We're back, but I don't have all that much to report, really. Oh, we had three fun dives, but they really weren't what we'd initially planned, nor were they particularly special. However, we had fun with them, terrible vis and all.
We had planned only one dive inside hell's gate in order to look for 'stuff' lost by party boaters. Our first dive did, indeed, produce booty. We found fourteen pairs of sunglasses, four anchors, and a cell phone (bet THAT sure spoiled someone's day!). Vis varied from zilch to about six feet in the flats, but it was fun cruising tethered, finding the anchors, shooting a marker, then returning with the boat to haul them up.
We took a surface interval, had snacks and cruised the rest of the inside of the gates looking for a place for dive two. We decided on an area just north of the "peninsula house". For anyone else looking at this site...don't. Vis was dismal, and there was really very little to see. We terminated after about a half hour and moved back to the flats, where we learned not to go too far south...vis gets progressively worse the farther you go.
The original plan had been to make second and maybe third dives along the north wall toward the dam, possibly in Governor's Cove. Well, the wind had kicked up by afternoon, and we didn't really want to fight the whitecaps, nor did we think the wind would have let us moor where we wanted. That's the only reason we stayed in the Gates. We didn't get a chance to check out Todd's set-up at PK...that was another slight disappointment.
All in all, it was a fun, relaxed day of diving. Sure, it wasn't what we expected, but we made the most of it. Hopefully, we'll get back out there once more before it turns cold. We'll try to find some clearer water then.
