Claudette and I hosted a couple of dives for our new friends Ligersandtions (Nicole and Stephen... or would that be Sticole and Neven?)
We met at Vets at 7:30 AM on Saturday, and arrived to Lake Pacific. We yacked a bit, developed a dive plan, geared up and stepped into the pool.
DIVE 1
After our Seattle entry we kicked out a bit and dropped into about 15 feet. I left my camera and scooter on the shore (which is cheating enough) but to be met by the lake was just too much.
I loved it.
We kicked out to the Salad Bowl and began the grand tour. We were soon met by all manner of octo, sarky, a tiny black dorid, and all manner of the Vet Spark regulars.
It was a lovely dive. So clear - we dropped to about 80 for a bit, came back up and felt the warm embrace that only Vets delivers as you slowly leave the canyon and emerge onto the flats into the bathwater.
We hung out and decided that it was so nice, lets dive it twice!
DIVE 2
I rigged up the deathstar and took it into the second dive - which was a few hundred yards north, down the middle stairs (more towards the pier.)
Vets is a very different place on its north side. A little more rugged, a steeper slope, less of a sand flat, and the water isn't as clear, it gets colder faster - I like it more than the trail more taken to the south.
We walked in through another challenging Seattle entry - although the wind had picked up and there was a steady 4" surface chop....
We drop and commence the fun. More of the usual suspects. Lots of teeny kelp fish, we saw a 1/2" baby sheephead (at Vets??) and zillions of skeleton shrimp. Claudette watched a UFC Cage Brawl betweet a pair of pint-sized pugilists. It was pretty funny.
I got some neat shots of Octos and Sarky's in the trash. BE CAREFUL and don't remove stuff from the water - I'm telling you - every open space has something living in it.
Nicole and Stephen represented everything I love about young new divers. They are enthusiastic, fit, wide-eyed in this new environment, open to new things, they are honing their online Scuba BS-o-meter, tossing out half the crapola they read and actually, you know, DIVING. Most of all, they MAKE time to dive and don't just FIND time to dive. They are on a great road, and I'm pleased to have dived with both of them.
Afterwards we lunched, laughed and left.
Great half-day. Thanks a ton Nicole and Stephen. You guys rock. I would be pleased to dive with you again any time.
Chica - you are still the apex buddy. Everyone else can just stand down.
Some shots from dive two. Click on the bar at the top of the shot to see the full sized 1200 px wide) version.
Enjoy.
---
Ken
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarky in a wavy turban shell. No biggie - you see these all over Vets. But this guy brought in a Pillow! Check the shell in the shell that he's leaning against! (OK - it was likely the home of an Octo before this guy, but you gotta love he has a pillow and an Anemone night light...)
Octo in an Energy Drink can - check the Nudi eggs on the pull tab. Octo's live in nearly everything at Vets. DO NOT REMOVE THE "TRASH"
Octo Mas Fina - this corona bottle probably hit the sand a day or two ago, as its so clean. Except for the Nudi eggs on the bottom, there isn't much on it. But there is an Octo inside it, peeking out at me
Sarky in bottle - this bottle was laying flat on the sand, but it was on a little overhang - so I was able to get on my belly and get a straight-on shot of this silly guy poking out of his home. Guess there wasn't a wavy turban shell around, or else maybe he wanted the long house... Its all about the blue tongue.
Octo in Broken Bottle - even the broken bottles are homes to the critters at Vets. At the top of the bottle, you'll see a little notch out of the glass. The light from my strobe shined through the notch to offer some illumination to the amazing skin on this Octo. I love these guys so much
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
We met at Vets at 7:30 AM on Saturday, and arrived to Lake Pacific. We yacked a bit, developed a dive plan, geared up and stepped into the pool.
DIVE 1
After our Seattle entry we kicked out a bit and dropped into about 15 feet. I left my camera and scooter on the shore (which is cheating enough) but to be met by the lake was just too much.
I loved it.
We kicked out to the Salad Bowl and began the grand tour. We were soon met by all manner of octo, sarky, a tiny black dorid, and all manner of the Vet Spark regulars.
It was a lovely dive. So clear - we dropped to about 80 for a bit, came back up and felt the warm embrace that only Vets delivers as you slowly leave the canyon and emerge onto the flats into the bathwater.
We hung out and decided that it was so nice, lets dive it twice!
DIVE 2
I rigged up the deathstar and took it into the second dive - which was a few hundred yards north, down the middle stairs (more towards the pier.)
Vets is a very different place on its north side. A little more rugged, a steeper slope, less of a sand flat, and the water isn't as clear, it gets colder faster - I like it more than the trail more taken to the south.
We walked in through another challenging Seattle entry - although the wind had picked up and there was a steady 4" surface chop....
We drop and commence the fun. More of the usual suspects. Lots of teeny kelp fish, we saw a 1/2" baby sheephead (at Vets??) and zillions of skeleton shrimp. Claudette watched a UFC Cage Brawl betweet a pair of pint-sized pugilists. It was pretty funny.
I got some neat shots of Octos and Sarky's in the trash. BE CAREFUL and don't remove stuff from the water - I'm telling you - every open space has something living in it.
Nicole and Stephen represented everything I love about young new divers. They are enthusiastic, fit, wide-eyed in this new environment, open to new things, they are honing their online Scuba BS-o-meter, tossing out half the crapola they read and actually, you know, DIVING. Most of all, they MAKE time to dive and don't just FIND time to dive. They are on a great road, and I'm pleased to have dived with both of them.
Afterwards we lunched, laughed and left.
Great half-day. Thanks a ton Nicole and Stephen. You guys rock. I would be pleased to dive with you again any time.
Chica - you are still the apex buddy. Everyone else can just stand down.
Some shots from dive two. Click on the bar at the top of the shot to see the full sized 1200 px wide) version.
Enjoy.
---
Ken
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarky in a wavy turban shell. No biggie - you see these all over Vets. But this guy brought in a Pillow! Check the shell in the shell that he's leaning against! (OK - it was likely the home of an Octo before this guy, but you gotta love he has a pillow and an Anemone night light...)
Octo in an Energy Drink can - check the Nudi eggs on the pull tab. Octo's live in nearly everything at Vets. DO NOT REMOVE THE "TRASH"
Octo Mas Fina - this corona bottle probably hit the sand a day or two ago, as its so clean. Except for the Nudi eggs on the bottom, there isn't much on it. But there is an Octo inside it, peeking out at me
Sarky in bottle - this bottle was laying flat on the sand, but it was on a little overhang - so I was able to get on my belly and get a straight-on shot of this silly guy poking out of his home. Guess there wasn't a wavy turban shell around, or else maybe he wanted the long house... Its all about the blue tongue.
Octo in Broken Bottle - even the broken bottles are homes to the critters at Vets. At the top of the bottle, you'll see a little notch out of the glass. The light from my strobe shined through the notch to offer some illumination to the amazing skin on this Octo. I love these guys so much
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