Hood Canal, Recommendations?

I am going to be headed to the Hood Canal this upcoming Monday and Tuesday. I have never been to the hood canal and am a fairly new diver. We may be staying at Mike's Beach Resort, though we are looking at camping options as well. Does anybody have any recommended dive sites or other information that may be useful?

Thanks!
Shawn

Sund Rock is just north of Hoodsport. There are 2 walls that usually have GPOs and wolfeels that are a short surface swim from the entry. There's a parking lot with a portable toilet and an easy entry on private property. You have to pay about $15 (cheaper on weekdays) for access at Hoodsport n Dive in town.

A bit farther north from there is Octopus Hole. There's limited parking on US101 but it's free. The time I went, I never found the wall or any octopuses.

Don at Pacific Adventure runs a charter out of Brinnon, but I don't know if they go out on weekdays. Good boat, good staff and some great sites not accessible from shore.
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I really enjoyed doing Jorstad Creek, but getting gear down to the shore there IS a bit of a job. Flagpole is another excellent dive, and you get the key for the access from Mike's, but it is a long surface swim to the buoy.

Diving at Mike's is a pretty good option if you're a new diver- fairly benign conditions, and lots to see at 60' or less. Lynne is right about Flagpole- it's a great dive. There's a shallow part of the reef closer to shore if you don't want to swim all the way out the buoy.

Thanks for the replies! We ended up staying at mikes and did 4 dives. 2 went fairly well and 2 not so well.
First dive was from the dock at Mikes. Highlight was the sunken boat at 60' covered with lots of little creatures and sponges.
Second was flagpole. I didn't remember to look for the buoy. Based on a "map in progress" we guessed at the spot to drop and landed right on top of the reef!

So far so good...

Third dive was Octopus Hole. We looked at this map: http://www.pnwscuba.com/sitemaps/octopushole.gif
We thought we saw the swim platform from a distance (long swim), but when we got there we were skeptical if it was the "swim platform".
I set my compass heading and we submerged. We bottomed out around 50+'. At this point my compass seemed to be sticking and continually changing course. I was unable to keep a heading. We never found the wall . After only a few minutes I noticed we had dropped down to almost 80'. My buddy also noticed a fluctuation in pressure. The gauge was jumping almost 500psi. (i.e. reading 1000psi one moment then 1500). We decided to call it and slowly surfaced.

Forth dive was back at flagpole with some additional friends. We dropped near the buoy this time, in hind sight, I'm not sure if this was the correct one. After reaching almost 80' and not seeing the bottom we went back up to around 60'. We were hoping to move inland and find the shallower reef. Again the compass was on the fritz and navigation became difficult. Again there was pressure flux in not 1 but 2 sets of gear.

After discussing the pressure flux we thought it might have to do with the reserve valve (?). 2 of the 4 tanks we had were older(?) and had a j-valve(?) or reserve(?) The 2 people using these tanks experienced the flux.

There is one other thing I would like to mention. We were having difficulty with weight and finding neutral buoyancy. My previous dives had been in warm water ( no wetsuit ). I do not remember having much difficulty diving or surfacing. Im not sure if having a 7ml suit and over 30lbs was the cause but control seemed a bit of a challenge.

Not the best of trips but some good lessons learned and good experiences to have. I'm sure I'll be back up there again!

If the j-valve was in the Dive position you won't notice a fluctuation of the valve working, but the gauge will see it. If you have an SPG, keep the valve in the Fill position and no problem. J-valves were designed because SPGs were not available at the time so you would have an indication that you were getting low on air.



Bob
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I may be old, but 'm not dead yet.

Well, glad you got at least two good dives, and four learning experiences!

Diving in thick neoprene with heavy weight is quite a bit more complex than diving in warm water. You have to use your BC a lot more, because the neoprene is very floaty, and so as it compresses, you lose a lot of lift. Then you have to be sure to vent all that air on the way back up, as the neoprene expands. You'll get the hang of it with practice.

With the compasses, it's very important to hold them perfectly level. Many compasses are very intolerant of tilt. Suunto SK-7s are probably the best, but even they will hang up if they're too far off level.

As far as the J-valves go . . . Wow! I've never even seen anyone using one! Pressure fluctuations like what you are describing are usually the result of not having the valve open all the way, but I have no idea if that's true with such old gear.

Bob DBF:

If the j-valve was in the Dive position you won't notice a fluctuation of the valve working, but the gauge will see it. If you have an SPG, keep the valve in the Fill position and no problem. J-valves were designed because SPGs were not available at the time so you would have an indication that you were getting low on air.



Bob
----------------------
I may be old, but 'm not dead yet.

Click to expand...

+1

The thing to do with a J-valve is to take a zip tie and set it permanently in the down position.

The original intent of a J-valve was that you would be diving without a pressure gauge and that the J-valve would provide you with enough of a reserve to make your ascent after you initially ran out of air.

I've dove using them before and they do produce some fluctuation in the SPG if you have the valve in the up position. What's going on is that in the J-valve there is a spring which starts to close off the valve as you approach your reserve. The little movements of that spring and the reserve mechanism it controls causes the pressure to vary as you inhale or use air, even with a full tank. Pulling the reserve releases the spring and allows the rest of the air to flow freely. Unless you are like me though and you get a kick out of diving with vintage gear, a pressure gauge pretty much renders the J-valve obsolete. If you really feel you need the reserve, get a pony bottle instead.

The problem with a J-valve based reserve is that your valve could get bumped during the dive or you could forget to set it in the up position in the first place.