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)