DEMA

So... I got some pretty exciting news yesterday. I thought I would share it with you since it is dive related.

I've been asked if it were possible for me to finish my Dive Control Specialist course by the end of the month instead of by the end of next month.

"Of course it's possible!"

Do I want to bust my ass to teach two courses, plan and lead a dive, take my final exam in 9 days? I'd like to, but I don't think it's possible. With the current class of O/W kiddies taking their final exam to be Scuba certified tonight, and the new herd of kiddies not coming until September 8th, I don't see how it is possible. I can get the exam done, plan and lead a dive, but I need kiddies to teach the course. I just don't see how it is possible.

Did I say that already? Oh... 3 times, you say? Well... it's true... How? How? How?

The reason the shop would like me to finish this up ASAP is so I can go down to LAS VEGAS! (yay City of Sin!) for the annual DEMA Trade Show. (DEMA stands for the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association.) Only dive professionals can go -- no outside consumers. If I can't get my course done, I may be able to go as a representative for the shop, but I would really like to get down the Vegas for a few days. I usually go a couple times a year, and I've just had too much stuff going on to be able to get away.

Onwards::::

August 26th, I'm going to a DUI Exposure Protection and Decontamination for Public Safety Divers seminar in Seattle. Paul, Pete and I are going to respresent WIDC in getting more knowledge about exposure to contaminants during certain diving situations, the kind of equipment to have during those situations and how, after contamination, to decontaminate.

I'm excited as I get to take a day off work and learn more about diving, exposure suits and situations that can really help me in my diving career.

I've also been invited to attend Diving Unlimited International, Inc.'s (DUI) 2008 DOG Rally in September. More on that later.

Oh! I got my new S1 today in the mail! The guy I bought it from on Ebay included 3 -1GB SD cards - was I ever impressed by that.

Dive Con.

I was only slightly encouraged to post as per my friend Jim's new endeavors... He made it through orientation for Law School and he actually begins classes Monday. I finally take my own journey that I've been traversing to a new level.

I take my final exam for Dive Con next month. Now, I still have a couple of things to do in order to get my C-Card... I have to enroll into insurance on a professional level, I need to still teach two course all on my lonesome.

I'm nervous. I practically hyperventilate thinking I can't speak in front of people.

Help.

I think of Jim.... Nervous Jim... he's doing it. So can I.

Whidbey Island Dive Center Dive & Grill 8/10/08

So, it looks like I spoke too soon. The camera that worked Saturday night failed to perform when I got down to the Keystone Jetty in Coupeville for a Dive & Grill party. OH well. I still have a few bids in on Ebay for another S1. Maybe I'll tear this one apart and see what I can get going out of it. I mean, it's trashed now, really what harm can I do to it?

I got down to the parking lot about an hour and a half before we all agreed to be there. (Nothing like punctuality!) The reason was, I wanted my favorite parking spot at the end so I had plenty of room to set up the 10'x10' canopy that I brought. Little did I know that Wenatchee and Tri-Cities were also doing dives down there. Parking was at a premium.

So, I brought the Diver Dog with me, my 3 year old Blue Merle Australian Shepherd. I let him hop out of the truck and of course, everyone swooned all over him. (If only I could get someone to swoon over me like that!)

I set up the canopy and took Diver for a walk. I introduced myself to some of the divers there. (Must've been close to 40 of them!) I waited around for Julie, Paul and Derek to show up. Zach came and brought Aaron with him. (Yes, that's the correct spelling of HER name.) Pete was there and Pat showed up as well as Courtney and Crystal. Then Mike and his daughter "The Other Crystal", Betty, Sam, Steve, and David showed up soon after. Clint is taking a little siesta from diving, why, I do not know! Anyways, when Paul showed up with my tanks, I set about getting my gear together. Paul and Derek got into the water pretty fast because it was getting warm out. Julie pulled into the parking lot about 10 minutes later.

