After two and a half months off from diving, it was nice to get back into the water. Tyee is one of my favorite 'go to' spots, so it was a great day to head out, get re-aquainted with the gear and visit the wolf eels.

After gearing up, we splashed and headed out and down the chute. Then off to the right to visit the first wolf eel before heading over to grandpa. After a visit there, back home for a very excellent dive.

Tyee Wolf Eels Video 

Had a very nice dive at Maple Bay again today, although the rain made driving interesting in places. Met a class from Cowichan Bay and had a nice chat with the instructor. Then headed out to the small wall, first spending time near the dock ascertaining the precise location of the line for future reference. Visibility was much better today than last week, perhaps due to the cooler temperatures. Overall a very nice dive.

Had a very nice dive at Maple Bay today. Met up with some interesting divers on holiday from Calgary. Headed out to the small wall. Didn't see a whole lot today as the visibility was less than 10ft most of the dive. Still, a nice dive. Oh yes, and I did find a rather nice fork.

Drove out to China Creek today to dive with folks from NDO and Vancouver Island Divers. It's an hour and a half drive from home, and the last bit which is a logging road is really terrible right now with numerous horrible potholes and such. Still, made it there and back in one piece, though the gear took a bit of a beating from the potholes.

At the dive site, we geared up and headed out and down to 70 fsw, then right for a bit of a swim until we found the 'ditch' and then the wreck. It's looking pretty shabby, but it's still a great dive swimming all over it. Sitting at a very steep angle, the stern rests in around 75fsw with the deck at around 50fsw. At the bow, the deck is around 110fsw on a 140fsw bottom which continues to drop off to well over 330fsw on the same angle.

After a nice swim around the ship, we headed back to the wall. Along the way we encountered a baby wolf eel, which was extremely cute. Once at the wall we headed down to around 80fsw and then back to the shallows to complete an excellent dive.

China Creek Baby Wolf Eel Video 

China Creek Wreck Video 

Nice long dive on the various walls at Elliot Point. Visibility was great in the shallows, but faded from 15 fsw to about 50fsw where it cleared up.

Pretty good rebreather dive today. Again spent most of my time with the right wolf eels.

Pretty good rebreather dive today. Spent most of my time with the right wolf eels.

Tyee Video 

Another great rebreather dive today at Tyee. Right to see the additional right walls, then back and to the left to see grandpa, then home.

Tara helping with the pre-dive

Tyee Wolf Eels Video 

A great rebreather dive today at Tyee. Right to see grandpa, then over to Dolphin wall, then back to the right wall and finally home.

Tyee Wolf Eels Video 

Tyee NDO - OW Class Video 

Headed to Maple Bay today for a dive with Gord and Kat, Bruce and Wendy. Tide was in so we headed out on the left side of the dock, angling out to the small wall. Visibility wasn't the greatest, but we managed to see a decorated warbonnet, a large sculpin and many other fish and invertebrates. Other than the vis, an excellent dive of 71 minutes.

Maple Bay Video 

Another great day for a dive. Sunny but not too hot for a nice dive at Tyee.

After gearing up, headed out and to the left, over to grandpa and girlfriend, then over the edge and along the wall to dolphin. After a nice look-see, headed back to the entrance, then over to the right to look around. After a nice 90 minutes, exited and headed in.

Overall, a great dive.

Tyee Video 

Headed out for a dive at Tyee today as the weather was supposed to rain in the afternoon, meaning diving was a better option than painting the deck railings!

After gearing up, we headed out and along the right wall. There were quite a few lingcod today, and a couple of wolf eels as well. After proceeding past the first wall to the second wall, we returned and headed left before returning to the cut and back in.

Overall a great 78 minute dive!

Tyee Video 

Got invited by Bill O'Brien to dive the wrecks today, with Iain and Sarah, joining Steve, Liz and Dave who were diving off Dave's boat.

After a nice ride to the wrecks, we moored together off the bow of the Cape Breton. Once geared up we splashed, with Bill, Iain and myself forming one team and Steve, Liz and Dave the other. Dave's team headed inside while we headed down the port side to the aft of the ship, then back along starboard to the bow again.

