Ben & Jake's Excellent (Puget Sound) Adventure - 03/30/06

[airsix]

Friday morning we got up and headed down to Alki beach. This comedy of errors resulted in the grand tour of local residential streets, road improvement projects, and FINALLY - the beach. Subsequent trips to the beach took about 4 minutes.

Here we are on the pier at Cove 2. And very happy to be there I might add.

-Ben M.

ps - Our luck imediately turned around when we learned to pronounce this as 'al-k-eye' instead of 'al-key'

 

[airsix]

Friday morning was gorgeous. The cove was empty when we arrived. As we began suiting up a small rescue training group from NOAA showed up and were the only other people we saw before noon. Nice guys & it was also great knowing that while we were in the water there was a team of fully equiped dive-medicine techs a few hundred yards away.

After slicing my thumb wide open on a new bolt-snap and patching me up with duct-tape we finished suiting up and hit the water.

I've been diving freshwater for 20 years - this was my first marine experience. WOW! All I had to do was stick my face in the water to know this is where I want to be. Freshwater is for drinking. Saltwater is for DIVING!

-Ben

 

[Sasquatch]

Glad you made it guys!

I'd like to get your impressions.

Sea ya!

 

[airsix]

What better way to enjoy your introductory saltwater dive than with new gear, and your first attempts at underwater photography? Oh, and I was underweighted to boot. he he ...And it was the greatest dive of my life!

I was absolutely awestruck by the concentration of life! Living things EVERYWHERE.

 

[airsix]

Glad you made it guys!

I'd like to get your impressions.

Sea ya!

Thanks Sasquatch! Impressions? Where to start?! We absolutely loved it. I can't even begin to put it into words. You guys who live close enought to dive Puget Sound/Hood Canal regularly are so lucky. I hope you realize how privelaged you are. We had so much fun - one of the best experiences of my life!

-Ben

 

[airsix]

The visibility Friday morning was AMAZING. We are pretty sure 30-35ft is an accurate estimate. Friday afternoon was probably 25ft, and Saturday was about 20ft in the am and 15ft by afternoon.

 

[airsix]

We were greeted by many friendly locals.

 

[airsix]

Everyone enjoyed the great sea-food.

 

[airsix]

Many subjects cooperated splendidly but the underweighted photographer with his arms full of rocks was less than graceful.

I did much better on the next dive with another 10lb of lead.

 

[airsix]

After our morning dive on Friday we got over to Discount Divers Supply as fast as we could and left an hour later with 6 cylinders and some odds and ends. I swapped out my AGA Hoovernator-II full-face (from high-altitude winter freshwater days) for my conventional second-stage. Both of us also added 10lb of lead. These changes dropped my SAC rate nearly in half for the second dive. It was a GREAT dive and we stretched our bottomtime as long as possible.

Visibility on the second dive was down a little - about 25 ft. We were both on air and wanted to stretch our bottom times as much as we could over the two days so we mostly hung around the boundry line on Friday between 45-75ft.

ps - The guys at Discount Divers were great. I think they got a kick out of how excited the two river divers were to be there. We were like kids getting off their first ammusement park ride - "Let's do it again! Let's do it again! Hurry, before it get's dark!"