OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
Last Tuesday, June 23, at Rosario Beach I had the chance to try a pair of Bare Rockboots (size 8) with my Force Fins Pro (size XL, without the instep inserts), thanks to the local dive shop in Anacortes (one of the owners allowed me to rent her pair of boots). The boots felt pretty comfortable and it seemed to me that fit the fins OK (well better than the other two pair of wet suit boots that I had worn in the past).
Here is how the fins and boots looked on land:
On one hand the fin held the boot in place with a reasonable grip and on the other there was still a gap between the top of the boot and the top of the fin. I was not able to get my foot fully into the fin because the stiff sole of the boots are wider than the fins’ foot pockets.
My buddy and I surface-swam to a bunch of rocks called Urchin Rocks and the fins did not feel loose:
We descended into a mix of the usual salt green water, yellowish-whitish particles that reminded me of something like fluffy corn meal and shredded algae that reduced the visibility to about 3 feet. We began to swim to reach a small wall that was part of one of Urchin Rocks. There the current picked up a bit so we decided against swimming around it. Even at 36 feet (our max depth) the water did not become clearer. Around here the visibility usually gets better with depth but this time it did not happen. At this site the bottom levels out at depths in the 30 ft. range. We could not escape that visual misery by descending deeper because there was no depth to go to unless, perhaps, we swam further out away from the rocks into a huge channel rather busy with boat traffic and whose current behavior we did not know. So as planned we put up with the frustrating visibility.
It was while I was swimming underwater that I felt that my feet began to move sideways despite the fact that the boots were securely inserted in the fins. It seemed to me that it was more difficult to swim in that way. On my left foot I was wearing a thick wool sock and a neoprene sock, on my right foot two thick wool socks. Both materials compressed in the same amount so wool or neoprene did not make a different and my feet, besides not being very stable inside the boots, got cold as well. I am breaking my brain to understand the reason why this set up did not work out in the way that I had hoped for. Maybe I did not tighten the boots’ laces enough, my socks were simply too thin or the boots were still too big.
I tried to keep the swimming to an absolute minimum. The fins did not respond in the same way as when I had worn them with neoprene socks and wet suit boots. It was harder to kick, I guess. I desperately tried to keep my fins off the bottom as well more than usual. Every single kelp blade and organism (except for fish and shrimp) was covered in various degrees with that fluffy cornmeal that at the lightest water movement would turn into a cloud that reduced the visibility practically to zero. I felt as if I was swimming in a cave instead of open water. For the first time my buddy and I were consuming air at the same rate! (Does it mean that my air consumption is getting better?)
When it was time to turn around we began to swim back. It was a long way to Rosario Beach following what looked like a plateau 30 ft deep. It was all covered with kelp. Our return was a slow swim of missing photographic opportunities. A lot of animals were hiding underneath the kelp so at first glance there was absolutely nothing to see. Then a bright orange-yellow gunnel appeared from underneath a kelp blade and rested in full view for a while but not long enough. As usual in this kind of circumstance I was not ready for it. The camera, which is positively buoyant, was floating somewhere around me and it took me a while to grab it and get it ready to shoot. By then the fish got scared and without further ado swiftly disappeared again underneath the seaweed (I think it was a kelp gunnel). Later on I spotted a fish that looked like a kelp greenling but it was solid orange-yellow-brownish. Once again I wasted precious seconds in locating the camera and getting it ready. The fish did not give me the chance to press the release button: it was gone in a flash as if I had set on fire its caudal fin.:depressed:
We kept moving along the kelp bed and I don’t know how but I was able to spot a small invertebrate that I had never seen before clinging on a blade of kelp. It must have been less than 1 inch long.
Uh?
It was a stalked medusa.
The marine world has so many ways to marvel us if we sharpen our eyes and do not judge what we see or don’t see by size alone.
After being in the water for 55 minutes my entire body was cold. I could not use my hands to undo my gear and my feet were further locked in my Force Fins. I had to get my buddy to stand on my fins so I could pull my feet out.
