Port McNeill & Port Hardy Trip report

[jeckyll]

I thought I better sit down while things are still fresh in my mind... or at least fairly fresh.

Background

As I contemplated getting into diving in 2005 I ran across a picture of a diver hanging in the water off Browning wall. It was amazing and has adorned the front of my fridge ever since. After all, rated as the 2nd best diving in the world be Jaques Cousteau must be worth something, no? I decided long ago that while I may never make it to the Red Sea, I would one day make it to Port Hardy. While this picture has continued to hang on my fridge, I missed a trip in 2006 that myLDS was running to Hardy. In the end, I think it all worked out, given the conditions.

The Start

I knew that March and April were going to be fairly hectic, after all, doing Fundies and 2 weeks later diving Hardy was going to stretch me a bit thin. But I did not want to miss another opportunity to head up there. The fact that I could get a ride in the shop truck and that one of my teammates fromFundies was going as well, which meant I'd have a decent buddy to dive with, certainly helped make the decision.

Unfortunately the boat was not setup for doubles, so I swapped regs and rig over to singles once again in preparation. I decided to bring my 40 cf in case I wanted to sling it for some of the walls.

Day 1

We met at 8 am on Friday at the shop. I hadn't realized just how much gear the 4 of us were going to have and it proved tricky to fit everything under the cover (a proper truck canopy would have helped a bunch! ). But we finally got everything packed though we ended up having to cram somedrysuits etc into the truck cab. Off we went.

As this was the Easter long weekend, the ferry lineups were horrific. Nothing beats 'Assured Boarding' and we whipped past the lineup and in the end waited only about 45 minutes. On the way over toNanaimo we had a nice chat with a woman and here 10 year old son sitting next to us. Bright kid, and very interested in diving. His mom promised to buy him a snorkel and some fins and seemed pleased that he was showing such an interest in the life below the surface.

After a quick pit stop once we got of the ferry the drive started for real. The island highway is a rather boring stretch of road, but easy to drive and in great shape. I of course packed my radar detector which was jammed in the back stuck behind a bunch of dive gear. Oh well, we kept up a decent pace none the less.

After a quick stop in Cambell river we were on the last leg. The road got noticeably windier and the scenery was beautiful. My camera was safely packed along with the radar detector of course.

As we pulled into Port McNeill we saw the whitecaps on the ocean and realized that things might get a bit rough. In the parking lot of the local grocery store we ran into 4 more of our fellow divers. It really is a small town and everything is within a stones throw. So we went to check out the 'divers den'. This turned out to be the old office space above the dive shop and store. But things were clean and we quickly got down to the business of picking beds and spreading out.

We chatted with Capt. Steve who proved to be good natured and generally had a smile on his face. He did however inform us that a system was passing through and we might be limited in what we could dive. But he had a plan and we were getting wet no matter what. Not exactly the way we wanted to start this trip, but what can you do? I tell you what, stock up! Which is what we did, we set about shopping, buying pizza for the night and also getting ingredients for the chilly Jeremy promised to make (6 people all sleeping in a room and he's going to make chilly? Can this turn out well? Stay tuned... )

We had a pleasant night, watched a video and drank a few beer.

Day 2

As Capt. Steve thought he would need to move the boat, we all got to sleep in. But as we rolled out of bed and looked out at the ocean, everything looked calm as could be. Sure enough the storm did not materialize and we were good to go. Off to the dock we went. The boat was cozy to say the least and had seen a fair bit of the ocean, but we got everything squared away and got settled.

Dive 1
After a short run out we were at the island we were going to dive. As we all hung over the side of the boat we marveled at being able to identify plumose anemones 75 feet down! The viz was stellar. Big smiles all around as we suited up. Everyone added a bit of extra lead (more salinity) and off we went. Steve had joined Jeremy and I for dive one, though in the end we didn't make a very good team the dive was enjoyable. I ended up being light despite adding 2 1/2 lbs over what I dive in local waters and once we faced a touch of current I tried to swim around a pinnacle and couldn't say down. Dive over just before the 30 minute mark.

Details: Max 76, Avg 48. Temp 44 degrees. Time 26 minutes

Needless to say I wasn't terribly pleased with my performance. But the diving was great and Capt. Steve had the boat there to pick us up in no time at all.

