Burgers and a Dip!

Following my amazing night of diving with friends Enjoying the view before gearing up to explore the wonders beneath! it was time to catch up with the divers of Ocean Pro for a fun day of diving and good food.  After a quick clean of the cabin and loading all the gear back into the vehicles we headed over to the main parking lot to find and hold spots for the rest of the group who would soon be arriving.  With the sun coming up and a warm day ahead we started by laying out any of our gear that had not totally dried over night and started putting our kits together in preparation for the day.

It seemed only minutes before the parking lot was full and the air was filled with the talking and planning of the days activities.  Amongst the group joining the activities were my close friends and instructors Virpi Kangas and Ward Conley, their plan for the day was taking them out in Wards small boat so they could dive the Nakaya.  Other groups were heading out to swim the fire-hose, while others were setting out to explore the Leaning Tower of Porteau or the Sailboat Hull and others still were off to explore the Granthall.

My dive partner for dive 1 of the day was an experienced diver joining the Ocean Pro BBQ for the first time.  Equipped with his twin tanks and local knowledge it looked like it was going to be another relaxing day of diving... boy was I in for a surprise...lol.  Apparently swimming as fast as possible was an on-going trend for this weekend. Not long after entering the water my dive buddy started his quest for an Olympic medal in swim sprints...lol.  It was all I could do for the most part to keep up and finally signal my buddy to slow down, by this time unfortunately I had burned much of my air so it was time to make my turn and head back.  My dive buddy on the other hand, swimming with twins, had lots of air and was less than agreeable to returning quite yet.  After a quick conversation through hand signals it was decided to make another pass around the Granthall, this time very slowly and breathing under control, then after our pass, we followed the chain up to 15 feet where we did our safety stop sharing the air in his twins and then made our way the last 15 feet to the surface.  On the surface the tides had changed from the night before and now the surface current was now heading away from shore, making the surface swim a lot more challenging.  After a bit of a fight against the current to gain a few feet it became apparent that it wa going to be easier to work together.  So taking turns doing the tired diver tow with us both kicking the whole time we were able to make faster progress against the current and reach shore in time to see the burgers coming off the grill.

Stripping down my gear and switching out my tank only took a couple minutes then it was time to open up my dry suit and enjoy the fresh air drifting into my suit and cooling my body down.  Soon most of the rest of the divers who had not already returned made their way over to the big Ocean Pro Divers tent to find their fill of food and stories about the first dive of the day.

After a quick meal, and some good conversation it was time to catch up with my buddy for dive 2, who happened to be the same buddy from the night before.  Dive planning for our last dive of the weekend was pretty simple, both of us a little tired from the night before and from our surface swims from dive 1 on the day, agreed we would dive similar to dive 2 from the previous night.  Surface swim out a short distance and then descend and let the water moves us around while we explored the open ocean floor.  Finding our neutral buoyancy and just floating in the water with soft gentle kicks to change direction or increase rate and it wasn't long before the current had moved us back out to the Granthall, a couple circles and then over to the fire-hose which we started to follow back towards the first marker.  Then it happened, they tell you it happens but until it does you don't know what it's going to be like.  I stopped, spotting a particularity interesting plant that appeared to be swimming, and decided to snap a few pictures. 

1, 2, 3 frames later and I look to my buddy.... he's gone... nowhere to be seen.  Random clouds of silt can be seen in a few directions, unfortunately due to the large number of divers in the water clouds of silt could be evidence of any diver.  So, checking my watch and marking the time, then resuming my previous pattern sweeping side to side it was time to look for my buddy.  15 seconds, nothing, 30 seconds, nothing, 45 seconds, nothing, a minute.... nothing!  Now it was time to hope my buddy was ok and would stick to our plan, if separated, look for a minute, then head to the surface.  So... off to the surface I went spinning 360 degrees during my ascent looking to see if my buddy could be spotted.  Upon breaching the surface, I again started my 360 degree surface search looking for any sign of my buddy.  Only problem, lots of divers on the surface.... unfortunately... my buddy was not one of them...  Could it be that my buddy hadn't noticed I wasn't with him?  Is he ok? Where is he?  Seconds seemed like minutes and two minutes seemed like twenty.  Still spinning on the surface looking and then there, about 200 feet in toward shore, was my buddy, waving and signalling "OK".  Taking a navigational heading to where he was and indicating to stay in place, I descended to avoid the strong surface current and swam the distance following tight to my navigational heading and close to the bottom surfacing just beyond arms distance from my buddy.  Staying close and both stilled stunned at how quick we got separated we moved to the stairs and up out of the water to warm up, stow our gear and head home safe, sound and reminded of the importance of strong buddy contact.

Enjoying the view before gearing up to explore the wonders beneath!

Saturday afternoon while the Vancouver Canucks were preparing to dish out their punishment on the Boston Bruins, I was meeting up with a few friends at our cabin up at Porteau Cove.  The plan for the evening would see us completing 2 dives before calling it a night, catching some sleep and then joining Ocean Pro Divers in the morning for their monthly BBQ and dive day!!

By the time I had arrived at the cabin, my buddy for the night had just arrived and the Canucks were going into OT tied 2 - 2.  After grabbing my over-night gear and throwing it on the couch and flipping on the TV, we were just in time to see the puck drop and Alex Burrows suck Thomas out of the net, out skate Chara, and wrap around the net depositing the puck in the back of the net taking game 2 sending the Boston "ruins" back home to lick their wounds.