My next steps are to buy thicker socks and try those Bare Rock Boots again and, at the same time, look for Converse Allstars (as fisheater and my buddy suggested) and try them on in the store.
Wish me good luck!
Voila’
Here is how the fins and boots looked on land:
On one hand the fin held the boot in place with a reasonable grip and on the other there was still a gap between the top of the boot and the top of the fin. I was not able to get my foot fully into the fin because the stiff sole of the boots are wider than the fins’ foot pockets.
My buddy and I surface-swam to a bunch of rocks called Urchin Rocks and the fins did not feel loose:
We descended into a mix of the usual salt green water, yellowish-whitish particles that reminded me of something like fluffy corn meal and shredded algae that reduced the visibility to about 3 feet. We began to swim to reach a small wall that was part of one of Urchin Rocks. There the current picked up a bit so we decided against swimming around it. Even at 36 feet (our max depth) the water did not become clearer. Around here the visibility usually gets better with depth but this time it did not happen. At this site the bottom levels out at depths in the 30 ft. range. We could not escape that visual misery by descending deeper because there was no depth to go to unless, perhaps, we swam further out away from the rocks into a huge channel rather busy with boat traffic and whose current behavior we did not know. So as planned we put up with the frustrating visibility.
It was while I was swimming underwater that I felt that my feet began to move sideways despite the fact that the boots were securely inserted in the fins. It seemed to me that it was more difficult to swim in that way. On my left foot I was wearing a thick wool sock and a neoprene sock, on my right foot two thick wool socks. Both materials compressed in the same amount so wool or neoprene did not make a different and my feet, besides not being very stable inside the boots, got cold as well. I am breaking my brain to understand the reason why this set up did not work out in the way that I had hoped for. Maybe I did not tighten the boots’ laces enough, my socks were simply too thin or the boots were still too big.
I tried to keep the swimming to an absolute minimum. The fins did not respond in the same way as when I had worn them with neoprene socks and wet suit boots. It was harder to kick, I guess. I desperately tried to keep my fins off the bottom as well more than usual. Every single kelp blade and organism (except for fish and shrimp) was covered in various degrees with that fluffy cornmeal that at the lightest water movement would turn into a cloud that reduced the visibility practically to zero. I felt as if I was swimming in a cave instead of open water. For the first time my buddy and I were consuming air at the same rate! (Does it mean that my air consumption is getting better?)
When it was time to turn around we began to swim back. It was a long way to Rosario Beach following what looked like a plateau 30 ft deep. It was all covered with kelp. Our return was a slow swim of missing photographic opportunities. A lot of animals were hiding underneath the kelp so at first glance there was absolutely nothing to see. Then a bright orange-yellow gunnel appeared from underneath a kelp blade and rested in full view for a while but not long enough. As usual in this kind of circumstance I was not ready for it. The camera, which is positively buoyant, was floating somewhere around me and it took me a while to grab it and get it ready to shoot. By then the fish got scared and without further ado swiftly disappeared again underneath the seaweed (I think it was a kelp gunnel). Later on I spotted a fish that looked like a kelp greenling but it was solid orange-yellow-brownish. Once again I wasted precious seconds in locating the camera and getting it ready. The fish did not give me the chance to press the release button: it was gone in a flash as if I had set on fire its caudal fin.:depressed:
We kept moving along the kelp bed and I don’t know how but I was able to spot a small invertebrate that I had never seen before clinging on a blade of kelp. It must have been less than 1 inch long.
Uh?
It was a stalked medusa.
The marine world has so many ways to marvel us if we sharpen our eyes and do not judge what we see or don’t see by size alone.
After being in the water for 55 minutes my entire body was cold. I could not use my hands to undo my gear and my feet were further locked in my Force Fins. I had to get my buddy to stand on my fins so I could pull my feet out.
My next steps are to buy thicker socks and try those Bare Rock Boots again and, at the same time, look for Converse Allstars (as fisheater and my buddy suggested) and try them on in the store.
Wish me good luck!
Voila’
