Orange Anomenes, Sun Stars, and Sculpins - Oh My

[DandyDon]

And PNW Octopus and lots of other strange things I've never seen before

It was going to be my #300 dive, and doing it naked as tradition demands in warm tropical waters hadn't worked out, so I wanted to make it a gooood one...!! I'd long wanted to dive the renown Puget Sound waters around Seattle, and after finding a relatively cheap air fare for Labor Day Weekend, then several generous offers of help from fellow Scuba Board members - I was hoping for something really cool. ScubaK managed to get off work early and bring DoubleDip and Tim to escort me on my first dive of day one, as well as load me some equipment I couldn't fly in - but she kept talking about my check-out dive?? "Check-out dive," I thought was for newbies, and this wasn't my first time diving the colder waters of the Pacific Coast, but I went along with the idea. Good that I did, as this was my first time in water below 60F in over 2 years, and I really wasn't as prepared as my dangerous pride had led me to believe.

ScubaK gave me great directions to Salty's pier parking lot in Redondo I think it was, and after we found each other - we got ourselves geared up, me of course needing help with this and that, i.e. a yoke reg that wouldn't fit a Din valve tank :11: and such. We got it all done, me all dressed and headed across the street. These other divers were much better prepared for local waters, with dry suits, high powered lights, etc, but I did not look totally out of place walking across the hiway with them I don't think. Down the stairs and into the water for my first real shore dive - oops! My body was just not currently accustomed to the chill of 54F water, and ScubaK could obviously see something in my face, as she kept asking if I was okay, apprehensive, what? Hell, I was just ignoring the chill while my chest was tensing up against hard breathing as I learned to walk with heavy gear in the waves, and I tried to get my fins on with old cowboy knees that really, really did not like the water. Finally got 'em on tho, to water deep enough for swim, and we finally got to the part I knew - diving.

It was a bit murky with some debris in the water, so the locals all turned on their Big Dawg Lights for better diver to diver contact as well as to see what was along the bottom, and I pulled out my 4C Tropical Dive light. Or half of it anyway, as I'd failed to secure the end when I loaded the batteries and there I was - in a dark, strange underwater environment with three good divers watching me to see if I was okay - holding half of a dive light. :blush: It was 5 years old, beat up, and I never did like it anyway, but damn, how embarrassing. I just stuck it back in its slot and pulled out the other one like this happens all the time, as they were all choking as they laughed in their regs, I'm sure. :lol2:

From their we poked around the bottom looking at living things I'd never seen before, some found nowhere else in the wold and it was neat, to say the least. I've seen Pacific anemones in aquariums before, but swimming with wild Orange ones was wild. Regular starfish were abundant, but even more common were the 20 point Sunstars - some over two feet across. My friends spotted a few Octopi, a couple of neat sculpins, and lots of other neat little fishes, invertebrates and such. I'm not used to diving with such competent divers so I guess I did get a little sloppy in my buddy work, but damn - taking in all these new sights, it's hard to keep all of the shoulds in proper play. They helped we well with my shortcomings, forgave me graciously for my fumbling, and it was great.

We're off to Hood Canal tomorrow (gawd, but I'm glad they still want to dive with me) in search of Wolf Eels. I do hope that they're friendlier than they look. gotta get a new light, as well as batteries for the one that did work for most of the dive. :blush:

 

[Sasquatch]

Glad you enjoyed yourself in spite of the little challenges. If you liked Redondo you're gonna LOVE Hood Canal!

 

[TSandM]

You got to dive with my beloved favorite dive buddy, while I got to drive to work. Lucky you!

 

[scubak]

...ah, come on Lynne...you can share.... I remember him before he went to the "dark side". Kirk was on the spot when we needed a couple of parts for Don. Kirk is a wonderful dive buddy and an excellent diver.
Don had a blast and I hope he is excited to dive today. But he wears this beanie thingy and not a hood...
Have fun everyone. I'm going diving.
K

 

[DoubleDip]

Don, I had a blast! Sorry I couldn’t deliver on the Six Gill...Again, a pleasure to meet you. Best regards, Kirk Hamblen

 

[pugetdan]

Well Don after having you as a buddy yesterday in the San Juans I finally joined Scuba Board.
With vis of 5 feet, lots of current, and both of us trying to take pictures I think we did well. The most interesting thing that happened was having you taken by the current on the surface at the end of the second dive and ending up hundreds of yards away from me. Then another current brought you back. We did have visual contact the whole time.

