I ’ ve known Dennis for over 40 years and in that time Julie my wife and myself have always enjoyed Dennis ’ s company . Several years ago we enjoyed two weeks on the Ningaloo reef with Cathy and Dennis and to this day still talk about our adventures . Dennis spent his time there as a camp host , but in true Dennis style he extended that title to escorting campers who in some cases had little experience snorkelling let alone reef snorkelling for a dive and educating them about the reef . That was what came natural to Dennis , he had a wealth of knowledge and was always willing to share that knowledge .
I would always look forward to Dennis ’ s diving adventure ’ s and some were definitely an adventure , like paddling a kayak about two kilometres to a diving boat mooring in about five metres of water and trying to got off and on the kayak with all our diving gear not to mention the race back to camp . Another was a hole that Dennis had seen close to the outer reef . Dennis hadn ’ t ventured out there due to the distance and the unknown . So how about it Dave want to go a have a look , well why not Dennis . We swam out to what looked like a beautiful deep pond in the reef , so in I went followed by Dennis . Once in the pond we realised there was a huge current trying to drag us out into open sea . Dennis through instinct grabbed the reef to steady himself and grabbed my arm and pulled me back . In true Dennis style we started laughing and his reply was “ what do you reckon we ’ ll go back in ” he didn ’ t have to ask me twice .
Dennis has always donated his experience on different projects I might want to complete , and this was no more evident as when I decided to keep bee ’ s . He was my mentor for the first twelve months and for that I will always be grateful .
You will always be in our thoughts and truly Missed Dennis by both Julie and myself .
Julie and Dave McArthur