Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wrapping up September...
Tons of diving to catch up on... beginning with...
September.14.2008
'Twas a busy day on the boardwalk... not only did the bikers, boarders, rollers, joggers, gawkers, anglers, and ankle-biters show up in force today, but we also had a handful of dive shops dropping students in the waters around Les Davis, at least two diving vendors peddling their wares, and last but certainly not least - a small group of locals wrapping up their PADI instructor examinations...
... Congratulations to Tom Carlson, Karyn LaBonte, Tootie Winter and John Buchofner for their successful completion of the IE and for becoming our newest PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors!! Nicely done!
Once we finished passing on our congrats to this group, Mike, Julie and I decided to take advantage of some White's Drysuit Demo's, at least one of us a Dive Rite BC/Harness system, and then took a quick dip... heading out to see the resident GPO at depth. The drysuit I happily placed back on the hanger when our dive was complete, the BC was nearly torn from my hands. Dive Rite, here I come!
Dive Buddy Group: Mike D. & Julie E.
(70fsw for 36mins)
September.16.2008
Broeker returned home from Cali and met me down at LD for a splash... we had one stop in mind and spent nearly the entire dive there. Check out the clip...
Dive Buddy: Mike Broeker
(81fsw for 45mins)
September.17.2008
Got in a couple dives today at as many sites. Began the afternoon meeting Mike B. and Lori C. out on Day Island with plans to explore the wall on a mild exchange. We toured the length of the wall as we typically would and then came up to some interesting surface activity. We'd hardly had our faces out of the water before the sound of a nearby boat engine grabbed our attention. As we tore off our hoods and looked toward the oncoming Coast Guard inflatable tender a second sound began to distinguish itself from the roar of the boat engine and drew our attention towards the skies. The Coast Guard and a couple local news choppers had taken up hover positions in the air space directly above us. We waved...
... and then we turned our attention to the inflatable once more, waiting for the captain to close the distance. Throttling back the approach, just within some 50' or so from us, the captain asked if we were the owners of a small dinghy that he pointed out nearby. The dinghy was not but a couple hundred feet from us and was clearly abandoned. "Nope... not ours." He nodded the nod that said he knew that would be our answer and followed up that question with the obvious next... "Did you guys see anyone else down there?"
"Fortunately... no."
Unfortunately, we didn't see much of anything on this tour. Once we started the short climb up the gravel trail to our cars we began to talk a bit about the dive - as is the custom. Rarely is there little to mention regarding the marine life here, but I had been stumped. Lori on the other hand claimed to have had a wolf-eel sighting and to have hung out with it for a short bit. Upon hearing this I wondered where the heck I might have been while this was going on... and more so to the point, why wasn't I alerted of its presence? I see how I rate! ;)
Great dive nonetheless... it's Day Island Wall for Pete's sake!!
Dive Buddy Group: Mike B. & Lori C.
(86fsw for 32mins)
The second splash was later in the evening with my buddy Tom Carlson. He and I took a casual tour of Les Davis with highlights on the resident GPO (tucked neatly away in his bridge decking hole), and the largest decorated war-bonnet I have ever seen. No camera to snap photos, or shoot vid tonight... take my word for it - it was eerie big!
Thanks for the splash, Tom!
Dive Buddy: Tom C.
(76fsw for 48mins)
September.23.2008
On the bill this eve - Titlow Beach. A fantastic dive site once the day settles into night and for the marine life observers it rarely disappoints. There were just over one half-dozen of us taking on the splash and I think we'd all agree that we got our fill of red octopus and sailfin sculpin sightings. A lot of group play and herding octo practice... fun stuff.
Dive Buddy Group: Nick R., Chip W., Sonya B., Tim, Steve and Amy R.
(58fsw for 50mins)
September.24.2008
Back-to-back night dives out at Titlow Beach. This time we decided we'd head southbound towards the shelves and see what there was to see. It was awesome... got in a new GPO sighting and placed a short clip of it here...
Dive Buddy Group: Tom C. and Chip W.
(38fsw for 54mins)
September.25.2008
Back to old faithful for a couple splashes - one as an assistant to Dan E. on a makeup Open Water dive with his students Lori and Steve (Steve was a drysuit orientation diver at this point)... and a second with a handful of friends from Fort Lewis scuba.
Here are a few photos taken during the first dive @ Les Davis Marine Park...
