse with a strange tail .... pretty much described it




Hey AussieByron where are the pics????

 

[bowlofpetunias]

No rebreather, only OC. With all the money I've spent on camera gear for my wife and I there is no money left for things like rebreathers. There are a few tricks to getting close. Move slowly and deliberately and be patient, NEVER chase fish to get a shot unless you are into shots of fish's behinds. Observe fish carefully as you approach. As you enter their comfort zone you will see their behaviour change, back up a bit and wait and then try to approach again. As they get used to your presence you will be able to get close. Hang around cleaning stations as fish will let you approach closer there than normal (eg the batfish shot). Watch fish as they move around, some will follow routine patterns and follow the same path regularly. Once you see this behaviour set your camera up and be ready for the next pass to grab the shot. If fish are hiding in rocks/coral they will regularly stick their head out to check on you, be ready to grab the shot when they do (eg the boxfish shot). Be ready for anything, you never know when a fish will turn and look at you (eg the butterflyfish shot). Above all be patient and persistent, I still get more than my fair share of fish butts and shots of rocks and coral where the fish used to be.

Thanks for the hints. Some of them I already know and use but some are things I never thought of. I am happy to watch fish for ages seeing what they do and how they behave.

Next question.... How do I train "fish" (thanksforallthefish) my buddy to give me that time before he gets fed up and leaves???? or gives me the head 'thataway" signal:blinking: Please PM those particular hints so he isn't aware of being "trained" he seems a bit resistent to attempts to "train" him

 

[Gudge]

Next question.... How do I train "fish" (thanksforallthefish) my buddy to give me that time before he gets fed up and leaves???? or gives me the head 'thataway" signal

You just have to make him understand that getting the shot is the important thing on the dive and his own personal needs take second place. If that doesn't work, get a new buddy or learn to dive solo.

 

[digital_steve]

Finally went for a dive, the first once since the bend months ago.
Took my new twin 7's out for a test run.
Pulled the pin after 20 minutes due to general anxiety about somehow getting bent in 8 metres of water, or gas embolising, or being attacked by a blue ringed octopus. Apparently i have some more head work to do before getting back into the water... stupid confidence shattering bend!

Plus side is that twin 300bar 7litre tanks are just fab to dive. Less weight on the belt, not to heavy on land, trim out beautifully and are nice and stable. I wish i had've bought them ages ago. Highly recommend them as a small twinset for a single deep-ish dive or a couple of shore dives (or even 2 normal dives if you're a female with an awesome SAC). Even though the manifold is really small and looks cramped once you chuck the first stages one, there's plenty of room to get to the isolater with a hogarthian hose setup. I found the post valves easier to get at than my 12's as well.

 

[Sas]

Finally went for a dive, the first once since the bend months ago.
Took my new twin 7's out for a test run.
Pulled the pin after 20 minutes due to general anxiety about somehow getting bent in 8 metres of water, or gas embolising, or being attacked by a blue ringed octopus. Apparently i have some more head work to do before getting back into the water... stupid confidence shattering bend!

Plus side is that twin 300bar 7litre tanks are just fab to dive. Less weight on the belt, not to heavy on land, trim out beautifully and are nice and stable. I wish i had've bought them ages ago. Highly recommend them as a small twinset for a single deep-ish dive or a couple of shore dives (or even 2 normal dives if you're a female with an awesome SAC). Even though the manifold is really small and looks cramped once you chuck the first stages one, there's plenty of room to get to the isolater with a hogarthian hose setup. I found the post valves easier to get at than my 12's as well.

Cool to hear you got back in the water! Sounds like it was a bit hard though so hopefully next time is better for you.

I am looking into getting doubles by the end of the year, gotta try out a few types though. Will see what I think of the 7s

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Finally went for a dive, the first once since the bend months ago.
Took my new twin 7's out for a test run.
Pulled the pin after 20 minutes due to general anxiety about somehow getting bent in 8 metres of water, or gas embolising, or being attacked by a blue ringed octopus. Apparently i have some more head work to do before getting back into the water... stupid confidence shattering bend!

