I wasn't able to get out to a quarry this weekend and wanted to dive, so I decided to drive up to Kent Island. It was a chilly morning (23* on the dash when I fired the truck up), but it was approaching 40* by the time I made it to the dive shop.
I got there early and hung out with Brad, discussed gear (I needed a flashlight), and he topped off my tank while we waited for the other divers to arrive.
I was impressed with the boat. It was my first boat dive and I found getting my gear situated to be easy enough. It has a nice ladder and benches.
By the time we got to the dock and headed out on the water, it had warmed up a bit and it was clear that it was going to be a nice day. The picture below was taken on the way to the dive site.
The water temperature was 54*. With a 5mm suit, hood, gloves, and boots...I was plenty warm enough though. The visibility was less than ideal at 4'. There was also a "moderate" current at and near the surface. The current didn't seem bad at depth.
I managed to go through my tank quicker than I was expecting. I assume that was due to having to exert myself on more than a couple occasions dealing with the current.
The maximum depth for the dive was 19' with 16' my average. As expected, with 4' visibility, I didn't see much. I was doing good just to keep track of the DM/dive buddy (below). In similar conditions...I'll have to work better next time to stay next to a dive buddy, rather than trailing.
One interesting thing I saw after going back through my poor quality/shaky GoPro footage (
I left the camera running and didn't hold it) is that it looked like I passed by a stingray (or something similar in appearance). The GF was making fun of me while I was looking over the video and asking if she saw it..."you sound like one of those ghost hunter shows."
Below is what may or may not be a stingray.
Brad said that they'd most likely hit a different site next weekend, so I'm looking forward to checking that one out. They were upfront that the visibility can be a bit hit or miss. ex. The site that we hit can vary from what I saw to 10'+.
For my first boat dive...I'll say that it was a learning experience. I did a LOT of research online to see what I should and shouldn't bring. I thought I had done a good job of cutting down what I was planning on bringing, but from the experience of hauling the stuff onto the boat and having to sort through items post-dive...I can see that there's some room for improvement.
ex. Dive gear. I had a big/clunky GoPro housing with filters. For a shallow dive, the basic housing (less than 1/3 of the weight) would have been just fine. That and ditch the backpack LCD screen.
I'm looking forward to getting back out there with Brad's crew next weekend. Hopefully with a bit less current and a bit more visibility.
