Where did you solo dive today?

[Cthippo]

August 22nd, Different spot in Lake Whatcom.

I was going to make my next dive my first dive on the Charlotte, the tugboat sunk in North Bay, but I just came off 10 days straight at work and am still recovering, so decided to go for something easier. Instead, I hit another spot on South Bay to check out a rumor of railroad rail dumped there from a previous logging camp that once existed on the lake. I didn't find any rails, but there are massive tree trunks cut off square indicating that there was indeed at least a log dump there historically. Following around the lake I saw...a whole lot of nothing. Flat silty bottom with the occasional golf ball. I got turned around, but followed my compass south until the bottom started rising, did my safety stop, and came up about 50 yards from where I splashed.

On the minus side, the seal on my GoPro failed and the case flooded. it is diving in rice now and we will know if it survived in about 48 hours. I'm honestly glad I didn't do the Charlotte because if I had lost footage of my first dive on it I would be pissed.

29 minutes in the water with a max depth of 38 feet, 2240 PSI start, 730 finish.

 

[Boarderguy]

On the minus side, the seal on my GoPro failed and the case flooded. it is diving in rice now and we will know if it survived in about 48 hours. I'm honestly glad I didn't do the Charlotte because if I had lost footage of my first dive on it I would be pissed.

Check out go pro subscription. $25 - $50 a year based on the discount you get. You get up to 2 or 3 no questions asked replacements per year of your registered go pro. You might lose the card but the videos will be there. With the subscription all your videos automatically upload to their cloud as soon as you plug in the go pro. I do that as soon as I get home from a dive and by the time I finish cleaning my gear the majority of videos are ready to view and edit.

 

[Cthippo]

Interesting. I run old Hero 2s because the battery BacPac accessory gives me almost 3 hour run times and they are available on the second hand market for under $50 apiece. I suspect they don't offer it on older models, but something to look into.

 

[Boarderguy]

It's good for the 7 hero and up. Costco in our area has the 10 on sale for 375 ish with 2 batteries and all the extra crap.

 

[scubadada]

I've been on Bonaire since last Wednesday. This morning I did two boat dives with my wife, my daughter, and her boyfriend. It was very windy, seas were rough, current was brisk, visibility was not stellar.

Nobody wanted to dive after lunch, so I did a solo dive on Bari Reef. The wind had died down, there was no current, visibility was around 60 feet. I watched 4 Yellowhead Jawfish in the shallows for a few minutes and then descended to the base of the reef at 115 feet. I slowly ascended on the reef to about 60 feet and cruised north until I got to about a half tank. I ended up somewhere in the northern part of the Buddy Dive Reef and saw their coral growing trees on the way back and some of their boats moored overhead. I returned at about 30 feet, stopping to see my friend, the yellow Frogfish and to watch a huge school of Horse-Eye Jack. All the usual reef fish were out in numbers as well as several Goldentail and Spotted Morays. There are few dives on Bonaire with greater diversity and numbers of fish than Bari Reef has on an average day.

Maximum depth was 115 ft, average depth 43 feet, dive time 95 min. I was never closer to NDL than 16-17 min during the deepest part of the dive. I started the dive with 3190 psi and ended with 328 psi, just under 74 cu ft of gas from an AL80. My surfacing GF was only 34% and my RMV was 0.33 cu ft/min.

This was a very relaxing dive. I dive by myself all the time in Florida, but rarely have the opportunity during family vacations. It doesn't get a whole lot better than this

 

[FF / EMT]

Solo dove/ dived Saturday and Sunday.

 

[Cthippo]

Finally made it out to the Charlotte and ... wow.

I've developed several generations of underwater cameras on this wreck, and even snorkeled it, but none of that prepared me for actually diving it. First off, she is bigger than I anticipated, and much beamier, and secondly, the slope she is on is a LOT steeper than I understood. Hovering on the bottom looking up at 20 feet of hull looming over you is just amazing. I also finally know that the square metal thing is sadly not the boiler, but the fuel tank sitting there on the bottom.

If I had to give you a list of reasons why I learned to dive, this wreck would be on it.

24 minute dive, 39 feet max depth, 2100 lbs start, 1160 finish. Vis was up to 20 feet

​

 

[Boarderguy]

Redondo shallow line yesterday just to tool around and not be bothered by others. Ended the dive because my bladder didn't feel like playing nice anymore and decided it was time to go up. Start 3348, end 1368 on my 119. Pony stayed at 3300 ish. 48 min dive, max depth 57, avg 39. Yes I'm an air hog.

 

[matt_yates]

This summer I made my yearly solo trip to the west coast of Scotland diving in different sea lochs as they took my fancy or to avoid other divers. So after packing the pick up, with camping gear and enough cylinders for 3 days it was time to go. The first couple of days was around Arrochar a tiny village an hour north of Glasgow. This used to be a torpedo range, there are still bits of torpedo laying on the sea bed. The weather for late summer / autumn wasn't too bad I could still wear shorts and a hoodie most days and no midges either. Was comfortable enough to camp every night, so on to the diving.