Dive Buddy Group: Dan E., Steve B., and Lori
(31fsw for 52mins)
The evening dive was fantastic. We headed down to the GPO den but ended up finding him just shy of where we would usually. He was up a bit shallower amongst the fish sculpture debris. Once we all had our chance to peek in on that dude we made off on an exploration. I had a small group follow me out to depth where the "desert" lay. As usual there was nothing to be found out here but a couple of bottles and scattered sightings of large sea stars. There was little sense in hanging out here so I made the turn and broke out the compass... not because I needed to find a new direction, but I knew I would need it to guide myself through what would be hundreds of feet of silt kicked up by my companions tonight. ;)~
I'm not going to say it was intentional, but when I finally found my way out of the cloud... I was alone. Hmmmm... if we had to vote. Me ditching them... or, them ditching me...?
So, I waited... and then I waited no more. I was finishing this one solo and found it to be one the best night diving adventures I'd been on at this site. Tons of eye catchers out tonight...
Here's a little glimpse at some of my playful aquatic friends...
Dive Buddy Group: Chip W., Sonya B., Lori C., Jimmy and Jeff
(89fsw for 65mins)
September.29.2008
Les Davis Pipeline!
Mike B. and Lori C. buddied up with me for a deep dive out to the pipeline. After discussing the dive plan in the parking lot, we suited up and took the long surface swim out to the marker buoy. Gathering around for a bit there and catching our breath we then rode the descent line down to the pad at depth before heading over to the pipeline proper. Once we came up to the pipeline Mike decided to head further down to check out the end, whereas Lori and I headed up. If you've not seen the pipeline before, just imagine what a mother lode of plumose anemones might look like in a straight line... and there you have it. It's a very cool look - they're everywhere!!
We made it nearly up to the bulkhead before Mike rejoined us. We sat around the 50' mark for a bit while Mike performed mastery demonstrations of mask removal skills, and a variety of other aquatic acts. Once we had our fill it was time to move on again. Before long I noticed that neither Mike, nor Lori were in tow and so I finished off this dive too... solo. Starting to catch the theme with this lot...? Came up to find that they had both already made it to the cars and were out of their gear ready to hit the streets. I'd hear from one of them later in the day about that decision...
Dive Buddy Group: Mike B. and Lori C.
(130fsw for 51mins)
September.30.2008
And finally... wrapping up September with a DM duty splash. Took a fresh-out of open water class diver on a tour of Les Davis this evening. We stuck to the shallows and followed around a dozen or so ratfish while tuning in some buoyancy and trim.
Very nice work, Mike! Hope to see you splashing again in the near... be safe buddy!
Dive Buddy Group: Amy R., Steve B. and Mike
(34fsw for 30mins)
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Duty Calls... The DM Saga...
Assisted with A2Z's Open Water Class (Dives 1 and 2) at Les Davis Marine Park.
This class is off to a great start! Definitely some divers in the bunch. Hope you enjoyed your first tours of the Sound, and keep up the good work! :)
Dive Instructor: Mike DeAngelo
OW Divers: Ty, Tenessa, Colt, Steve and CJ
This class is off to a great start! Definitely some divers in the bunch. Hope you enjoyed your first tours of the Sound, and keep up the good work! :)
Dive Instructor: Mike DeAngelo
OW Divers: Ty, Tenessa, Colt, Steve and CJ
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Duty Calls... The DM Saga...
Assisted with A2Z's Advanced Open Water Class (Dive 5) at the Lobster Shop shallows.
The dive: Underwater Navigation - Adventure Dive
Congratulations, Joe Ryan, for successfully completing the last of your AOW dives today!! We began with some compass work on land, and then took to the seas for a bit of underwater navigation. Joe followed the line (100' of submerged line) down and back, counting both kick cycles and arm spans. Once he dialed in on his numbers, we ventured away from the line for three sides of "the square", before meeting back up with it on the home stretch. A little natural navigation back to the beach wrapped up our stay here at the Lobster Shop shallows.
Nice work Joe!! You're leading our next dive... ;)
Dive Instructor: Dan Estrada
AOW Diver: Joe Ryan
The dive: Underwater Navigation - Adventure Dive
Congratulations, Joe Ryan, for successfully completing the last of your AOW dives today!! We began with some compass work on land, and then took to the seas for a bit of underwater navigation. Joe followed the line (100' of submerged line) down and back, counting both kick cycles and arm spans. Once he dialed in on his numbers, we ventured away from the line for three sides of "the square", before meeting back up with it on the home stretch. A little natural navigation back to the beach wrapped up our stay here at the Lobster Shop shallows.
Nice work Joe!! You're leading our next dive... ;)
Dive Instructor: Dan Estrada
AOW Diver: Joe Ryan
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Looky there! No, here!
