Cyclones, 3 Stinger Suits, 3300 dives, 22 Mike Ball Dive Expeditions!!

Close on the heals of cyclone Monica, Nick Jones was enjoying his 22nd expedition with Mike Ball aboard Spoilsport. Diving solo at Flare Point Nick came upon a stinger suit complete with coat hanger at 26 meters…. strange indeed seeing that stinger suits are not a common under water species for this area. After a moments thought continued with his dive only to come upon another stinger suit complete with coat hanger….. even stranger. Nick, now dragging two suits and looking more like a wardrobe than a diver, came across another stinger suit in the sand complete with coat hanger. Suddenly realizing that this was not common place looked anxiously around for the sunken vessel or a hidden video camera. Seeing neither located the mooring line, anchored the suits until his return, and continued his solo dive…. stinger suit less!

Nick Jones started diving in 1981 at the RAAF Amberley Scuba Club. The club was about to be disbanded due to lack of officer in charge. Squadron Leader Nick Jones was seconded to the club with zero dive experience. Now 25 yeas later with 3300 dives under his weight belt, Nick is still on track to complete his mission of a minimum of one dive per month… even if this meant solo diving with twin tanks in a dry suit in Lake Burley Griffith!

Cyclone Monica tried to spoil the party on Nicks diving however Nick was happy to report that just days after Monica crossed the coast he was swimming with 8 potato cod at the Cod Hole. The following day while solo diving in 50 meter visibility at Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea a hammerhead cruised close-by as if Nick wasn’t their!

Not happy with just a week of diving, like Nick’s other 22 expeditions he did two back to back 7 night Coral Sea Safari’s an average dive trip for Nick is 14 days!