For the SI we went over to see some Stellar Sea Lions. Amazing to see them up close. And the stench! Try not to be downwind.

Due to the conditions being better than anticipated, the plans were changed. We ran into Telegraph Cove where Capt. Steve's wife and his 2 cute little daughters met us and delivered fresh tanks and lunch. The home made soup was excellent and most of us took the opportunity to walk around the old town and read up on the some of it's history. As it was pre-season we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Off we went again and on the way to the dive site Capt. Steve decided we hadn't really experienced the full *ahem* "aroma" that the sea lions had to off so we stopped off to visit another group. Soon enough people were zipping drysuits and grabbing masks and snorkels and off they were. I had hung back a bit as I didn't really trust this whole 'play with the sea lions' bit and the fact that I didn't bring a snorkel (after all, this was a *diving* trip, no?!). I wasn't the only one who'd hung back, but seeing the fun that was had we all decided to suit up and jump in.

Unless you've experienced it yourself, I'm not sure if I can relay the feeling you get as sea lions zip around you and look at you as the gracefully scoot past only to turn their heads and have a curious look at you, the slow moving, weird looking and clumsy addition to their water.

We drifted a bit with the current and soon enough it was time to move on. As we got to the next dive site we saw a virtual white water rapid in the narrows we were going to dive. Capt. Steve estimated 8+ knots and let us know that we'd be hanging out and waiting for a couple of hours until the tide was right to dive it.

Still in my drysuit and ready to have fun I asked if we could jump in and float through the rapids. Never one to stand in the way of his customers having fun Capt. Steve's only response was "Sure. I'll go down and pick you up on the other side". So in we went again.

And what a blast! We could see the current whipping everything on the rocks as we zipped past and by playing with the back eddies we could get almost all the way to the start of the fun again! Sure enough when we missed the eddies Capt. Steve would pick us up and drop us off again. I'm not sure how much time we spent there playing, but it was an absolute blast.

Dive 2
All good things must eventually turn into other good things, so eventually it was time to dive again. The site was amazing. Life was thick. Tube worms were 5 feet long, anemonies were everywhere, small sculpins and grunnels and crabs and and and and. The only downside was the the visibility was not so great, but the life made up for it. I really enjoyed this dive.

Unfortunately, we had all played so much in our drysuits that everyone got very cold very quickly. Both Jeremy and I were pretty much frozen as I finally called the dive after 39 minutes.

Details: Max 59, Avg 34. Time 42 minutes.

As we arrived back at the Divers Den we all agreed that the attitude was what made a great charter and Capt. Steve had about the best attitude of any Captain I'd been on a boat with!

We were tired but very happy. The chilly was great and we had another beer, or two, and soon called it a night. It was a long and happy day.

===

To be continued once I write the next parts

Bjorn

 

[SeanQ]

Sounds like a great trip! I need to head up there sometime.

 

[jeckyll]

Day 3

Change of pace, we were actually off to Port Hardy. We got up around 7 and got on the road shortly after 8. The day was looking gray and much less promising than yesterday. After 45 minute drive we eventually found the right dock and Capt. Steve pulled up just as we gathered.

We had left most things on the boat, so loading was pretty quick and we were off. Steve thought we should be able to catch the tide right and be able to dive either Browning wall or 7 Tree Island. It's a few miles so we settled in and then ... "There she blows." Frenchie had spotted a wale. Immediately Steve throttled back and we all kept a lookout. We ended up seeing the hump back several more times and everyone was pretty excited about this unexpected encounter.

Eventually we decided we better get on with the diving and made it to Browning. We took a spin around 7 Tree as well but Steve thought Browning would be better for us.

Dive 3:
Jeremy and I splashed second and what was supposed to be a drift dive turned out to be a swim into the current. You never can tell! I don't particularly like current and this was unexpected. We ended up swimming underneath a Phil and Roberta who were playing with an octo, while hanging on and kicking. I breathed way more than I should have but once we got past the point things settled down and I started enjoying the dive.

The was is beautiful. I could try to describe it, but I wouldn't do it justice!

