- Messages
- 63,269
- Reaction score
- 16,548
My day started at 0500, as yesterday we had to abort the plan as the boat batteries were discoverd bone dry, and did not recover. I was on my way to West Marine, when Johnny P. sent me to Cosco, where I practically fell to my knees in ectasy to find Deep Cycle Marine batteries for 56.00 !! West Marine had quoted me 289.00 on the phone. So...we put the batteries in, at the crack of dawn with my cat eye led bicycle light. We were very pleased when the engines fired up on the first turn of the key!
Freediver two had bagged out as he just towed in his "new" boat from the North Shore and is toiling away, as he plans to live aboard, on a bouy at Kehei. So, one fearless freediver, and a man at the helm, we set out in calm waters seeking decent viz for shooting pictures. Johnny found the Corsair plane instantly and never took the cover off my GPS. He triangulates points at shore with less time and he pointed out the "slick" patch in the surface current which indicated the wreck below, resting on the flat sandy bottom at 110 feet. It was imperceptable to me, even after he pointed it out. (our old depth was 107', but now I read 110 off the nose). Our diver rests on the surface, to breathe up, as we descended the line in light/moderate current which we expected to be picking up. When we passed under the bridge leaving Ko-ko Marina, the depth is as little as 10 feet and we could see the "river" effect of the now outgoing early morning high tide. Several miles from shore, the bay would soon be emptying outward to the sea. We hurried to get down the line before the anticipated current would make us consume more air working to descend. We had air today and our bottom time would be 15 minutes or so, at the most, depending on whether it was Johnny or me.
I did not anticipate the lower light of early morning. The sun barely up, but a huge baitball of goat fish covered the fighter with a massive yellow hovering school.
Johny hung off to my left, about 40 feet at 80 feet, watching the surface and signaling me that Kurt had started his descent. Our time is limited, as he needs surface time of 7 minutes or so after a descent this deep to ready himself for the second dive down.
I fired off as many as I could, because it is hard to anticipate a good kick cycle captured, and once he reached over 100 feet, I notice, to my dismay, that the goat fish have not budged and he is obliterated from my camera! Not usually the case with divers who aren't as stealth!
We get one more shot on his second descent, and I always find myself wanting "the other lense" depending on what fits in the frame. The current is just enough that hovering will take too much energy, so I lay on the bottom, or ascend to 80ft in the hopes of acruing a tad more time.
Johnny and I ascend together, taking a nice half stop, as he has over several minutes of deco time. I am running on schedule, but at my limit. Around 20 feet, we have Kurt on the surface and the lighting of his sillouette is very nice. He is trained athelete and it shows, right down to the ...what's that muscle? the gastrocnemius? Anyway..reminds me of the cadaver lab, for some reason. At least there is something to look at on the deco stop. I need to watch it, because I find myself getting casual about holding my breath for the shallow shots....
The images are pretty soft, the lighting was just too low to get the crisp shots we had last time, at least at depth. Still, it is always amazing to watch this guy go that deep. We had some reasons not to push the limits any further. (We left the boat idling to charge the batteries, and we were aware that our time to him if he had a problem would be compromised...and his lungs have been mysteriously filling with fluid).
Once on the boat, we all talked about the whale songs that we heard throughout the dive. The guys were excited about some big rare goat fish that is only found deep...
The conversation on the way out had been who had stun guns and who had hollow points and could take a Tiger out that gets too agressive around the catch. I asked about the old guy I always see diving alone out there with his string of flashy dvds on a line....I hear them say he posed with a Tiger, on shore....I try not to listen until after the dive!
I really hope we can get some brighter shots on a calm day, maybe after this next front moves out late this week.
Freediver two had bagged out as he just towed in his "new" boat from the North Shore and is toiling away, as he plans to live aboard, on a bouy at Kehei. So, one fearless freediver, and a man at the helm, we set out in calm waters seeking decent viz for shooting pictures. Johnny found the Corsair plane instantly and never took the cover off my GPS. He triangulates points at shore with less time and he pointed out the "slick" patch in the surface current which indicated the wreck below, resting on the flat sandy bottom at 110 feet. It was imperceptable to me, even after he pointed it out. (our old depth was 107', but now I read 110 off the nose). Our diver rests on the surface, to breathe up, as we descended the line in light/moderate current which we expected to be picking up. When we passed under the bridge leaving Ko-ko Marina, the depth is as little as 10 feet and we could see the "river" effect of the now outgoing early morning high tide. Several miles from shore, the bay would soon be emptying outward to the sea. We hurried to get down the line before the anticipated current would make us consume more air working to descend. We had air today and our bottom time would be 15 minutes or so, at the most, depending on whether it was Johnny or me.
I did not anticipate the lower light of early morning. The sun barely up, but a huge baitball of goat fish covered the fighter with a massive yellow hovering school.
Johny hung off to my left, about 40 feet at 80 feet, watching the surface and signaling me that Kurt had started his descent. Our time is limited, as he needs surface time of 7 minutes or so after a descent this deep to ready himself for the second dive down.
I fired off as many as I could, because it is hard to anticipate a good kick cycle captured, and once he reached over 100 feet, I notice, to my dismay, that the goat fish have not budged and he is obliterated from my camera! Not usually the case with divers who aren't as stealth!
We get one more shot on his second descent, and I always find myself wanting "the other lense" depending on what fits in the frame. The current is just enough that hovering will take too much energy, so I lay on the bottom, or ascend to 80ft in the hopes of acruing a tad more time.
Johnny and I ascend together, taking a nice half stop, as he has over several minutes of deco time. I am running on schedule, but at my limit. Around 20 feet, we have Kurt on the surface and the lighting of his sillouette is very nice. He is trained athelete and it shows, right down to the ...what's that muscle? the gastrocnemius? Anyway..reminds me of the cadaver lab, for some reason. At least there is something to look at on the deco stop. I need to watch it, because I find myself getting casual about holding my breath for the shallow shots....
The images are pretty soft, the lighting was just too low to get the crisp shots we had last time, at least at depth. Still, it is always amazing to watch this guy go that deep. We had some reasons not to push the limits any further. (We left the boat idling to charge the batteries, and we were aware that our time to him if he had a problem would be compromised...and his lungs have been mysteriously filling with fluid).
Once on the boat, we all talked about the whale songs that we heard throughout the dive. The guys were excited about some big rare goat fish that is only found deep...
The conversation on the way out had been who had stun guns and who had hollow points and could take a Tiger out that gets too agressive around the catch. I asked about the old guy I always see diving alone out there with his string of flashy dvds on a line....I hear them say he posed with a Tiger, on shore....I try not to listen until after the dive!
I really hope we can get some brighter shots on a calm day, maybe after this next front moves out late this week.
