GearHead
Contributor
Last Friday evening, I met our esteemed regulator, Uncle Pug, for a shore dive East of the Mukilteo Ferry Terminal. It had been a couple of months since I had been in the water, and I jumped at the chance to dive with UP.
I hadn't dove the site before, and it turned out to be a neat little dive. There was barely any walk to the water from where we parked, the bottom drops off quickly, and there wasn't much to speak of as far as current. The critters we saw were limited to an octopus, some flounder, and a number of large crab - some divers were exiting the water as I geared up with some very FULL goody bags - but I was just happy to dive again. The size of some of those Dungeness crabs was impressive, and a few were just perched on the bottom in about 50 fsw, sleeping! I thought they were perhaps empty shells, or dead, until UP gave one a tap on the rump and zooom, off it skittered. The next time I return, I might have to bring a goody bag myself!
Thankfully, I was able to soak up some pearls of wisdom from UP, both pre and post-dive, and being my first time diving with a DIR trained diver, let's just say I was impressed. Not to brown-nose too much, but UP's skill in buoyancy, trim, and finning was something to see. :notworthy Easily better than most of the DM's and instructors who have assisted PADI classes I've taken. If I had any reservations about taking DIRF before, they're gone now. It's just a matter of finding the time. Tragically, I won't be able to tag along later this week when Detroit Diver is out here to visit Pug, but I'll be diving vicariously through them.
Thanks for the dive UP!
I hadn't dove the site before, and it turned out to be a neat little dive. There was barely any walk to the water from where we parked, the bottom drops off quickly, and there wasn't much to speak of as far as current. The critters we saw were limited to an octopus, some flounder, and a number of large crab - some divers were exiting the water as I geared up with some very FULL goody bags - but I was just happy to dive again. The size of some of those Dungeness crabs was impressive, and a few were just perched on the bottom in about 50 fsw, sleeping! I thought they were perhaps empty shells, or dead, until UP gave one a tap on the rump and zooom, off it skittered. The next time I return, I might have to bring a goody bag myself!
Thankfully, I was able to soak up some pearls of wisdom from UP, both pre and post-dive, and being my first time diving with a DIR trained diver, let's just say I was impressed. Not to brown-nose too much, but UP's skill in buoyancy, trim, and finning was something to see. :notworthy Easily better than most of the DM's and instructors who have assisted PADI classes I've taken. If I had any reservations about taking DIRF before, they're gone now. It's just a matter of finding the time. Tragically, I won't be able to tag along later this week when Detroit Diver is out here to visit Pug, but I'll be diving vicariously through them.
Thanks for the dive UP!