Once back on the surface we had a nice chat and watched as the folks on Dave's boat entertained us with backflips off the top. All in all a great day diving!

Cape Breton Video 

Winds were forecast for 30km plus, so boat diving was out today. Instead we met at a site called The Jib, in Nanoose about mid-way between Madrona and Tyee. There was a light rain, and tides were out quite a bit, but we geared up and headed out for a fine dive.

Bill, Steve, Liz and myself were all on our rebreathers as we headed out from shore - fairly shallow for some ways until we finally reached the wall, which descended to around 100 fsw. There wasn't a ton of stuff on the wall, but it was still a fun dive. Afterwards we headed to the Rocking Horse for refreshments. Overall a fun dive.

The Jib Video 

Didn't dive today although many did. Instead drove up to Tyee in the MGB to enjoy visiting with the NDO group and participate in the NDO July 1 picnic and BBQ. No problems driving from Ladysmith to Parksville in the MGB. Steve cooked some excellent burgers and a good time was had by all!

Today I acted as guide on a couple of open circuit dives at Tyee with Andy and Miriam from the Netherlands.

The day was overcast with light rain, and the tides at Tyee were very low - 1 foot in the early morning with a very high tide for around 5pm. As we arrived just before noon, the tides were quite low but starting to come in.

After gearing up, we headed out in about 10ft visibility to the cut, and then over to the right at around 50 fsw to observe the wildlife. Deeper visibility was about 25 feet. We saw rockfish, sculpins, starfish, kelp greenling and a lingcod as well as the usual invertebrate life.

After a short surface interval, we again headed out and this time over to the left wall until the gravel flow, then back and over to the right wall for more sightseeing. This time we saw jellyfish, brittle stars and hermit crabs as well as the usual rockfish, kelp greenlings, sculpins and a larger lingcod. Visibility was better in the shallows on this dive, being about 20 feet. As the tide was now coming in quite strongly, the deeper visibility was about the same.

Overall a very good set of dives.

Tyee Video 

Bit of a strange day, this. Headed to the boat ramp to meet up with Bill for a day's diving on the Nanaimo wrecks. We headed out in decent weather and were soon moored on the bow of the Cape Breton. With Liz's group gearing up first, then Dave and his student, Bill, Steve and myself geared up last. The day was relatively calm, but from time to time we would get several larger waves in a row rolling the boat a bit. By the time we geared up, I was not feeling 100%. Still, we geared up and got ready to splash without incident.

We splashed and donned our bailout hanging on the retreival line, then headed to the bow for our decent. At the buoy, I realized that I was missing my primary computer, so headed back to the boat to retreive it. At the ladder some larger waves tossed me against the ladder as I climbed onto the boat. I tried to sheild my camera as best possible as it was seeing the worst of it, sitting in the 'pre dive' location. Once on the boat I realilzed my dive light, which was attached to the camera via larger loc-line, was missing as was the loc line. With dive computer on, I prepared to descend to search for the light. As soon as I splashed I saw my bailout dropping beneath me. I quickly realized the 80cf tank had come away from the clip holding it to my harness. So, back to the boat as you should not dive a rebreather without bailout.

After a time, Dave and his student returned. I explained the situation and Dave immediately offered to go search for the missing items. After several minutes, he returned with the bailout tank, which he found off the port bow of the Cape Breton, about 1/3 of the way to the Saskatchewan. It certainly had travelled a considerable distance in the fairly light current!

With the bailout retreived and re-rigged, plus everyone back on the boat for lunch, we planned a recovery dive for the still missing Sola dive light. Even though the bailout had travelled considerable distance, we felt this was due to it being almost neutrally buoyant. The dive light would be very negative and the loc-line would act as a 'kite tail', so we decided to drop a weighted shot line off the stern as a starting point for our search.

After again gearing up, I splashed first and headed down the line, followed by Steve, Dave and Bill. The line was located about 30 feet off the port side of the Cape Breton's bow in the mud. I started one search pattern forward and toward Snake Island. On my return leg I saw Steve just aft of the line, and beneath him was the dive light. I retreived the light and reattached it to my camera which I'd brought, and proceeded to video the remainder of the dive.

