My first dive of the season. Back in the ocean after taking the winter off. It was my first local dive with Dive HQ Wellington after following them for sometime on the Dive Club Wellington group. Great group of people and finally got to meet them in person.

Even though I've been in Wellington for almost 4 years, this was my first dive in Owhiro Bay. Home to 4 different wrecks from ships that have sunk at various times ranging from 1874 to 1982 so they're in varying states of decay. The site is also home to Wellington's many underwater critters like crayfish, moki, blue cod, etc.

The Yung Pen, sunk in 1982, rests out front in the channel at about 7 metres. It's hull is flipped and relatively intact. It's been there long enough that it's hull is covered in so much growth that it would be easy to mistake for a reef.

Alan Paterson led the dive and got a couple of pics of me (hence the watermark).

It's great to be playing around with the blue cod again.

A healthy amount of crayfish on the site, which is nice to see. Some of the juveniles weren't much bigger than my thumb!

Towards the end of the dive we passed by what's left of where the propeller of the Yung Pen was attached. I never would have known if it wasn't pointed out to me.

At the end it was a short walk out of the shallows back to shore.

Location: Wellington, North Island, Taputeranga Marine Reserve, New Zealand

Dive Number:   191 Bottom Time: 53m Time In: 10:58 a.m. Tank In: Max Depth: 9.70 ft Table Used:

Mix:   Air Safety Stop: 3m Time Out: 11:50 a.m. Tank Out: Average Depth: 5.50 ft Start Pressure Group:

Surface Interval:   End Pressure Group:

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