Welcome to Total Bottom Time!

Total Bottom Time is my online personal dive log. A place where I can share my dives with friends, family, other divers, and the world. You can find out a bit more about me and see my full log of dives by clicking on my profile on the right. Feel free to subscribe to my dives via email or RSS.

Below are just some of my latest dives.

As the last part of this freediving water safety course I've been on, we took a boat out around Karori Rock (and lighthouse) to gather Pāua and hunt for Crayfish.

Karori Rock

Unfortunately, no Crayfish but I did gather my very first Pāua.

Float

Pāua

Float

I also ran into this crab.

Crab

Freediving

It turns out Pāua have 2 teeth for scraping algae off the rocks to eat.

Paua Teeth

After de-shelling it, de-toothing it, tenderising it, and cleaning it, it was ready to eat. I had to have one slice raw. Honestly, it was okay. Definitely different.

Pāua Sashimi

However, frying up the rest in garlic and butter plus a little sriracha really was the way to go.

Fried Pāua

My progression throughout the session.

Freedive	Time (seconds)	Depth (metres)
1	30	3.1
2	30	2.9
3	39	2.3
4	42	2.8
5	46	3.0
6	54	3.0
7	39	6.5
8	37	7.8
9	43	7.8
10	43	6.0
11	42	6.2
12	49	4.6
13	49	4.5
14	46	4.9
15	48	4.9
16	45	5.6

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Originally, we were only going to do one dive for the day but the dive at Portsea Pier was so good we refilled the tanks, got more advice from the good folks at BayPlay, and headed to Blairgowie Pier. Thankfully, this pier wasn't under construction too. Helpfully, there was a ramp down in the middle of the pier on the right for scuba divers. It definitely made getting in and out much easier.

Blairgowie Pier

Initially, buoyancy was a bit of a fight because it started so shallow but, naturally, the depth increased as we moved out.

Under the Pier

Life under the pier was abundant!

Crowned Nudibranch

There were so many of these Globefish. They must be very used to seeing divers. This one in particular was very curious about me. A number of times, it would turn towards me and even come at me. Normally I'm used to Pufferfish types turning away from me.

Globefish

Then there was a ledge just off the bottom of the ocean floor that was home to so many species.

Yellowstriped Leatherjacket

Rock-pool Shrimp

Red Rock Crab

Old Wife

Round Rays

Moonlighter

After the ledge ...

 

Magpie Perch

We ventured a little ...

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A trip to Melbourne for work and to get a some dive in too. My mate Tom and I drove from the Melbourne CBD down to Portsea to chat to the good people at BayPlay about the local dive spots, where to go, what to see, and hire a couple of tanks.

We got pointed in the direction of Portsea Pier. It was under construction so we had to enter the ocean from a beach maybe 1 km away from it. We had no real idea what to expect and it turned out to be absolutely incredible.

Portsea Pier in the distance

It started out by running into weedy seadragons within the first 5 min of the dive. The area is known for them but it still felt very lucky. These are fascinating creatures.

Weedy Seadragon

On the way to the pier, we saw more wildlife.

Senator Wrasse

Bluespotted Goatfish

Spotted Stingaree

Weedy Seadragon

We finally got to the pier and I was blown away by how it was teeming with life. I was also blown away by how loud the construction was. In the videos, you can clearly hear the hammering of the machine that was driving replacement posts ...

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