Dave, Steve and I headed up to the main deck where we met Bill, and we continued into the ship to explore and de-clutter some old line. After a shorter than desired time, Dave called the dive as his inflator 'button' had just blown off. We all headed back up the line for a shorter than desired, but very successful dive. No pictures on this dive, but some video will be posted later.

A huge thank-you to Dave for finding and returning my bailout tank, and also a big thank-you to Steve for locating my dive light.

Cape Breton Video 

Headed out a bit earlier today to catch the higher tides. After gearing up, headed out on the usual route. Visibility was decent in th shallows and good deeper - about 10 ft shallow and 20 deeper. Lots of pictures and video as well. Overall and excellent dive.

Tyee Video 

Headed out for a dive at Tyee today. Met up with several tech divers as well as a some dive classes at the site. Once geared up, headed out along the usual route - out to v, down and left to grandpa, return to the right wall and back in. Vis was much better this week, with about 5 ft in the shallows and about 15-20 deeper. Took quite a few pictures and some video as well. Overall a great dive.

Tyee Video 

Headed out to Tyee today, not knowing how the visibility would go, but wanting to get back on the Rebreather once before May was done. I arrived at the dive sight to light winds and cloudy skies, but otherwise very pleasant. As I took the bailout down to the water, I encountered a family of Canada Geese heading to the water for a swim. I ran back up and grabbed my camera to take a few snaps of the family in the water. The chicks were quite large.

After that, we geared up and headed out. It was pea soup from shore to somewhere around 40-50fsw, with visibility maybe 5 feet at best with large floating stuff everywhere.

Below 50fsw the visibility was perhaps 10 feet, maybe 15 in spots. Still lots of particulate in the water, but OK. It was also a total night dive at those depths. We headed left and took pictures and video of grandpa and the female. On the way back I kept encoutering jellyfish that radiated slight light in the dark, so took some video of one. Then back to the V and over to see the other pair of wolf eels before heading back up into the soup and out. Overall a great dive, even with the poor surface vis.

On the video, at about the 2'10" mark is the footage of the jellyfish. The light pattern is coming from the jellyfish, not my lights. I noticed the light pattern from far off when my light was pointing elsewhere on narrow beam. Also, in the video you can see the strobe pattern occurring at different speeds on different strands inside the jelly. I thought that was very cool, and one of the few benefits of the night dive effect of poor vis.

Tyee Video 

Tyee Jellyfish Video 

Another great day for a dive. Overcast but not raining, I drove to Madrona Point to meet up with the other NDO divers for a nice dive.

After gearing up, we headed to the little V where we entered the water and then headed along the maze to the deep wall. Once over the side we swam along the wall for some time until the open circuit divers reached turn pressure.

Continuing along the deep wall, there was a large bit of kelp that quickly resolved itself into a hunting octopus in the open. With video on I followed it closely until it finally grew tired of me and found a niche to hide in. Judging from the size of the larger suckers (2.5 inches) I estimate the overall size of this octo to be around 10 feet. Most of the time I was videoing the creature from about 2 feet away, but I never felt threatened.

Also took shots of rock fish and other creatures on the wall. Visibility varied from 10-20 feet to less than 10 feet on the deep wall, with 10 or less in the shallows. Overall a great dive!

Octopus Video 

The NDO club dive was in Victoria today, but some of us decided who remained in Nanaimo decided to go for a dive at Tyee. After arriving and gearing up, four of us (myself, Dayne and two friends) headed out to see the right wall.

Visibility in the shallows was poor as expected, and didn't really open up until below 50fsw. Then it was a decent 10-15 feet, so we were able to find the wolf eels and spend some time taking pictures and video. After that it was a lazy swim along the wall, rising as we traversed the wall. I was able to get some video of the litle rock fish hiding in the boot sponge and find some other small subjects to photograph. However, once back in the shallows the visibility was again very poor, making it a challenge to take any pictures. Overall a great dive!