September.10.2008
Got in another dive with Guillaume tonight, this time it was my turn to travel - up north to the Alki (Seacrest) Cove 2 site. "G" pulled out the divesite map just as soon as I arrived and detailed the plan for this evenings splash. We agreed to the following: Make a b-line for the I-Beams (for a beat); take a turn to the NW, passing over the small boat on our way to the log pile; then make the turn, following the ropes on the usual tour to the Honey Bear tug, where we would meet our macro friends and off-gas in the shallows. Simple enough...
We geared up in the parking lot and finished off with a quick buddy check before taking the stroll to the beach. Mindful of conservative MOD's (Maximum Operating Depth), with both our cylinders each filled with off-blends of EANx, we ventured out on our first leg of the tour - the I-Beams.
The visibility was pretty poor early on, but cleared up nicely as we approached depth. The "desert" (between 60-90fsw) soon gave way to row upon row of Plumose Anemone lining the I-Beams. We kicked alongside one of these large beams to its end and took a quick glance around to see if there was anything of interest that might lengthen our stay here... not tonight. After only a couple of minutes of exploration we signaled to each other that we were ready to head off for the second leg - the log pile.
We could see the log pile from end-to-end as we approached. Having only been out to this set once before I did a couple slow runs around it before checking in on the SPG and noting that I was at my turning pressure. I threw some light G's direction and called him over. Using the typical night diving protocol, I used my C8 to light up my free hand and began to signal my pressure reading. I was just above 1500psi... so naturally I began with the first digit... the 1 (one).
For the record... G and I had buddied up a few times within the last month or so, and in doing so it was reasonable to assume that he and I had communicated our hand signal preferences on at least one of those prior occassions. What became overtly obvious as I began the first of my signals is... one should never assume.
My first signal (the extended index finger of my left hand) came out... and then the comedy began. G, without hesitation, turned in the direction I had pointed that finger and took off. I watched him for a moment, chuckled a bit, and then decided I'd try again, flashing my light over the top of him so as to draw his attention. It worked. He turned to me and came kicking... arriving with a quizzical look. Shining my light on that same hand, I gave him a signal to hold. And, he held.
Attempt number two... the same result. Just as soon as that finger reached full extension his head had turned and he was off. I couldn't help but to let out a pretty good roar this time. I sat there for a moment just to see where he would go based on his assumption, and found out that it was just back to the logpile... which was somewhat close... I guess. I decided to make one last attempt at indicating a turn, but by this time G was some 25-30' away. Instead of confusing the matter any more I chose a different approach, this time grabbing his attention with my light and with it drawing a clear line with it's beam in the direction I intended to travel. Once I was fairly sure I had made my point I took my turn at turning away from my buddy and slowly kicking off. ;) I could see his light coming up from behind me as I made way to the Honey Bear... Success!
It wasn't long before we had again found ourselves within a good buddy distance from one another, and the explorations were back on. En route to the Honey Bear (HB) we came across a small red octo and decided we'd hang out with it for a bit before heading on. This little guy proved to be the only critter worthy of our extra attention tonight. The waters surrounding the HB were turbid and made exploration an exercise in futility. Nothing to see there... though not for lack of trying. We suspended our stay there and made way to our safety stop depth, followed soon after by our exit.
The debrief at our vehicles was pretty telling... not only did I learn that the confusion in the hand signals was due to G's use of the "fives" pressure readings, but when I mentioned that the HB seemed to be pretty lifeless this evening, he swore that we didn't reach the HB. With the hand signals we came to a consensus... with the HB sighting, we just had to agree to disagree. :)~
Dive Buddy: Guillaume S.
(102fsw for 41mins)
Got in another dive with Guillaume tonight, this time it was my turn to travel - up north to the Alki (Seacrest) Cove 2 site. "G" pulled out the divesite map just as soon as I arrived and detailed the plan for this evenings splash. We agreed to the following: Make a b-line for the I-Beams (for a beat); take a turn to the NW, passing over the small boat on our way to the log pile; then make the turn, following the ropes on the usual tour to the Honey Bear tug, where we would meet our macro friends and off-gas in the shallows. Simple enough...
We geared up in the parking lot and finished off with a quick buddy check before taking the stroll to the beach. Mindful of conservative MOD's (Maximum Operating Depth), with both our cylinders each filled with off-blends of EANx, we ventured out on our first leg of the tour - the I-Beams.
The visibility was pretty poor early on, but cleared up nicely as we approached depth. The "desert" (between 60-90fsw) soon gave way to row upon row of Plumose Anemone lining the I-Beams. We kicked alongside one of these large beams to its end and took a quick glance around to see if there was anything of interest that might lengthen our stay here... not tonight. After only a couple of minutes of exploration we signaled to each other that we were ready to head off for the second leg - the log pile.
