PEOPLE UNDERWATER ...... unlimited scope
Copyright2008 on 29.04.08 @ 04:36 AM AEST [unlimited scope">link]
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Tuesday, April 29th Copyright2008 on 29.04.08 @ 04:36 AM AEST [unlimited scope">link] FISH PIC ...... photographing fish - where they live
 Copyright2008 on 29.04.08 @ 04:32 AM AEST [photographing fish - where they live">link] UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY ...... in fresh water lake
 Copyright2008 on 29.04.08 @ 04:26 AM AEST [in fresh water lake">link] Monday, April 28th SOLOMON ISLANDS CROC....... very old, a large specimen
 In a nearby museum were relics for sale. Coca Cola bottles stamped San Francisco 1943, piles of hand grenades.... oops one hand grenade was heavier than the rest. A live one. Copyright2008 on 28.04.08 @ 03:34 AM AEST [very old, a large specimen">link] GIANT FAN CORALS ..... Eupi Island, 1985
 While in Honiara we waited almost two weeks before getting on a flight that would eventually have us on Eupi Island - a dive resort. We brought back pictures for a travel feature in People Magazine and another couple of pages for the Melbourne dive mag. Eupi has some unique features. The resort is on an island with a deep channel separating it from another island. Strong currents flow through this deep channel. I was a bit fuzzy from the anti-malarial medication we were taking during the entire month in the Solomons, although at the time was not aware of this. A bit of a pity. Copyright2008 on 28.04.08 @ 02:40 AM AEST [Eupi Island, 1985">link] HONIARA ..... Big Night Out, 1985
 The Sailing Club (or yacht club) was the best joint in town. Everyone was there after work on Friday. Diplomats, engineers, secretaries. Reg Thomas (center left) worked with Wally Gibbins for several years before starting his own salvage and dive tour company, Don Tas. Like many professional divers of the era, Reg began as a free diving spear fisherman in a Sydney club, (North Shore Sea Hawks). In those days there were plenty of opportunities for anyone who could use a face mask and flippers/fins. Everything was self-taught or under the guidance of older guys ex-navy or military. A pioneering time. With plenty of shipwrecks from World War 2 the Solomon Islands was an attraction for adventure divers like Reg and Wally Gibbins who made good use of the unexploded torpedo's, depth charges and mines by detonating them within the sunken ships and collecting the scrap metal for sale. One huge chunk of metal flew through the air and crashed through the thatched roof of a locals house. Wally thought he may have upset the owner. Quite the reverse, the chunk of metal was large enough to be used as a table so it stayed where it landed. Definitely nobody was injured. I heard a claim (from a North American diver) saying a person was killed in a house by Wally's actions when detonating the torpedo inside a submarine's tube in ten meters of water. Such rumors often persist once started. Copyright2008 on 28.04.08 @ 12:22 AM AEST [Big Night Out, 1985">link] SOLOMONS SHIPWRECK ...... Honiara region
 Copyright2008 on 28.04.08 @ 12:00 AM AEST [ Honiara region">link] Friday, April 25th SOLOMON ISLANDS ...... Japanese battle shipwreck site
 Battle shipwreck site near Honiara. Probably one worked-over by "Our Wal" as it would be hard to miss. One wreck finding tactic Wally Gibbins used was to search for oil leaks from sunken naval ships. When Wal said he could "smell a shipwreck" he was only half-kidding. He could smell the oil in the otherwise clean ocean air. An underwater explosion would also loosen up oil and reveal other wrecks nearby. A researched site with much historical info on SI war shipwrecks, it often spells Wally Gibbins surname as Gibbons (sic). Copyright2008 on 25.04.08 @ 01:29 AM AEST [Japanese battle shipwreck site">link] PRIVATE MARITIME MUSEUM .... Wally Gibbins collection
 Collected after years in the Solomon Islands and elsewhere as a commercial salvage diver. Many stories were brought home and told to friends, family and visitors to the former private museum at Sawtell, near Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. What became of all these goodies is a bit of a mystery. Wally's typewritten memoirs still exist and await a publisher's interest. The Yongala bell was sold to a maritime museum in Townsville, we believe. Copyright2008 on 25.04.08 @ 01:10 AM AEST [Wally Gibbins collection">link] WALLY GIBBINS COLLECTION .... USA - Japanese shipwrecks
 Copyright2008 on 25.04.08 @ 01:03 AM AEST [USA - Japanese shipwrecks">link] WALLY GIBBINS (Cont.) .... WW2 relics from shipwrecks
 Copyright2008 on 25.04.08 @ 01:00 AM AEST [WW2 relics from shipwrecks">link] PRIVATE MUSEUM DAYS ...... Wally's Yongala bell
 Copyright2008 on 25.04.08 @ 12:46 AM AEST [Wally's Yongala bell">link] Wednesday, April 23rd THE YONGALA BELL ...... with Wally Gibbins
 Wally Gibbins(1930 - 2006) was making films with Ben Cropp when they both dropped in on the Yongala shipwreck, SE of Townsville, Queensland. The ships' bell had not been found. Wal had a fair idea where it should be. He'd studied the layout of the ship and swam to where the bell should have been. Nothing there. Out on the sand was a large clump of barnacles and a part of the ship. It looked as if this had broken away from the structure. Judging by the shape and weight Wal concluded it must be the prized bell. Getting it to the surface would have been an effort for most people. For Wally, who'd salvaged giant shipwreck props (in 250 feet of water on air) this would have been a walk in the park. When being cleaned, the delight on the faces of Ben and Wally would have been a memorable sight. Here was the prize find of the most famous shipwreck (for divers) in our Australian waters. The above picture is a reconstruction in 1983 under the Coffs Harbour Jetty. The bell had been removed from Wal's own former sea shell and shipwrecks museum, especially for this picture. Some 16mm footage was also made - which has remained in archives. John Sumner (a shipwrecks expert and long term friend of Wally Gibbins) is considering publishing a limited edition postcard using this image, and others featuring shipwreck bells. All information readers may care to send on the ownership of such shipwreck bells will be forwarded to John Sumner for his research. A worthy cause indeed, even if only partial details can be obtained. Copyright2008 on 23.04.08 @ 03:55 AM AEST [with Wally Gibbins">link] Wednesday, April 16th WILDERNESS ..... Coffs Harbour Creek
 Copyright2008 on 16.04.08 @ 08:07 PM AEST [Coffs Harbour Creek">link] Thursday, April 10th FATHOM ....... Favorite Marine Mag - 1971
 The preview (on YouTube) won't be print readable, next month a sharper version of all 48 pages will appear at Flickr, it can be saved, printed and read. Copyright2008 on 10.04.08 @ 05:17 PM AEST [Favorite Marine Mag - 1971">link] Tuesday, April 1st FATHOM 2 ...... Diver's Guide to Sharks issue
 Copyright2008 on 01.04.08 @ 04:11 PM AEST [Diver's Guide to Sharks issue">link] ALL PAGES FROM FIRST ISSUE....... FATHOM (Australia 1971)
 All 48 pages including advertisements in the first issue, on sale from January 1971. Printed by a Japanese company in Hong Kong it was for some years the best thing since sliced bread. Go to the FLICKR address above. The first issue was always the rare edition. 5000 copies were printed in the style of a surf magazine with celebrity pictures full page. Model, and world record deep diver Kathy Troutt was the first to be interviewed. Copyright2008 on 01.04.08 @ 03:32 AM AEST [ FATHOM (Australia 1971)">link] |
