Shasta_man
Contributor
Yourr thoughts are clear but your image is a bit distorted... 
Where did I go with my force fins?
- Thread starter Soakedlontra
- Start date
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Bob Evans
Contributor
Shasta-man, I like the "Francis Bacon" image, but part of my plan is to lose gravity and become distorted.
It looks like that your new cylinder is working fine! You are all set now to dive with dolphins!
I like distortions alla Francis Bacon . The ones created by water are definitively more cheerful, though.
The Northwest Dive News Magazine has published my article about diving with Orange Sea Pens at Possession Beach Waterfront Park! It's in the September issue
(The other day I saw a whale breaching at West Beach-it must have been a gray, definetively it was not an orca- for the first time in 6 years! I hoped that she would be a harbinger of good news...and Bingo!
Soakedlontra,
Congratulations on geting your wonderful story in Northwest Dive News! Great to hear you are reading the signs of nature and interpret the harbinger of good news.
Bob, Can't tell you how happy I am to see you getting distorted underwater in your pool!
Soon I imagine I will see you doing the same thing in the harbor when I am working. Bob there is always an extra hose waiting for you to drift off into the mud, pilings and fields of Tunicates and Nudibranchs that can be found.
sambolino44
Contributor
Sunday did not greet us with the same cheery sun my birthday was blessed with; it was cool and gray. Earlier we'd thought that we'd forgotten the camp stove, but that was not the case. However, this morning we discovered that we had no matches or lighter to ignite the stove, so it's off to town for breakfast. After a false start at a coffee shop with traditional fare and burnt-tasting coffee, we found a funky little place on a side street in the main part of town; the Owl Spirit Cafe. I knew better than to have biscuits and gravy for breakfast on a dive day, and even though it tasted good, I paid for it later. Betty did much better with her Portobello mushroom sandwich grilled on an open fire out on the porch.
After some discussion, we decided to go the easy route and see if we could get back to that Giant Pacific Octopus we'd seen yesterday. After all that talk about endless possibilities and adventure, we ended up doing only three dives, and all at the same location. And you know what? I don't care! I had a great time, we used a lot less gasoline, and like most good dive sites, I could dive there another twenty times and still not see it all. So, back to the barge it was.
Even though we'd parked closer to the dive site the second time, we figured out that we still had to lug all our stuff to the shower afterward, so why not park close to it? Amazingly, we found a spot right where we needed it, and once again geared up at our car. Just as we were locking up the car a family pulled into the spot next to us. The adults explained to the curious youngsters that we were about to go underwater, and that all that funny-looking gear was to help us breathe down there. The most curious of the kids, a little girl about five or so, asked what we see down there, so I had to mention the Giant Pacific Octopus. Her eyes widened at my gesticulations representing the size of its suckers and tentacles. Then they took off to explore the land, and we the sea.
This time our plan was a bit more focused, and we got lucky with the current. I say lucky because our tide and current prediction charts weren't accurate enough to let us know exactly what to expect, as if we could ever hit the water at our planned time anyway. So we went directly to the barge, and back to the GPO we'd seen yesterday, only this time it was sleeping. Still fascinating to watch, though.
Unfortunately, before we got there, Betty showed me her camera housing; half full of water! Horrors! For an instant I had the brilliant idea to hold it lens down, so all the water would collect in the port and keep the camera dry. It didn't take very long to realize how futile that would be; it was already soaked. Que sera sera; no reason to call the dive over a camera that's too far gone to save; we headed down.
Once we got there, and saw that our main subject was slumbering, thus not really the best photo subject, we just started looking around the area for other interesting things, and there were plenty. Betty found a grunt sculpin nearby and I started taking photos and videos of it. This one was by far the largest I've ever seen; I didn't even know they got that big. It must have been almost as big as my hand. After I got my fill of that, we went over to the barge, where my spotter found a decorated warbonnet poking its head out of its hidey-hole. The ribs of that structure on both sides, covered with plumose anemones, and the whole area filled with loitering rockfish of all types (including a vermilion) make for a magical environment. Plus the visibility was the best of the whole trip; must have been thirty feet! All in all it was a fantastic dive.