We could see the log pile from end-to-end as we approached. Having only been out to this set once before I did a couple slow runs around it before checking in on the SPG and noting that I was at my turning pressure. I threw some light G's direction and called him over. Using the typical night diving protocol, I used my C8 to light up my free hand and began to signal my pressure reading. I was just above 1500psi... so naturally I began with the first digit... the 1 (one).
For the record... G and I had buddied up a few times within the last month or so, and in doing so it was reasonable to assume that he and I had communicated our hand signal preferences on at least one of those prior occassions. What became overtly obvious as I began the first of my signals is... one should never assume.
My first signal (the extended index finger of my left hand) came out... and then the comedy began. G, without hesitation, turned in the direction I had pointed that finger and took off. I watched him for a moment, chuckled a bit, and then decided I'd try again, flashing my light over the top of him so as to draw his attention. It worked. He turned to me and came kicking... arriving with a quizzical look. Shining my light on that same hand, I gave him a signal to hold. And, he held.
Attempt number two... the same result. Just as soon as that finger reached full extension his head had turned and he was off. I couldn't help but to let out a pretty good roar this time. I sat there for a moment just to see where he would go based on his assumption, and found out that it was just back to the logpile... which was somewhat close... I guess. I decided to make one last attempt at indicating a turn, but by this time G was some 25-30' away. Instead of confusing the matter any more I chose a different approach, this time grabbing his attention with my light and with it drawing a clear line with it's beam in the direction I intended to travel. Once I was fairly sure I had made my point I took my turn at turning away from my buddy and slowly kicking off. ;) I could see his light coming up from behind me as I made way to the Honey Bear... Success!
It wasn't long before we had again found ourselves within a good buddy distance from one another, and the explorations were back on. En route to the Honey Bear (HB) we came across a small red octo and decided we'd hang out with it for a bit before heading on. This little guy proved to be the only critter worthy of our extra attention tonight. The waters surrounding the HB were turbid and made exploration an exercise in futility. Nothing to see there... though not for lack of trying. We suspended our stay there and made way to our safety stop depth, followed soon after by our exit.
The debrief at our vehicles was pretty telling... not only did I learn that the confusion in the hand signals was due to G's use of the "fives" pressure readings, but when I mentioned that the HB seemed to be pretty lifeless this evening, he swore that we didn't reach the HB. With the hand signals we came to a consensus... with the HB sighting, we just had to agree to disagree. :)~
Dive Buddy: Guillaume S.
(102fsw for 41mins)
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Catching up... week two...
September.3.2008
Before leaving the docks from the last Bandito trip, Guillaume and I exchanged numbers with some future diving in mind. He called to see if I would be interested in getting a couple dives in today, and was down for traveling south for a tour of Les Davis.
I had the new GPO sighting still fresh in mind, so the plan was to check it out... see if he was still home. Sure enough, found him just where I had seen him last time - tucked away nice and snug.
We quickly realized that this view was the best we were going to get, so we cut our stay short and made a bearing to the east. The usual suspects were out and about providing us a fair share of marine entertainment... that was, until we rose up a touch in the water column. Once we hit 40-45fsw we began to feel the predicted flood current for the day, it was quite manageable, but I deferred to "G". He showed me a thumb... and that's all I needed. We safely ascended a good span east of our exit (the stairs), and began our surface interval with a nice surface swim.
For our second dive we planned to drop down again to see if the GPO was taking visitors, but once we got out that way we found that he had gone out for a bite. So we high-tailed it to some other nearby attractions that we had missed our first go-round. Namely, the fish sculpture and surrounding bridge decking. No current this time around and tons to see.
Dive Buddy: Guillaume S.
(Dive 1: 84fsw for 34mins; Dive 2: 68fsw for 28mins)
September.7.2008
I'd checked out the predictions for Day Island Wall earlier in the week, and just had to get this on the board for today. From the looks of it, upon our arrival, I wasn't the only one thinking this today. There were more divers here than I had ever seen at this site. We're in the crowd, and ready for some fun.
After getting roused a bit by the crew for being the last to get ready, we made our way for the first of two splashes. As it turned out, the first dive was a trial run. We kicked across a mild ebb current on the way to the wall, and once we arrived atop it I had everyone kneel down for a check on air before making a descent. It wasn't until I reached the last diver in our 5-party group that I found the need to turn the dive. With his SPG's needle already comfortably in the red the decision was an easy one... we're headed to shore. I let the rest of our party know that I was taking a turn and with signals indicated to those with sufficient air that the Wall was theirs to explore. I bid them adieu with a so-long salute and then positioned myself alongside my new buddy for the trip in.
