Tech Tip:
How Much and Where to Use Lubricant

Some people very sparingly lubricate the SPG swivel O-rings, but you should know that SPG and hose assemblies from our suppliers are never lubricated. If you do choose lube the SPG swivel o-rings, take care not to be so generous that lube might migrate up into the Bourdon tube mechanism and cause your SPG to become inaccurate.

Some people also sparingly lubricate the threads of valves before they are installed in the cylinder neck. Do NOT lubricate the neck O-ring itself, and do not lubricate the valve/regulator seal O-ring or DIN threads.

Most lubricant is used with dynamic seals in regulators and other equipment with moving parts. As a general rule, the O-rings used with static seals in SCUBA applications should not be lubricated at all. The lubricant just causes contamination to stick to the surface of the O-ring and results in more problems with a static seal than any dubious benefit the lubricant might provide.

McKechnie Craig Bommie

Bommie Dive | Boat access

McKechnie Craig Bommie
© Google Earth (2/2014)

Depth: 8 m (26 ft) to 20 m (66 ft)

Level: Open Water and beyond.

McKechnie Craig Bommie includes 100 ha of reef area between Boulder Point (aka Bluenose) and House Reef (a large reef platform with the solitary house on the cliff above) on Victoria's Discovery Coast. When locals think of The Crags, they usually have in mind McKechnie Craig Bommie rather than the "car park" Crags (which are found a further 3 km to the north-west).

At Cape Reamur, the coast swings to the north-west and begins the 50 km long, sweeping arc that becomes Portland Bay.

McKechnies Craigs Bommie sits in the southern portion and rises to within a few metres of the surface. The entire south-west edge of the reef complex is bounded by a sand edge ranging from 8 metres at the northern end to 20 metres south of the bommie.

The extent and variety of diving here has to be seen to be believed. Bare tumbled boulders along the deeper sand edge, through to thick stands of kelp and cray weed. The location has been a huge contributor to the commercial abalone catch for many decades.

McKechnie Craig Bommie is reached by boat heading out from the Port Fairy, Griffiths Street Boat Ramp.

McKechnie Craig Bommie is exposed to the westerly winds and waves. Best dived with a low swell. See WillyWeather (Cape Reamur) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

Abalone Dive Site
© Mark Norman, Museum Victoria

Divers have the opportunity to catch Abalone at this dive site. Remember your catch bag, legal abalone tool, current Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence, and abalone measure. Please abide by all current fishing regulations if you intend to catch abalone.

See article-catching-abalone for practical abalone hunting advice from The Scuba Doctor, plus melbourne-abalone-dives for a list of other Abalone dive sites near Melbourne.

Divers have the opportunity to catch Southern Rock Lobster (aka Crayfish) at this dive site. Remember your catch bag, current Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence, rock lobster measure, and cray tags. Once you get back to the dive boat, or shore, make sure you clip the tail and tag your Crayfish as per Fisheries requirements. Please abide by all current fishing regulations if you intend to catch crays. See article-catching-crayfish for practical cray hunting advice from The Scuba Doctor, plus melbourne-cray-dives for a list of other crayfish dive sites near Melbourne. For tips on cooking your Crays, please see article-cooking-crayfish.

Eastern Maar country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Eastern Maar people of south-western Victoria between the Shaw and Eumerella Rivers and from Yambuk in the south to beyond Lake Linlithgow in the north. This truly ancient Country extends as far north as Ararat and encompasses the coastal townships of Port Fairy in the west, Warrnambool, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Apollo Bay, Lorne, and Airies Inlet in the east, including the Great Ocean Road area. It also stretches 100 metres out to sea from low tide and therefore includes the iconic Twelve Apostles. "Eastern Maar" is a name adopted by the people who identify as Maar, Eastern Gunditjmara, Tjap Wurrung, Peek Whurrong, Kirrae Whurrung, Kuurn Kopan Noot and/or Yarro waetch (Tooram Tribe) amongst others. We wish to acknowledge the Eastern Maar as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging.

McKechnie Craig Bommie Location Map

Latitude: 38° 23.322′ S (38.388699° S / 38° 23′ 19.32″ S)
Longitude: 142° 8.206′ E (142.136766° E / 142° 8′ 12.36″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2021-07-24 23:32:48 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-20 06:47:53 GMT
Source: GPS (verified)
Nearest Neighbour: Boulder Point Reef, 400 m, bearing 202°, SSW
Discovery Coast.
Depth: 8 to 20 m.

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DISCLAIMER: No claim is made by The Scuba Doctor as to the accuracy of the dive site coordinates listed here. Should anyone decide to use these GPS marks to locate and dive on a site, they do so entirely at their own risk. Always verify against other sources.

The marks come from numerous sources including commercial operators, independent dive clubs, reference works, and active divers. Some are known to be accurate, while others may not be. Some GPS marks may even have come from maps using the AGD66 datum, and thus may need be converted to the WGS84 datum. To distinguish between the possible accuracy of the dive site marks, we've tried to give each mark a source of GPS, Google Earth, or unknown.