After the customary post-dive race to the bathroom, and a freshwater gear rinse (and emptying of the sad camera housing), we packed all that stuff back into our tiny car one more time. Lo and behold, that family we'd talked to earlier was returning to their car, and this time the little girl had a question for me, "Would you show us your octopus pictures?" Of course I would! I quickly removed the camera from the housing and pulled up the video I'd taken the day before, where the octopus was probing and exploring with its tentacles. Just as playing your guitar in your bedroom is fun, but getting that response from the audience is really what it's all about, watching that little girl squeal with delight and fascination as the video showed that octopus curling and stretching its tentacles toward the camera really made my day.
Who knows? Maybe another diver is born!
We had a final picnic celebration at the table overlooking the dive site as another group of divers was suiting up nearby with watermelon that had been soaking in the cooler all weekend. After that it was back to the ferry-boat queue for another no-reservation marathon. Once we knew we'd eventually get on a boat, we were free to roam the town one last time. We found another out-of-the-way place, the Upstage Restaurant, for a quick refreshment, this time accompanied by live music. A perfect way to round out the weekend before returning to the rock house to rinse, soak, hang, and re-charge. Now if I'm lucky I'll get those photos and videos edited before my next birthday!
After some discussion, we decided to go the easy route and see if we could get back to that Giant Pacific Octopus we'd seen yesterday. After all that talk about endless possibilities and adventure, we ended up doing only three dives, and all at the same location. And you know what? I don't care! I had a great time, we used a lot less gasoline, and like most good dive sites, I could dive there another twenty times and still not see it all. So, back to the barge it was.
Even though we'd parked closer to the dive site the second time, we figured out that we still had to lug all our stuff to the shower afterward, so why not park close to it? Amazingly, we found a spot right where we needed it, and once again geared up at our car. Just as we were locking up the car a family pulled into the spot next to us. The adults explained to the curious youngsters that we were about to go underwater, and that all that funny-looking gear was to help us breathe down there. The most curious of the kids, a little girl about five or so, asked what we see down there, so I had to mention the Giant Pacific Octopus. Her eyes widened at my gesticulations representing the size of its suckers and tentacles. Then they took off to explore the land, and we the sea.
This time our plan was a bit more focused, and we got lucky with the current. I say lucky because our tide and current prediction charts weren't accurate enough to let us know exactly what to expect, as if we could ever hit the water at our planned time anyway. So we went directly to the barge, and back to the GPO we'd seen yesterday, only this time it was sleeping. Still fascinating to watch, though.
Unfortunately, before we got there, Betty showed me her camera housing; half full of water! Horrors! For an instant I had the brilliant idea to hold it lens down, so all the water would collect in the port and keep the camera dry. It didn't take very long to realize how futile that would be; it was already soaked. Que sera sera; no reason to call the dive over a camera that's too far gone to save; we headed down.
Once we got there, and saw that our main subject was slumbering, thus not really the best photo subject, we just started looking around the area for other interesting things, and there were plenty. Betty found a grunt sculpin nearby and I started taking photos and videos of it. This one was by far the largest I've ever seen; I didn't even know they got that big. It must have been almost as big as my hand. After I got my fill of that, we went over to the barge, where my spotter found a decorated warbonnet poking its head out of its hidey-hole. The ribs of that structure on both sides, covered with plumose anemones, and the whole area filled with loitering rockfish of all types (including a vermilion) make for a magical environment. Plus the visibility was the best of the whole trip; must have been thirty feet! All in all it was a fantastic dive.
After the customary post-dive race to the bathroom, and a freshwater gear rinse (and emptying of the sad camera housing), we packed all that stuff back into our tiny car one more time. Lo and behold, that family we'd talked to earlier was returning to their car, and this time the little girl had a question for me, "Would you show us your octopus pictures?" Of course I would! I quickly removed the camera from the housing and pulled up the video I'd taken the day before, where the octopus was probing and exploring with its tentacles. Just as playing your guitar in your bedroom is fun, but getting that response from the audience is really what it's all about, watching that little girl squeal with delight and fascination as the video showed that octopus curling and stretching its tentacles toward the camera really made my day.
