Heather and I went back to Neck Point for one dive, because the day was so nice and the tides were right.
This time the visibility was not as good as it had been previously. But we saw tons of frosted nudibranchs like before, and they seemed to be even bigger this time. There were a good deal of gobies hiding in the rocks, and evidence of octopus around, but none made an appearance. There were a lot of red rock crabs as well. I found a nice lewis moonsnail shell that I left on one of the picnic tables for some passer by.
Before the start of the dive, we gave a curious little boy a chance to look at our gear. He lost interest a lot quicker than I would have thought! How can diving equipment be boring to a little boy!
This is a small bit of video, of the large frosted nudibranchs.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Maple Bay Skills 03/09/2013
Back to Maple Bay!
Guy Shockey was kind enough to do an informal, quick refresher on valve failures for us at Maple Bay. I had never been to his home before, and it is quite the place! Once we finished our talking on land, it was into the water at Maple Bay to do some drills. Two light mishaps happened, Shawn's light stopped working near the end of the dive, and at the beginning of the dive, Greg's did too. I gave Greg a hand to check the battery before we went in the water, and I swore I checked the clips. Unfortunately, I didn't check them well enough, and one of the clips was open when Greg walked into the water. Shawn noticed, and Greg got back out, but some water had already got in. I hoped it hadn't damaged the light, I felt terrible.
For the dive itself, it was a lot of fun. Probably the most fun I had had on a skills dive in a long time. I felt very good during the whole thing, and the refresher was just what I needed. We descended, shot an SMB, tied it off to the bottom, then ran a reel from there out and about. While running the line, Guy simulated various valve failures with an air gun. We were a team of 4, which was very unwieldy and never something you'd do in reality, but it worked well enough. The failures were handled well. Well enough that Guy started to get bored and began shutting people's lights off, making us switch to backups and reposition the team. At the end, there were 3 light failures, and we had quite the train going following the main line back to the SMB.
At one point in the dive, I noticed Guy unclip Jim's SPG and place it on the back of Jim's cylinders. I thought Guy was messing with Jim, to see how long it would take him to notice that his SPG was missing. I prompted Jim by asking what his pressure was, and when he couldn't find his SPG, gave it back to him. After the dive, Guy explained that he was using Jim's SPG to monitor his gas on purpose! Jim had the least gas volume, and since we were task-loaded with failures, I could see why it was a good idea.
The things I re-learned from the practice was to always stop and think, then act, to verify first what your team-mate was breathing, and to relax.
So thanks again to Guy for giving us such a great refresher!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
McKenzie Bight 03/03/2013
For this dive, we decided to go to McKenzie Bight. I thought that I had dove McKenzie Bight before, because it was so close to Willis Point. Once Jim and I arrived, I realized that it wasn't. I was thinking of Henderson Point. The reason I hadn't done McKenzie before was that the walk down to the entry point was far. I remembered that when the idea came up, the other people I was with vetoed the idea, hah. It ended up not being that bad of a walk at all. It certainly was far, but doable. I would say three time the distance down to the Cut at Whytedliff, but much less steep.
When Jim and I arrived, we met Shawn and Greg and a new diver that I had not met before Damien. Damien was using a single steel 130, so in terms of gas-planning, that made things easier. Minus the double cylinder part!
It was a beautiful day. Clear, sunny, but not that warm. Two out of three, I'd take. We geared up in the parking lot, but all of us with doubles carried our rigs down first before getting into our dry suits. There were a lot of nice logs to set up on at the beach.
Greg led the first dive, and we did our dive plan. We decided to go to the right from the beach, and stick with an average depth of 18 meters. Jim and I formed one team, and Damien, Greg and Shawn the second. I was a bit worried about the visibility as the surface looked very brown. At the start of the dive, we would descend to 6 meters and see what it was like to do a valve drill and S-drill. Happily, visibility was very good, and at 9 meters it was great. We finished up our drills, then continued on the dive. The rock topography of McKenzie Bight was very cool. We didn't see a lot of major critters. The octopus rock that Damien showed us had no one home. It was easily recognizable because of a small statue on the top of it. There were a variety of nice nudibranchs as usual. along with a lot of scallops and small shrimp.
Damien didn't do the second dive, so we had a nice surface interval chatting and he left. On the second dive, I led the dive because none of us had gone to the left at McKenzie Bight. Some other divers told us about a dead octopus at the bottom of their dive float, so we wanted to check that out too. Not knowing much about what we were going to see, our plan was pretty simple. Head South and keep an average depth of 15 meters.
At the start of the dive, we came across the dead octopus easily. It was one of the tentacles, and it was quite a big piece. I thought it was probably the octopus that Damien had tried to show us. The rest of the dive was quite nice. We went south for about 20 minutes, after completing some skills. At the end of the dive, we did some propulsion practice. Shawn is the model in the bit of video below. I also found some interesting new small nudibranchs that I had not seen before. Jim found a nice red fur crab in a crack.
On the whole an great day of diving!
When Jim and I arrived, we met Shawn and Greg and a new diver that I had not met before Damien. Damien was using a single steel 130, so in terms of gas-planning, that made things easier. Minus the double cylinder part!
It was a beautiful day. Clear, sunny, but not that warm. Two out of three, I'd take. We geared up in the parking lot, but all of us with doubles carried our rigs down first before getting into our dry suits. There were a lot of nice logs to set up on at the beach.
