409 Dive Log Australasia December 24

Today, VSAGers still share their spectacular boats with club members, as far out into Bass Strait as Hogan Island. Club President Andrew McKernan advised that there are now over 20 boats within the club, 12 regularly used. In the early years, trips were made to Warrnambool (below left) and a spot of gold prospecting in the Thompson River at Walhalla (above left) VSAG divers began cave diving in 1958 at the Buchan Caves, followed by dives in the Western District Lakes (above right) and Mt. Gambier. At Easter 1958, VSAG were invited to the Murrindal River resurgence at ‘The Pyramids’ north of Buchan in Gippsland by members of the Victorian Cave Exploration Society to assess diving into anticipated new caves. (above left)

around the mid-1950s. Many VSAGers bought SEA BEE scuba apparatus. Also on the market was the Melbourne-made PORPOISE scuba system, available only to those who had the money to purchase a set of this beautifully engineered apparatus, as it cost the equivalent of about five weeks wages. In the beginning, all VSAG diving was done from the shoreline, it was exciting, but usually brief due to the small capacity air cylinders and very cold water. Some members without cars travelled with their gear, by train, or bus to local dive sites! For warmth, woollen jumpers soaked in latex provided very limited body insulation, until neoprene became available in the mid-1950s, after which time, divers were soon cutting and gluing on the living-room carpet, spilling the Evostick and sharing paper patterns. In contrast today, there is a bewildering selection of fashionable drysuits and wet-suits available off the peg. It was not long before early VSAGers ventured out into Port Phillip looking for wreck sites and offshore reefs. There was no access to club boats, so VSAGers often hired small open fishing boats at Mordialloc or Frankston from which to dive. Large commercial fishing boats were also hired for Club long-weekend diving trips. In the 1970s, some members acquired their own boats, or built them themselves, enabling VSAGers to venture even further afield, and they were soon trailering them interstate annually for some amazing family Christmas holidays.

52

DIVE LOG Australasia #409 - December ‘24

www.divelog.net.au