Author Archive
Make Your Own Mind Up
By Captain Trevor Jackson
If you had the opportunity to dive every good wreck in Australia, and had to decide on the top three, the list would go something like this….
1) SS Yongala
2) RMS Quetta
3) Nothing else rates compared to those two Read the rest of this entry »
That Blue and Lime Line
By Captain Trevor Jackson
The wheelhouse of Spoilsport stretches width wise right across the whole vessel. Long and thin and wide, it resembles what would have once been known as a “Bridge” in ye olde nautical terms, rather than a wheelhouse, which you might find perched atop a fishing boat or tug boat. Windows which face the sides of the boat are the end caps of this bridge and it is here that I often find myself staring out to sea after an overnight crossing to Osprey. Read the rest of this entry »
Little Ducks, All in a Row
By Captain Trevor Jackson
Imagine that you were trying to lose some weight. Not dive weights, body weight. You wouldn’t just choose one avenue. That is to say, you wouldn’t exercise and keep wolfing down the burgers. Nor would you go on a strict diet and then just sloth around all week. You might also try knocking back a few less glasses of ale. In short, you’d have a much better chance of achieving your desired outcome if you adopted a multi- pronged approach. A lot of things in life are like that………insurers call it “comprehensive coverage”. Tech divers might think of it as “redundancy”…….what I’m talking about is backing up your basic premise with everything you’ve got, dotting all the I’s, crossing all the T’s. Read the rest of this entry »
Raise the Bar
By Captain Trevor Jackson
20 years ago as a newcomer to the live aboard scene, I remember being hungry for every piece of good advice I could get. Plenty of people were forthcoming although it must be said, while there was plenty of advice, not all of it was good. One piece did stick though. A wise old sage and I stood leaning on the back rail of a boat one day and he said “For a successful dive trip, you have to get two of the following three things right: The weather, the diving and the food…….and nine times out of ten, the food is the only one you’ll have any say in”. It would be redundant to mention that this fellow liked to eat and he liked to eat well, but the advice was solid and stuck with me ever since. Read the rest of this entry »
Get a Real Life
Captain Trevor Jackson
“Your friends haven’t done anything new lately”……….or so I was informed just moments ago. I opened my inbox and halfway down the page, next to the Facebook and Twitter icons, was that message strewn across the page. It threw me for a second, then I realized it was 5am and the message simply referred to the interim between when I last checked Facebook and now. It’s kind of arrogant though, don’t you think? Internet based social media pages declaring that you lot are BORING. Especially since, according to those same pages, posting a photo of the pub meal you’re about to eat is a worthy event. In that case the message this morning may have read ‘Joe Blow has posted a photo”. That is social media speak for ‘Go back on Facebook and waste another of your precious hours’. Read the rest of this entry »
New Years Day
By Captain Trevor Jackson
It’s a funny feeling when you finally get there….. It can be any place, as long as you’ve dreamt about it your whole life. For me it came slowly into view in the grey morning light on the first dawn of this year. With a suggestion of swell gently lifting and lowering Spoilsport, a tiny nondescript island lay spread to the west of an old stone lighthouse. The sand tracks of twenty thousand turtle’s criss-crossed up and down the beach. Raine Island. Read the rest of this entry »
Captains Log, January 6, 2013, 2310 hrs”
Captain Trevor Jackson
I’ve just spent the last few hours with some of my best friends standing on the top deck looking at the silhouetted hills of Mount Adolphus Island gradually brighten as the moon rose. There’s something about this place…I used to daydream about being here as a young sailor, and there it is, just 200 metres off the bow. Tomorrow we dive the greatest wreck in Queensland. Read the rest of this entry »
We Have to Go Back
Captain Trevor Jackson.
It’s not just unusual. It’s not just uncommon. It’s downright rare. To go on a true exploration trip and not just find something new…….but something new and extraordinary…..Something worth talking about, something worth going back for. Read the rest of this entry »