Greg led the first dive, and we did our dive plan. We decided to go to the right from the beach, and stick with an average depth of 18 meters. Jim and I formed one team, and Damien, Greg and Shawn the second. I was a bit worried about the visibility as the surface looked very brown. At the start of the dive, we would descend to 6 meters and see what it was like to do a valve drill and S-drill. Happily, visibility was very good, and at 9 meters it was great. We finished up our drills, then continued on the dive. The rock topography of McKenzie Bight was very cool. We didn't see a lot of major critters. The octopus rock that Damien showed us had no one home. It was easily recognizable because of a small statue on the top of it. There were a variety of nice nudibranchs as usual. along with a lot of scallops and small shrimp.
Damien didn't do the second dive, so we had a nice surface interval chatting and he left. On the second dive, I led the dive because none of us had gone to the left at McKenzie Bight. Some other divers told us about a dead octopus at the bottom of their dive float, so we wanted to check that out too. Not knowing much about what we were going to see, our plan was pretty simple. Head South and keep an average depth of 15 meters.
At the start of the dive, we came across the dead octopus easily. It was one of the tentacles, and it was quite a big piece. I thought it was probably the octopus that Damien had tried to show us. The rest of the dive was quite nice. We went south for about 20 minutes, after completing some skills. At the end of the dive, we did some propulsion practice. Shawn is the model in the bit of video below. I also found some interesting new small nudibranchs that I had not seen before. Jim found a nice red fur crab in a crack.
On the whole an great day of diving!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Maple Bay Skills 24/02/2013
Greg Shawn and I met at Maple Bay to practice more skills. The day was rainy and windy, so not the best.
When I arrived I found that the UASBC was there heading out with Ogden Point dive charter. I chatted with.Jacques Mark and Keith Bossons briefly since I hadn't talked to them in some time. They died have a lot of time because they were trying to catch slack tide. There was a wreck around the corner of Maple Bay that they were going to. We reminisced a bit about how good the dive we went on at Tofino and Uculet.
Greg Shawn and I geared up and did our dive plan. At the start of the dive I saw yet another Lewis Moon snail, along with a patch of stubby squid eggs. I tied off my reel to the dock piling, and ran line out to some bricks. Shawn shot his SMB and tied it off to the brick. Then we ascended to 5 meters and did a valve drill mid water. Then we went back down and did S drills on the line. All this went well. Greg and Shawn practiced bottle rotation for the rest of the dive and I took video. I had a stage with me so I practiced some gas switches too. Visitor was not the best, maybe 10 feet.
On the second dive we did more of the same. All in all a very good day of practice.
The UASBC crew was back when we we done, and they had partial success. The first wreck was found, and visibility was about 40 feet. However weather forced them off and the next dive was in a sheltered area. Visibility there was the same that we had. Still, it looked like they had a good time.
When I arrived I found that the UASBC was there heading out with Ogden Point dive charter. I chatted with.Jacques Mark and Keith Bossons briefly since I hadn't talked to them in some time. They died have a lot of time because they were trying to catch slack tide. There was a wreck around the corner of Maple Bay that they were going to. We reminisced a bit about how good the dive we went on at Tofino and Uculet.
Greg Shawn and I geared up and did our dive plan. At the start of the dive I saw yet another Lewis Moon snail, along with a patch of stubby squid eggs. I tied off my reel to the dock piling, and ran line out to some bricks. Shawn shot his SMB and tied it off to the brick. Then we ascended to 5 meters and did a valve drill mid water. Then we went back down and did S drills on the line. All this went well. Greg and Shawn practiced bottle rotation for the rest of the dive and I took video. I had a stage with me so I practiced some gas switches too. Visitor was not the best, maybe 10 feet.
On the second dive we did more of the same. All in all a very good day of practice.
The UASBC crew was back when we we done, and they had partial success. The first wreck was found, and visibility was about 40 feet. However weather forced them off and the next dive was in a sheltered area. Visibility there was the same that we had. Still, it looked like they had a good time.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Tuwanek 17/02/2013
I had a pretty bad cold the previous week, so I wasn't able to dive. I focused on getting better, because there was a big trip planned for Tuwanek.
Jim Dixon talked to IDC and helped kick off the trip. He and Allison were diving together, and Heather and I came along as well. The last time we had seen Allison was at Egmont about 2 years prior. It would be good to see her again. Kevin from IDC took the van with about 8 other certified divers. John, Randy, Dennis and Dave Williams came along too.
The day started pretty early, with everyone catching the 7:20 ferry to Langdale. The day itself was partly cloudy, but not rainy. We had a fun time chatting on the ferry coming over.
Once we all met at Tuwanek, I did a short site briefing for those who hadn't been before. It was funny, I had forgotten that with all the diving Jim did, he had yet to be out at Tuwanek yet. I was pretty excited, because I had wanted to show Heather one of my most favorite dive sites.
Ken from Oceanquest had a few divers out too, so Tuwanek was packed to the gills. There were at least 9 vehicles there, stretching parking to the limit. I'm sure the residents weren't too happy!
One of the high-lights were the two friendly dogs that visited us the whole time we were there. One was a labradoodle named Murphy, and one was a Sheppard named Hawkeye. Murphy was funny because he had a collar tag that had a picture of him and the following "Hi, My name is Murphy, please do not feed me!". Poor Murphy, Allison commented that if he knew what his tag said, he'd try to get it off as soon as he could. Needless to say, Murphy begged for food the whole time. Hawkeye was more concerned with getting anyone possible to throw a stick for him.