We need to get you a heavier bennie. All the best, Dan

 

[DandyDon]

Well Don after having you as a buddy yesterday in the San Juans I finally joined Scuba Board.
With vis of 5 feet, lots of current, and both of us trying to take pictures I think we did well. The most interesting thing that happened was having you taken by the current on the surface at the end of the second dive and ending up hundreds of yards away from me. Then another current brought you back. We did have visual contact the whole time.

We need to get you a heavier bennie. All the best, Dan

Hey PugetDan, good to have you here. Yeah, we did good for the wild currents we got and all - including the Maytag. It was a pleasure diving with you - you're alright! Glad we didn't get stuck with the paper card fellow. Nice guy, but it's his shops responsibility to teach him his first boat dive. Mosey over to Introdcutions and post one so we can welcome you appropriately.

I'll post reports on my days of diving soon. Just haven't had time and energy this week. My muscles and joints are still sore from the cold water, climbing the ladder with 30# of weight plus pony, etc. Maybe tonight when I have broadband again at airport.

My travels here have been spread out some, from Sea-Tac airport to Fife (B) to check-in to the Divers' Dump hotel, then back up to Redondo (C) for the first dives, then over to Hoodsport (D) the next day to dive Hood Canal, followed by Des Moines (E) next day for boat trip across the sound, then Anacortes (F) next Divers' Dump hotel to dive the San Juan Island west of there. Next down to Clinton (G) to tour the scenic areas on the way, ferry across to go back to Tacoma to turn in tanks and Din reg borrowed from ScubaK & Tim, finally back to airport for midnight flight tonight.

 

[suthnbelle]

Wow Don, sounds like you were all over the place! I enjoyed the first dive report and I'm looking forward to reading the rest!

Mel

 

[diveborg]

You sure hit just about all the stops. I'm looking forward to some trip reports, especially about the Hood Canal. I've had some of my best dives there.

 

[DandyDon]

I've really been wanting to post on each day's fun with great diving and great friends, but it's been pretty much dive, eat, sleep, and drive on. Now can I cover the last four days - three diving and one exploring well? I'll give it a shot, and hope I don't miss thanking any of the super nice folks - mostly Scubaboard but some others as well. I probably will, as there were so many friendly and helpful people in my life the last few days. Northwest Scubaboarders are super, and the people in general around there are awfully nice for non-Texans.

Friday dives: ScubaK/Kirsten and Tim invited me to dive Sund Rock on Hood Canal near Hoodport, even to ride in their nice smoking-okay pickup, but for some reason I just felt like having my own wheels? A Texas male ego problem perhaps, but they humored me - even when I followed the wrong truck off of I-5 and had to call them and ask them to wait while I got back around and behind. Stuck with them well after that, at least until after lunch. :blush:

We stopped in one of their favorite shops there for fills, and I picked up a replacement dive light for the one I'd ruined the day before. I dive small, tropical lights, but I like to have two good ones on my BC when I go down. Found one just like my surviving light, presented the plastic, and said: "Yep, with the fills and three permits, please." I didn't ask what it cost, as I figured it'd be not much more than what I'd pay elsewhere, I needed it, and they were Kirsten & Tim's friends. Then I saw the ticket. "Okay, I own an LED light now, huh?" Glad I hadn't asked, as I wouldn't of gone for it at that price - but I was kinda' glad I did. Especially when I kept forgetting to turn it off for two days and it just kept burning.

Being a shore dive newbie with old cowboy knees, I think I worried Kirsten a bit still on the entries, but I finally got my fins on in water I could dive in and relaxed. We had a lot of fun checking out the various fishes and critters at depth, nice viz at depth. I think that K enjoyed showing the various tiny crabs as much as I enjoyed seeing and shooting them. Or maybe it was Tim at times. They look a lot alike underwater with their hoods, twins, dry suits and all. Wolf eels were shy I guess, and I didn't try to prod any out of their holes. Ling cod are huge, and K showed me where one had laid eggs. I moved in for a better shot, and K jerked me back - seems the big mother fish was growling and showing teeth. Oops again. Hehe, did get the shot.

My home dive buddy noted from my email that 54 sounded like pretty cold water to him. "Nah, it's really cozy and warm for the safety stop when you come up above the thermo cline from 47 degrees at 75 feet."

