Location: Ex-HMAS Canberra
Date: 01/11/10
Max Depth: 23m
Dive Time: 34mins
Temp: 13C
Visibility: 3-5m
Thermal: Drysuit
Weight: 27lbs
Ex_HMAS Canberra.
Magic day to go diving despite the wild weather over the last few days. Sun was out, very little wind, bay and outside were flat but we did hit some pretty big swell going through the rip.
We were the only boat out there and moored in the middle of the wreck. Phil and I descended right on top of the tower halfway along the wreck and swam down the starboard side to the bridge. Viz was poor, about 3-5m and there was quite a strong surge above deck height, below this and it was fine.
The bridge was the only part of the ship that we penetrated today. We exited the port side of the bridge and swam forward to the bow and then back down the starboard side again.
The ship has changed a lot since last visit in Feb. It has noticeably more list to starboard (reportedly about 20 degrees) and is now completely covered in growth and algae. There were also loads of sea tulips which hang off everything like Christmas lights.
Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me as I didn't trust the housing not to leak. I did take it empty though to test it and it was fine so I know I don't need to worry. It was also my first deeper dive in my drysuit. I was worried about venting the air on the way up and having a runaway ascent but had no such problems.
I shot the DSMB for the first time and it didn't go too bad. We lost sight of the tower on our safety stop and with the surge I was sure we had drifted a fair way from the boat. We popped up right in front of the boat with only a 20m swim!
I was a great dive, can't wait to get back out there. The photos below are Phil's.
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