UNDERWATER and MORE
with Woodmore
MY FIRST LOOK UNDERWATER - MOMBASA EAST AFRICA
Postcard - The Old Mombassa Port (around 1946
I was a 5 year old in Mombasa,
East Africa and my Dad was the first person I ever saw snorkelling. Dad's mask was too big for me but he held it on the surface of the water so I could see the coral and a small stingray.
Another day Dad stood on a stingray and was in agony from the barb stuck in his foot.
East Africa and my Dad was the first person I ever saw snorkelling. Dad's mask was too big for me but he held it on the surface of the water so I could see the coral and a small stingray.
Another day Dad stood on a stingray and was in agony from the barb stuck in his foot.
#Scuba, #Hookah, #Ningaloo,#Mombasa, #Seahunt, #MikeNelson, #Jack Sue,
WHEN I WORE A YOUNGER MAN'S WETSUIT
Most of my Scuba and Hookah diving was when I wore a younger man's wetsuit.
Today snorkelling and my Garrett AT Pro Metal Detector with underwater headphones, can find me plenty of treasures, including recently lost Jewellery, coins and the occasional historic artefact, including some from pre-colonial days in the Canning River (Now museum pieces). |
SUNKEN TREASURE & JACQUES COUSTEAU'S THE ODYSSEY.
Cousteau's underwater adventures helped me get into diving.
Jacques Cousteau's underwater adventures like those in this YouTube video are partly what got me into SCUBA diving.
Jacques Cousteau was a war veteran, film maker, photographer, author, inventor. |
|
STAYING ALIVE
While enjoying life!
THE GUY WHO NEVER HAS ANYTHING GO WRONG
He is the guy who never does anything!
Over the years, I very nearly drowned while diving on a the wreck of a treasure ship and then was menaced by a 3 metre Bronze Whaler Shark (Ledge Point), have been speared in the foot by a spearfisherman at Rottnest Island,
SEAQUARIUM DIVING with sharks
WHALE SHARK DIVE
Ningaloo Western Australia
Left to Right: Fellow divers (I am at the LH corner)/ Whale Shark certificate.
GETTING INTERESTED IN SCUBA DIVING
Years later when I was 16, a friend, Graham Hill & I became the youngest members of the Underwater Explorer’s Club of Western Australia (UEC).
The history books don't tell you that Graham Hill found the wreck of the JAMES MATTHEWS (1841/07/22) a former 'Black Birder' (slave ship) that operated under the name Don Francisco, in the sand and shallow waters of Woodman's Point in Western Australia. But no one on the boat believed him and I wasn't there to back him up because I had been conscripted into the Army for the Vietnam war (But didn't serve overseas) |
Today the W.A. Museum will tell you, the wreck of the James Matthews was located in 1973 on the north side of Woodman Point in Cockburn Sound, by members of the Underwater Explorers Club (UEC) who were conducting an underwater line search as part of their wreck research program.
The UEC training was excellent & it wasn't long before Graham and I were diving on shipwrecks alongside experienced male & female divers from all walks of life including Ex-Navy Divers, a couple of Doctors, a Police Diver and a Bank manager and an ex Special Services Commando, to name a few.
In the UEC there were some well-known names (some famous & some infamous), including Jack Sue, Alan Robinson, Dave Nelly, Dr.Naoom Haimson, Dennis & Barbara Parker, Eric Christiansen and Hugh Edwards.
In the UEC there were some well-known names (some famous & some infamous), including Jack Sue, Alan Robinson, Dave Nelly, Dr.Naoom Haimson, Dennis & Barbara Parker, Eric Christiansen and Hugh Edwards.
Formed in 1954, the UEC conducted WA's first organised SCUBA diving school. Two years later the high standard of their instruction impressed the authorities so much that they were given the responsibility of training the original Police Diving Team in Perth. Dennis Parker, a Police diver at that time, was also a member of the UEC.
