Author: hayden

We will be holding the second photo comp of the series (of three) this Saturday and we will be diving Jawbone marine sanctuary in Williamstown.

This competition is open to all AUF members and if you don’t have a fancy camera and underwater housing with a strobe don’t worry, last years winner took it out with just a GoPro (and most people who enter use a gopro)! For rules and scoresheet please see https://geelongfreedivers.org.au/competitions/photofishing-comp-series/

As usual we will have a BBQ post dive while we review and submit our photos. If you would like to come along just for a social dive and not compete in the comp then that’s fine but still sign up for it on the website and select the BBQ add on so that we can cater for everyone.

Thanks again to our sponsor Ninepin Wetsuits who have put up one of their quality wettys for the main prize. Without the help of all our sponsors we wouldn’t be able to host such events

Date: 11th May
Time: 8am
Location: Jawbone Marine Sanctuary, Mullins Ct, Williamstown

Winter is coming and the water is getting colder, usually a time when we consider getting a new wetsuit to keep the thermal comfort up. Thanks to our sponsor ninepin wetsuites, we have one that’s still up for grabs through our photo fishing competition series.

So far we have run one comp with another 2 left to do before the season closes out very soon. The overall winner is calculated by using your 2 best scores over the series which means even if you missed the first comp you still have a chance of taking away the top prize.

Stay tuned for competition announcements….

We still have 4 comps to run before the end of season (Surf Coast Cup boat comp and the spear&photo comp as well as 2 photo comps) and this weekends long range report is looking good for that trip out west. So keep your calendars open and the GFD Committee will update everyone during the week with a decision on which comp we will run along with the date and location.

Both the Surf Coast Cup and our photo comp series are still open for anyone to win. So if you feel like upgrading your fins to a pair of custom made Continuum fins or you want to get into a sleek new ninpin wetsuit then enter now, all you need is to be an AUF member.

On Saturday we held the second event for the Surf Coast Cup, the shore dive. Long range forecasts showed there would be a dip in the swell on the weekend with some nice northerlies preceding it which would make for a great days diving. Looking along the surf and shipwreck coasts it looked like we could get in at some other locations that we don’t dive that often and so we put the call out early with the hope of going out west.

During the week we kept scrutinising the updated reports and the westerly winds predicted on the Saturday is what ended up in us deciding to stay closer to home then to risk several hours driving for a potentially undivable comp. So good ‘ol Aireys was it.

Arriving Early the ocean was looking nice and flat but with the low light and overcast clouds it was hard to tell what the viz was going to be like. Once everyone had arrived we all suited up and commenced with the safety equipment check and dive debrief. With the swell predicted to pick up during the day and some 20kt westerly to WSW winds we called it a shorter comp starting at 8:30 and finishing at 1. We had a mixture of people, some competing in the comp and a few just there for the social dive, some veteran divers to beginners.

Most divers decided to walk around the cliffs to the east and try for the reefs in deeper waters. This is when we realised the viz wasn’t going to be great. Whilst Gerard persisted to find some cleaner water further out, most of us headed back towards shore to hunt the gutters in the shallows.

I took Ivan under my wing for the day and warned him that I wouldn’t be diving for long having had very little sleep the night before and forgetting my socks and gloves, I also thought I would be nice and get out early to get the BBQ fired up so the others had hot food waiting for them. So needless to say I was surprised when I made it back to the carpark to find everyone else already out and changed waiting for us and making it there to sign off with just 3 minutes to spare!

We all shared our diving stories for the day while checking out each others catch while the BBQ was cooking and eating it at the same time before commencing the weigh in. Despite the challenging conditions it was good to see that most people had their 5 fish to weigh in and whilst there were plenty of options to upgrade during the day there wasn’t any overkill. But seeing the scoresheet at the end of the weigh in my competitive nature finally kicked in and I regretted not getting a couple upgrades!

Scores for the day were:
Malcolm 100 points
Nam 78 points
Gerard 71 points
Hayden 70 points
Julian 56 points

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despite really wanting to head out west it was just too unpredictable and we have better conditions locally. Therefore the committee has decided to hold the comp and social dive at Aireys Inlet.

Sign up is done online at: https://geelongfreedivers.org.au/competitions/competition-entry/

Remember if you are going just for the social dive still sign up and don’t forget to check the BBQ add on for a post dive feed

Date: 6th April
Time: 8AM
Location: Aireys Inlet

We are hoping to run the shore dive comp from the Surf Coast Cup this weekend. At the moment it looks like Saturday will be the day and going out west for the location (Cape Otway/Peterborough). Final details will be confirmed later in the week.

Victorian State Titles has been called ON for this weekend (16th 17th).

Day 1 (aggregate) will be held at Peterborough. Starting line will be in the car park at the end of Irving street (see attached map). Meet at 7:30am

Day 2 location is yet to be confirmed

Most divers will be staying at the Skenes Creek Hotel. They can accomodate to almost anyone. Mention you’re with Southern Freedivers and you’ll be looked after. Give Joyce a call on 0417530874

We did have another Surf Coast Cup event scheduled for this weekend but we will hold it on a later date in favour of the state titles

Firstly apologies for being 2 months late with this post!

Waaaay back on the 2nd of December we held the first underwater photography comp with an anticipated location of springs beach in Point Lonsdale however the hard southerlies made us relocate to Swan Bay.

The photo comps have been a really fun event and everyone who has participated in the past have really enjoyed it. Due to schedule conflicts we only fielded 5 people (which I don’t mind as it’s less competition for the series mawhahahaha) but everyone had a great time. For most, if not all of us, it was the first time having dived in Swan Bay (another good thing about photo comps is we hold them in sanctuaries where we normally wouldn’t be diving).

I’ve been told in the past that Swan Bay plays a vital role in the echosystem and acts as a nursery for a lot of fish species and looking at the photos from the day we can say that this is true.

Due to conditions we called the comp on for 4 hours, suited up and hit the water. Most of us caught a few species early along the pier and then headed out to other objects like mored boats before searching the endless grass beds.

After our time was up we were all on shore sorting out our photos and cooking/eating our usual post dive BBQ.

Results

1st Hayden 9 species, score 1037, 100 points
2nd Nam 8 species, score 992, 96 points
3rd Russell 6 species, score 743, 72 points
4th Luke 5 species, score 633, 61 points

There’s still 2 more rounds to go and we take your best 2 scores to form the aggregate so there’s still a chance to take home a sweet ninepin wetsuit even if you missed the first comp!

Some photos from the comp

Tomorrows comp will be held at Steeles rocks Portarlington at 8am. Still time to sign up at: https://geelongfreedivers.org.au/competitions/competition-entry/

We have a comp scheduled for this weekend 20th of Jan, it’s supposed to be the second event for the surf coast cup which is the boat comp but due to postponing the polespear comp last year we have decided to call it on for this weekend instead.

The swell is going to be down but we will be getting some SW winds which might make the ocean unfavourable. With this in mind we will tentatively call the comp on at Aireys Inlet with a back up location being Steels rocks in Portarlington. The final call will be made Saturday evening so stay tuned!

The Surf Coast Cup is open to all AUF members not just Geelong Freedivers. Don’t have a polespear but still want to come along and meet some people, have a dive and enjoy a BBQ afterwards? Then sign up for the social dive but be sure to check the BBQ option so that we can get the catering right.

Rules and scoresheet can be found at: https://geelongfreedivers.org.au/competitions/surf-coast-cup/

Sign up at: https://geelongfreedivers.org.au/competitions/competition-entry/