Shortly after the game, the third member of our group arrived and started preparing his dinner while I walked down towards the shore to look and see what the tides were looking like for the evening and was met with this wonderful view:

The water was so calm, only a few clouds in the air, conditions we dream about!

After my walk, the last of our team had arrived for the night and we loaded our gear and headed for the shore.  Taking our time to discuss the plans for the night and review any concerns we geared up and decended the stairs to start our first dive of the evening.

Surface swimming out to the first marker, the plan was to descend to the bottom, group up and move out along the fire hose exploring the darkened ocean floor.  Upon reaching the bottom and forming up in our buddy teams we headed out across the bottom.  Unfortunately the other group of divers turned out to be determined to move as quick as possible and since my buddy and I were looking to actually explore the under-sea world instead of watch it blast by while setting a record for how fast we could swim.  It did not take long for the other group to pull well ahead of us as we watched their lights dim into the distance.  Signalling to my buddy we slowed down to a complete stop, checked air, confirmed depth and started a slow patrol of the bottom moving in the general direction of the second marker.  After slowly exploring and capturing a few photos we started our slow return back towards the stairs watching as the fish dashed in and out of our beams of light.  Before we knew it, nearly 40 minutes had passed and we were watching as the bottom angled up and our depth drew down.  By 45 minutes we were back at the base of the stairs, regs out, fins off and then the short walk back to the vehicles to switch tanks and head back.

As it turned out, the first group had returned before us and had already stripped down their gear and packed it away.  One of the divers had decided to wear a wet-suit for the night, so after dive one he was uncomfortably cold and his buddy had decided one dive was enough for the night.  My partner and I, however, couldn't wait to get back in the water so while our friends headed back to the cabin we headed back out into the water, this time with a slightly different plan.

With me taking the lead we surface swam out just far enough to have about 10 feet of water below us before we descended.  Upon reaching bottom, we checked for neutral buoyancy, confirmed air and direction and then completely relaxed, slowly kicked and let the water move us slowly across the bottom while watching the world move around us.  As we approached half air we made a slow turn and moved back towards the stairs enjoying the underwater world and the wonderful life that it revealed to us along with some interesting looking animals that I had never seen before and will have to see if I can find someone to identify.

After finding and photographing our little buddy here we made our way to the stairs and up to the vehicles to strip down our gear and head for the cabin.  Back at the cabin we spread out the gear that would be needed for the following morning to allow it to dry a bit before being needed again and headed inside to join the rest of our party. 

As it turned out it wasn't much of a party... inside the cabin our other two divers had already found their sleeping bags and were working on catching their zzz's.  Quickly grabbing a snack and something warm to drink I headed to bed to snore away my night and dream of what the next day might bring.

Working The Triangle.

Monday night marked the start of what I hope will be my favorite dive topic... PHOTOGRAPHY!!

After reading the manual and carrying my camera around the house with me playing with buttons I figured i was going to be all set for this class.  The only thing I was worried about was lighting... lighting is one of the hardest things about photography (land or water) but those issues are compounded under water as light can't travel through water very well, even less in poor visibility and without light, you need strobes and strobes are a whole new challenge.

Class was a ton of fun, Chloe and another dive master from a different school were auditing the class in hopes of getting certified to teach it one day and then there was Matt and I and one of my dive buddies who does most of my courses with me.  Matt just recently purchased a new camera and the shop had purchased the same one for divers to rent or borrow when doing the photography course and of course Chloe, the other DM and I all have our cameras.  Now photography is always a tough course to teach (even land) when students have different cameras. This is complex as each camera has it"s settings in a different location or configuration and some have features others don't.  All this combines to make a tough class.

Once class got kicked off, our instructor, Wes, underwater photographer extraordinaire (you can see some of his work here), took us through the basics of photography.  Now this was a fun part for me because while lighting has it's challenges and composition is an area I struggle with, ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed are my second language...lol.  Being able to help explain concepts to some of the students and assist Wes with moving through the Triangle was exciting... finally I know something most others are not too sure about...lol.

Now the Triangle, for anyone who has not taken photography is the balance between ISO - Shutter Speed- Aperture.  As you adjust one, you need to adjust one or both of the others to compensate and ensure enough light reaches the sensor (or film in pre-digital cameras).  As you decrease the ISO (the sensors sensitivity) to increase the quality of image, you must either narrow the depth of field (lower aperture) or slow down the shutter (lower shudder speed).  To catch a faster moving object you need to speed up the shutter (increase shutter speed) meaning you need to either narrow the depth of field (lower aperture) or increase the ISO.  To get lots of items or area in focus you need to increase the depth of field (Aperture) and as such need to lower the shutter speed and/or increase the ISO.  For some people this just makes sense, for others this concept baffles them beyond compare and despite their continuous attempts they just can't grasp the concept.

The triangle, as in many classes, took up most of the night and what was left was on cleaning, prepping and composing.  Now for composing the initial encouragement was to focus on Macro photography (the really close stuff) and try to find non-moving or slow moving objects so that we would have more of a chance to practice our SEA skills (Shoot - Examine - Adjust).  Wes was also able to show us some tricks for light placement for doing Macro work and even move from camera to camera to help review settings to ensure the best ones were set-up before heading to the shore on Sunday.

With class wrapped up we visited for a few minutes and then headed out, all of us excited for the coming Sunday dives and BBQ.