Eden!    Well the name itself conjures up all sorts of images and for spearo's in Australia it means just that "eden."

This competition has become the largest spearfishing event in Australia with over 100 divers competing and this year, 42 boats registered for the event. It attracts all levels of spearos and is a fantastic social event, plus you get the opportunity to dive against some of the hottest names in Australian spearfishing, past present and future. 

This year the Barracudas started organising the event in February as we have done in previous years. It is a long road to Eden, both literally and figuratively. The preparation needs to be on target to make sure it all comes together and nothing critical is forgotten or left behind.

….Now we are seven days away from the event and the forecast is in and it's not great.  I field many phone calls but it's still seven days away so I just keep them optimistic. I spot a possible lull in the weather and it is supposed to occur on Sunday, comp day. We keep our fingers crossed and yes we were lucky, the weather calmed down as predicted and the competition went full steam ahead. It's always the biggest challenge when organising an event so far from our home base, accommodation is booked up to 12 months ahead, venues are booked and deposits are paid so the weather report always causes some anxious moments in the lead up. Eden is one of those spots where the conditions are great one day and a shocker the next and it has happened in previous years and it has led to cancellations.

Eden 3 Way State titles is fairly unique as it is held in winter on the far south coast, at least 300km travel time for divers and is a one day competition. For those who are not yet initiated may well think,  "you guys are crazy, it has to be crap!" Well it actually is some of the best diving on the competition calendar. Eden is situated a long distance from any major population centres and this means the fish numbers aren't getting hit. Also this time of year we sometimes catch the tail end of the EAC, meaning clear water, (most of the time), a large fish population as you get a cross over from temperate species and cold water species. To top it all off, there is plenty of shallow water diving with kilometres of coastline to explore, with a water temperature between 12 - 18 degrees. Weather ranges from balmy sunny days to sleet and snow on the surrounding hills. Once you make the trip to Eden, I promise you will be hooked. I am, and so are many others, this is why we have such a great turn out of competitors each year on the June long week end.

In 2011 we had a lot of rainfall and the rivers were running mud so anywhere north was severely lacking in visibility and the majority of the field headed south. We fished the south side of the bay with some other divers because the north side was darker than my morning Mocconna coffee. I had the pleasure of having Pucko and his son Aaron in my boat. They were looking for a ride and I had space with Riley and his dad Bruce, the awesome boaty, (hey gotta suck up, good boaties are hard to find). After picking up a few species we headed south to spot X's. Even though the whole coastline is potential spot X, it's just great. The fish were a little harder to find this year due to the extreme weather we have been experiencing.

Six hours later we are back and checking out who got what and trying to find out where they got it. Into the weigh-in queue with the fish, get the boat out of the water, and then help with the weigh - in. This is where the weigh-in crews are at their best, bloody cold hands, hungry, tired, sore backs and wet feet, and in 2 hours all 104 competitors are weighed in.

It is then up to Ellis and his trusty lap top to get the scores loaded and calculated. 960 fish, 104 divers, 1500 hits of the keyboard and the results are done by 6:30pm. The presentation was well attended as always with 150+ joining us.

Jack Lavender was awarded the champion trophy after being so close in the last few years he could taste it. I didn't do very well this year, I'll just bask in the glory of my crew, with Pucko taking out veterans champion, Riley junior champion, and Aaron sub junior champion. As for me…well there's always next year.

After all the categories were awarded the anticipated prize raffle was drawn with Victorian Grand Master, John Dunn, winning the first draw. He selected the Bauchat Mundial Free Dive Watch donated by Adreno.

A huge thank you to all competitors, helpers and our great sponsors who make this competition a success.

See you at Eden in 2012