On the first dive, we swam out to the North Island and dropped down onto the rock pile. Jim, Allison, Dennis and his partner went off in the direction of the wolf eels, while Heather and I explored the rock pile. There were translucent tunicates covering evererything. I had never seen so many. They looked a bit like large egg cases, but weren't. They kind of were like transparent elongated grapes. The sheer number of them was staggering. I had never seen that before. There were several nice nudibranchs, and a ling cod guarding a large egg mass. The ling cod egg masses always reminded me of white styrofoam. There were several schools of shiner perch, some nice kelp greenlings, a cool decorator crab, as well as colorful chitons. No octopus unfortunately, but later we would hear that one IDC group saw a very nice one out in the open. Lucky them! Visibility wasn't the best, maybe 20 feet, but it was still pretty good.
Jim missed checking his neck seal at the start of the dive, and had a pretty bad suit leak. His undergarment was completely soaked. Allison also had a strange leak, which seemed to be her drysuit inflator valve. She would sit out for the next dive, but Jim was a trooper and put on a dry under layer and would go again. Dave Williams had a camp stove, and there were sausages and hot drinks all around. Very nice! I kept an eye on Murphy who was never far from the food, poor guy.
On the second dive, Heather and I decided to check out the rock reef just off the entry point. I had never explored it much, and was glad we did. It was quite interesting. Again, the tunicates covered everything. Surprisingly, we found 3 Lewis Moonsnails, one of them at least a foot long. Up to that point I had never seen one, and in the last few weeks, we had found 6! The rock reef was easy to get to, and around 50 feet deep. It was great fun exploring the crevices. There was also a small skiff that looked like it was sunk on purpose nearby. It had a huge concrete block sitting in the middle of it.
All in all, a very fun day of diving at Tuwanek! The second dive visibility was better, possibly due to the fresh water run-off from the creek.
I didn't get any video this go around, because the batteries in the GoPro gave out at the start of the first dive. I had charged it the weekend previous, but it doesn't seem that the batteries keep their charge. The camera may be "on" in some capacity even though it's off. The solution was simple, I will just make sure to charge it the day before!
I did manage to get a very short bit of footage of the tunicates:
Jim Dixon talked to IDC and helped kick off the trip. He and Allison were diving together, and Heather and I came along as well. The last time we had seen Allison was at Egmont about 2 years prior. It would be good to see her again. Kevin from IDC took the van with about 8 other certified divers. John, Randy, Dennis and Dave Williams came along too.
The day started pretty early, with everyone catching the 7:20 ferry to Langdale. The day itself was partly cloudy, but not rainy. We had a fun time chatting on the ferry coming over.
Once we all met at Tuwanek, I did a short site briefing for those who hadn't been before. It was funny, I had forgotten that with all the diving Jim did, he had yet to be out at Tuwanek yet. I was pretty excited, because I had wanted to show Heather one of my most favorite dive sites.
Ken from Oceanquest had a few divers out too, so Tuwanek was packed to the gills. There were at least 9 vehicles there, stretching parking to the limit. I'm sure the residents weren't too happy!
One of the high-lights were the two friendly dogs that visited us the whole time we were there. One was a labradoodle named Murphy, and one was a Sheppard named Hawkeye. Murphy was funny because he had a collar tag that had a picture of him and the following "Hi, My name is Murphy, please do not feed me!". Poor Murphy, Allison commented that if he knew what his tag said, he'd try to get it off as soon as he could. Needless to say, Murphy begged for food the whole time. Hawkeye was more concerned with getting anyone possible to throw a stick for him.
On the first dive, we swam out to the North Island and dropped down onto the rock pile. Jim, Allison, Dennis and his partner went off in the direction of the wolf eels, while Heather and I explored the rock pile. There were translucent tunicates covering evererything. I had never seen so many. They looked a bit like large egg cases, but weren't. They kind of were like transparent elongated grapes. The sheer number of them was staggering. I had never seen that before. There were several nice nudibranchs, and a ling cod guarding a large egg mass. The ling cod egg masses always reminded me of white styrofoam. There were several schools of shiner perch, some nice kelp greenlings, a cool decorator crab, as well as colorful chitons. No octopus unfortunately, but later we would hear that one IDC group saw a very nice one out in the open. Lucky them! Visibility wasn't the best, maybe 20 feet, but it was still pretty good.
Jim missed checking his neck seal at the start of the dive, and had a pretty bad suit leak. His undergarment was completely soaked. Allison also had a strange leak, which seemed to be her drysuit inflator valve. She would sit out for the next dive, but Jim was a trooper and put on a dry under layer and would go again. Dave Williams had a camp stove, and there were sausages and hot drinks all around. Very nice! I kept an eye on Murphy who was never far from the food, poor guy.
On the second dive, Heather and I decided to check out the rock reef just off the entry point. I had never explored it much, and was glad we did. It was quite interesting. Again, the tunicates covered everything. Surprisingly, we found 3 Lewis Moonsnails, one of them at least a foot long. Up to that point I had never seen one, and in the last few weeks, we had found 6! The rock reef was easy to get to, and around 50 feet deep. It was great fun exploring the crevices. There was also a small skiff that looked like it was sunk on purpose nearby. It had a huge concrete block sitting in the middle of it.
All in all, a very fun day of diving at Tuwanek! The second dive visibility was better, possibly due to the fresh water run-off from the creek.
I didn't get any video this go around, because the batteries in the GoPro gave out at the start of the first dive. I had charged it the weekend previous, but it doesn't seem that the batteries keep their charge. The camera may be "on" in some capacity even though it's off. The solution was simple, I will just make sure to charge it the day before!
I did manage to get a very short bit of footage of the tunicates:
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Madrona 03/02/2013
Jim, Chris Fenton and I dove Madrona as part of our regular Sunday dive series. Greg and Shawn could not make it this time around.