Tyee Wolf Eels Video 

Tyee Divers Video 

Tyee Rock Fish Video 

Was supposed to lead the NDO club dive at Elliot Point April 1, but I guess I was the April fool - nobody showed up! The next weekend was Easter, and so I didn't dive Easter Sunday or Monday. By mid-April, I was definitely keen to dive again, but the vis reports were coming in as poor.

Still, time to dive the rebreather again. The NDO club dive was slated for Madrona, but due to poor vis it was changed to Tyee, so I headed off to Tyee to join the NDO club dive. There were quite a few divers keen to dive, so we all geared up and headed out.

Sure enough, visibility in the shallows ... wasn't. However by 30fsw nearing the chute the vis was opening up to 10 feet or more. It was quite possible to navigate using landmarks and find the wolf eels, then putter along the wall looking at the critters. From time to time one could clearly see the lights of other divers on the wall as well. Finally, after a great dive we headed in. Vis was so bad in the shallows that I ended up surfacing at 11fsw, which turned out to be some distance from shore. Still, a nice 60+ minutes for a very decent dive.

Joined up with NDO for the club dive today. I decided to go sidemount after Wednesday's successful test. I had changed the length of the left regulator hose and swapped LP hoses for better positioning on the inflators.

Two trips to carry the 80cf tanks to the big V, then into the weight harness and Armadillo. I added 2x2lb to the harness for a total of 28lbs, and it's definitely heavier. I also adjusted the buckle on the Armadillo so everything fit perfectly. Headed down to the water. I attached the LP fittings to inflator and suit on land, then waded into the water. This worked out OK. I was able to don mask and fins, then attach the tanks and set up the regs no problem.

In addition to switching to a longer (5ft) hose on the left reg, I also switched from clib to bungee on the right reg. This means the right reg is bungeed around my neck and the left reg is looped around my neck, then clipped to the right chest D-ring.

All good, we headed out to the wall, with me leading. At the wall found an octo which we photographed and I also videoed. Then along the wall until we reached our turn pressures, then back up over the wall and back to the little V for our exit. As we headed in to shallower water, it also became apparent that the buoyancy changes in 80cf Luxfer tanks as you use the gas makes for a much lighter return. I did not have any significant problems with weighting, but certainly had to be sure everything was fully vented by the time we reached the shallows.

Getting out was not fun. Unclipping the cylinders is easy (practice with sidemount bailout on my rebreather), but standing to unclip the LP inflators while juggling camera, fins and mask, then trying to carry everything out of the water was not at all fun. I'll discuss this more in my sidemount page on this website.

It was still an excellent dive!

Madrona Video 

Went to Elliot Point today to try out my sidemount harness and tank rigging. Geared up at the truck. The weight harness was heavier with 4x20lb plus 2x2lb (total 24lb) but otherwise OK. The Armadillo fit perfectly, thought the waistbelt had been cut a bit short. I attached the tanks at the truck and walked down to the water. Carrying 2x35lb was not fun - won't do that again.

Once in the water I donned mask and fins and descended. A bit light so will need more weight. Headed out to 20, then 35 fsw. Everything checked out A-OK so turned and headed back in where Linda was waiting and getting chilly in the breeze. Some fun getting the tanks disconnected and out of the water, but this should get easier with practice. Overall a successful test dive. I will need to switch to a longer hose on the left-hand regulor so it sits better when breathing.

Today was the daylight savings time change, so it was a little harder to get up this morning than usual, but still I arrived at Tyee in good time.

Geared up as usual, then headed into the water. Down to 20ft for checks and then down and over to the right to see grandpa, taking video and pictures on the way. After grandpa and his lady, back to the sea horses and over to the other wolf eels. Then up and along the wall, taking pictures of various creatures as well as video of the agressive lingcod before heading back in.

Nice turnout today as many classes going on as well as lots of fun divers. Overall and excellent dive.

Strange weather though. It was cloudy while gearing up and during most of the dive. The sun came out during the last 20 minutes of the dive, but then it was cloudy again when I came out. After putting gear away and changing, I started driving home and encountered a snow blizzard within maybe 200m of the dive site. The blizzard followed me until just near the Nanaimo airport where I returned to sunny skies again!

