Boat Diving with Uncle Pug (the diver) on Uncle Pug (the boat)

[GearHead]

Yesterday, Sheck33, UP and I ventured out from Everett for a couple of dives off of Hat Island aka Gedney Island. Boy, what an amazing day to be out on (and under) the water!!! 72 degrees, sunny, a little wind, and pretty darned near flat seas.

We planned on meeting up at the marina at about 2:00 and lucky for Sheck and me, we were both sick that afternoon and couldn't be at work. Well, we enjoyed a sunny 8kt cruise out to the area, where Sheck and I got to admire Shane's handiwork in rebuilding Uncle Pug (the boat). That wheelhouse is a thing of structural beauty, if not overly beautiful - I mean, he set this craft up so it could take a real pounding and be a-ok. Suffice it to say the man is thorough.

Each of our diving rigs were securely bungeed to the custom diving platform at the aft of the ship and when the new GPS/Sonar array told UP we were over the top of the reef, he dropped the grapple down and hooked it on the first try.

The two dives we had were great. Once we got below the soup from 0 to 25fsw, the visibility opened up to over 25 feet in spots. I didn't get a chance to see any of my favorite GPO's, but I saw plenty of evidence - crab shell piles all over the place. In spite of that, there was no shortage of creatures to see. What stood out to me though, were the MASSIVE Ling Cod that were hanging out there! Like I told Sheck and UP, I swear one of them looked like a small whale with gills. She glanced over at us in an "are you worth moving for?" kind of way, and she answered her own question by staying put.

As luck would have it, a few fishing lures were to be had, and if anyone wants a coral-encrusted T-Bottle, it sits in about 48fsw. That bottle reminded me how easy it is to swim right past a neat thing, alive or otherwise, if you don't take the time to realize what you're looking at. If UP hadn't pointed it out, I would have passed right over it, thinking it was a log or something.

Sheck pulled an OOA on me late in the 2nd dive, and I'm glad we got a little practice in. It took me longer than it should have to clip my light off after I delivered the long hose, but we did a good job of maintaining depth (I think), and procedure went in proper order.

The cruise back to the port was leisurely as well, and I gotta tell you, it reminded me how lucky we Orca Bait are to live in this area of the world. Looking over Puget Sound as the sun gradually descended, showed me how beautiful our green, tree-covered region is. I don't know about you guys, but I tend to see the world in a better light when I'm looking at it from the water. On the way into the port, we were able to look on the sonar and see the wreck of a freighter that burned in 1984 and sunk in about 170fsw. With the proper training and equipment, that could be an interesting dive.

For the record, I deeply regret being a bad guest and failing to bring so much as a bottle of water or a sandwich, let alone donuts - Sorry UP! But next time, I'll keep that surface interval in mind while I pack! Thank goodness Sheck thought ahead and hooked us up with some Bananas. Whew.

On a sidenote, for anyone with P-Valves, it's apparently considered bad manners to "vent" while you're on deck - not that anyone did that, but I thought I'd mention it.

Thanks again for an awesome day of diving, UP! I hope to dive the ferry and the fingers with you one of these days soon.

[NWGratefulDiver]

Well, sounds like I missed a good time. I'd love to dive with you guys sometime, but I had already scheduled a day at "the office" to complete the work on the rope trails.

Hope to hook up with y'all some other time ... did you do the reef or the barges? They're both outstanding dives.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[sheck33]

Gearhead said it all, i just want to say thanks again UP for a very nice day of diving!!

i also noticed by the way that my double 130's just dont get any lighter as time progresses...... and i sure can second Gearhead's remark on the p-valves

[Uncle Pug]

NWGratefulDiver once bubbled...
Hope to hook up with y'all some other time ... did you do the reef or the barges?

Shane and I will probably mosey on out to the reef tomorrow if you're interested.

I think I'll pass on the fingers and ferry until the humpy run is over... I would hate getting hit in the head with a downrigger ball...

Shoot... I hate getting hit in the head with anything.