For yesterday's dives I was "fortunate" enough, that one of the students from the shop managed to tear the zipper in the suit I normally wear, leading to it needing to be repaired and me borrowing the dreaded neoprene suit...lol. The last time I wore the Neoprene suit, back in my Advance Open water course way back in It's Dark... Very, Very Dark.... I had a few issues. So needless to say I was a "wee" bit nervous going out in this suit again. But given the choice of dive Neoprene or don't dive... I choose diving...lol.
Sunday morning arrived and with mine and my buddies gear stowed in the truck it was time to set out to Horseshoe Bay, Sewell's Marina, and meet up with Dennis in preparation of boarding my first (real) boat to go diving. To hear about my other "boat" diving experiences read Row, Row, Row Your Boat Gently Into The Rolling Waves.... Merrily Merrily Off To See The Circus....
The drive to Horseshoe Bay was a quick one and despite me missing an exit, it was an uneventful one that allowed me to get to know more about the friend I was diving with for the day and hear about her Missions trips to South Africa and East Africa and her exciting plans to aid the less fortunate of the world when she graduates medical school. It's the inspired and driven people like her that are changing and shaping our world everyday, and getting to have a little peek inside that excitement was an honor. As mentioned, the trip was quick, then it was time to meet up with Dennis, grab our manuals and review our chapter questions and discuss the dives for the day. Our quick meeting was held in the local Starbucks and was a great place to stay warm and dry as we finished our exercises and waited for a couple other divers who would be joining us for the day. Having finished our reviews the three of us headed for the docks to unload our gear and move it in the direction of the boat in anticipation of our departure once the final couple arrived. Loading up the boat was a new experience, trying to balance the gear while stepping from dock to boat and then following directions on where to strap in some gear and where to stow other gear.
With all the gear stowed, and fastened down, it was time to head out into the sound. With Kevin Breckman at the helm and his wife Jan as our DM and tour guide we braved the waves of the Howe Sound. Joining us on the boat were a friend of the Breckmans, joining Jan for a couple dives, and Jim Larsen, the North West Territory Representative from NAUI. It didn't take long to understand why Kevin and Jan are so particular about making sure everything is tightened down and then tightened again. Much the same as flight attendants check and recheck doors because you don't want one opening in mid flight, you do not want to see what kind of damage a flying scuba tank can do...lol. Yesterdays trip also led me to understand the term (and reasoning) behind battening down the hatches. With Kevin behind the wheel, there wasn't a lot of lost time. We got clear of the harbor, and the hammer was down, and man can the Topline fly! With a relayed message from Kevin through Jan, we were told to hold on, things could get a little rough.... This is when I got excited!! Moving into the cabin to get a better view of the water we were racing into afforded me the opportunity to not only see the water splashing over the fore-decks of the boat but also to have a good conversation with Jim and hear a little more about NAUI and his visit to Vancouver. After a few minutes of wave jumping and drawing in closer to the islands, things calmed a bit and it was time to go back and put the rest of the kit together and prep to get wet! After checking with Dennis to see about how much weight to add to compensate for wearing neoprene it was decided to add 8lbs and do a weight check to ensure it was enough before edging into our final "jump-off" point. All geared up, Kevin walked me to the back of the boat, did a quick once over of my gear and with a pat signaled for me to jump. Popping back up I signaled "OK" moved to with-in reach of the ladder and deflated my BCD. Now for a proper weight check you deflate your BCD and with a full breath of air you should sink to about the mid-point on your mask. Again... this is if you are properly weighted... which I was not...lol. I hit the deflate and dropped...lol. Fortunately I had my hand near the ladder and added some air and popped right back up. Then up the ladder and (with Kevin's help) back on board. All of this quite well timed, for you see while Kevin is helping me, he is not at the wheel, so it all requires lot's of attention and experience. So, once back on board and holding on, the boat is brought back around and in close to the wall for all the divers to quickly jump in, signal their "OK" and then move out of the way. With my team all in the water, Dennis signals "descend" and we head to depth to begin our "Drift".
I laughed with Dennis, after our dive, and referred to it more as a slow swim than a Drift dive. There was a little drift, enough so that you could see it affecting the plant life and see them tilted slightly. You could also tell there was a little bit of a current as most of the marine life stayed close to the wall and the safety of the outcroppings. But as far as moving me, there wasn't much, add to that the fact that I was REALLY over-weighted and you can imagine what I looked like...lol With Dennis being part fish (I think he has a buzzer or something that reminds him to breath...lol) and my dive buddy being in amazing health, they just kicked a little caught what little drift there was and then moved along the wall. Me on the other-hand, I suck air like a shop-vac, and the additional weight not helping, I would kick 2 - 3 times as often just to keep up and stay balanced out. But, despite a few complications, the dive was amazing as always spotting some neat life I have never seen before and have no name for yet... I really do need to get better at fish id...lol, and of course just the relaxation of being weightless (yes even with the extra 8 lbs of lead). The dive ended (or more my air supply did) and we ascended to our safety stop and deployed our surface marker buoy's (thanks to my brother Matt for buying me my marker buoy for Christmas.) Now for anyone who ever deployed one, you know these are not the easiest things to use at first, for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about here is what they look like rolled up and then deployed:
The idea behind these devices, is that once you hit your safety stop (or just before) you un-clip (this is VERY important) the SMB (surface marker buoy) from you and with it attached to a reel (another important thing to remember) you add air and it races to the surface and marks your location for all the boats around. This is very important as you really don't want to be ascending into the under-side of anyone's boat, nor do you want to be ascending just before a boat crosses your path. This is also an incredibly useful tool for your own boat as it lets your captain know that you are about 3 minutes away from surfacing and where you will be surfacing so that he can be in place to get you out of the water as quick as possible. Now I say that it is very important to "unclip" the SMB from you first because if your still conected, you're gonna take a ride to the surface and blow your safety stop, putting you in danger from rising to fast and also placing you right in a potential boat lane. It is also, for obvious reasons, important to attach your SMB to your reel so that when you let it go, it's not off drifting in the waves, but is actually marking your location.
Now, with SMB's deployed and safety stops completed, we broke the surface and kicked out a little ways from the wall and sure enough, by the time we had moved out a safe distance Kevin had spun the boat around and we climbed (with Kevin and Jim's assistance) up the ladder and back into the boat. Then Kevin did a quick loop and dropped the boat right back where he needed to be to pick up Jan and her dive buddy. Once everyone was back on board the kettle was fired up, gear was stripped off and coffee and soup were graciously enjoyed while Kevin and divers discussed our next location and moved the boat to accommodate the new drop point.
Dive 2 was very similar in that there wasn't really a lot of current, but more than the first time, that combined with dropping a couple of pounds (still too heavy) allowed me to experience "drift". Another relaxing dive, not a ton of new creatures but we went in search of the wolf eel that occasionally resides in a grate. He was unfortunatly away from home but that leaves something for me to look forward to for next time.... and there will definitly be a next time. There's something to be said for only having to walk 10 feet with all your gear before you're in the water and again a short distance from ladder to bench once you come back in.
All in all it was a very good day of dives, I would definitely recommend every diver trying dives off a boat, especially if you are fortunate enough to get a spot on the Top Line with Kevin and Jan so worth the money even just for the knowledge of the area they can share with you. Can't wait for my next trip with them, hopefully it won't be too far down the road! Till my next dives, take care of yourself, your buddy and the wonderful underwater world we all enjoy!
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