DaleC
Contributor
Dove Skaha lake last week and finally explored the Kaleden area. From looking at the bathymetric maps I thought there might be a worthwhile wall there and was eager to explore; but it turned out to be a steeply sloping sterile sand bottom with not even old bottles to see. The vis at depth was 5-8'. I also dove along the littoral zone at the north end of the lake (shallow sloping bottom) and while it was a sterile bottom as well, there were a number of fish species to keep me interested. I had much more fun though, freediving with my vintage gear.
Looking for a fill I discovered there is no shop in Penticton so it was off to the Kelowna area. Once there I got a nasty shock. It appears that shops in the region won't fill 6351 alloy tanks. Rather than get into a rant about the real (rather than the stated) reason for this I will instead shout out a big thanks to Sheldon Boyd at Serpent Aquatics in Westbank. Not only did he help me (unlike another unnamed shop) after I explained my tanks are eddy tested during each annual vis he also did so after my name didn't show up in the PADI online registry. Sheldon struck me as a divers diver who didn't want to leave a diver f...ed on his vacation and his willingness to be flexable saved the rest of my diving for me.
So some lessons I learned on this trip:
Don't trust PADI - take your c card.
Don't expect fills for 6351 tanks in the OK corridor.
Sheldon is a nice guy.
Looking for a fill I discovered there is no shop in Penticton so it was off to the Kelowna area. Once there I got a nasty shock. It appears that shops in the region won't fill 6351 alloy tanks. Rather than get into a rant about the real (rather than the stated) reason for this I will instead shout out a big thanks to Sheldon Boyd at Serpent Aquatics in Westbank. Not only did he help me (unlike another unnamed shop) after I explained my tanks are eddy tested during each annual vis he also did so after my name didn't show up in the PADI online registry. Sheldon struck me as a divers diver who didn't want to leave a diver f...ed on his vacation and his willingness to be flexable saved the rest of my diving for me.
So some lessons I learned on this trip:
Don't trust PADI - take your c card.
Don't expect fills for 6351 tanks in the OK corridor.
Sheldon is a nice guy.
