The day looked very promising as five members of the club headed out on Chris’ private boat to dive the wreck of the St Paul and Flinders Reef. Being on this outstanding dive boat gave two of the club’s members the chance to take the helm and practice their boat handling skills. The trip across the bay was perfect for learning how to pilot the boat safely towards Moreton Island. Once around the cape we headed for the 40-metre-deep wreck of the St Paul.

Being a deep wreck only two of the divers on board ventured down for a single dive, one on his closed-circuit rebreather, the other on twin, side mounted tanks and a stage tank for the ascent. On the surface, the remaining three enjoyed conversation and snacks while keeping a lookout for the surfacing divers at the deployed shot line and buoy. When the divers were back on board we took a quick hop to the quieter lee side of Flinders Reef for the other dives.

Three dives were carried out on the wonderful and easy Flinders Reef. All three were for the purpose of training for the BSAC Sport Diver qualification. The student passed all three exercises without difficulty – not surprising really, given the quality of the student and the fact that the rest of the divers on board were either open water instructors or assistant instructors! The diving at the reef was pretty in a maximum of 18 metres depth with lots to see.

When the last dive was over we quickly headed back to Redcliffe harbour, watching, with anticipation, a massive storm gather over the land we were heading towards! We arrived not a moment too soon and just managed to recover the boat out of the water before the clouds opened and soaked us all.

A great day and a lot of fun was had by all. A big thank you to Chris for taking us out on his boat and thanks to all involved for making it so enjoyable.