On my way out, I had to turn around and pick up the wing nuts for my back plate that I had forgotten at home. I figured someone would have spares, but on the off chance, I didn't want to be stuck not diving! My GPS crashed on my phone, and me being silly, did not rely on my brain instead. I got a bit turned around, but made it to Madrona not too late.
It was a cloudy, but not rainy, day. There were two other groups of divers at Madrona, and they reported pretty good visibility and at least one nice big octopus in a crack. I was looking forward to seeing what we might find!
On both dives we did the same plan, entering at the big V and swimming out to the long wall to the north. We weren't planning anything special, just go out and have some fun. Jim and I did bring stage bottles along just for practice, and did a gas switch drill and a valve drill, so it wasn't all just fun!
On the first dive, we did indeed find a nice big octopus in a crack. Why do they always have to be sleeping so much! Jim tried to get it to come out to play, but no luck. Chris found a baby puget sound king crab as well, orange and red in all its glory. I always liked them like that. We also found a giant nudibranch and got it swimming, as well as an orange sea lemon (another nudibranch) and a very strange deformed sea squirt. There was a nice sea pen, and a sea lion buzzed past us quickly. At the end of the dive, I spied a stark silvery shape on the bottom. It was a dead rat fish in the shallows. It wasn't dead very long, and there was no sign of why it died. It was very interesting to see up close, even though the poor thing had perished.
Chris didn't come along for the second dive, but Jim and I did the same thing again. We visited the same octopus, but didn't see much new. It was a very enjoyable dive, though with the visibility so good.
We talked later how there seemed to be a lack of wolf eels at Madrona. Chris said he hadn't seen them for a long time. The last time I saw them was at least a year and a half ago. The folks at Nanaimo Dive Outfitters said that the sea lions eat them, and might clear them out every so often. I hope they come back sometime!
Here is a bit of video:
On my way out, I had to turn around and pick up the wing nuts for my back plate that I had forgotten at home. I figured someone would have spares, but on the off chance, I didn't want to be stuck not diving! My GPS crashed on my phone, and me being silly, did not rely on my brain instead. I got a bit turned around, but made it to Madrona not too late.
It was a cloudy, but not rainy, day. There were two other groups of divers at Madrona, and they reported pretty good visibility and at least one nice big octopus in a crack. I was looking forward to seeing what we might find!
On both dives we did the same plan, entering at the big V and swimming out to the long wall to the north. We weren't planning anything special, just go out and have some fun. Jim and I did bring stage bottles along just for practice, and did a gas switch drill and a valve drill, so it wasn't all just fun!
On the first dive, we did indeed find a nice big octopus in a crack. Why do they always have to be sleeping so much! Jim tried to get it to come out to play, but no luck. Chris found a baby puget sound king crab as well, orange and red in all its glory. I always liked them like that. We also found a giant nudibranch and got it swimming, as well as an orange sea lemon (another nudibranch) and a very strange deformed sea squirt. There was a nice sea pen, and a sea lion buzzed past us quickly. At the end of the dive, I spied a stark silvery shape on the bottom. It was a dead rat fish in the shallows. It wasn't dead very long, and there was no sign of why it died. It was very interesting to see up close, even though the poor thing had perished.
Chris didn't come along for the second dive, but Jim and I did the same thing again. We visited the same octopus, but didn't see much new. It was a very enjoyable dive, though with the visibility so good.
We talked later how there seemed to be a lack of wolf eels at Madrona. Chris said he hadn't seen them for a long time. The last time I saw them was at least a year and a half ago. The folks at Nanaimo Dive Outfitters said that the sea lions eat them, and might clear them out every so often. I hope they come back sometime!
Here is a bit of video:
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Neck Point 02/02/2013
Heather and I had talked about checking out Neck Point near Nanaimo for a long time. Now that Heather had some shiny new steel 100's it seemed like the perfect time to go try them out at a nice relaxing dive site.
The day was perfect, it was a bit cold, but not raining and sunny. We started the dive going to the right of the bay. We quickly discovered a ton of frosted nudibranchs everywhere. There was a cool old log riddled with teredo worms too. The visibility was awesome as well.
On the second dive, we went to the left. We cruised through an eel grass forest that were all covered with hooded nudibranchs. One came off and did a swimming show for us. There were also a lot of small hermit crabs encrusting the grass as well.
The high point was finding two Lewis Moonsnails. This time, I made sure my camera was on! It was a great bit of video. The boulder field to the left of the bay was very interesting, looking like it would hold a lot of octopi. However, we found none.
On the surface interval, a new Nanaimo resident from Seattle asked us about diving. He had moved recently just for that reason. We gave him some ideas (the Sea Dragon was obvious), and got his business card. Maybe we'd come across him again soon!
Here is a long video clip. I had a hard time editing it down.
The day was perfect, it was a bit cold, but not raining and sunny. We started the dive going to the right of the bay. We quickly discovered a ton of frosted nudibranchs everywhere. There was a cool old log riddled with teredo worms too. The visibility was awesome as well.
On the second dive, we went to the left. We cruised through an eel grass forest that were all covered with hooded nudibranchs. One came off and did a swimming show for us. There were also a lot of small hermit crabs encrusting the grass as well.
The high point was finding two Lewis Moonsnails. This time, I made sure my camera was on! It was a great bit of video. The boulder field to the left of the bay was very interesting, looking like it would hold a lot of octopi. However, we found none.
On the surface interval, a new Nanaimo resident from Seattle asked us about diving. He had moved recently just for that reason. We gave him some ideas (the Sea Dragon was obvious), and got his business card. Maybe we'd come across him again soon!
