During March to December I enjoyed 23 boat dives with Let’s Go Adventures diving Cabbage Tree Island, Fingal Head, Little Island, Looking Glass Island and North Rock Gutters. My dive buddies were Aiden Dennis, Casey Conway, Dani Coombes, Dean “Deano” Lawson, Natalie Scadden, Neil Rosewarn, Rob Stewart, Ron Carlo Legaspi, Simon Gagnon and Tara Jones. It seemed strange diving with Neil on what is now my home patch. We had first met in the UK when I lived there, attending many British Society of Underwater Photographers meetings together and in 2008 we had travelled to Grand Cayman with other BSoUP members.
The most memorable dive of my 23 boat dives was the briefest. In fact my briefest dive in over 21 years of diving. Arguably it was not a dive at all as it lasted just 30 seconds. But it was certainly memorable so I decided I would include it in my Dive Log. MV Tomaree had moored off the north-east corner of Cabbage Tree Island for a single dive and Skipper Steve Hunter counted about 30 seals resting clear of the waterline. Since being heavily hunted, seal sightings had been sparse but gradually more were returning to Cabbage Tree Island and 30 were easily the most either Steve or I had seen there. It didn’t occur to Steve or me that there might be a reason why so many Seals were out of the water. My stride entry off MV Tomaree quickly clarified what that reason was as I all but landed on a Great White.