I did what turned out to be a very fun dive this last weekend, at a site that is considered "advanced" for quite a number of reasons. When our group got to the dive site, I almost called it . . . but I went for it instead, and in the end, was very glad I did.
I thought some of the process I went through in doing this dive might be interesting or useful for folks who are trying to decide whether to do a given dive or not.
First off, it was a site I really wanted to do. I read a good deal about it. It is rated advanced because of a difficult, surf-washed entry over rocks, and also because of the potential for very strong currents. So the first thing was to pick a day when we could dive on a small, manageable exchange, and to choose the entry time very carefully.
Second, the biggest challenge of the site for me was going to be the entry and exit. I made some gear adjustments to make that whole part easier, and I also talked to my dive buddy (or the fellow who was supposed to be my dive buddy, anyway) who agreed to help me get gear into the water.
Third, I arranged to dive as part of a very strong group of people. Although, as it turned out, I was actually the one with the most experience in surf and kelp, which are two of the hazards of the site!
So, with the planning part as well taken care of as I could, I got to the site on Sunday morning, and the first thing I noticed when I got out of the truck was that you could hear the surf crashing onto the rocky shore. This was not a good omen. I walked down to look at the entry, and it was going to be challenging, but by arranging my gear the way I had, it was definitely doable. I watched the surf come over the rocks for a while. It was clear that there was surf, and it was breaking along a rock shelf just offshore. There was a channel to the left of us that appeared quite calm and sheltered; it looked as though it would permit us to get into the water and get our fins on (and scooters sorted out, for those who had them). We could then tackle the surf zone, although my big worry was that the water would be so shallow at that point that we would get beat up on the rocks. Although the kelp was forbidding to the rest of the group, it didn't bother mel -- and best of all, it was standing straight up, so there was no discernible current, at least inshore.
I watched for a while, and thought about the potential problems: Getting rolled getting in; getting scraped over the rocks getting through the surf, and worse, how would we manage the exit if we came back to rougher water, and how would I manage it if I had to do it alone. I came up with strategies for all those things, and discussed most of them with the group, and made sure everyone was comfortable. At this point, it became clear that some of the buddy pairings we had planned were not going to work; our most novice divers needed to be paired up with stronger divers than they were, so teams were shuffled, and again, there was a quick check to make sure everyone was cool with the new arrangements.
By the time any of us got a foot wet, we had a plan and a contingency plan for almost everything. The one thing we didn't have a plan for was one of our strong (mentor) divers losing a fin on entry. She was okay with diving, since she was using a scooter, but she did not feel that she was in any position to be a strong arm for a less experienced diver, so between the surf and the kelp, we reshuffled teams again.
Everybody had a great dive. The site is as good as the references say it is, drenched with color and thick with filter-feeding life. I am very glad I did it, and glad I didn't back out when the thought crossed my mind. As it turned out, the planning we had done, the equipment adjustments we made, and the team strategies we had built, allowed everyone to do one of our best PNW shore dives.
What really made me post this was just thinking about how much planning went into making this work as well as it did. We did very little once we got in the water that was different from any other dive. But thinking through the challenges and having a plan in place for each of them made something that could have been downright scary into a challenge that was just kind of fun to have met.
The second picture illustrates that this is a buddy sport in more than staying next to each other underwater . . .
I thought some of the process I went through in doing this dive might be interesting or useful for folks who are trying to decide whether to do a given dive or not.
First off, it was a site I really wanted to do. I read a good deal about it. It is rated advanced because of a difficult, surf-washed entry over rocks, and also because of the potential for very strong currents. So the first thing was to pick a day when we could dive on a small, manageable exchange, and to choose the entry time very carefully.
Second, the biggest challenge of the site for me was going to be the entry and exit. I made some gear adjustments to make that whole part easier, and I also talked to my dive buddy (or the fellow who was supposed to be my dive buddy, anyway) who agreed to help me get gear into the water.
Third, I arranged to dive as part of a very strong group of people. Although, as it turned out, I was actually the one with the most experience in surf and kelp, which are two of the hazards of the site!
So, with the planning part as well taken care of as I could, I got to the site on Sunday morning, and the first thing I noticed when I got out of the truck was that you could hear the surf crashing onto the rocky shore. This was not a good omen. I walked down to look at the entry, and it was going to be challenging, but by arranging my gear the way I had, it was definitely doable. I watched the surf come over the rocks for a while. It was clear that there was surf, and it was breaking along a rock shelf just offshore. There was a channel to the left of us that appeared quite calm and sheltered; it looked as though it would permit us to get into the water and get our fins on (and scooters sorted out, for those who had them). We could then tackle the surf zone, although my big worry was that the water would be so shallow at that point that we would get beat up on the rocks. Although the kelp was forbidding to the rest of the group, it didn't bother mel -- and best of all, it was standing straight up, so there was no discernible current, at least inshore.
I watched for a while, and thought about the potential problems: Getting rolled getting in; getting scraped over the rocks getting through the surf, and worse, how would we manage the exit if we came back to rougher water, and how would I manage it if I had to do it alone. I came up with strategies for all those things, and discussed most of them with the group, and made sure everyone was comfortable. At this point, it became clear that some of the buddy pairings we had planned were not going to work; our most novice divers needed to be paired up with stronger divers than they were, so teams were shuffled, and again, there was a quick check to make sure everyone was cool with the new arrangements.
By the time any of us got a foot wet, we had a plan and a contingency plan for almost everything. The one thing we didn't have a plan for was one of our strong (mentor) divers losing a fin on entry. She was okay with diving, since she was using a scooter, but she did not feel that she was in any position to be a strong arm for a less experienced diver, so between the surf and the kelp, we reshuffled teams again.
Everybody had a great dive. The site is as good as the references say it is, drenched with color and thick with filter-feeding life. I am very glad I did it, and glad I didn't back out when the thought crossed my mind. As it turned out, the planning we had done, the equipment adjustments we made, and the team strategies we had built, allowed everyone to do one of our best PNW shore dives.
What really made me post this was just thinking about how much planning went into making this work as well as it did. We did very little once we got in the water that was different from any other dive. But thinking through the challenges and having a plan in place for each of them made something that could have been downright scary into a challenge that was just kind of fun to have met.
The second picture illustrates that this is a buddy sport in more than staying next to each other underwater . . .
