Local waterman and passionate East Gippslander, Andrew Dooley, has dreamed of a way to share the heart of his favoured little pocket of eastern Victoria, the outcrop called Cape Conran.

And he’s found it. 

KELP Magazine is his brainchild and an extension of spirit for the environment that he cherishes and calls home.

I was fortunate to first meet Andrew in late 2024 when he joined as a student on a Snorkel Guide Instructor course that I was teaching in Merricks at the Peninsula Outdoors venue on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. His love for the ocean was as clear then as it is now, as is his desire to share knowledge and the notion of us all being custodians of the lands and seas that we call our homes.

The Magazine hopes to create deep conversations and share ideas and knowledge. We commit to listening, learning, and walking together toward a future grounded in respect, sustainability and justice. Andrew Dooley – Editor KELP Magazine

When: Wed 7 January, 2026

Where: Sailor’s Grave Brewing, Marlo VIC

The Launch: KELP Magazine Volume 2 – Summer 25/26

Months in the making, KELP magazine Volume 2 is created by volunteers and is a not-for-profit ambition that is supported solely by the monies raised through magazine sales. It’s printed by local printing press Black Rainbow, Australia’s first sustainable printers, and uses non-toxic inks on a solar-powered printing press.

I was honoured to be invited to contribute an article to the latest edition, and chose to share a story about the experience of sharing a snorkelling excursion at Cape Conran with a local gentleman that has lived in the area for more than seventy years. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to walk in the footsteps of someone that intimately knows the nature of the lands and the sea, and who has seen profound changes, big and small in their lifetime. 

They’re to be cherished those living moments. Just as your own footsteps sink into the same sands that people have trod for tens of thousands of years. To even have a hint of that knowledge passed on, to share in that essence that has been ongoing for generations, it’s as much wonder as the life of the sea that you may or may not encounter as you peer under the surface through your mask. 

So, it is therefore a joy too, to be able to share my story as a contributor to Andrew’s magazine. And to wonder at the connections that one can never know when those footsteps and paths may align again.

The launch of Volume 2 at the Sailor’s Grave Brewery in Marlo occurred on one of the hotter days of summer this year of 2026, and it was a perfect event to attend straight after a refreshing cool dip in the Bass Strait waters there at Cape Conran.

More than 100 people attended the magazine launch. And what you would have noticed being a member of the event, is how Andrew’s intention to create conversations and connection, is already a massively strong thread sewn together by local story tellers and creatives that exhibit the traits of leaders, of custodians, of believers.

I encourage you to find yourself a copy of the KELP magazine and understand this first hand for yourself. Available at the Marlo general store, known as The Local at Marlo for a limited time. Or perhaps send a purchase request to Editor in Chief, Andrew Dooley at andrewdooley (@) live.com .

Writing and Photography, by Marlon Quinn
View the original article photos via the gallery here.

Please view more photos that I took from the magazine launch event below and see the full gallery of images and videos here.

You may also see the original article photos via the gallery here.

Thanks to Andrew, his team and the KELP contributors for bringing such a wonderful and meaningful ambition to life.

Kelp volume 2. A beautiful edition that has come together through pure excitement and passion from everyone involved. The pages are…full of heart, care and commitment for our community, the environment and the special place that is Cape Conran. – Andrew Dooley, Editor KELP Magazine