Today I again headed out to the Rivtow Lion with Bill, Shirly, Iain and Sarah. The plan was for Shirley, Bill and I to head to the wall near the Rivtow to see the critters there. After gearing up, we splashed and did our bubble check at 20fsw before heading down to the wreck. Then over the side and along port to the rudder. Halfway Shirley had to exit as her heating system malfunctioned, so Bill and I continued on.

Off the stern of the Rivtow Lion one takes a heading (approx due south) keeping at 70-75fsw for about 15 minutes, and there appears the wall. It starts at 70fsw and then continues into the main channel. We followed it until about 95fsw before turning the dive. There was some life, but the herring run is already staring to milk up the ocean, making for less than stellar visibility. There were some pretty big rock cod, as well as some small anemones at the deeper end of the wall. After turning the dive we headed back along the wall to 70fsw before turning back toward the Rivtow. After another 15 minute swim we found the wreck exactly where we had left her. We headed up to the main deck and then along to the bow where we were moored before heading up to the boat and coffee at the local pub.

Overall an excellent dive!

Today was something I have not done in several years - a real 'honest to God' night dive! To further ramp up the wow factor, this would be my first night dive on a wreck - the Rivtow Lion.

We hooked up with Bill and his boat near the ferry terminal, then headed out to the Rivtow, gearing up on the short trip. Once there, the open circuit divers splashed first, then the rebreather divers. We headed down the line, bubble checks at 20fsw and then on to the wreck. Steve, Bill and myself spent our time cruising around the wreck looking at the life that comes out at night, including lots and lots of shrimp, plus a few larger lingcod. After circling the wreck a few times, we elected to head back up and then head over to the local pub for munchies and liquid.

Overall a fantastic night dive!

Mixed day today. Sunny near Ladysmith, windy in Nanaimo and light snow at Parksville. It was cool and brisk gearing up, and then into the ocean for checks and heading out. Over to the pair of wolf eels to the left, where I practiced taking longer video. On the way, as well as on the way back I saw a large Pugeot Sound King Crab, and stopped to take some close-up pictures. Once back at the cut, headed over to the right to see the other wolf eels, then back up and along the wall. Just before coming in, found a lingcod defending her eggs and took some video. Finally headed in to sunshine but still cold.

Overall a very good dive, even if topside temperatures were a little brisk.

Tyee Video 

Sunday I joined Steve, Iain and Bill on Bill's boat for a trip to the Saskatchewan. Iain was taking the SDI wreck course from Steve, so Bill and I planned a dive to the engine room via burma road.

Getting to Bill's boat was super easy, and the boat is absolutely fantastic. You can tell Bill is a technical diver as the boat has had some really top-notch modifications done to the seating / gearing up area to accomodate us technical types.

After a quick trip out, we tied off on the mid-ships line and commenced to gear up. Once ready we splashed and headed down the line to 20fsw for our bubble checks, then down to the top of the stacks to enjoy the 40ft. visibility on the wreck. We worked our way aft, then into the mortar bay and along burma road to the engine room turnoff. Down to the engine room, then across and up, taking video the entire time. Then out, down and aft to swim through the armoury with the transmissions and prop housings, then out the port side, where a rather large berm of silt has built up since she sank. Finally back to the main deck and along to midships where we headed back up the line for our deco and then back to the boat.

Overall a fantastic dive!

Saskatchewan Video 

Headed out to Tyee today for a dive with the NDO crew. Lots of divers out today as well as a class from another shop. After gear checks it was out and over to the left to see Mrs. Grandpa. Spent some time taking video there, then back to the sea horses and over to the right to find the other wolf eels. Today I managed to finally find them after a few unsuccessful tries in the past weeks. Took video, then headed up along the wall. Found a ling cod on eggs at one point, which is always cool. Watched as the sea lions buzzed the open circuit divers on the wall. I tried to take video but always managed to miss the action. Finally headed in after a nice dive.

Overall a pretty good dive. Vis wasn't as great as some days, but still pretty decent.

