On The Yongala
24th January, Magnetic Island, Australia
In 1911 The SS Yongala sank off Cape Bowling Green, North Australia with the loss of 120 lives. The ship was a luxury vessel and the women in their corsets and big skirts and men in their suits (even in the tropics) would not have been prepared for saving their lives in a cyclone. It has been put forward as Australia's own Titanic disaster.
With the passage of time, though, we can look at it another way - as perhaps one of the best dive locations in Australia (and some might argue the world). You see, where the Yongala finally submitted to the massive waves there is nothing on the seabed. As a result, the ship is the only thing for miles around and after many years under the water it has become a reef in itself, completely covered in corals of every description and all the marine life congregrates there. This was why I rose at 7am to catch a 3-hour boat ride this morning - to dive the Yongala.
SS Yongala plan.
I managed two dives on the Yongala. The first dive took place at 11am and was a guided tour. The guide, Kenji, basically pointed out various parts of the boat that you could still make out (after so many years, the finer details have been hidden either by erosion or from being covered with coral); things like dining room stools, a toilet and a bathtub.
We had descended down a line to the stern, and made our way up to the bow, keeping on the side of the deck (the boat sits at a tilt - the port side is at 15 metres depth, while the starboard side rests in the sand at 27 metres). As soon as we reached the bow and got out of the cover of the deck, we could all feel the current immediately. Suddenly this had turned into a drift dive; the only way to stay still was to face into the current and keep kicking your legs. You might be able to hold your position for a while, at least.
With a dive at 27 metres you never get much time - the air you breath is pressured to match the water pressure and so you use more. Consequently, the first dive was over all too soon. As we made a safety decompression stop, we were all hanging on with tight drips on the line as the current tried it's best to sweep us away. I've never felt anything like it, and making our way back to the boat on the surface it was clear that fins were going to be useless - only a strong grip on the line and a good winching technique would do the job!
The second dive was a slightly easier affair. The current had dropped a little and rather than being guided, this time I was in a buddy pair and we could take our time taking in the sights. On both dives I had seen hawksbill and green turtles, sea snakes and so many fish it defied numbering.
What I noticed on this dive was that so many spaces were filled with fish which, if you only caught from the corner of your eye, you'd think were part of the ship, because they filled the spaces/holds but matched the contours of the boat. It's difficult to describe, really - check it out for yourself if you're not sure what I mean! The highlight of the second dive was spotting a huge eagle ray approaching the ship just as we were about to ascend. I managed to catch a few seconds of video before ascending for the trip back to Magnetic Island.
In the evening we had a mexican meal then came back to the hostel where they were having a 'pussy party'. Yeah, I wondered what that was about too but seeing a few people walking around with cat whiskers on their face and tails sticking out of their trousers/shorts/skirts put paid to any thoughts of impropriety.
I finished the day by managing to accidentally wipe all the songs off Manda's iPod at the press of a button. Well, it started out as a good day at least ...