Where did you solo dive today?

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

Monday, Aug 9th, I slipped beneath the Mill Pond, that was McKenzie Bight, Saanich Inlet, Vancouver Island, at 8:30pm. Dusk was upon me, as I descended. I decided to put my red spot lens in my Gobe 1000 and give it a go. The top 20', vis was 15'-20' in a light haze. The waining sunlight, filtered through the top layers, making it rather pleasant. Going deeper, the red light revealed the geography, with vis ranging closer to 40'-50' in a very light haze with occasional particulate. Confirmed when I occasionally turned my Sola 1200 on. I got down to 101', and the vis did not disappoint. A wonderful dive for my 1st Solo night dive.
Deepest 101', average depth 45", 41 min. 11C at depth, 16C-17C at the surface. Starting pressure: 3600psi (100cu HP Faber), ending pressure: 800 psi (after filling up drysuit). 30cu Catalina pony' starting and ending pressure: 3000psi.

 

[Cdncoldwater]

Monday, Aug 9th, I slipped beneath the Mill Pond, that was McKenzie Bight, Saanich Inlet, Vancouver Island, at 8:30pm. Dusk was upon me, as I descended. I decided to put my red spot lens in my Gobe 1000 and give it a go. The top 20', vis was 15'-20' in a light haze. The waining sunlight, filtered through the top layers, making it rather pleasant. Going deeper, the red light revealed the geography, with vis ranging closer to 40'-50' in a very light haze with occasional particulate. Confirmed when I occasionally turned my Sola 1200 on. I got down to 101', and the vis did not disappoint. A wonderful dive for my 1st Solo night dive.
Deepest 101', average depth 45", 41 min. 11C at depth, 16C-17C at the surface. Starting pressure: 3600psi (100cu HP Faber), ending pressure: 800 psi (after filling up drysuit). 30cu Catalina pony' starting and ending pressure: 3000psi.

That sounds awesome! The shore access sites I have rarely reach 60 feet depth and vis is, at best,15-20 feet on a really good day. Hoping the weather holds so I can get in a dive tomorrow.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

That sounds awesome! The shore access sites I have rarely reach 60 feet depth and vis is, at best,15-20 feet on a really good day. Hoping the weather holds so I can get in a dive tomorrow.[/QUOTE

The GUE and TDI guys can hit depths of 200 or more in the area.

 

[Cdncoldwater]

When you finish access to your dock, you solo scuba dive your cove!
Visibility was a solid 2-4 feet, no ambient light at 18 feet. A lot of dead fall trees (entanglement hazards) heavy silt bottom and fresh water clams. I saw one 10-11 inch small mouth bass and two 12-14 inch ones by my dock around 14-18 feet deep. Checked my moorings and shifted one it was upside down on a stump. It slid down a deadfall into silt at about 18 feet. Average depth was 15 feet deepest today was 22 feet, temperature was 21 Celsius (70F).
Interesting dive, plan to reel out to check depth in the future.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

Aug 11th, Willis Point is a wall dive in the Saanich Inlet, Vancouver Island. I entered the water, just after 5:30pm. Top 20', vis was 15'-20' in a light haze with suspended particulate. looking up, the surface was visible. Going deeper, it just got better. Horizontal vis, approaching 40' in a light suspended particulate, with lots of fried egg jellies around. Had to keep my eyes open in the distance, for long distance stingers. 76' was my deepest, over 45 min. Starting pressure was 3450 in my 100cu Faber, and ending pressure was 850 psi. 30cu pony started and ended with 3000psi.


