Author Archive
Pumpin’ Like Crazy
Trevor Jackson – Spoilsport Captain
“How sweet it is to be loved by you”…Everyone is walking around the boat singing that song today. The crew are at least, they’re all in a real good mood and I can’t quite put my finger on why. It could be the fact that we’ve just completed the first trip of our new Holmes, Bougainville, Osprey Reef itinerary without even the slightest glitch. It could be the glorious weather, it could be the viz…whatever it is…they’re happy about life on the high seas right about now. Read the rest of this entry »
What the Darkness was Hiding
Trevor Jackson – Spoilsport Captain
Years ago I forged a career out of finding things on the seafloor that no-one had found before. Enough wrecks to write a book about. But to be fair I’d have to say, it’s a rarity in recent times. Finding an interesting place on the earth that hasn’t already been thoroughly worked over, well it’s not something that happens every day. Sometimes though, when you least expect it, something pops up. Read the rest of this entry »
The mother of all dive sites
Trevor Jackson – Spoilsport Captain
Consider for a moment all the things that would make one dive destination great. It would have to have spectacular marine life, amazing geography and crystal clear water. It would need to be remote enough so that the volume of visitors was low but, with the right planning, accessible. A wreck or two wouldn’t go astray either, oh and throw in a couple of mind numbing drop offs to round the whole package off. And I’m not talking about sedate little 40 metre drop-offs here, I mean serious ones. There’s nothing like hovering out off a wall in 1500 metres to remind you you’re alive!!! Chuck in a drift dive, some nice swim throughs and an extra dollop of big shark action for good measure. Yep that would just about do it for me. But where would I find it? Well the answer to that is simple: Bougainville Reef. Read the rest of this entry »
As long as you live
Trevor Jackson – Spoilsport Captain
There are plenty of things we don’t understand about the universe. Physicists try to make a fist of it but the bottom line is, no one really knows how it all works. The same is true of nature. Despite centuries of study, there is so much we simply don’t understand. How do geese find their way home after winter? How do bats ‘see’ in the dark? How do turtles find exactly the same patch of beach year after year? But the baffling question that pops up aboard Spoily this time every year is…How is it that these dwarf minke whales know exactly when and where to show up at the same spot and the same time to give us such a fantastic insight into their lives? Read the rest of this entry »
The Odd Gorilla
Trevor Jackson – Spoilsport Captain
Our yearly tussle with cyclones usually begins as the summer months begin to ebb…the water temperature in the Coral Sea has reached its critical point and when everything aligns…a cyclone spins up and begins its often erratic dance towards the Qld coast…when that happens we start to watch…in terms of being at sea, not a lot happens fast. Cyclone are far reaching but slow moving…to be in any real danger in this modern technological age you’d pretty much have to have a cyclone form almost on your position in very quick order, and even then, the watchful skipper should be onto it with 24 hours to spare. Read the rest of this entry »
Global Shark Diving operators were major sponsors of the Cairns Underwater Film Festival 2014 The festival combines The Great Barrier Reef Photo and Video competition with a film festival evening showcasing underwater imagery from around the world. The not for profit festival, donated AUD $25,000 to: the Minke Whale Project; the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation and the Tangaroa Blue Foundation
Deep Reefs…..
Trevor Jackson – Spoilsport Captain
From the earliest days of known exploration….men set forth to seek out the undiscovered. Some did it for notoriety, some for money, some were driven to advance science, others still simply for the sheer joy of laying eyes on something beautiful. Read the rest of this entry »
The Green Zone
Trevor Jackson – Spoilsport Captain
With so many different trips on our agenda this year we’ve had to create an ‘Expedition Schedule Planner’ to go on the wheelhouse wall, just so the crew can keep up, it is after all a complicated affair. And you know when you make one of these types of things, whether it be for work or for the kids sporting events or even just the weekends, colour coding can go a long way towards making it all make sense. Ours is colour coded. Blue for Coral Sea Exploratory Expeditions, purple for Deep Reefs, orange for Minkes, yellow for far Northern stuff….but the predominant colour is green……and there’s a lot of green…..the green zone is for Yongala. Read the rest of this entry »
Both Bases Covered
Captain Trevor Jackson
Osprey Reef, Ribbon Reefs and Minke Interactions – 3 nights, 4 nights & 7 nights.
They were and are, fantastic dive trips and we are very adept at running them.
Recently though, the vessel staff received a memo from the office suggesting that not all staff were totally familiar with the products we are currently offering the diving public. I have to confess, I hadn’t kept track of just how far our product development had come in the last few years. Mike Ball Dive Expeditions has evolved from 4 to 14 diverse dive expeditions. I jumped on the website to compile this quick rundown: Read the rest of this entry »
Deep Reefs…..What will we find this year?
Captain Trevor Jackson
They have a few things in common, those deep offshore mountain tops. They all plunge thousands of metres to the seafloor, they all have water so clear you can get the impression you’re base jumping off a cliff and sharks…they are everywhere. Moreover they provide the backdrop for our once a year Deep Reefs expedition. Folks on board Spoilsport will often read our brochures and become intrigued about what Deep Reefs is all about. Read the rest of this entry »