Here is a long video clip. I had a hard time editing it down.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
10 Mile Point 27/01/2013
For our Sunday dive, Jim, Greg and I decided to do 10 Mile Point near Victoria.
I had done 10 mile twice before, but this time we'd be using scooters. I was excited! We'd also be using a much easier entry from a small beach to the North West of the regular parking lot. The entry at 10 Mile was not a lot of fun when I'd done it before, doubly less fun in doubles, and pretty much impossible with scooters and stage bottles.
For the first dive, we used the sand bottom bay to practice skills and run some line. Greg brought tent spikes that we used to tie off the line to, since finding good tie off points was usually a challenge. The skills and drills went well, and we all learned a lot as usual. I swallowed more water than I can remember in a long time, so made sure to refine my regulator switching procedures!
Jim discovered that his new scooter had flooded its light in the nose. We also were trying to figure out why it hung so low in the water when he stowed it behind him. He was not that happy at the prospect of probably having to send it back for repairs.
On the second dive, we scootered over to the 10 Mile wall. We discovered that it was very important to scooter out away from the shore, then bear back in. When we didn't do that, we ran into very large and shallow rock outcroppings, making scootering very difficult! No one hit anything, but it wasn't very fun.
Once we were on the wall, we stowed our scooters and took our time looking at all the life. 10 Mile wall really was spectacular. Visibility was maybe 20 feet, so not the best, but once you got up close, it didn't matter. You wanted to get up close anyway with all the little things to see. There were tons of decorator crabs and nudibranchs. I found a very pretty Clown Dorid that I had only seen once or twice before.
http://www.oregontidepooling.com/tidepooling_on_the_southe/2008/11/sea-clown-nudibranch.html
There were a lot of other divers at the site that day too. The tide was definitely right, since there wasn't a lot of current at all. We zig-zagged back and forth along the wall three times, and still there wasn't a lot. Scootering back was better, since Greg took us farther out then back in. His navigation was spot on, and we ended up right back in the bay.
A very good day of diving indeed!
I had done 10 mile twice before, but this time we'd be using scooters. I was excited! We'd also be using a much easier entry from a small beach to the North West of the regular parking lot. The entry at 10 Mile was not a lot of fun when I'd done it before, doubly less fun in doubles, and pretty much impossible with scooters and stage bottles.
For the first dive, we used the sand bottom bay to practice skills and run some line. Greg brought tent spikes that we used to tie off the line to, since finding good tie off points was usually a challenge. The skills and drills went well, and we all learned a lot as usual. I swallowed more water than I can remember in a long time, so made sure to refine my regulator switching procedures!
Jim discovered that his new scooter had flooded its light in the nose. We also were trying to figure out why it hung so low in the water when he stowed it behind him. He was not that happy at the prospect of probably having to send it back for repairs.
On the second dive, we scootered over to the 10 Mile wall. We discovered that it was very important to scooter out away from the shore, then bear back in. When we didn't do that, we ran into very large and shallow rock outcroppings, making scootering very difficult! No one hit anything, but it wasn't very fun.
Once we were on the wall, we stowed our scooters and took our time looking at all the life. 10 Mile wall really was spectacular. Visibility was maybe 20 feet, so not the best, but once you got up close, it didn't matter. You wanted to get up close anyway with all the little things to see. There were tons of decorator crabs and nudibranchs. I found a very pretty Clown Dorid that I had only seen once or twice before.
http://www.oregontidepooling.com/tidepooling_on_the_southe/2008/11/sea-clown-nudibranch.html
There were a lot of other divers at the site that day too. The tide was definitely right, since there wasn't a lot of current at all. We zig-zagged back and forth along the wall three times, and still there wasn't a lot. Scootering back was better, since Greg took us farther out then back in. His navigation was spot on, and we ended up right back in the bay.
A very good day of diving indeed!
Nanaimo Wrecks 20/01/2013
I emailed Jason Kolba, and asked if he'd like to stay overnight at our place in Nanaimo then do the Wrecks the next day on the Sea Dragon. We also had along Guy, Greg, Shawn and Jim. Jim finally had his suit back from repair, and had his new scooter as well. They all planned to do a scooter and tech dive.
Christine and the Sea Dragon were great as always. They gave us sandwiches and soup, and combined with the food that Jim and I brought we had quite a feast for the surface interval.
The first dive was on the Cape Breton, and Jason and I had a great time going through a few swim-throughs and viewing the huge Cabezon that frequently rested on the deck. One bit of video I got had the fish's shadow in Jason's light beam. There were a number of very pretty cloud sponges as well. We watched the "scooter" team zoom past us at one point, which was pretty cool.
The second dive was on the Cape Breton again. Jim wanted to do some wreck penetration with Guy, and had not been through the sky lights before. Jason and I decided to spend more time on the bow instead of the stern, and do more of the swim-throughs. Since the ship was so big, and there was always so much to see, it wasn't bad doing it a second time.
One thing I have to work on more was drills in mid-water. I started to do a valve drill on the line while we were at our safety stop, and it didn't go very well! I had forgotten how challenging it was when you could not see the bottom. Anyway, something to improve on again was always good to discover.
Here is some video from the trip:
Christine and the Sea Dragon were great as always. They gave us sandwiches and soup, and combined with the food that Jim and I brought we had quite a feast for the surface interval.
The first dive was on the Cape Breton, and Jason and I had a great time going through a few swim-throughs and viewing the huge Cabezon that frequently rested on the deck. One bit of video I got had the fish's shadow in Jason's light beam. There were a number of very pretty cloud sponges as well. We watched the "scooter" team zoom past us at one point, which was pretty cool.