Later on in the dive (I had 700 psi left) we met up with Michelle and a few others. I decided it was time for a little 'payback'. On Dive 2 Michelle had come up behind Jeremy and 'humped his tank'. Everyone had a good laugh about it after. I decided to get even

So I ascended a few feet and once Michelle had turn I 'returned the favor'. Unfortunately I managed to get a freeflow in my secondary (I hit her valve or first stage) and lost a couple of hundred psi doing so. Well now I was at right around 500 psi at 40 feet. Jeremy was unaware of what had happened and wanted me to do it again, but I gave him the thumbs up and showed him my gauge ... just to make him realize that I was a touch short. We did our standard 3 minute ascent and all was well. But kids, let that be a lesson to you: Always practice safe tank humping and make sure not to get a free flow or it can cut your dive short!

Dive 3 details: Max 73, Avg 47, Time 34 min

Finally Michelle made here way up and was laughing as she hit the surface, it turns out I 'humped her tank off'. No, literally, the strap came lose. Whoops! But all was well and everyone had a great laugh.

Once we'd gathered everyone up, we realized that Steve wasn't looking as happy as he had been. He'd mentioned on the trip out that the storm was on the west coast of Vancouver Island and that it as gusting to over 100 knots. I'm not expert, but even I realized that was a bunch.

While were were having our fun below the surface, things had turned a bit ugly above the surface. We made our way back into the channel but tried to say in the protected waters as much as possible. We saw a 60' fishing trawler out in the open water when the waves were breaking they were up to the wheel house. And that thing was way bigger than us. We took a couple of good shots and things got a bit wet and a number of folks looked very concerned. Steve decided that he could not make it back at this point and we took shelter at Gods Pocket. They were closed but the caretaker and his wife took us in, kept us warm a dry and even put on some diving videos to kept us entertained. Very nice

Eventually a few of us got restless and decided to dive right in the bay, after all we had planned on 2 dives a day and we were going to do 2 dives a day! The fact that the water was crystal clear didn't hurt

Dive 4:
Capt. Steve of course liked the idea but suggested we run the boat instead, that way we wouldn't have to swim back and he would be able to pick us up. A number of folks decided to sit this one out, Jeremy included, so (diver) Steve and I buddied up. We found a point at the entrance to the bay and splashed.

Anemonies and sea urchents were everywhere. But little else. We did spot one nice king crab and a large nudi. And then Steve started his own version of what could only be described as under water performance art. There were depth changes, trim changes, tugging on wings and strings and headstands and finally he went and started to hug a large block covered in urchens. He had mentioned that he was going to add 2 extra pounds for this dive as he had taken some out for dive one but was light. At the beginning of his performance I'd started doing a bit of quick guestimating to see if I could spare 2 lbs to hand off to Steve, he obviously needed it. But we were still around 40 fsw and he _really_ should have been this light. And then I spotted one side of his wing was inflated! But only the one side. Something was keeping it from venting properly. So I did the only thing I could think of and grabbed a hold of the inflated part and squeezed a bunch of air out of it. Steve was a much happier camper after. Once on the boat we realized that his bungeed wing of death had somehow gotten a fold in it where the bungee was and that had trapped the air on the left side. His back dump was on the right and the fold was before the shoulder dump... well you get the idea. I got to tell this story over chilly (leftovers ) that night and Michelle was laughing so hard the tears were streaming down here face while Steve looked a bit red in the face. But it was all in great fun.

Dive 4 details: Max 50, Avg 33, Time 36 min

Finally, after a number of more radio calls, Steve decided that we could take a shot at making it back to Hardy. As well, daylight was running out and we needed to head back before it got too dark to safely navigate. Things were still rough in the channel and we took a pounding. The 20 minute trip too more like an hour. You know it's bad when Steve goes "Ohhhh no" while I look out and go "Holy Jeesssssussss" because a wall of water bigger than our boat is facing us. Apparently some of the other passengers took this in a negative way. Especially once we were over the wave and dropped into the trough on the other side.

But nobody lost their lunch and eventually we made it back to Port Hardy.

I think we finally had dinner around 10 pm and everyone was looking forward to falling asleep as soon as possible.

Great day, great diving and we had ourselves a bit of an adventure.

To be continued....

 

[Blitz]

It was very inconsiderate of you not to bring that viz to Porteau.

Nice report, Herr Taucher.

 

[jeckyll]

How do you think I felt going from 80 feet of viz to 3 feet?! Next time leave that crappy viz down in Seattle!

I'm hoping to get the last part done tonight