After lunch we went back to Sund for a second dive the other direction. The viz had deteriorated a bit, tho - and as I was dropping down thru the murk hoping to get to good viz soon, I failed to watch my depth. Having never had a problem clearing ears, I'm known to drop like a rock, and I must have made a thud when my butt hit the mud bottom with the subsequent mushroom cloud. "Damn, try not to look foolish again!" I encouraged myself. This dive to 94 feet was nice, and I think it was on this one that I found my second Pipefish ever, but - turning to shoot a pic, then back in the murk - I lost my leaders. I think it was Tim screaming in his reg when they found me, but it could have been K? Went okay for a while, then - again. Found each other on surface, and I called my dive as they descended for a little more. "Damn, I try so hard to not look dumb." :shakehead

Saturday: 2Dive4fun/Scott had invited me for some special dives of his new 21 ft fiberglass fixer-upper, but didn't want to leave until 11am. Whoopee - slept past sunup, loved it. He, Brian, and I loaded gear and lots of other stuff at the Des Moines marina until no one could walk around the boat, then got it stowed away well, and we were off for Three Tree Point, notorious for Six Gill Shark sightings. I put on my snorkel vest, explaining it was a promise to my daughter, and instead of laughing like so many do, he offered me a PFD. I was fine with the vest tho, and we had a great dive. No sharks this time, but a nice dive to 86 ft and a good tour of the junk field and inhabitants.

Then we cut across to a wall on the peninsula and dropped down to 108 ft. It was super. Saw a red octopus with arms thicker than mine sleeping in a crack. I don't like to disturb the wildlife, tho, and besides - I didn't know what I'd do with her if she came out to play, me kinda drunk with narcosis. "Padi teaches the world to dive" in their world of selling cards, but in the real world of Puget sound you dive when the tides charts say are good. Our reverse profile did kinda load up our computers, but we did stay out of the red. No Decom required, a nice wall crawl thru shallower depths, the SS, and all for a nice dive. Then Miller time on the way home. I offered to help stow what was needed, but Scott was too nice - he knew I wanted to fill tanks and hit a two hour drive.

Sunday: I'd heard nothing but good about Deep Sea Charters, and they deserve the praise. Dave and his daughter run a nice boat, great food, and what wonderful diving in the San Juan Islands. Bri is a heck of a deck hand for 16 yo, too. I didn't think I'd know any Scubaboard folks on this trip, but sure enough - ran into Karina on the dock. She was working as the sponsoring dive shop's Dive Master, tho, and tried to buddy me with a papercard newbie out for his first boat dive. I might do that in Cozumel, but not here. Instead, I pair with more experienced PugetDan who knew some members well but didn't actually join until the next day.

The dives were a hoot. Some might whine that they weren't the best, but they were good diving in their own adventurous ways. On the first wall we got down to 96 ft and rode the tidal current down the wall, then back up the wall on an opposing one to see the same anemones again, then back down for another look at them, then back up as I started personally naming a few I knew well now - then we got blown off the wall with no hope of getting back. An interesting, short dive, but it was over.

Lunch was super, altho the boat lacked hot sauce for the stew, and I'd left my bottle in the car. Hot stew or ravioli, and back in for another wall dive. We were bumping along on the wall this time as viz sucked, and I lost Dan. I really hate losing buddies, but we repaired on the surface and went again. Two divers with cameras in 5 ft viz, tho, and we didn't stay together long. Another surface search found us 50 yards apart on the tidal river, and I seemed to increasing the margin as I got swept further away from him. I called the dive, headed out into the channel for pickup, then waived at Dan as he got swept one way, me the opposite. "OMG! We're in the Maytag!" Hell, you could see rapids on the surface at the two currents hit head on, we had divers swirling all around in a big circle, then the huge boat started spinning slowly - fortunately after I was on eating donuts. Wild, but no dangers, no extra charge.

The third and last dive? Dan and I stayed together well until he turned into a float. "Whoops, been trying to cut back on weighting have you Dan?" It was nice, and we'd had enough for me anyway. I was starting to let the chill get to me, and it was gonna take a day for my old muscles and joints to stop aching.

Rinsed and dried my gear as well as possible, slept a little late, packed all my stuff and got out of the Divers' Dump by 11am for lunch and exploring Oak Island with its parks, beach, bridges, etc. Yeah, great diving, great people, and a great time for sure. Thanks again friends...!! :applause:

Here is a link to a Yahoo album of pics if you're interested and never have dived Puget Sound. Yeah there's nearly 300, but you can set the slide show on fast change and slide thru it in 5 minutes if you'd like. Album link

Hehe, took a voluntary bump in Houston to a flight leaving two hours later, and got a $400 voucher - more than the original ticket to Seattle cost. How cool.

When I finally got back to Lubbock to retrieve my pickup from the privately owned sheltered lot there, the owner happened to be walking across the lot, and waved me down to shake my hand and thank me for 21 years of business since he opened. I guess that says I travel a lot.