PNW Tides and Currents

[Uncle Pug]

The one time I did Agate Pass we were really flying. We did it from a live boat at max ebb. I don't know what the current flow was that day but the bottom seemed very regular and the flow was quite laminar.

At one point I saw a buried tire sticking up a bit from the bottom and grabbed onto it thinking I could stop for a bit. The tire just joined me for the ride.

We ended up out in the middle of Port Madison and caught a ride back to the pass from a salmon fisherman. Our *live boat* driver was dutifully waiting 1/4 mile South of the bridge where he had put us in.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The first time I did Agate Pass the current was estimated between 3.5 and 4 knots. I was diving with a guy who wanted to take video. Before the dive he said to me "I want you to do something cool for the camera." Yeah ... right. Personally I thought he was a bit nuts even bringing a camera on a dive like this. But he was a very experienced diver, and did quite OK.

Anyway, we were clocking along in fast-forward when I saw something interesting on the bottom ahead of me. Reaching down to pick it up I realized too late that it was attached ... and not going anywhere. Before I could even react to let go the current flipped me fins-up and over ... I somersaulted a time or two before managing to right myself in the current. When I got recombobulated I looked for my buddy and he was giving me a big OK sign with a HUGE grin on his face. He got it on video ... so I pretended later that I did it on purpose ...

Personally, in that much current I can't do much more than hang on for the ride ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Snowbear]

Agate Pass sounds like a hoot! Mind if I tag along next time?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Agate Pass sounds like a hoot! Mind if I tag along next time?

Next time you're down let's get OE2X to take us out there in his boat. It's a relatively short dive, and you can get in lots of "rides" through the passage ... it's shallow, and on a good current only about a half-hour ride. I've done as many as five dives in a day there (avg. about 30-35 minutes).

It's where I've experienced my strongest-ever current ... about six knots. That's FLYING ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[eponym]

It's where I've experienced my strongest-ever current ... about six knots. That's FLYING ...

Indeed. Had an Aldabra drift dive last Feb. on an incoming tide, diving the passage that leads to the interior of the atoll. At five knots (measured by the hand on our zodiac) We were flying!