The second dive was on the Cape Breton again. Jim wanted to do some wreck penetration with Guy, and had not been through the sky lights before. Jason and I decided to spend more time on the bow instead of the stern, and do more of the swim-throughs. Since the ship was so big, and there was always so much to see, it wasn't bad doing it a second time.
One thing I have to work on more was drills in mid-water. I started to do a valve drill on the line while we were at our safety stop, and it didn't go very well! I had forgotten how challenging it was when you could not see the bottom. Anyway, something to improve on again was always good to discover.
Here is some video from the trip:
Maple Bay 13/01/2013
Greg, Shawn and Guy were doing some line work and skills at Maple Bay, and I joined them.
Guy lived right there in Maple Bay, which was very convenient for him! I had thought I had told them I was coming, but was mistaken when I arrived at the usual time to find them done their first dive. Oops. I checked and found that I had not actually told them I was coming!
Guy had some chores to do, so he could not do the second dive, but Shawn was good to go. Greg ended up doing three dives, as Shawn left after the second dive. It was great that Greg had enough gas and enough time, otherwise I'd be only doing one dive.
We worked on maintaining our position on the line, doing gas sharing practice on the line, and our regular drills. It was a lot of fun! Everything went pretty well. Greg did remind me to use my light more when signalling a problem, a bad habit I had developed. I tied off the line a few times, and had some practice running the reel too.
When Greg and I got out of the water on the last dive, we came across a Lewis Moon Snail out in the open in about 10 feet of water. I had only seen one of them before ever, and was pretty excited. Greg had no idea what it was, and had never seen one before. They were without doubt one of the ugliest creatures around, but kind of cool looking as well. They spend most of their time burrowing in the sand, so you rarely see them out. I had my camera, and thought I got a great bit of video, but when I checked later, I found that the camera had not been recording! Oops! Got to make sure that the lens cap isn't on!
At the very least, here is a picture someone else took of the creature, so you can see just how ugly it really is.
http://emeralddiving.com/images/Lewis%20Moonsnail.jpg
And farther down this page, you can read a little bit about it.
http://emeralddiving.com/id_snails.html
Guy lived right there in Maple Bay, which was very convenient for him! I had thought I had told them I was coming, but was mistaken when I arrived at the usual time to find them done their first dive. Oops. I checked and found that I had not actually told them I was coming!
Guy had some chores to do, so he could not do the second dive, but Shawn was good to go. Greg ended up doing three dives, as Shawn left after the second dive. It was great that Greg had enough gas and enough time, otherwise I'd be only doing one dive.
We worked on maintaining our position on the line, doing gas sharing practice on the line, and our regular drills. It was a lot of fun! Everything went pretty well. Greg did remind me to use my light more when signalling a problem, a bad habit I had developed. I tied off the line a few times, and had some practice running the reel too.
When Greg and I got out of the water on the last dive, we came across a Lewis Moon Snail out in the open in about 10 feet of water. I had only seen one of them before ever, and was pretty excited. Greg had no idea what it was, and had never seen one before. They were without doubt one of the ugliest creatures around, but kind of cool looking as well. They spend most of their time burrowing in the sand, so you rarely see them out. I had my camera, and thought I got a great bit of video, but when I checked later, I found that the camera had not been recording! Oops! Got to make sure that the lens cap isn't on!
At the very least, here is a picture someone else took of the creature, so you can see just how ugly it really is.
http://emeralddiving.com/images/Lewis%20Moonsnail.jpg
And farther down this page, you can read a little bit about it.
http://emeralddiving.com/id_snails.html
China Creek 06/01/2013
When I had gone on the trip with IDC to Barkley Sound, the boat trip had us pass by an RV park near China Creek. It was not far out of Port Alberni, and I was told it was a pretty nice dive site.
Luckily, Greg, Shawn, Chris and Kim invited me along to do a scooter dive there. The actual place is called China Creek Marina and Campground.
The dive site was not at the Marina, like I found out, but at campsite 55. The drive there was quick from Nanaimo, but the road leading to the place was rough to say the least. It was dirt logging road with giant pot holes. I don't think I'd like to drive it without at least a truck! During the drive, I was really second guessing myself as to where I was going, and thought surely I was on the wrong road. But Google maps did get you me there.
I met everyone at the campsite, and we talked about the dive. Chris and Kim didn't bring their scooters, so we decided to tow them. There was a wreck of a ship to the right, and we decided to do that first. Visibility was quite good and it was fun towing Chris. I had only towed someone twice before, so it was good practice. I don't think he got a very good view though, hanging on behind me!
At the wreck, Kim, Chris and I teamed up and Shawn and Greg did some wreck penetration. It wasn't a large wreck but it was very interesting. It was at a steep 45 degree angle, so it was very odd hovering over top of it. There was a very nice cloud sponge growing off of one of the railings, and swimming past the props was nifty as well. We did about 3 circles of the wreck, and watched Greg and Shawn come out of the wheel house, then headed back. We did a few skills, then called the dive.
Chris and Kim decided to take the opportunity to get home early, so it was just me and Greg and Shawn on the second dive. The surface interval was cold and rainy, but Shawn had a portable canopy tent that kept most of the rain off. For the second dive, we decided to scooter as far to the left as we could. The wall there just seemed to go on forever, and the rock topography was very cool. There were large patches of debris here and there. At one point, there was a wide expanse of discarded fishing net draped over the bottom.