Not wanting to make a direct ascent from nearly 60fsw, knowing that the top-current would take us out away from the shoreline, and probably somewhere under the Narrows bridge, I decided on an underwater kick to shore. I indicated to my buddy that I wanted him on my right side, nearest my octo, and then had him place his left had on my right forearm. Holding that position we set off towards the east. A minute later the swimming halted... I felt two quick squeezes on my forearm, and then nothing at all. I turned to my right to see my buddy demonstrating his mastery of the "out-of-air" signal. Without hesitation, my yellow Aeris A1 octo was out of it's elastic keeper and offered... and in the same manner it was accepted. I assumed closer contact, grabbing on to the right shoulder strap of my buddies BCD and signaling him to relax. I showed him my SPG to let him know that we had plenty of air, and then indicated that we were going to just sit there for a moment. Once the breathing normalized I asked if he was okay to ascend. He nodded and gave the appropriate signs in return. We slowly made our way to the surface from what was now about 30fsw, where upon reaching the surface I had one of the other divers, who I didn't know until that time had followed us during this stretch, come over and assist with an oral inflation of his BCD. She was on it and had him floating on his back in no time. Good teamwork!! :)~
We got ourselves back to shore and did a little debrieing on the earlier events there. I pointed out some of my observations during the dive, and highlighted a few things that might have been done differently (relaxing, frequency of SPG checks, etc...) ... as well as those done beautifully (signals, maintaining contact on ascent, etc...). I'd be remiss if I didn't take that opportunity to provide at least a couple pointers...
In the end, this is expressly why we train for these contingencies in our scuba courses. We wouldn't train for them if they didn't happen. To say more is to overstate the obvious.
The second dive proved a bit more fruitful. We waited out a good two and one half hour surface interval before making a run for another wall dive. We lost a few divers during the SI to home chores, or some such... but there were still four of us poised for a fun-filled second attempt.
We dropped into the same area as we had the first splash, this time not feeling the slightest bit of current. At the top of the wall I again checked in with everyone to find SPG's reading "plenty" all around, which meant we were in for a gander. Over the edge we went. The vis turned out to be in our favor, looking left to right along the wall we could see some 20' in each direction. We ventured south and checked all the usual holes for Wolf Eel, but didn't come up with a find. I think Joe L. came up with the only cephalopod find of the day as well... a large red octo in a shallow crevice on the wall.
Although I'm partial to sightings of the larger marine life here... GPO's and Wolf Eel... the Wall itself, on a good vis day like today, is pretty amazing to behold. Good enough for me!!
Dive Buddy Group: Tami S., Julie E., Joe L. and Joe R. (Jeff L. and Jeremy P.) (Dive 1); Tami S., Julie E. and Joe L. (Dive 2)
(Dive 1: 57fsw for 20mins; Dive 2: 89fsw for 38mins)
September.9.2008
Happy Birth Anniversary, Kelly Rockwood!!
I didn't think we'd get Kelly in the water today, talking earlier she had kinda shrugged at the idea, but somehow the bug bit her and she made it out for a splash. I'd already been in the water for my own dive by the time she, Mike D., Dan E. and Amy R. made it out for their own here at Titlow Beach. We had a couple new divers amongst the group and so Jeremy P. and I split them up between the two of us and made for the pilings. My buddy had a little trouble staying down early on, but eventually found his way down the water column and along-side another group of divers who had made the social dive. He ended up finishing his dive with that lot, looking over the pilings, and I decided to tour with Jeremy and his buddy to the south end, taking in all the site had to offer us tonight. The sailfins took the prize tonight... they were everywhere.
Dive Buddy: Jeremy P.
Dive Buddy Group: Dan and Cameron
(30fsw for 60mins)
Before leaving the docks from the last Bandito trip, Guillaume and I exchanged numbers with some future diving in mind. He called to see if I would be interested in getting a couple dives in today, and was down for traveling south for a tour of Les Davis.
I had the new GPO sighting still fresh in mind, so the plan was to check it out... see if he was still home. Sure enough, found him just where I had seen him last time - tucked away nice and snug.
We quickly realized that this view was the best we were going to get, so we cut our stay short and made a bearing to the east. The usual suspects were out and about providing us a fair share of marine entertainment... that was, until we rose up a touch in the water column. Once we hit 40-45fsw we began to feel the predicted flood current for the day, it was quite manageable, but I deferred to "G". He showed me a thumb... and that's all I needed. We safely ascended a good span east of our exit (the stairs), and began our surface interval with a nice surface swim.
