Where did you solo dive today?

[34109411]

Second dive of the year,

Dove yesterday in brockville ontario water temp was 59 air temp was 95 ! Overall a great day two dive at max depth of 30 feet stay down there for about 45 min ish, viz really good. On my second dive i was off about 100 yards from my exit point, for some reason i had trouble to keep my heading with the compass. No worries i knew where i was the shore line was right in front of me i was in 10 feet of water that time i was at 1475 psi i decide to slowly make my way up to the right direction and finally arrive at my exit point.

For that second day of diving i had a better feeling of my brand new rk3. I like them a lot i don't find them particularly heavy as other suggested. I also wear my dive helmet that i mount with two light (mainly for night diving).

I had time to play more with my mares quad air that i like a lot, but just discover the new sherwater peregrine TX with integrated compass. Oh my OH my what a beauty. I was wondering how a digital compass keep track of the north while following a heading i assume it's automatic and you don't have to adjust it or enter values ? (if it's clear).

It was also my first dive with my prescription lens in my mask wow really happy with that (but you could see i still get lost !!))) ) .

I had time to adjust my poney bottle compare to my last dive of may 26th, the income is great.

Again i truly believe that solo diving make you a better diver cause you rely on your self and your decision, no one else is there to influence you or to help you out obviously. You need to think before you act cause each move will have consequence on the outcome of the dive. On the part i didnt find my exit point on the first shot i was not "lost" properly speaking i took time to assess the situation i knew where i was and took it from there to make a safe exit witch i did going up at 1475 psi was enougt conservative for the moment i usally go up at 1200. (but because i was off that much from my entry point i decide to call it off, FYI i carry a 30 cf poney i had plenty off gas to face any situation).

i have 3 level of personal setting on the quad air, 1 being not at all, 2 being middle, and 3 very conservative i set it to 2 but will change to level 1 cause as soon as i go up a little it s say to fast and my NDL seem a bit short (maybe) anyway will set it to P1 next time. ( i dive master in belize told me once never go faster than the bubbles you make and you will be find. I always remember that one !)

Overall great dive, beginnig june 14 th i'am off each friday's til the end of august don't look for me on the ground !

Happy season to all of you and be safe.

 

[Cthippo]

Second dives of the year seems to be a thing today.

I was originally going to take the boat and go dive the new Bellingham bay wreck, but now I am glad I didn't. I remembered the boat still needs to be scrubbed out from when the tarp blew of it and I just didn't have the ambition to do that today, so instead I went out and dove of Taylor Street Dock. Clearly the alge bloom has begun because vis ranged from 6 inches to maybe 5 feet at the surface. A lot of braille diving, but did see some wildlife, including some HUGE sea stars and a few sea cucumbers.

Run time 45 minutes
Max depth 26 feet
Main tank 2250 start / 895 end
Pony 2500 / 2500
Water temp 55 deg F

 

[Wibble]

Was so looking forward to a dive on the "Twins", one of my favourite two-for-one dives in 35m/115ft to 50m/165ft of water in the English Channel where two ships collided and both sank.

Have dived them many times and it's a really good wreck dive.

The weather was glorious. Sunny without being baking hot; very little wind; flat calm sea. The boat was not full, only 5 divers out of 12 places, so plenty of space to spread out. Even the ropes-off time of 10:30 was pleasant, not having to get up at O'crack 'o sparrow...

Kit working well. On CCR so 35% helium of course. (Working) scooter in hand (it's a brilliant scootering dive!) and dropped in.

Ah, the "May Rot" is in full bloom. The annual algal bloom meant visibility on the dark wreck was 1m/3ft to 1.6m/5ft, i.e. complete crap through the snotty gunge. Just as well the scooter has a very slow speed!

Mooched along the smaller wreck from stem to stern -- the propeller's still in situ and the rudder's full hard to port where the skipper was obviously trying to get out of the way of the larger vessel.

Loads of life, but a very hard-to-like dive in the dark soup. Did 50ish mins plus an hour's deco where the vis improved to about 3m/10ft.

There's always later in the year...

 

[Cthippo]

Was so looking forward to a dive on the "Twins", one of my favourite two-for-one dives in 35m/115ft to 50m/165ft of water in the English Channel where two ships collided and both sank.

Have dived them many times and it's a really good wreck dive.

View attachment 842922​

The weather was glorious. Sunny without being baking hot; very little wind; flat calm sea. The boat was not full, only 5 divers out of 12 places, so plenty of space to spread out. Even the ropes-off time of 10:30 was pleasant, not having to get up at O'crack 'o sparrow...

Kit working well. On CCR so 35% helium of course. (Working) scooter in hand (it's a brilliant scootering dive!) and dropped in.