Scootering so long did get cold, so we were feeling it when we got back. We stopped at a sunken log tug boat hull, and did a few more skills. Greg signaled me over at one point, and had spied a young wolf eel living in one of the tubes coming off the deck! It was poking its head out, and seemed very curious. It was a great find, and I got some nice video of it. In the video, it looked gigantic, but in reality the pipe was only about as big across as a water glass.
I would go back to China Creek again for sure!
Luckily, Greg, Shawn, Chris and Kim invited me along to do a scooter dive there. The actual place is called China Creek Marina and Campground.
The dive site was not at the Marina, like I found out, but at campsite 55. The drive there was quick from Nanaimo, but the road leading to the place was rough to say the least. It was dirt logging road with giant pot holes. I don't think I'd like to drive it without at least a truck! During the drive, I was really second guessing myself as to where I was going, and thought surely I was on the wrong road. But Google maps did get you me there.
I met everyone at the campsite, and we talked about the dive. Chris and Kim didn't bring their scooters, so we decided to tow them. There was a wreck of a ship to the right, and we decided to do that first. Visibility was quite good and it was fun towing Chris. I had only towed someone twice before, so it was good practice. I don't think he got a very good view though, hanging on behind me!
At the wreck, Kim, Chris and I teamed up and Shawn and Greg did some wreck penetration. It wasn't a large wreck but it was very interesting. It was at a steep 45 degree angle, so it was very odd hovering over top of it. There was a very nice cloud sponge growing off of one of the railings, and swimming past the props was nifty as well. We did about 3 circles of the wreck, and watched Greg and Shawn come out of the wheel house, then headed back. We did a few skills, then called the dive.
Chris and Kim decided to take the opportunity to get home early, so it was just me and Greg and Shawn on the second dive. The surface interval was cold and rainy, but Shawn had a portable canopy tent that kept most of the rain off. For the second dive, we decided to scooter as far to the left as we could. The wall there just seemed to go on forever, and the rock topography was very cool. There were large patches of debris here and there. At one point, there was a wide expanse of discarded fishing net draped over the bottom.
Scootering so long did get cold, so we were feeling it when we got back. We stopped at a sunken log tug boat hull, and did a few more skills. Greg signaled me over at one point, and had spied a young wolf eel living in one of the tubes coming off the deck! It was poking its head out, and seemed very curious. It was a great find, and I got some nice video of it. In the video, it looked gigantic, but in reality the pipe was only about as big across as a water glass.
I would go back to China Creek again for sure!
Quadra Island 08-09/12/2012
I had been really looking forward to this trip. Alan Johnson of International Diving Center had arranged another trip to Quadra Island. The previous year I had missed it, but this year both Heather and I signed up. I had heard a lot about diving at Quadra, and the visibility here was supposed to be second to Port Hardy.
Our boat was the Ata-Tude with Captain Bill Coltart of Pacific Pro Dive based out of Campbell River. The hotel was the Whiskey Point Hotel just a short hop by ferry from Campbell River. The hotel obviously caters to a wide range of water-sport enthusiasts, as it has a dedicated drying room! That was a very nice treat!
The first day of diving had us visit Row and Be Damned, and Steep Island. I can't remember the story of the names, but the dives were excellent. The current was not too bad, and it just provided a nice relaxing drift. Having the luxury of being picked up by a boat was a great treat. The Steep Island dive had fantastic rock overhangs and huge clusters of black-tufted tube worms. Bill also said that the rockfish would eat an urchin out of your hand. On this rare occasion, I gave it a try, but the rockfish seemed very uninterested.
That night, I did a night dive with AJ from IDC off of Whiskey Point. We heard it was quite nice, and got a lot of good details from Captain Bill. Here is a google map link to where the spot was:
https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=whiskey+point+quadra+island&hl=en&ll=50.04028,-125.221159&spn=0.003604,0.006974&hq=whiskey+point&hnear=Quadra+Island&t=h&z=17
Bill warned us (with good reason) to plan the dive carefully. The currents around Quadra were very strong, and the ferry terminal was just around the corner. Being swept the wrong way could be very hazardous. Fortunately, his instructions were spot on for the dive. The key was patience in waiting for the current to turn. While waiting, we threw sticks in the water to have something to gauge the current direction. AJ's choice of one stick was very amusing, when it promptly sank like a rock out of sight. I laughed pretty hard at that!
The dive itself was great. The current was minimal, and we spied a pretty little giant pacific octopus out in the open. AJ had not seen one before, so it was a great success. Visibility was amazing as well. I would not recommend Whiskey Point as a dive site to anyone unless they had a keen understanding of the currents in the area, and were a pretty skilled and comfortable diver. The entry and exit is rocky and rough, and the current is not to be trifled with. Unlike other dive sites near a dive "resort" this is not really one where you can just jump in and paddle around easily after a long day of diving. But it was still worth it.
The next day had us doing three dive sites in one. We did Copper Cliffs, but the current was so fast that it took us over at least three dive sites according to Bill. it was a fast, but extremely fun drift dive, probably one of the fastest I'd ever been on. The feeling of flying was just incredible. You had to be quick on your inflator and dump valve though, because the current would also bring you up and down like a bit of a roller coaster. Exhilerating!
In the end, it was an excellent dive trip, as always! I would be back to dive with Bill anytime.
Here is a bit of video:
Our boat was the Ata-Tude with Captain Bill Coltart of Pacific Pro Dive based out of Campbell River. The hotel was the Whiskey Point Hotel just a short hop by ferry from Campbell River. The hotel obviously caters to a wide range of water-sport enthusiasts, as it has a dedicated drying room! That was a very nice treat!