Who knows? Maybe another diver is born!
We had a final picnic celebration at the table overlooking the dive site as another group of divers was suiting up nearby with watermelon that had been soaking in the cooler all weekend. After that it was back to the ferry-boat queue for another no-reservation marathon. Once we knew we'd eventually get on a boat, we were free to roam the town one last time. We found another out-of-the-way place, the Upstage Restaurant, for a quick refreshment, this time accompanied by live music. A perfect way to round out the weekend before returning to the rock house to rinse, soak, hang, and re-charge. Now if I'm lucky I'll get those photos and videos edited before my next birthday!
OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
[vimeo]14958477[/vimeo]
sambolino44,
Happy Belated birthday! Sounds like a great time. Sorry to hear about the flood, but great to hear you made the most of the time underwater and had a birthday with a smile and some diving!
Soakedlontra,
Always great to dive with you guys through the videos, stories, photos and music. The water always looks fun and exciting. Go Pacific North West dive team!
Happy Belated birthday! Sounds like a great time. Sorry to hear about the flood, but great to hear you made the most of the time underwater and had a birthday with a smile and some diving!
Soakedlontra,
Always great to dive with you guys through the videos, stories, photos and music. The water always looks fun and exciting. Go Pacific North West dive team!
OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
Thanks Blair,
The flooded housing with the the canon A570 floating inside it was a very sad sight indeed...I could not believe it! Pathetically I tried to operate the buttons to take my first picture and nothing happened. Eventually I had to let sink in the realization that the camera was toasted to its death! To begin with I wanted to abort the dive, surface and take the memory card out of that useless camera so at least I would have saved the images that I had had taken the day earlier...Then I thought that it was not worth it spoiling the fun for Sam in that way. We were finally able to dive the barge without current and it would have been a shame to give it all up because of few pictures, we do not go diving at the barge of Port Townsend every day after all! Then I also realized that after soaking the S90 in a creek while backpacking and kept it like that for a couple of days and being able to recover the images in the memory card I wished for the best,changed my mind and kept diving. As you can see I was right. At the end of the dive I pulled out the memory card, let it dry and after Sam cleaned it I was able to upload the images to the computer.
The flooded camera is not the only photographic headache that we have been having lately...That's another story that you may read at:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ca...-shot-a570-worth-repairing-5.html#post5472697
post #49
In short we are now stuck with a camera whose housing and strobe light do not work and a functional housing without a camera...:depressed:
Good time to catch up with the lake-snorkeling-series!
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OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
When I came to WA for the first time in 2001 I worked for the Forest Service at Randal Ranger Station and lived in Packwood. On weekends I often hiked to Packwood Lake but I never snorkeled there. Last July I walked the four miles of Packwood Lake trail with a backpack, tent and a waterproof bag full of snorkeling gear. When I hiked back down balancing the bag between the backpack and my neck I felt as if I needed a chiropractor to straighten it up again.
This is my longest and more complicated video that I have created so far. As usual, keep the screen small otherwise it is very likely that you will see a lot of pixels!
shakehead
[vimeo]15176492[/vimeo]
This is my longest and more complicated video that I have created so far. As usual, keep the screen small otherwise it is very likely that you will see a lot of pixels!
shakehead[vimeo]15176492[/vimeo]
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Soakedlontra,
Thank you for sharing another great adventure with us!
Thank you for sharing another great adventure with us!
OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
You are welcome. I wish I could back in time and be there again! It is a really special place.
It was a real struggle to shoot those crayfishes. They were in shallow water and I was too light (I brought with me 2pounds only). I kept popping up to the surface like a cork. I also had to be careful with my fins, several times I could not avoid to turn the bottom into a cloud of silt.
The Salamander showed up out of the blue right when I was swimming back to my tent. It was a real blessing! In 6 years I have seen them only twice.
(One of these days I will have a decent HD video camera!)
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