Adventure: Australia - Diving and Searching
Greg Hawk • April 8, 2020
Australia - Diving and Searching
While owning and operating Fantasy Dive Charters out of Port Douglas, Australia we took weekly trips up the Great Barrier Reef to the top of Number 10 Ribbon Reef and then into Lizard Island for a night with a barbecue on the beach.
During the summer season, when the winds changed, we were able to go out into the Coral Sea to visit Osprey and Bougainville Reefs. These reefs are about 100 miles offshore and in approximately 6,500 feet of water.
Bougainville Reef had a steel hull of a ship, that had gone aground on it, lying on the windward side of the reef. From the years of continual spray of salt water on it the steel hull was slowly melting away. One could only dive on the windward side of the reef when the ocean was calm or else you were putting yourself into peril by getting washed up onto the reef. We dived this area and found parts to the ship still lying on the underwater shelf on that side. There was also an abundance of sharks in this area, so we didn’t stay long. The rest of the reef had some nice wall dives and very clear water.
Osprey Reef was about twelve miles long and offered a lot of different diving experiences on it. The south end of the reef offered some amazing wall diving and one had to watch your depth gauge as the water was so clear you could easily drop to 100 feet without realizing it. There was also a shelf running down the leeward side from the south end that was about 140 to 160 feet down. One day I counted eleven sharks lying on that shelf as we drifted along.
On the north end was called shark point and it was easily to see why. At 40 to 60 feet down one would have a lot of small reef sharks swimming by you. There was a shelf down at about 120 to 140 feet that was used as a shark feeding point by some dive vessels wanting to film sharks feeding. We didn’t do this as it drew in the much larger whaler and oceanic white tip sharks and who wants to be in the water during a feeding frenzy.
One day, when there was no wind, we were able to go on the windward side with our 78-foot dive vessel, Si Bon, and anchor up. We did a couple of nice dives and started back along the outer edge on a dive when I noticed an iron oblong ring about 18 inches long and 12 inches across. It looked as though it could have been part of an old wooden sailing ship. At the time I was at 80 feet in depth and down to 500 psi in my tank and it was time to head to the top. I picked up the heavy iron ring but couldn’t inflate my vest enough to bring the ring up with me without running out of air. I dropped it and thought someday I would make it back to dive that side once again. Did an old wooden ship run aground here and disappear?
A short distance south of Osprey Reef was what was called Shark Reef and the top of it was at a depth of 50 feet. We found it once and dived on it. The diving wasn’t that great and after 30 minutes I gathered the divers up and headed them back to Si Bon. Once onboard I asked them if any of them had seen the seven oceanic white tip sharks that were slowly moving in towards us. Luckily none of them did and there was no panic.
If you are an avid diver there are still many places to explore on the Great Barrier Reef and into the Coral Sea. Make sure you take the time to explore it on a “live aboard” dive vessel, if possible, one with a good reputation. Cheers!
Treasure Videos
This is a look at the Knife Rock petroglyphs and how one treasure hunter tries to tie them to the Peralta Stones treasure. Enjoy! Greg Hawk
A sunny hot day with the sun beating down on a propane tank possibly created excess pressure in the propane hose going to the heater. Even though tent ventilation flaps were open, the sudden rush of propane gas and a spark or possibly the pilot light set it off creating a massive fireball blowing out the side vent of the tent. Luckily I was there to quickly extinguish the fire. Stay safe out there! Greg Hawk
A true story of a lost mine in the Superstition Mountains that a claim was filed on in 1927 by Gladys Jenkins. It's a story of a lady who faced many hardships and disppointments in life but her unbending will kept her going through the hardest of times. While working in Phoenix, to help make ends meet, she meets an Apache lady that saw how she was struggling and decided to help her by showing her a gold mine in the Superstition Mountains that was once worked by Mexicans miners. The original claim papers filed with the county tell of the location of the mine which we will show you. Cheers! Greg Hawk
This is a story as told by Barry Storm in his book, "Thunder Gods Gold". We take a close look at this treasure story to see if there is in fact any truth to it. It is up to the viewer to make their own decision once we present the facts in our research of the characters in this story. With over 200 books and articles about the treasures lost in the Superstition Mountains we strongly have our doubts about most of them being factual. Would you chase after the gold in this story? Cheers! Greg Hawk
A look into the treasure story of Skelton Canyon which lies in eastern Arizona. Was it real and if so where is it buried today? Cheers! Greg Hawk
Three 100 lb. gold bars taken in a stagecoach holdup hidden in the Harwquahala Mountains of Arizona. Today's Value $10+ Million!
Here is a a short video on rebuilding an old Army trailer, into an off road extended-stay trailer for treasure hunting and prospecting(metal detecting). You'll see this trailer in my future videos! Cheers! Greg Hawk
A lost ledge of gold and the prospector who found it but wasn't able to return. The marker he left was his vest with a mule shoe on top of it to mark the spot. This story takes place around 1900 along the Colorado River about 25 to 30 miles north of Yuma, Arizona on the California side of the river at a place called Picacho. A man searched for it for over 20 years and never found it, can you?
This is the story of a stagecoach robbery that was printed in the March-April edition of Westerner Magazine in 1974.
It took place south of Beale Springs and supposedly $200,000 worth of gold bullion was heisted from the stagecoach and the stagecoach disappeared after the robbery never to be found until 40 years later.
A photo was sent from a subscriber showing the Indian face in the rock formation and also pictures of things he found below the nose.