The first day of diving had us visit Row and Be Damned, and Steep Island. I can't remember the story of the names, but the dives were excellent. The current was not too bad, and it just provided a nice relaxing drift. Having the luxury of being picked up by a boat was a great treat. The Steep Island dive had fantastic rock overhangs and huge clusters of black-tufted tube worms. Bill also said that the rockfish would eat an urchin out of your hand. On this rare occasion, I gave it a try, but the rockfish seemed very uninterested.
That night, I did a night dive with AJ from IDC off of Whiskey Point. We heard it was quite nice, and got a lot of good details from Captain Bill. Here is a google map link to where the spot was:
https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=whiskey+point+quadra+island&hl=en&ll=50.04028,-125.221159&spn=0.003604,0.006974&hq=whiskey+point&hnear=Quadra+Island&t=h&z=17
Bill warned us (with good reason) to plan the dive carefully. The currents around Quadra were very strong, and the ferry terminal was just around the corner. Being swept the wrong way could be very hazardous. Fortunately, his instructions were spot on for the dive. The key was patience in waiting for the current to turn. While waiting, we threw sticks in the water to have something to gauge the current direction. AJ's choice of one stick was very amusing, when it promptly sank like a rock out of sight. I laughed pretty hard at that!
The dive itself was great. The current was minimal, and we spied a pretty little giant pacific octopus out in the open. AJ had not seen one before, so it was a great success. Visibility was amazing as well. I would not recommend Whiskey Point as a dive site to anyone unless they had a keen understanding of the currents in the area, and were a pretty skilled and comfortable diver. The entry and exit is rocky and rough, and the current is not to be trifled with. Unlike other dive sites near a dive "resort" this is not really one where you can just jump in and paddle around easily after a long day of diving. But it was still worth it.
The next day had us doing three dive sites in one. We did Copper Cliffs, but the current was so fast that it took us over at least three dive sites according to Bill. it was a fast, but extremely fun drift dive, probably one of the fastest I'd ever been on. The feeling of flying was just incredible. You had to be quick on your inflator and dump valve though, because the current would also bring you up and down like a bit of a roller coaster. Exhilerating!
In the end, it was an excellent dive trip, as always! I would be back to dive with Bill anytime.
Here is a bit of video:
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Gabriola Bluffs and Dodd Narrows 24/11/2012
Jim Dixon organized two boat charters out of Nanaimo. There were enough people to fill two boats! There were some GUE divers up from the States, and they went on the Sea Dragon with Greg and Shawn, while Jim and I, and the other Anton and Kseniya went on Bill's boat. The other group went to Gabriola Narrows, while we went to the Bluffs and Dodd Narrows. This was exciting for me because I had never done Dodd Narrows (correctly). The last time I went the wrong way, and missed the dive completely! So it was a bit of a vindication to get this dive done.
On the first dive, we did Gabriola Bluffs. I was again impressed by the rock features and the beautiful wall. Visibility was pretty good, too.
For the Dodd Narrows dive, it was a bit hairy. The current did not turn when we expected it, so we spent a great deal of the beginning portion of the dive hauling ourselves along with our hands. The current was too strong to fin against, we would exhaust ourselves in short order. Several times we stopped to rest. We couldn't tarry because the boat expected us at the other side at a pre-determined time, and we knew surfacing in the Narrows would be very dangerous. Halfway through the dive, the current started to turn, and we got some of the drift dive that we were expecting. A very tough dive to plan! I know now why people don't like doing it. It must be timed very carefully. On surfacing, we saw the other danger; a huge log boom getting pulled through the channel. It was traffic like this that also made this dive difficult, because it can turn the channel into an overhead environment. However, we were all very well briefed, and all the contingencies were covered, so everything was good.
Finally I could mark Dodd Narrows as a success!
Here is a bit of video:
On the first dive, we did Gabriola Bluffs. I was again impressed by the rock features and the beautiful wall. Visibility was pretty good, too.
For the Dodd Narrows dive, it was a bit hairy. The current did not turn when we expected it, so we spent a great deal of the beginning portion of the dive hauling ourselves along with our hands. The current was too strong to fin against, we would exhaust ourselves in short order. Several times we stopped to rest. We couldn't tarry because the boat expected us at the other side at a pre-determined time, and we knew surfacing in the Narrows would be very dangerous. Halfway through the dive, the current started to turn, and we got some of the drift dive that we were expecting. A very tough dive to plan! I know now why people don't like doing it. It must be timed very carefully. On surfacing, we saw the other danger; a huge log boom getting pulled through the channel. It was traffic like this that also made this dive difficult, because it can turn the channel into an overhead environment. However, we were all very well briefed, and all the contingencies were covered, so everything was good.
Finally I could mark Dodd Narrows as a success!
Here is a bit of video:
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Dolphin and Wall Beach 18/11/2012
Jim, Shawn and I met at Dolphin Beach near Tyee to do some skills and check out the wall there. During our exploration, we overshot the exit coming back and had to swim a hell of a ways back, against the current. Oops! Dolphin was pretty nice, with excellent visibility.
After that, Jim and went to scooter Wall Beach. Shawn could only do one dive that day. I had not dove Wall Beach before, the one attempt previous was in the wrong location! This time, we got it right, and there was a lot of great topography to see with scooters. We found the various walls and reefs, but didn't find any octopus and wolf eels. It might have been because we were going so fast! Still, it was great to have a lot of trigger-time. We got pretty cold though, since the fast movement really contributes to cooling you down.
Here is a short bit of video from Dolphin. I didn't do any video while scootering.
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