For our second dive we planned to drop down again to see if the GPO was taking visitors, but once we got out that way we found that he had gone out for a bite. So we high-tailed it to some other nearby attractions that we had missed our first go-round. Namely, the fish sculpture and surrounding bridge decking. No current this time around and tons to see.
Dive Buddy: Guillaume S.
(Dive 1: 84fsw for 34mins; Dive 2: 68fsw for 28mins)
September.7.2008
I'd checked out the predictions for Day Island Wall earlier in the week, and just had to get this on the board for today. From the looks of it, upon our arrival, I wasn't the only one thinking this today. There were more divers here than I had ever seen at this site. We're in the crowd, and ready for some fun.
After getting roused a bit by the crew for being the last to get ready, we made our way for the first of two splashes. As it turned out, the first dive was a trial run. We kicked across a mild ebb current on the way to the wall, and once we arrived atop it I had everyone kneel down for a check on air before making a descent. It wasn't until I reached the last diver in our 5-party group that I found the need to turn the dive. With his SPG's needle already comfortably in the red the decision was an easy one... we're headed to shore. I let the rest of our party know that I was taking a turn and with signals indicated to those with sufficient air that the Wall was theirs to explore. I bid them adieu with a so-long salute and then positioned myself alongside my new buddy for the trip in.
Not wanting to make a direct ascent from nearly 60fsw, knowing that the top-current would take us out away from the shoreline, and probably somewhere under the Narrows bridge, I decided on an underwater kick to shore. I indicated to my buddy that I wanted him on my right side, nearest my octo, and then had him place his left had on my right forearm. Holding that position we set off towards the east. A minute later the swimming halted... I felt two quick squeezes on my forearm, and then nothing at all. I turned to my right to see my buddy demonstrating his mastery of the "out-of-air" signal. Without hesitation, my yellow Aeris A1 octo was out of it's elastic keeper and offered... and in the same manner it was accepted. I assumed closer contact, grabbing on to the right shoulder strap of my buddies BCD and signaling him to relax. I showed him my SPG to let him know that we had plenty of air, and then indicated that we were going to just sit there for a moment. Once the breathing normalized I asked if he was okay to ascend. He nodded and gave the appropriate signs in return. We slowly made our way to the surface from what was now about 30fsw, where upon reaching the surface I had one of the other divers, who I didn't know until that time had followed us during this stretch, come over and assist with an oral inflation of his BCD. She was on it and had him floating on his back in no time. Good teamwork!! :)~
We got ourselves back to shore and did a little debrieing on the earlier events there. I pointed out some of my observations during the dive, and highlighted a few things that might have been done differently (relaxing, frequency of SPG checks, etc...) ... as well as those done beautifully (signals, maintaining contact on ascent, etc...). I'd be remiss if I didn't take that opportunity to provide at least a couple pointers...
In the end, this is expressly why we train for these contingencies in our scuba courses. We wouldn't train for them if they didn't happen. To say more is to overstate the obvious.
The second dive proved a bit more fruitful. We waited out a good two and one half hour surface interval before making a run for another wall dive. We lost a few divers during the SI to home chores, or some such... but there were still four of us poised for a fun-filled second attempt.
We dropped into the same area as we had the first splash, this time not feeling the slightest bit of current. At the top of the wall I again checked in with everyone to find SPG's reading "plenty" all around, which meant we were in for a gander. Over the edge we went. The vis turned out to be in our favor, looking left to right along the wall we could see some 20' in each direction. We ventured south and checked all the usual holes for Wolf Eel, but didn't come up with a find. I think Joe L. came up with the only cephalopod find of the day as well... a large red octo in a shallow crevice on the wall.
Although I'm partial to sightings of the larger marine life here... GPO's and Wolf Eel... the Wall itself, on a good vis day like today, is pretty amazing to behold. Good enough for me!!
Dive Buddy Group: Tami S., Julie E., Joe L. and Joe R. (Jeff L. and Jeremy P.) (Dive 1); Tami S., Julie E. and Joe L. (Dive 2)
(Dive 1: 57fsw for 20mins; Dive 2: 89fsw for 38mins)
September.9.2008
Happy Birth Anniversary, Kelly Rockwood!!
I didn't think we'd get Kelly in the water today, talking earlier she had kinda shrugged at the idea, but somehow the bug bit her and she made it out for a splash. I'd already been in the water for my own dive by the time she, Mike D., Dan E. and Amy R. made it out for their own here at Titlow Beach. We had a couple new divers amongst the group and so Jeremy P. and I split them up between the two of us and made for the pilings. My buddy had a little trouble staying down early on, but eventually found his way down the water column and along-side another group of divers who had made the social dive. He ended up finishing his dive with that lot, looking over the pilings, and I decided to tour with Jeremy and his buddy to the south end, taking in all the site had to offer us tonight. The sailfins took the prize tonight... they were everywhere.
