Well its been 150 dives since my last confession. . .
Yes I've been diving, travelling, photographing. . . just not blogging. I am ashamed. Good intentions, I'll try to make up for it. Frustratingly I had to take approximately 3 months off to recover from cold/sinus problems in January but I think all is back on track. Here we go yet again. . .
Spent the weekend up at Abyssal Dive Lodge on Quadra Island with a group of divers from Dive & Sea Sports. . . Barry, Muzza, Joey, Mike S., Dana, Mitch, Greig, Cory, Mike J., Cindy, Tim, Andrew, George & me. A couple years back we got into the bad habit of taking Friday off work and getting in the water by noon. This way we can get as many dives in as safely possible. I did 8.
DAY 1
Steep Island (12:00) - known for its huge clusters of feather duster tube worms. Its a nice dive site with sloping walls & scattered bolders covered with the Campbell River signature strawberry anemones. The current scoots you along as you watch the colourful show go by. Plenty of kelp greenlings & rockfish. A few small ling cod.
Grouse Island (3:00) - This dive was not at slack tide. This site is one that you can sneak in on while the current is still running as long as you stay close to the wall. We got dropped in the kelp and had to do a quick descent so as not to get pulled away from the island. A few minutes into this dive Mike S. spotted a small wolfeel tucked in a den. It cooperated nicely for a few pictures. Also saw a nice big cabezon blending in with its surroundings. I'm sure I miss dozens of critters because of their camo. I really enjoyed my safety stop on this dive, relaxing in the kelp & taking photos.
Row and be damned (7:00)- I think this is one of my favourite sites. Tons of rock fish, accepting of us being in their neighbourhood, calmly finned around their territory. I found a decorator warbonnet! He was tucked into a crack surrounded by sponge. Tough to get a pic but I got one, my first worthwhile photo of this critter. Carpets of strawberry anemones & sponge & barnacles cover the boulders & short walls.
Because we met Earl & Bill at the boats on the docks at Campbell River, we headed back there after our last dive. Had a Chinese dinner at Best Wok (really good) and then caught the 10:30 ferry over to Quadra island. Phew, a long & fun day.
DAY 2
Middle of the Road (7:00) - An early dive, and it showed by a lack of alertness as everyone seemed have some minor faux pas of some sort including jumping in without fins! Talk about eager. This dive for me personally was cut a bit short. George had to do an underwater repair on his fin strap, then my light died, camera didnt want to cooperate and my mask had an irritating trickling flood going on and the current was stronger than what I wanted to contend with on these circumstances. Normally this is a fave. . . thankfully we did it again.
Seymour Basin - This was plan B. We were originally at Copper Cliffs but the current didnt seem to relax so we opted for a sheltered area. Past the Seymour Narrows is a small bay. It was mostly a sandy bay that had some interesting short walls. Muzza found a Sailfin sculpin under a rock. I didn't take the camera this dive but wish I had as I saw some different pretty little starry shaped anemones in bright white & some pale purples. Also a type of tube worm with a huge beautiful fan.
Tied up at the wreck of the Columbia, just for lunch, not a dive, then continue back over to Copper Cliffs.
Copper Cliffs - A huge, steep wall is the majority of this dive. Me & my buddy Joey zipped along the wall in the current. This is a great place to see many different types of nudibranchs. Orange peel, cockerllis dorids, opalescent, leopards, & lemons. This site also has a small patch of cloud sponge under a ledge in about 16 ft of water, which is unusually shallow. At the end of the dive we worked our way up a boulder field & explored in the shallows. Saw big abalone with a huge ol' barnacle living on it.
The forth dive of the day I opted out, unfortunately & it was a good one at Row & Be Damned again. Most divers saw a nice big octopus & grunt sculpins.
DAY 3
Middle of the Road - (7:30) A nice dive, timing was great & current carried us up, out to the wall & back to where we dropped in. A beautiful site, lots of colour, red irish lords, anemones, sponges & giant barnacles.
April Point - (2:30) Kept this dive shallow & short as currents were strong. Had to descend along the kelp so we didnt drift off too far. We didnt venture to far & didnt see as much of this site this time.
All in all it was a good weekend, with 14 happy divers. Dana got the record of logging 10 dives this trip! As per usual, everything at Abyssal Dive Lodge, the accomodations, meals, boats & dives were all great. I was under the weather a bit, now have a cold coming on. NOOOOOOOO! I can't get sick & miss more diving again. Will keep posted. . . really!
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