Ah, the "May Rot" is in full bloom. The annual algal bloom meant visibility on the dark wreck was 1m/3ft to 1.6m/5ft, i.e. complete crap through the snotty gunge. Just as well the scooter has a very slow speed!

Mooched along the smaller wreck from stem to stern -- the propeller's still in situ and the rudder's full hard to port where the skipper was obviously trying to get out of the way of the larger vessel.

Loads of life, but a very hard-to-like dive in the dark soup. Did 50ish mins plus an hour's deco where the vis improved to about 3m/10ft.

There's always later in the year...

I don't know where this is, but it just went on my bucket list!

 

[Wibble]

I don't know where this is, but it just went on my bucket list!

Twins, AKA Irisbrook & Ville de Bordeaux

WRECKSITE - IRISBROOK CARGO SHIP 1902-1911

IRISBROOK CARGO SHIP 1902-1911, wreck, wreck database

wrecksite.eu

 

[TMHeimer]

Indian Cove, NS. Found an unknown oyster-type shell. Not in my Maritime shell book. Once in a blue moon I can get a gem here in the North....

 

[Scubafitravers]

I love to solo dive off Mala Pier on Maui... Right off shore is very touristy but if you keep going out perpendicular to the shore line there are large chunks of reef throughout the sandy bits with a lot of really cool life and no one goes out there! There is an octopus out there that I love to sit and watch from afar.

 

[gmerick]

Two solo dives so far this weekend.
Salt River shore dive from Columbus Landing. Went out searching for the site of the 1970's HydroLab. My map showed it was at the 50 ft depth where the contour line hooked from NS to EW on the east side of the inlet. the map showed 5 navigation lines - the 50 ft contour on both east and west, and three diagonal rays from the HydroLab to the "bubbles" further north in the inlet. Good vis, minimal current from the river. No Hydrolab platform, no navigation lines, no survey stakes. Just a jumble of cement blocks where the map indicated HydroLab used to sit. I did tow a dive flag, as I had to cross the boat channel twice. No issues. 1:45 bottom time, 65' max depth.

Pelican Cove shore dive in front of "The Palms". There is a beach access road west of The Palms, next to the construction site for a new resort/condo on the cove. Good access for bringing a vehicle right down to high water line. Sandy entry. Today's ocean conditions were nearly flat. Easy swim out for the first 100 yards over a sand bottom, but then there is a wide shallow reef with no breaks. I switched to surface swim with snorkel. I found it is possible with sidemount to swim via frog kick in 16 inches or less of water. 5 minutes of careful navigation around coral outcroppings and I was past it. No tank bumps, no scratches on my skin. I did protect the coral, but this entry would not be possible with anything but absolute minimum swell. I reached 60 ft depth 18 minutes out from the shallow reef. At 60 feet, the coral spurs peter out into sand. I turned east, and did my usual half hour out at 55' and back at 35'. The dive was memorable for the coral spurs and abundance of reef fish, but it will probably be a long while before I repeat this one.
Critters: Larger Green Moray under a coral ledge.

 

[scubadada]

I had a very nice solo dive on the Castor in Boynton Beach, FL on May 22, the day before returning home. It was a beautiful sunny day with Starfish Scuba. Seas were 1-2 feet, water was 80 degrees, there was a modest south current and the visibility was 50-60 ft.

The line was on the bow, where there was a school of 8-10 large barracuda. There were only 3 big Goliath Grouper on the stern, the minimal current probably had more of them off the wreck. A huge school of Crevalle Jacks circled me for several minutes, beautiful silver reflecting the sunlight. There was also a large school of Bermuda Chub on the way back to the bow.

Max depth 103 ft, avg depth 72 ft, 32% AL80 2942-808 psi, 19 cu ft pony not used, dive time 50 min, surfacing GF 77%

 

[gmerick]

Today I was at North Star. Dive site has closest shore access to the St Croix wall. Entry is a short walk from the main road to a narrow shore covered in fist size rock. Parking sufficient for half dozen cars. Very easy entry today as wave heights were maybe 6 inches. Started the dive at 4 foot depth. 9 minute swim to where the wall begins at 30 foot depth. Immediately off-shore at North Star, the wall slopes at 60 degrees to neear vertical. There is a sand ledge at 80+ feet, but I didn't go there. Todays dive I turned west and remained slightly off and below the top of the wall. As I traveled west, the slope gradually flattened out. The slope was 20 degrees toward shore and 45 toward the deep. Remaining at the break, I was down to 70 feet when I turned the dive with NDL<5min.. Ascended to 35 feet, and reversed course over the spurs and sand channels until I got back to the near vertical slope, where I headed back to the car. Dive time: again 1:45.
Critters on the wall: nice crab with about an 8 inch body, Caribbean reef shark
Critters on the reef: Turtles and a whole boquet of reef fish.