The UEC was involved in a lot of shipwreck exploration. Many wrecks on our coast, particularly in the metro area were discovered by UEC members. In the 1960's and 70's our members provided the core of workers for the early museum expeditions on the Dutch wrecks such as the famous Batavia at the Houtman Abrolhos islands.
|
Before I was 21 yrs old, I had completed a couple of 100ft dives, dived to the deepest part of the Swan River which is about 21 metres (70ft) at Blackwall Reach, Bicton.
At Monger’s Lake I did a Mud dive (Under the instruction of Dennis Parker, a Police Diver). I dived on several shipwrecks and very nearly drowned on the 1656 Wreck of the Vergulde Draeck (The Gilt Dragon) off the coast of WA.
I owe my life to the infamous underwater explorer and treasure hunter Alan Robinson.
At Monger’s Lake I did a Mud dive (Under the instruction of Dennis Parker, a Police Diver). I dived on several shipwrecks and very nearly drowned on the 1656 Wreck of the Vergulde Draeck (The Gilt Dragon) off the coast of WA.
I owe my life to the infamous underwater explorer and treasure hunter Alan Robinson.
As an adult, to update my skills I qualified as an Open Water Diver with SSI Scuba Schools International.
I have in recent times done very little SCUBA diving apart from a dive in a Sea aquarium with sharks. I have snorkelled on a couple of shallow wrecks and in 2010 I did a Whale Shark dive in Coral Bay, Western Australia.
More recently I have been snorkeling & using a metal detector underwater. |
I WAS A SEA HUNT FAN!
I ADMIT IT
Checkout the videos
|
From 1958 to 1961, Sea Hunt, starring Lloyd Bridges
as underwater action hero Mike Nelson, was one of the most popular TV programs in the world. It created a generation of diving enthusiasts. (Of whom I was 0ne) |
The Sea Hunt star, Lloyd Bridges passed away at 85
His acting career spanned more than five decades and his sons, Jeff and Beau became well-known actors. In June 1992 Lloyd had open-heart surgery to clear blockages in his coronary arteries. Within six weeks, he said that he had never felt better and began on another film.
He was best known for his starring role as Mike Nelson, the former Navy frogman in in the TV series ''Sea Hunt'' His underwater adventure series ran for 156 episodes from 1957 to 1961.
His acting career spanned more than five decades and his sons, Jeff and Beau became well-known actors. In June 1992 Lloyd had open-heart surgery to clear blockages in his coronary arteries. Within six weeks, he said that he had never felt better and began on another film.
He was best known for his starring role as Mike Nelson, the former Navy frogman in in the TV series ''Sea Hunt'' His underwater adventure series ran for 156 episodes from 1957 to 1961.
|
ABOVE: The first episode of Sea Hunt Season 1, Episode 1 Sixty Feet Below
(4 Jan. 1958) Racing against time, Mike Nelson attempts a risky rescue of a test pilot trapped in his plane's cockpit 60 feet below the ocean's surface. Stars: Lloyd Bridges, Whit Bissell, Peter Leeds |
UNDERWATER EXPLORER'S CLUB
In my day (1960's) the UEC was filled with
larger than life characters.
We had one guy in the UEC who thought he was James Bond 007. He was actually a Firearms dealer & car salesman.
In those days it was illegal to hoard gold. Together with an accomplice, he was arrested by the Police & later imprisoned for having in his possession gold bars, Stolen airways tickets, Unlicensed automatic firearms, a quantity of ammunition and a real James Bond touch - an Explosive attache case.
|
He and his accomplice had planned to kidnap Kwame Nkrumah,Ghana's first Prime Minister (It is said that there was reward for Nkrumah 'dead or alive'.
To raise money for the project, without their knowledge, he sold his families beautiful house from under his wife and daughters. |
Before this, a policeman I was Scuba diving with, confided in me that there was something mysterious about this guys regular trips to Lebanon while he was a car dealer, and also mentioned an insurance claim for the very flimsily built boat that he and his accomplice built and on its maiden voyage it blew up & sank, while he and his mate (who it is said was the one who stole the airways tickets, were conveniently in the water diving and coincidentally at exactly the same time as the ferry to Rottnest Island came into view and 'saved' them.