She brought me a hand painted Martini glass and shot glass for my birthday! What is she trying to say?

Julie and I buddied up and walked down to the broken down pier so we could ride the current down the line back to the Jetty. Upon descent, viz was incredible. I think this is probably the clearest I've seen the pilings and there was life everywhere.

We came around the south side of the pilings where there usually lives a Giant Pacific Octopus, but upon inspection, Julie noted that there was a live crab living in it's den. If that octo still lived there, I assure you, there would not be a live crab. The water temperatures have been pretty balmly lately. I wonder if it moved into colder waters or if it had met its' demise; either by natural causes, or by human tampering. It would be pretty sad if it were the latter.

So, leaving the pilings, we decided to run on the line down to the jetty. The line is a 2" rope that Paul and Pete had run there through concrete blocks as sort of a visual directional aid to and from the Jetty and Pier. It can get pretty crowded with bull kelp, but the kelp then creates this "living wall" where life can abound. Often, I see Kelp cod and other little fishies hanging around it.

The current was kicking pretty good. Julie, the show off, flipped over on her back and brought her arms up behind her head and just float along with the current. For me, I splayed my body and pretended like I was sky diving. It was pretty amazing.

When we got to the Jetty, we looked around little nooks and crannies. Julie found a wall that appeared to be a little nursery for several types of nudibranchs. I found my first decorator crab and also a helmut crab. We slowly worked our way back towards the beach, poking our heads in and out of crevices.

At about 20 feet, life really picks up on the Jetty. The bull kelp is abundant and the 'lettuce' seaweed is so brilliantly green, it seems to glow. At 20 feet, the sun can really reach through the water and create this surreal underwater jungle. It's really like being in a giant fish tank, the water isn't as cold and the fish that like to school hang out in the kelp. I rolled over on my back and got neutrally buoyant. I grabbed onto a bull kelp stalk and hung there in the current, looking up at the sky, watching schools of silver dollars and rock perch dart around me, watching my bubbles race to the surface. A school of needle fish came by and paused, curiously it would seem, at my bubbles. How I wished for my camera.

Resuming the dive, I caught up with Julie who was busy trying to take a picture of a kelp crab who, upon noticing her, turned towards the camera and started walking towards it. It raised it's claws and clamped onto her spiral keeper, then swiftly climbed right up and onto her camera. Julie looked at me like the thing had lost it's mind. I laughed through my regulator and gave her the universal sign for "Cuckoo", by pointing my finger towards my head and rotating it.

I glanced at my Uwatec dive computer... 58 minutes. Max depth for this dive, 58feet. I've never done a dive lasting over 50 minutes with Julie. That girl has gills, or something. She never seems to use air. Slowly coming up for our 15ft/00:03 safety stop, my computer clicked over 00:63. COOL. My first dive over an hour (that was exceeding 30 feet) and also with Julie, the Dive-o-matic girl. Glory day. :)

We got out of the water to do our SIT and gabbed with some of the other divers as they went in and came out of the water. Crystal and her dad decided not to go down for a second dive, so they instead started getting the grills and the propane crockpot ready for the chili. She opened up a 3 pound can of chili and asked me if Diver could lick it clean. I rarely deny my dogs anything, so of course, if they'll eat it, they can have at it.

What a mess.

I took him to the outside shower to shampoo his head after that. Paul came around the corner and mused at the most pitiful sight he'd ever seen. Diver, with his head down like he was hanging it in shame. Yeah, it was pretty pitiful.

Paul, Julie and I went down for dive number two which only lasted 00:45 but it was still nice. The current kicked up even more and the run on the line was a little faster, but still such great viz. Paul brought his camera this time and I motioned to him to take a picture of the bull kelp for me.

Afterwards, we came up and threw some ribsteaks on the grill. I hurried up and got out of my gear, took a quick shower and came back to open a Alaskan Summer Ale. I kicked back on the tail gate of my truck and just smiled.