Dive Buddy: Jeremy P.
Dive Buddy Group: Dan and Cameron
(30fsw for 60mins)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Catching up... week one...
I've been getting the blues from some of the blog followers lately for not keeping up with this here blog... and rightly so. It would be easy to excuse this with a "well, I just haven't been splashing lately" statement, but that would be a slight deception on my part. To the contrary, I've been diving so much lately that to blog them all in succession would be a laborious task. One that I just couldn't keep up with without cheating a little bit. So, to cheat it is... my new strategy - a little blog/log lumping. We'll try one week chunks for now and see if we can't get back on track. Wish me luck!!
August.27.2008
PADI Course Director, Kelly Rockwood, was in town for the first of A2Z SCUBA's PADI IDC programs. A phenomenal teacher, and just a blast to have in class...
I had the ultimate honor of playing tour-guide for Kelly, and reintroducing her to the Sound. She needed a couple choices for open water skill development and checkout dives, so Amy suggested two sites. The first being old faithful, Les Davis' Marine Park... and the second just down the road at Owen Beach.
While at Les Davis Marine Park we spotted a GPO at around 70fsw, on the north side of the site. This was my second sighting this week of GPO at Les Davis, and to have this one show up with Kelly at my side, well that was just icing. Great dive... great fun! ;)
The Owen Beach site didn't offer too much to recount... save for a few crab enjoying the remains of a dog-fish, and a short stay with a playful crescent gunnel. That was, until Kelly started messing with it. I seemed to have had the gunnel in a trance-like state, where it just couldn't get enough of the petting. I would slowly move my hand away and it would simply follow it. Then I offered my new pet to Kelly as I took up the camera for a few quick shots. This didn't go so well. Kelly suggested it might have been the bright blue dry gloves she was wearing... I'm of the opinion that it just didn't like her. I know... but it's just the feeling I got! ;)
Anyway... there is little doubt that I will come across Kelly again here in the near, so stay tuned for more of our diving experiences in future splashwatch blogs. To learn more about Kelly, check out her website at www.kellyrockwood.com. While you're there, make sure to check out her photo galleries... they might just please the eyes.
Dive Buddy: Kelly Rockwood - PADI Course Director
(Dive 1: 81fsw for 47mins; Dive 2: 71fsw for 41mins)
September.1.2008
Caught a ride with Bandito Charters for a two-tank boat dive this morning. The first of the two sites was KVI Tower, a site I'd yet to see up til this point. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I wouldn't be able to catch much of it on this first attempt either. My whole attention kept solely on my buddy throughout the entirety of the dive. Equipment troubles, bad choices... I was in for a doozy. I think I saw a lingcod. ;)
With my first buddy deciding to sit out the second dive, I became a third wheel in the Guillaume/Chris buddy team. The 43' Sampan (which thankfully is only a sampan in name) eased up into a slot between two dolphins out at the Maury Island Barges site. Another site I'd yet to splash... sweet! This time the diving turned out more favorable. Right off I was quite impressed by the number of spotted ratfish here, and had to get a short clip of these guys - I'm a big fan of the chimaera.
From there it was on to the barges, along the way watching Chris nearly settle down right on top of a pretty good sized red octo, despite the brilliant light show it displayed in protest of his intrusion. I pointed this out to Chris and he was able to catch the back end of the show as he beat a slow retreat.
The next cephalopod encounter was just up the way, and was of the GPO persuasion. A little more girth to this guy, and a lot more fun. It was my first encounter to ever include the reach out of the den and wrap ME up move. Okay, so it wasn't all of me... but it did get a couple good wraps around my left arm before it began it's slow, gentle tug towards the den opening. I let it continue for a little bit before I decided I'd let him know that I wasn't giving my arm as an offering to him. I began the unwrapping and he quickly finished the job and pulled back fully into his confines. I hung out with him for a few moments more before hooking back up with the team. As we'd planned prior to the splash, Guillaume and I took Chris to a nearby dolphin and saw him off to the surface at the point where his air reached the agreed psi. We then finished our dive at the barges - which were pretty wicked cool looking if I may say. Really enjoyed this dive... a nice reprieve.