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[Gandalf-the-Diver]

15th Aug, Henderson Point, Saanich Inlet, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. Terrible sleep the night before, prevented me from joining in my chosen dive shop's morning drop in dive. I chose to show up after the dive and see if anyone I know was doing two dives. All others were only there for one, so I contacted my son and filed my dive plan with him.
I jumped in, just after 1:35pm and descended. 20' down, horizontal vis around 10' - 15', but looking up, I could see the surface. A fine haze, limited vis till I got to around 65', where horizontal vis opened up to 40' - 50' ish.
The geography I was diving around became clearer to see, the deeper I went. Impressive rock face walls, for me to scour, looking for GPOs and Wolf Eels. Last visit here I saw a free swimming Wolf Eel that had to be 12' long. Other fish got out of it's way as it swam along. Not so lucky this dive.
Returning to my starting point, I popped my DSMB as I was rising into a thicker haze. Had a short 50 meter surface swim to get exactly back thanks to a very slight current.
Entered with 3600 psi (100cu Hp Faber) and climbed out with 500psi, after inflating my drysuit. Pony had 3000 psi to start, and I used the lp whip on it to launch my DSMB. Max depth was 81', avg depth 45'. Total dive time 47 min. Btm temp 13C, surface temp 16C.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

High Rocks on the Clackamas River, near Portland, Oregon.

IMG_0009 by John Ratliff, on Flickr
Smallmouth bass, I saw at least six today.

IMG_0002 by John Ratliff, on Flickr
Freshwater sponge, coating many of the bottom rocks.

Version 2 by John Ratliff, on Flickr
A crawdad on the bottom.

John & Mossback Mk 3-2 by John Ratliff, on Flickr
High Rocks on the Clackamas River.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

Aug 17th, Willis Point, Saanich Inlet, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. I entered the water at 4:49pm, the tide was high. Dropped down at the 1st buoy to 20', and vis was around 15' in haze with particulate. Looking up, I could see the surface. Dropping down further, the particulate was abundant, with the haze layer of the shallows staying with me to 40'ish, where, the water was clear in between the particulate. Once below 60' the particulate was thinner and vis was closer to 30'-40' in my light. Looking up the wall, vis was 50'ish. Try as I might, I could not find any GPO dens today.
104' was my deepest, with an avg depth of 44ft, for a 42 min dive. Btm temp was 12C, surface temp, 16C. Starting pressure 3600 psi (100cu Faber), exiting pressure 800 psi. 30cu pony, starting pressure, 2900, ending 2900.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

Aug 18th, Willis Point, Saanich Inlet, "Dan's Dock", low tide
I was about to get kitted up at Willis Point, and one of the neighbors drove by. When he turned around he stopped and it was Dan, who said, "Mike, go ahead and use the dock.". Having done so in the past, I was not going to turn down diving at the cushiest site in the inlet.
Jumping off the end of the dock at 7:20am, the decent straight down to the 45' level and the edge of the wall had me going through a haze layer that allowed me to see the approaching btm from around 35'. Swimming down to 45'-50', I broke through the haze but there was still particulate, with clear water in between. I got down to 92', where vis was closer to 30'-40'. One could look straight up the wall to the edge. 54' avg depth over 41 min. No GPO dens were found.
Started with 3450 psi (100cu Faber) and ended with 950. Avg depth was 54' and a 41 min dive time. Btm temp, 11C, surface temp, 15C. 30cu pony started with 2900psi and ended with 2900 psi.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

Aug 22nd, McKenzie Bight, Saanich Inlet, Vancouver Island, B.C. I slipped beneath the surface, just after 3pm, haze and particulate in the top 30' limited vis to 15'. Once below that, suspended particulate remained to around 60', and below that, vis was only limited by a very fine haze. Vistas opened up, vis from 30' - 50'+, revealing the structure of the wall dive I was on.
Had a visit from a 4' Dogfish, who did a half circle around me, appearing to keep an eye on me, before moving away.
Got down to 100', where my light, shining on areas below me, showed pretty good vis, going deeper. I think the deep specialty might be in the future. A wonderful afternoon dive.
Entered the water with 3500 psi, exited with 500psi. (after fully filling my drysuit and bcd) pony had 2900 to start and finished with the same. Deepest was 100' with an average depth of 52', on a 47 min dive. Bottom temp was 11C while on the surface, 15C.