Category: News

Happy new year fellow spearos! In the closing moments of 2020 GFD held our AGM/Xmas party.

I would to thank our sponsors, your continued support of the club is greatly appreciated and allows us to run such a variety of events. Thanks to:
Geelong Dive Centre
Ninepin Wetsuits
Continuum fins
Ironbark Logistics
Sir Charles Hotham Hotel

I would like to thank our committee members for the 2019/20 season for all your hard work in keeping the club running:
President: Hayden McFadyen
Vice President: Gerard Saunders
Secretary: Russell O’Flynn
Treasurer: Peter Field
Membership Secretary: Russell O’Flynn
Safety and training officer: Danny Hurst
Weighmaster: Julian Kenny
Events coordinator: Richard Just
VSC liaison: Nam Luong

For the new season we decided to take a more relaxed approach to the committee and have the positions required by government and then to have just generic “committee member” positions. And so I would like to welcome our new committee for the 2020/21 season. The new committee consists of:
President: Hayden McFadyen
Vice President: Gerard Saunders
Secretary: Russell O’Flynn
Treasurer: Peter Field
VSC liaison: Nam Luong
Committee Member: Catherine Birch
Committee Member: Louis Attard
Committee Member: Richard Just
Committee Member: Ivan Galic

Its great to see some of our newer members step up, having members willing to work on the committee will ensure the longevity of the club.

Whilst we had cancelled our competition series due to COVID there was still plenty of swag up for grabs. Apologies, in the excitement of actually seeing people again I forgot to take any photos! We had prizes for club records, door prizes and even a fun competition where people made spearguns out of rubber bands and paddle pop sticks.

It was a great night and so good to see so many of you after so long. I’m looking forward to the new season and all its challenges and getting in the water with you all!

Regards
Hayden McFadyen
President Geelong Freedivers

due to having our AGM on the 19th we wont be having our regular monthly club meeting tomorrow (9th Dec)

With restrictions eased we can now hold our AGM, complete some paperwork and vote in the new committee but most of all get together and have a good social event. As usual we will be at the Sir Charles Hotham hotel and we will have enough finger food to feed everyone to go along with our share of Carlton from the “love your local” campaign.

WHEN: 6:30 on the 19th Dec
WHERE: Sir Charles Hotham Hotel
1 Gheringhap st
Geelong

Looking forward to seeing you there

so far ew have completed 2 of the month long showdowns, squid and snapper and now that we are in December we are in the cray comp! So when you go out to collect your Chrissy crays, pop them on a scale, take a photo and submit it

Due to metro lockdown the committee has decided to extend the squid comp for another month. Several members have been getting onto the squid in the past week and the action is just going to get better!

November also sees the snapper comp start up, heaviest snapper submitted wins the comp.

Remember to sign up for each of the showdown comps by the monthly club meeting. Signup can be found here.

And as usual, the species comp is still running so don’t forget those entries too.

October see the first of the Species Showdown competitions, Southern Calamari.

The squid have started to come in to breed with several being taken on line over the past few weeks but none taken on spear as of yet (that I’m aware of anyway).

Enter now at competition-entry so that you can have the whole month to submit as many entries as possible.

Due to the ongoing uncertainty with COVID and having cancelled our last seasons competition series the GFD committee have decided to change things up for this season. We have put on hold the Surf Coast Cup and the Underwater Photography Challenge but we are still keeping the Club Spearfishing Championship and adding a new series called the Species Showdown.

The species showdown is a new competition series with month long individual competitions targeting a specific species.

Whilst similar to the CSC there are differences, CSC runs all season long and competitors can submit fish anytime and have a maximum of 2 entries per species and points are awarded for the biggest fish down and the person with the most points at the end of the season wins.

The Species Showdown is actually 7 individual competitions, each comp targeting a specific species and lasting just a month with the exception of Tuna and Kingfish which runs for 2 months concurrently. Each competition will have just a single winner who is the person who submitted the heaviest fish. There is no limit to the number of entries in each comp, so feel free to keep upgrading! Competitors can submit fish from any dive they have during the target species month. And finally, competitors must sign up for each comp at a cost of $8 per competition and must sign on by the date of the club meeting for that month. For more information check the website.

Species Showdown Target Species/Month

• October – Southern Calamari
• November – Snapper
• December – Southern Rock Lobster
• January – Flathead
• February – King George Whiting
• March and April – Kingfish
• March and April – Tuna

We have our monthly club meeting scheduled for this Wednesday and unlike the last couple of months let/s not Zoom, let/s meet up in person! Our sponsor Sir Charles Hotham Hotel are able to host us again so lets rally behind them and meet up in person whilst ordering a drink (or two) and a meal. There is a size limit of 20 people and social distancing rules apply.

Date: 8th July
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Sir Charles Hotham Hotel

This Sunday we will be holding the Surf Coast Cup boat comp launching from the Queenscliff boat ramp. Make sure you get there early to launch so that you are ready for the comp start which will be 9am. Launch your boats and park your cars and we will do the safety briefing in the car park before jumping in the boats and heading off to the actual starting point.

There’s been a good number of people getting onto tuna so lets hope that a few schools are still about.

As usual, open to all AUF members and sign up by the night before via the website at https://geelongfreedivers.org.au/competitions/competition-entry/ and rules can be found at https://geelongfreedivers.org.au/competitions/surf-coast-cup/.

Date: 23rd Feb
Time: 9am start so be there early to launch your boat
Location: Queenscliff boat ramp

Tomorrow is our monthly club meeting at the Sir Charles Hotham Hotel at 6:30 where we will have a special guest speaker Renée Venville from the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA).

The VFA is the control agency for all shark hazards in Victoria and Renée is leading the VFA on emergency preparedness. Part of her role includes shark education. The VFA are partnering with CSIRO, LSV and Deakin on research projects; including eDNA, drones and the relationship between whale carcasses and sharks.

So please join us for a presentation and discussion on shark safety, risks and current research projects.