Annually WAUPS holds a uw photo comp off Rottnest Island. This year we were
running a little late with our shoot-off and found many of the commercial
dive boats were heading up to the Ningaloo Reef for the whaleshark season.
Trying to organise a dive comp with private boats is a bit of a gamble ..
if the weathers too rough have to try the next day - but that skipper may
not be available the next day, due to family commitments, etc.

So with fingers & fins crossed I prayed that the good weather would hold,
no ones boat would break down, no one would flood a camera .. and for once,
WAUPS would actually have a day out at sea without anyone getting sea sick.

The Weather-God wasnt listening to the Weather Forcaster .. nosireee .. on
tv they said strong wind warning overnight, 1 metre waves with 2 metre
swell. We woke to calm seas - a south easterly which flattened things out
nicely .. and we boarded our rostered boats at the various boat ramps or
yacht clubs as planned.

It was so good we made it to SWELL REEF. My first dive here & it was
beautiful. As Huw knows, as he has been on the boat named Dorado, it aint
set up for diving. But, as I am so use to just gearing up & doing a back-
roll in I had a fit of the giggles watching the others trying to get in to
the water. The short-arses .. opps .. ahem, our petite ladies, opted to
swing a leg over the back of the boat & feet-first it off the marlin board.
Wayne offered to wait for me but I told him to get in so I could pass his
camera down. My task on entering the water was to check our anchor was
secure. Usual story, if I dont pop up to yell let some more line out she's
right & I just carry on with my dive.

I looked around and there were bubbles every where due to the number of
small caves in this reef patch. The first cave I entered was fantastic for
photography. Small cleaner shrimps all over the walls. Basket stars on
sponges, one basket star actually crawling along the sea floor. Lots of
beautiful blue devils (juvenile & adult). Cowrie shells galore. Ascidians
of all shapes, sizes & colours. The walls absolutely covered in colour ..
so much so I was cursing not having a wide-angle lens on as the vis was
good. I think I spent half my dive in this cave alone .. but thought I had
better check out what others had seen. There were some very nice swim-
throughs, beautiful coral formations and lots of fishlife around, some very
colourful Nudibranchs. My maximum depth was around 25m but others who had
gone right around the outside of this large reef outcrop got down to 30m or
so. They complained bitterly that there was little to photograph on the
outside and they wished they had seen the caves first. Tough ;-))

We accounted for all our divers and decided to motor off to Little
Armstrong Bay for lunch. On board Dorado were 5 divers with skipper Bill.
Half way through my lunch everyone looks at me expectantly. What? I raise
my eyebrows wondering why I am the centre of attention all of a sudden.
Jenny sez "where's the chips, where's the tim-tams?" I break in to a big
grin coz they have got pretty blase about me always having something to
nibble on. "We are on a diet" I reply, and giggle. The roar of protest that
the "we" included "them" was so funny I nearly killed myself laughing :-))
I can be a lil devil when I wanna ;-)) They comment that leaving behind a
bag of chips (crisps) must have nearly killed me .. but I explain Im
watching my figure ;-))

An hour later it was hard to get the troops back in motion again as many
had dozed off in the sun. It was a nice, peaceful sunny day.. bliss!! We
motor off in convoy through the boat channel out to the open sea heading
for Rowe Reef. We encounter grotty water ... red tide bloom .. but we know
there are some nice caves here too so we take the challenge. Soon we are
all overboard clicking off our various cameras (Nik, RS & housed
systems) .. and soon back aboard out of film. Off we head back to Perth
passing the Leeuwin training vessel on a day cruise. Slowly chugging
through the Fremantle Port we zip in close to the wharf to check out the
progress on the new maritime museum ... a nicely pained submarine in
waiting to be housed there. Off we head for Freshwater Bay Yacht Club
trying to avoid all the yachties out in time trials. A great day, very
exhausting but hopefully successful in the photographic department. We just
the slides during our May AGM.
Viv