Plus side is that twin 300bar 7litre tanks are just fab to dive. Less weight on the belt, not to heavy on land, trim out beautifully and are nice and stable. I wish i had've bought them ages ago. Highly recommend them as a small twinset for a single deep-ish dive or a couple of shore dives (or even 2 normal dives if you're a female with an awesome SAC). Even though the manifold is really small and looks cramped once you chuck the first stages one, there's plenty of room to get to the isolater with a hogarthian hose setup. I found the post valves easier to get at than my 12's as well.

Hey not surprising you are a be "nervy" after that. I know a lot of people who are a bit off when they have been out of the water for a few months with no diving related reasons. Just a matter of getting back at is as you are ready and not pushing yourself too hard about it. The old saying about getting back on the horse that threw you has stayed in use because it goes to human nature.

Great you are back in the water. IMO FWIW you are probably right about head work... but that may be head work you need to do underwater and 20 minutes is a good start!:blinking:

 

[digital_steve]

Sas - definately give the 300bar 7's a look, especially being a chick i'm assuming you use almost no air.
BoP - good info and ideas. i'll have to see how i go.

i also need to find where my drysuit is leaking in the left arm... brand new, made to measure suit from the UK and it blood leaked from day one. Arse.

 

[Sas]

Sas - definately give the 300bar 7's a look, especially being a chick i'm assuming you use almost no air.
BoP - good info and ideas. i'll have to see how i go.

Well I want to do more diving in the 30-50m range basically so was leaning more towards 10L tanks. Shore dives I can do 2hrs on my 10L so did not really consider twins for that though given I dive by myself sometimes 7s would be good for redundancy (would have manifold) on those dives. Dunno much about it all yet so been asking a lot of people for advice

I am not sure how my air consumption is in comparison to others (other than fish and petunia so it's very high compared to them )... On shore dives I use 9-11L/min and boat dives 13-15L. I will have to sit down and work out what kind of tank is suitable based on some profiles I want to do! I'm 5'10'' so not little like many women so probably not as low as one would expect from a female

I have heard the 300 tanks take ages to fill, is this a problem you've found/heard of?

i also need to find where my drysuit is leaking in the left arm... brand new, made to measure suit from the UK and it blood leaked from day one. Arse.

My new drysuit did the same when I got it but the store fixed it - was a loose dump valve so maybe that if it is left arm? Did you have a pressure test yet too?

 

[digital_steve]

Nah, the leak is coming from somewhere around the seal. I'll have to pressure test it myself and see where it is.
I basically got the 7's for redundancy as well (they're manifolded).
I can't really comment on the 50m stuff as i haven't done that, but there's plenty around that have and do. Ask Chriso at divetub what he thinks, he's usually happy to answer questions.
I know i'd choose 12's and did... but i wasn't doing the deeper dives to warrant them, so i flogged em off for the 7's which will do for the type of diving i have planned for at least the next year.

I have no problem getting 300 bar fills. I usually leave them and pick them up the next day though, so not sure about time... but my LDS has a brand-spanking new compressor that can handle anything you throw at it, so i'm sure it isn't very slow for 300 bar fills.

 

[AussieByron]

another issue with the 300bar 7's is the weight of them. They are a very compact but heavy setup. I run my 300bar 7's and a mate has 232bar 7's. There is a noticable difference.

As for getting a 300bar fill. Well your lucky to get a LDS to give you a 300bar fill. Alot of LDS have their compressor banks set at 300bar cut off. So you get a warm 300bar fill. It takes me a couple of goes at getting close to 300bar.

Another issue is the wear and tear on HP seats on regs with running 300bar cylinders. I had to get special HP seats for my Zeagle regs as the standard seats didnt handle the higher pressure.

Regards Mark