What a great day. I got to hang out with some of my most favorite people, have some great beer and eat some pretty fantastic food. It doesn't get much better.

(Kit note: the link for the bullkelp is Sam's Flickr account, just so you didn't think I kyped some poor guys picture!)

The Canon S1 IS

I knew the day was looking up today when I woke up to one of my favorite songs. Fast forward to me going onto Ebay, again, to try to get another Canon S1SI to replace the one I flooded several weeks ago. I really want to replace it, but I'm simply not going to overbid on something I know is only worth about $160 right now.

I noticed a S5 for sale and while I was comparing them side by side (to see if the S5 would fit in the Underwater Housing), I thought I should try my current S1 just one more time to see if it is really toast.

I put the batteries in.

I turned it on.

It worked.

Yay me.

So, tomorrow WIDC is doing a BBQ/Dive and I'm going to bring the camera back to the water. I'll upload the pictures to Flickr and cross post here later.

Dive Around the Clock Fun(d) Raiser

Julie & Joe
Originally uploaded by PierPressure

Julie and Joe at the Dive Around The Clock Fun(d) Raiser down at Redondo Beach in Des Moines, WA. Divers from around Washington state came to the underwater park to raise money for Childrens' Hospital in Seattle.

July 25th, 2008 -

Julie and Joe loaded up the camper and set up a little "compound" in the parking lot at Redondo Beach for the 2nd Annual Dive Around the Clock fun(d) raiser. I had to work that afternoon, so I didn't get off the island and down to Des Moines until about 7PM that day. Julie and Joe had just finished a dive and I signed up to be a part of the marathon diving event. Julie (and friends) raised over $1000 for the cause. Way to go! I parked the Grrr and got into my dive gear. Joe's back was hurting him a little, so he didn't join us on our midnight dive.

It's a nice little dive site, no current to speak of. We descended down to about 87 feet and listened to the whales in the distance. (Verrrrry cool.) Julie showed me where there was a large Pacific Octopus under a sunken 16 foot boat and I got to see my first Moon Snail. I wish I could have gotten there earlier to do a check out dive during the day - as night diving can kinda give you the heebie-jeebies because you don't know what's just beyond your underwater flash light. Of course, that being the case, something tugged on my fin at about 60 feet of water. Of course, I turned around to look. Of course, there was nothing there to see.

On the surface, Julie told me there was a Harbor Seal diving with us. Funny that I didn't catch a glimpse of it once. I think though, I was glad I didn't, I might have freaked!

July 26th =

We didn't get to sleep until about 3AM Saturday morning. I woke up around 6:30AM and moseyed around the camper in serious need of the bathroom (about a block away) and coffee (about a block away too!) We all got moving and put on our dive gear to do our first dive of the day around 9AM. Our objective was to find a sunken VW Bug, but to no avail. I did get to see a few more Giant Pacific Octo's, which was nice. Also saw a lot of Black Bellied Eel Pouts. (See Valerie's photo link below for pictures - again, I flooded my dive camera, so I can't take pictures right now until its' replaced. Soon, also, I'll have copies of Julies pictures and I'll edit them into this post and also upload them to my Flickr account at another date.) I saw my first "Rubie", a red octopus that lives about 2 years and will fit in the palm of your hand. CUTE!

There were many schools of Sand Lance. I think it was so cool to play Maestro to their orchestral fluidity. They spool, they pool, they gather, ball, separate.They move unanimously. They're of one mind, without dissent. There's no resistance. No objection. Just just... do. It's amazing. I can guide them with the wave of my underwater light, I am maestro. With a flick of my wrist, they dart apart and recollect. Amazing.

We got back into the water after Mike (camper next to us) made us breakfast. What a super nice guy. We set about looking for the VW again with much success. The top was ripped off of it and lots of life was growing all over it. Plumrose Anemone and star fish seemed to really take to it.

