I then went down to secure the anchor.  It was holding on by very little.  There was a strong current running so I needed a very secure point.  I lifted the anchor but could find a suitable hold.  Wayne was down by then so we dropped the anchor down the wall to secure it rocks on the bottom.  It seemed OK and we explored around the cave, avoiding going out far due to the current.  Lots of beardies and a large school of bullseye here.  At about the 20 minute stage I checked the anchor, it had moved from the large boulder that it was secured on and was now tugging hard on a rock that would have weighted a least a ton.  Clearly conditions on the surface had deteriorated and the power of the boat was lifting the 1 ton boulder and threatening the anchor to come adrfit.  It it had we would have been in a spot of bother.  Jen was on the boat and Heinz was on the anchor rope so we would have been rescued quickly if we had not been able to get to the anchor rope.

Once the anchor was free and on the lift bag we drifted quickly away.  Leaving the anchor rope at 10 depth I swam for the drop line and barely made it before cramping in my leg stopped me swimming more.  With both Wayne and I on the end of the drop rope which is usually 12m deep we were barely 4m deep such was the strength of the storm that was brewing.  We made it back onto the boat and made a hasty retreat back to the boat ramp. Jen had suffered sea sickness so was not in a good way.  I had twisted my ankle while pulling in the mermaid line.  Jen and I called it a day, while Wayne and Heinz went back out to Pig Island.  Wayne had a great solo dive in the lee of Pig Island while Heinz minded the boat.

 

 

This site was last updated 02/06/13