I have often wondered why they would not have had there families on board for the boat's first trip & why they were in their diving gear in deep water in the middle of nowhere, just at the same time the ferry was to pass.
(It has since been suggested, by a young family member of his, that the boat was built for the sole purpose of destroying it for the insurance payout on the boat. (Which was a lot more than the cost of the cheap and flimsy materials used to build it)
I have often wondered why they would not have had there families on board for the boat's first trip & why they were in their diving gear in deep water in the middle of nowhere, just at the same time the ferry was to pass.
(It has since been suggested, by a young family member of his, that the boat was built for the sole purpose of destroying it for the insurance payout on the boat. (Which was a lot more than the cost of the cheap and flimsy materials used to build it)
JACK SUE WAR HERO
In the UEC Western Australia
Jack Sue (12 September 1925 – 16 November 2009) a greatly admired Australian war hero, was a Chinese Australian from Perth, Western Australia.
(Jack Wong Sue, OAM, DCM, JP served as a member of the commando/special reconnaissance section, Z Special Unit).
(Jack Wong Sue, OAM, DCM, JP served as a member of the commando/special reconnaissance section, Z Special Unit).
ERIC CHRISTIANSEN
Shipwreck Researcher & Explorer in the UEC
Eric Christiansen's diving team was to have included me (Rex Woodmore) but I was called up for National Service and was in the Army when the team including Dr Naoom Haimson, Allan Robinson and Dave Nelly, found the wreck and later, under the Maritime Act, received an ex gratia payment of $2,000.
HUGH EDWARDS
Author & Underwater Explorer in the UEC
One of many books by Hugh Edwards
Hugh has done it all, from diving on wrecks, salvaging historic equipment and and raising cannons, coins, and navigation instruments, artefacts now on display in museums. In the 1960′s he found the sword-hacked skeletons of victims of the 1629 Batavia mutiny in shallow coral graves where they had lain for 334 years.
Hugh Edwards is a Western Australian author who has written 28 books. Thirteen have been published overseas, with editions in the United States, Britain, France, Holland, Germany, Japan, and Canada, and excerpts in Russian. His books are published worldwide in six languages.
Hugh Edwards is a Western Australian author who has written 28 books. Thirteen have been published overseas, with editions in the United States, Britain, France, Holland, Germany, Japan, and Canada, and excerpts in Russian. His books are published worldwide in six languages.
TREASURE is EVERYWHERE
On land & in the sea!
Treasure can really be found everywhere - in the Desert & Bush of the Outback , on Coastal & River Beaches, Underwater on Shipwrecks, in Parks, in Playgrounds, Old buildings & even in your own Backyard.
Gemstones- Rubies, Sapphires, Diamonds & Emeralds.
Precious metals- Silver & Gold, Platinum, Lead, Copper, Zinc.
Artefacts - Rings, Watches, Necklaces, Bangles, Bracelets, Brooches, Earrings, Coins, Coins & more Coins!
Gemstones- Rubies, Sapphires, Diamonds & Emeralds.
Precious metals- Silver & Gold, Platinum, Lead, Copper, Zinc.
Artefacts - Rings, Watches, Necklaces, Bangles, Bracelets, Brooches, Earrings, Coins, Coins & more Coins!
ESPERANCE DOWNUNDER YouTube
|
Esperance Diving. Esperance has over 140 islands in the Recherché Archipelago and subsequently many wonderful dive sites to choose from. The islands are washed by crystal clear turquoise water. David Belfield |
These granite intrusions provide large caves, boulders and swim-throughs for the diver to explore. The temperate water is the perfect environment for the prolific growth of colourful soft corals and sponges. These line the caves and boulders and the array of colour is breath taking. Esperance is also blessed with areas of hard coral. This is usually in the form of plate coral and is always teeming with tiny colourful fish.
Email Rex Woodmore: [email protected]