I couldn't stay for another dive... though I think Julie and Joe were done for the day anyways. I head off to SEATAC to pick up a friend of mine who had a layover from Korea. We went to Newport Bay for a bite to eat (and martini's!!) before she got back on the plane to head home to Rhode Island.

July 27 =

Dove at the Keystone Jetty in Coupeville to assist Pete in certifying the lastest group of open water divers. Great viz, MONSTER Lings all over the bottom.

5 dives over the 3 days. Not bad.

Valerie's pictures from the 2008 Dive Around The Clock

Paul called me Saturday afternoon wanting to know if I wanted to be the 4th on a Sunday boat dive launching out of Holmes Harbor, in Freeland.

"Of course I do!"

We met at the dock at 0900 -- Boat was already in the water, most of all the gear already onboard. It's times like this that makes me happy I was 15 minutes early. I hate it when the boys are waiting for me.

We weren't going out very far-- about a 10 minute trek. I spent the time attaching my steel 92's to my BC, getting all my gear out of the H2Zero bag and began to suit up. Paul walked by me and asked me if I needed anything.

"A smaller ass, please."

...as I wrestled my neoprene...

Paul looks around the deck of the boat, shrugs, and says,

"Sorry Kit. I failed to bring my 'spare ass' bag."

Smart aleck. (Smart Ass?)

When we got to the dive site, Paul & Pete jumped in first. The objective was to find a sunken barge in about 100+ feet of water. Todd and I stayed with the boat during their dive, so we could be live to go get them, if they came up anywhere other than the Diver Down buoy line.

It was a little overcast, about 61F, hardly any current to speak of.

After Paul & Pete came back up, Todd and I went about finishing up putting on our gear so we could splash. Unfortunately, the boys couldn't find the barge -- they instead managed to notice just how much of a sandy bottom Holmes Harbor has. That's a shame.

*Todd (sitting) and part of Paul's head

*Paul (l) and Pete getting ready to giant stride at the Holmes Harbor dive site

So, after they came up, Todd and I got into the water. It's a little disorienting, descending down a line and seeing particles in the water drifting around you. You know you're descending, but without some sort of visual focal point, you feel... well, loopy. I started to see the bottom when we got to about 100'. I slowed my descent and checked my air supply. RBT - 5: I guess I really get anxious when I go to a new dive site. I breathe heavily and the lung icon pops up on my SmartCOM. I mentally scolded myself.

"Relax, breathe, slow your breathing, breathe, breathe, breathe, you're ok, breathe, Kit, breathe."

RBT went back up after I berated myself a little.

There really wasn't much to see. The barge was a skeleton. What was left of the beams rose directly out of the mass. Copper rock fish haunted what was left of it. There really wasn't much left to look at. Some anemone's found homes, but for the most part. Sand, Sand everywhere.

We turned to go back up the buoy line. At around 60' my computer read that I had a RBT = 0:
I looked up the line and Todd was within arms reach. All three of the boys dive redundant. I could reach Todds' pony without a problem. I shut my eyes tight for a few seconds, went back into a calming mode, slowed my breathing and did my safety stops as I should.

As I ascended, I felt better.

I've decided that I don't really much care for deep diving. Maybe when I have a little more experience and I can control my breathing a little better.

We pulled up the Diver Down buoy and headed back into the dock. We barely caught the dock at a tide where Todd could off load the three of us, jump into our cars and do our Surface Interval while we drove down to the Langley Marina.

The tide was going to go out even further, so it made sense to move the boat to a area where we were able to dock the boat to offload gear after our second dive. Otherwise, it would have been hours before we could have gotten close enough to the Holmes Harbor dock.

*leaving Langley Marina to head to Greenbank dive site

So... it's interesting driving a car with neoprene on... wet neoprene. Paul offered me a towel to sit on because your's truly forgot to bring herself one. We waited around for Todd to bring the boat down the island, watching a big Bald Eagle evading some Seagulls. I guess he got a little to close and they were in serious pursuit of the big guy. Pete and I chatted about the final season of the Soprano's. It was either a brilliant or horrible ending. I haven't been able to figure out which one it was. Either way... I was sad to see it end.

