We check our anchor when we first go in, make sure it is well stuck if not we move it so it is secured. We do not bother with a second anchor, but if putting one down makes you feel better go for it. One thing I do before a dive is log on to sea rescue, I tell them where we are diving and what time we will be back on board, when on board I call and let them know we are safe ,if they don't get a call then they know something is wrong.

thanks paul.  if your over reefy bottom and diving do you still put out your reef anchor or because you can re-position it when your down there would a securely placed sand anchor (amongst the reef) be more reliable?  I was thinking that perhaps the prongs on the reef anchor could straighten out if the swell / wind etc picked up...

a dive log with sea rescue seems a good idea - is there a particular format you follow when calling in a dive? cheers

wayne

The reef anchor pulled on my brother on the weekend, up at cervantes. Fortunately he was inside the reef and it would've just drifted onto the beach. Probably best to use a sand anchor even if you do rig it with a retrieve.



I recently had to pull somone else's anchor in 8m and fortunately they had some spare air as I'd already blown my tank. Probably best to keep a bit of air in reserve.

Hello! 

Setting two anchors can never be a bad thing as u can never be too vigilant, me and my girlfriend always dive leaving the boat unattended, we only ever set one anchor unless we dive on an isolated lump out between 20 to 30meters however thats not to say one is fine but i only use one because i cautiously have faith in my anchor, how i anchor and the anchor is always checked on the decent.

Our anchor has 4m of 12mm chain joined to 5m of 6mm chain so the anchor never really feels the pull of the boat even in the roughest conditions that we'd dive in and i'll never drop my anchor on reef, we use a danforth which is intended for sand and its very destructive in my view to hook onto reef and have the chain tear up the surounding area also I've never found a dive site that we couldn't anchor in sand. also its always smart to wire up the shackles on your anchor line 

Its also a good idea to always log your dives with whitfords sea rescue, let them know wen you enter and wen you'll be out

First reef off mindarie if you mean quinns reef i reckon is a cool dive the reef sorta has two sections north and south if you dive the north west corner of the south section ther are some awesome caves we used dive 45minutes there for atleast 40 minutes of the dive u'd be under in and thru the reef the whole time.

Number of people on dive ,time into water ,time i'll be back on boat .Once on board i call all divers on board safely.

I use a plouugh anchor ,with 4m chain , there dosn't seem to be a lot off pull on the anchor when in close ,when in behind the reef.Open water could be different .Have a good rope and chain and check at begining of dive ,and i think things should be fine,

I thought of getting a flair and getting it sealed in a bag ,putting it in the pocket of the bc ,just incase I surface and the boat has come adrift .

Wayne

Wont be joining you for the dive on Sunday, had something come up.

Get an anchor one size over and 8mm chain 2 x the length of the boat and you will be fine.

We dive with the boat unattended as well.

Plan your recovery procedure.

Have a mermaid line over and a line to clip your weights to.  Makes getting back on much easier.

Fins and mask off last!

Cheers!

18 Outrage, Johnson 140hp 4stroke and 190 Outrage, 150 Mercury Verado

If you have to leave your boat unattended go out and buy a self aligning claw anchor also sold as a Bruce anchor (the original design which is very expensive, patent ran out in 2000 so copies are a lot cheaper). I own a 4.7 mt tinny and will only overnight it on one of these with 5 meters of chain and a land line. Hear too many bad stories to risk it I reckon
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cheers for the replies fellas - bloody helpful this fishwrecked forum;)

i think i only have about 3m of chain on my anchor so that's one thing i'll look at extending.  paul - I like the flair in a sealed bag idea, perhaps when we start diving out the back of the three mile etc (deeper waters) that's something i'll consider:)  i'll also log our dives too - good idea.

reefmonkey - yeah i meant that general area, though I'm also keen to explore some of the reefs just south of eglington rock (out from black rock on the coast).  Have you had much experience diving around that area?

so do you guys dive for crays much?  if so are they still in close or have they gone back out?  I was just looking at a cray loop (http://www.diveimports.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=314 ) does this seem a good one?

i've heard it takes a while to get used to using the loops - is this the case or is it something you can pick up after a few dives?

cheers

wayne

That depends on if the crays want to play or not .Some days they walk into the loop ,others they sit back in the holes and are very hard to get to.

no probs alfred - perhaps we can arrange to go out for a dive sometime - that's if you live up mindarie way?

btw, can you explain the "mermaid line"?  Is this just a an additional rope hanging off the back of the boat which you attach your gear to when getting back on the boat? (or hopefully attach your bag full of crays!)

paul - one guy i spoke to said to flash a torch light just in front of the cray.  he reckons the crays will walk out to check out what the light is.... have ya heard of this?

We use a torch, and it makes no dif to the crays. Some days they are realy shy. Best thing get in the water and practice it will take a few dives to get the hang of it ,one thing nice and slow ,will win the race.

Its been a while for me diving out from mindarie we mainly dive between ocean reef, fremantle and rotto. we never really dived englinton rocks buts the whole mindarie area is definately my fav for scenery, even tho hillarys and mindarie are only miles apart i found the mindarie area much better place to dive hardly any thick forrests of kelp, alot more caves, swim throughs and colour however the cray fever always drives my diving so i dive around hillarys for crays as i find the mindarie reefs to rocky for catching crays and we find alot better sandy bottomed ledges around hillarys

Check out the MDA site for there gps points of local dive sites http://mindive.com/wa-dive-sites/

this was a great help wen i first started diving

As for the loop, looks the goods but a loop is a loop so skimping on a cheapy won't hurt as long as its spring loaded,  first time i bought one of the longer loops in retrospect its to big and cumbersome it'll get the crays on deep ledges but i only really have one dive that i need it so i'm always happy with the shorter, just catch one cray and it pays for itself 8) .... just dont add on the cost of fuel... boat... dive gear 8)

interesting about the torch light - perhaps he was joking around!  yeah i entered most of those spots into my GPS.  There is one called cray gully which looks interesting though when i went out to the mark it was in about 23mtrs which is deeper than we're allowed to go - unless i do the advanced course...

so is this where the crays usually hide? eg, at the bottom of the lumps - where the sand meets the rock/reef?  Or do you find crays amongst the rocky reefs?  I guess at the bottom of the lumps you would find more whites right? eg, when they are migrating between different spots...

just came across a few crayfish youtube vids;

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=stJ_G_Bj8a0

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=PTkMe8YpIls&feature=related

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=1azkD6hpQm4&feature=related

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=K4bjrtkFr1I&feature=related

shows the type of terrain they seem to hide in....

I understand how your feeling about the anchor, did the first dive from my boat on Monday.  Most important with the anchor is the chain, when I got the new boat it had 2 meters and was like a knife sliding through butter.  Change to a heavier chain and 5 meters (5.8 Meter Boat) and got the next size anchor up.  Now it does not move an inch.  Check your GPS to see if it has an anchor alarm, set this while your getting ready and you will know if you moving.  Check the anchor on decent, with a heavy chain you will see it will not move at all.  I used a second anchor off the back of the boat, can't hurt and I found it handy to locate the boat also in the low vis we had.  With Sea Rescue, best to register.  for $30 per year they know all your details to makes calling in and out a 15 second process, no what's your car rego and mobile etc.  Also, make sure you add a few minutes to the dive time, I am with Freo rescue and they come looking on a dive log after 5 minutes so make sure you allow a little extra time to get on the boat and organised etc.  I did not see any crays on two dives of Hillarys but had a few dolphins around us all the time and saw some nice sambo schools, was fantastic.