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)