Todd showed up and off we went out of the Langley Marina. We had about a 30 minute cruise, so again, not wanting anyone to have to wait for me, I got busy changing out my tanks and getting my gear ready.

*Todd

Objective for this dive: Find the man-made reef, comprised of sunken boats. Todd said one of the boats was a large kayak, planted in the sand so it's bow reached up to the sky. Todd threw out the anchor so we could all splash at the same time. We found the dive site with ease. The kayak was pretty cool to check out. Todd had me "stand" on my fins next to it and wave so he could take a picture of me. If I knew how it was mounted, I would have slipped inside of it and pretended I was workin' oars.

Not a lot of life growing on the boats here either... there was a lot of sand and a lot of Copper Rock fish again. After about 30 minutes, we went back to the anchor line.

I guess due to some increased workload from the previous dive and this one, my computer wanted me to be a little more cautious on ascent. Todd motioned he was going to take more pictures, and I told him I was going to head up since I had a long ascent ahead of me... I had a required safety stop at 20ft for 2: & another one at 10ft for 10:

Strange. But, ya know... better safe than sorry.

I was a little cold after this dive. Paul came up and put a towel around my shoulders. Heh. Now I have two of his towels.

We have a new set of kiddies coming into WIDC tomorrow - so I'll bring them back then. Anyways, we got back to the Marina, sun was shining and we set about hauling all our gear back to our cars.

Todd decided to moor his boat in Langley for the week since he was working just up the road.

Oh... for the record? My Canon S1 SI is toast. This is the camera I use for my underwater pictures. The housing flooded last week so there won't be any pictures taken by me underwater for awhile. The pictures in this post was taken with my Tilt. Hopefully Todd will send today's pictures to me and I'll put them in this blog later.

Will keep ya'll posted.

(Oh, Gas on the Island now : $4.67)

Crab Season Opens, July 2nd, 2008

July 1st... it's almost midnight when I hear Clints' truck pull into the driveway. I get out of bed, go upstairs and help him bring in his gear for the night... compiling mostly of doggie bed, doggie food, doggie wee-wee pads, orange juice and a bucket of scallops.

He curls up on the futon while his little dogs explore my place. They're little, they're cute.... we go to sleep a little before 1AM and then one of the dogs wanted out at 0430. So, I could not see myself going back to sleep -- so I got up, started breakfast & managed to get myself a cup of coffee.

Clint shucked the scallops and threw them in a frying pan. We had a decent breakfast before we loaded up all the gear and head down to the Langley Marina.

Paul was already there.

We geared up, discussed the dive plan,

"Try to stick together, but if we get separated, no big deal, right"?
"Right."

Long story short, I ended up to the North, Clint ended up to the South and Paul - master navigator he must be- ended up right in the middle where he was supposed to be.

I had come across a 'clam shell graveyard' and there were hundreds of Rock crab all over -- most of the Dungeness were female. *shucks* But we did manage to bag a few legal crab between the 3 of us.

We came back to my place where we boiled them up in the outdoor propane grill. I threw some party wings and some prawns wrapped in bacon on the BBQ and we enjoyed our Surface Interval, chit-chatting and having lunch.

Somewhere in there though, we all fell asleep and took a little nappy-poo.

Around 1430, Paul & I woke up and tousled Clint off of the futon. We packed up our gear and went back down to Langley for dive #2.

We did a lot better sticking together this time. All in all we managed to come up with 27 legal crab. We went back to my place, fired up the propane grill -- shared a pizza and off we went out separate ways. Okay well, I went back into my house and plopped my butt down to watch Deadwood.


I'm pooped! Hunting is hard work and who'da thunk them crabs can crawl so fast? ;)




Wish we had more this size... this one had over a 7" carapace...