Day 1 Dive 1. Conger Alley Lovely dive and for the first time in ages actually saw the conger eels. Vis was a good 5m.

Day 1 Dive 2. A Frames (Finnart) Nice deep dive on the old pier wreckage which is covered in fan worms and seal loch anemones

Day 2 Dive 3. Seal Reef A new site to me this time a little further north than day 1 and a different Loch. A boulder reef provides home to lots of Squat lobsters great for taking photos. This was the second site I visited to avoid other divers, I only just got there in time as 5 minutes later a whole convoy of divers arrived. Fortunately I was able to get in and have a good hour before they descended. Definitely one to do again.

Day 2 Dive 4. Twin Piers, love this dive from the bits of old truck to the remains of a fishing trawler all covered in anemones and other soft corals. again I had the site to myself.

On day three it was time to repack the truck and head further north to Oban and pop into Puffin Divers to use their self service filling station. Why there cant be more of these I dont know, its like an air vending station, just connect your cylinder put in some cash and off you go. The next destination was to camp in Glencoe another tiny village. Still camping but a bit cooler.

Day 3 Dive 5, Creagan Inn, A great shallow site and if you stick to the wall you should avoid the worst of any tidal current which can be fierce under the bridge over the narrows. A great site for hermit crabs and star fish.

Day 3 Dive 6 Sound of Shuna, not the best dive of the trip, the animals I wanted to see here - weren't. - Off to the pub then, horrible wet night so sat by the log fire - much better!

Day 4 Dive 7 Carnoch Bay, A fantastic dive, after the long walk to get in, straight down the wall to 20m lots of fish, sea loch anemones, amazing vis a great dive.

Day 4 Dive 8, Manse Point, Starfish! there must be millions of brittle stars on this site. the wall is crawling with them, anything that sits still is covered in them. A reliably good dive, despite not being too far from the earlier dive the vis wasnt as good.

I love diving the Lochs its so easy, I have been going each year for 10 years or so and havent lost a days diving to bad weather yet, at worst you just jump in the truck and find somewhere a bit more sheltered. The dives this week were mostly 20 to 30m and an hours duration. Vis remained good between 5 and 10m. And I took far too many photos.

matt yates’s albums | Flickr

www.flickr.com

Thanks for looking and reading

 

[Wathdoc]

This summer I made my yearly solo trip to the west coast of Scotland diving in different sea lochs as they took my fancy or to avoid other divers. So after packing the pick up, with camping gear and enough cylinders for 3 days it was time to go. The first couple of days was around Arrochar a tiny village an hour north of Glasgow. This used to be a torpedo range, there are still bits of torpedo laying on the sea bed. The weather for late summer / autumn wasn't too bad I could still wear shorts and a hoodie most days and no midges either. Was comfortable enough to camp every night, so on to the diving.

Day 1 Dive 1. Conger Alley Lovely dive and for the first time in ages actually saw the conger eels. Vis was a good 5m.

Day 1 Dive 2. A Frames (Finnart) Nice deep dive on the old pier wreckage which is covered in fan worms and seal loch anemones

Day 2 Dive 3. Seal Reef A new site to me this time a little further north than day 1 and a different Loch. A boulder reef provides home to lots of Squat lobsters great for taking photos. This was the second site I visited to avoid other divers, I only just got there in time as 5 minutes later a whole convoy of divers arrived. Fortunately I was able to get in and have a good hour before they descended. Definitely one to do again.

Day 2 Dive 4. Twin Piers, love this dive from the bits of old truck to the remains of a fishing trawler all covered in anemones and other soft corals. again I had the site to myself.

On day three it was time to repack the truck and head further north to Oban and pop into Puffin Divers to use their self service filling station. Why there cant be more of these I dont know, its like an air vending station, just connect your cylinder put in some cash and off you go. The next destination was to camp in Glencoe another tiny village. Still camping but a bit cooler.

Day 3 Dive 5, Creagan Inn, A great shallow site and if you stick to the wall you should avoid the worst of any tidal current which can be fierce under the bridge over the narrows. A great site for hermit crabs and star fish.

Day 3 Dive 6 Sound of Shuna, not the best dive of the trip, the animals I wanted to see here - weren't. - Off to the pub then, horrible wet night so sat by the log fire - much better!

Day 4 Dive 7 Carnoch Bay, A fantastic dive, after the long walk to get in, straight down the wall to 20m lots of fish, sea loch anemones, amazing vis a great dive.

Day 4 Dive 8, Manse Point, Starfish! there must be millions of brittle stars on this site. the wall is crawling with them, anything that sits still is covered in them. A reliably good dive, despite not being too far from the earlier dive the vis wasnt as good.

I love diving the Lochs its so easy, I have been going each year for 10 years or so and havent lost a days diving to bad weather yet, at worst you just jump in the truck and find somewhere a bit more sheltered. The dives this week were mostly 20 to 30m and an hours duration. Vis remained good between 5 and 10m. And I took far too many photos.

matt yates’s albums | Flickr

www.flickr.com

Thanks for looking and reading

I fully agree, the sea lochs are fantastic, but I have not been in three years. You can always get a dive