Dive Buddy Group: Unnamed (Dive 1), Guillaume S. and Chris (Dive 2)
(Dive 1: 88fsw for 23mins; Dive 2: 67fsw for 49mins)
September.2.2008
Not sure why we tooled around Dickman Mill tonight, but we did. There was a pretty good showing for the social dive tonight, but the vis was bad, and all I got out of it was a Lewis Moon Snail shell with a little red octo in it. Of course I let the little guy go in the shallows and watched it thrust off towards the pilings through the ink it left in its wake.
Dive Buddy: Jeremy
Dive Group: Chip W., The Jeff's, Julie E., Chuck, and one other...
(51fsw for 46mins)
August.27.2008
PADI Course Director, Kelly Rockwood, was in town for the first of A2Z SCUBA's PADI IDC programs. A phenomenal teacher, and just a blast to have in class...
I had the ultimate honor of playing tour-guide for Kelly, and reintroducing her to the Sound. She needed a couple choices for open water skill development and checkout dives, so Amy suggested two sites. The first being old faithful, Les Davis' Marine Park... and the second just down the road at Owen Beach.
While at Les Davis Marine Park we spotted a GPO at around 70fsw, on the north side of the site. This was my second sighting this week of GPO at Les Davis, and to have this one show up with Kelly at my side, well that was just icing. Great dive... great fun! ;)
The Owen Beach site didn't offer too much to recount... save for a few crab enjoying the remains of a dog-fish, and a short stay with a playful crescent gunnel. That was, until Kelly started messing with it. I seemed to have had the gunnel in a trance-like state, where it just couldn't get enough of the petting. I would slowly move my hand away and it would simply follow it. Then I offered my new pet to Kelly as I took up the camera for a few quick shots. This didn't go so well. Kelly suggested it might have been the bright blue dry gloves she was wearing... I'm of the opinion that it just didn't like her. I know... but it's just the feeling I got! ;)
Anyway... there is little doubt that I will come across Kelly again here in the near, so stay tuned for more of our diving experiences in future splashwatch blogs. To learn more about Kelly, check out her website at www.kellyrockwood.com. While you're there, make sure to check out her photo galleries... they might just please the eyes.
Dive Buddy: Kelly Rockwood - PADI Course Director
(Dive 1: 81fsw for 47mins; Dive 2: 71fsw for 41mins)
September.1.2008
Caught a ride with Bandito Charters for a two-tank boat dive this morning. The first of the two sites was KVI Tower, a site I'd yet to see up til this point. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I wouldn't be able to catch much of it on this first attempt either. My whole attention kept solely on my buddy throughout the entirety of the dive. Equipment troubles, bad choices... I was in for a doozy. I think I saw a lingcod. ;)
With my first buddy deciding to sit out the second dive, I became a third wheel in the Guillaume/Chris buddy team. The 43' Sampan (which thankfully is only a sampan in name) eased up into a slot between two dolphins out at the Maury Island Barges site. Another site I'd yet to splash... sweet! This time the diving turned out more favorable. Right off I was quite impressed by the number of spotted ratfish here, and had to get a short clip of these guys - I'm a big fan of the chimaera.
From there it was on to the barges, along the way watching Chris nearly settle down right on top of a pretty good sized red octo, despite the brilliant light show it displayed in protest of his intrusion. I pointed this out to Chris and he was able to catch the back end of the show as he beat a slow retreat.
The next cephalopod encounter was just up the way, and was of the GPO persuasion. A little more girth to this guy, and a lot more fun. It was my first encounter to ever include the reach out of the den and wrap ME up move. Okay, so it wasn't all of me... but it did get a couple good wraps around my left arm before it began it's slow, gentle tug towards the den opening. I let it continue for a little bit before I decided I'd let him know that I wasn't giving my arm as an offering to him. I began the unwrapping and he quickly finished the job and pulled back fully into his confines. I hung out with him for a few moments more before hooking back up with the team. As we'd planned prior to the splash, Guillaume and I took Chris to a nearby dolphin and saw him off to the surface at the point where his air reached the agreed psi. We then finished our dive at the barges - which were pretty wicked cool looking if I may say. Really enjoyed this dive... a nice reprieve.
Dive Buddy Group: Unnamed (Dive 1), Guillaume S. and Chris (Dive 2)
(Dive 1: 88fsw for 23mins; Dive 2: 67fsw for 49mins)
September.2.2008
Not sure why we tooled around Dickman Mill tonight, but we did. There was a pretty good showing for the social dive tonight, but the vis was bad, and all I got out of it was a Lewis Moon Snail shell with a little red octo in it. Of course I let the little guy go in the shallows and watched it thrust off towards the pilings through the ink it left in its wake.
Dive Buddy: Jeremy
Dive Group: Chip W., The Jeff's, Julie E., Chuck, and one other...
(51fsw for 46mins)
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