Tyee Video 

Another great day for a dive! Met up with the divers from NDO to dive Madrona Point today. The newer divers headed off to dive the small wall while three of us headed out to dive the deep wall.

After gearing up and reaching the little V, we did our checks and headed out through the maze to the deep wall. There we found a large octopus out of her den and spent some time taking pictures and video. Then off to explore the main wall until it was time to head back. The visibility was very good today - maybe 30 ft so I was able to take video of the numerous rock fish swimming up and down the wall.

Overall an excelent dive!

Madrona Video 

Madrona Divers Video 

Madrona Octopus Video 

Pretty wild weather today! Wind warnings up and down the coast, power outages in many places, ferry sailings cancelled, medium rain overnight and all day, and WAVES. The entrance at Tyee was pretty windy today, with 2ft waves crashing in on a high tide.

After gearing up and doing all checks, time to splash. Mask on first today and fins on quick, then down under the weather. Visibility was mediocre at all depths today due to the weather, and the SURGE! The surge was running about 4 feet, making the shallows rather interesting. Eventually reached 80fsw and headed over to see grandpa and his lady. Took video until the lady got rather annoyed with me, so I respectfully headed back. Not much in the shallows due to the fierce surge, so headed back to a rather 'fun' exit. Ended up taking off fins and then straight out and up to the truck with bailout and camera still attached, as it was just a lot easier than fighting the surge to get things off.

Still, a great dive on a very 'weathery' day!

Tyee Wolf Eels Video 

The weather predictions had been for snow and cold temperatures for a while, but the day dawned bright and sunny in Ladysmith. As I headed up towards Parksville to join the dive, I could see that there had been a dusting of snow in Nanaimo, getting progressively more and more as I neared the turnoff to Tyee. Driving towards Tyee, the roads were still thick with about 3in of very slippery snow, requiring me to shift into 4WD for the final few km.

Arriving at the dive site without due incident, there was a thick carpet of snow on the ground, a very high tide and a fairly sharp, cold wind. Still, diving is wet and away from the weather, so geared up and prepared to splash.

Once underwater, all was calm and wonderful. Headed over to see grandpa. Decided to just 'hang out' for a while (love that about rebreathers), and was rewarded with the Mrs. coming out to see what I was doing. Eventually saw grandpa as well, so great fun taking their pictures.

Then back to Tyee and some time exploring the wall and taking pictures. Saw a group doing a drysuit course having a nice time on the wall. Eventually headed back in to the shallows to rest and take more pictures, helping Gerald keep eyes on an OW class for fun. Then back to shore where the wind had picked up (literally! - the OW diver's tent was blown over). The snow started to fall again as I was finishing up loading the gear, so I headed back south to the warmer (and sunnier) climate of Ladysmith.

The gear was fantastic today, and I had an absolutely awesome dive!

Tyee Wolf Eel Video 

The NDO dive today was Madrona, near Parksville. The sky was cloudy and rain was threatening, but not yet descending. The site was not bad; although it was quite windy, the waves were not severe and the 'little v' entrance looked good. Tides were high as we geared up and headed over to the entrance.

There was a good group today, including a few newer divers plus some rebreather divers. Other groups at the side included some rebreather divers from Finland as well as a small class from Comox among others.

After gearing up, we headed out from the little V past the maze and over to the wall. At the end of the wall we found one large octopus, which we photographed and videoed. Then along the wall looking for other octopi. As the newer group turned the dive to head back, the rebreather divers continued on for a bit longer, enjoying the quiet and the scenery. Eventally we all returned to the big V where we exited and chatted about the dive.

Overall an awesome dive! The more I dive with the new counterlung lower attachment, the more I really like it.

New Year's Day, 2012! As always, a good day for the first dive of the year. As with past years, Nanaimo Dive Outfitters hosted a dive event at Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. The day was cloudy and cool, but the rains held off. While the main group dove the near beach, a few of us headed over the hill to dive the wall at Neck Point itself.

Steve and I were on our rebreathers, with several other divers entering as well. After a bit of a hike to reach the entry point, we headed out towards the island, with bubble checks at 15 fsw. As we reached the island we headed down to follow the wall around the island. The current was quite strong, although not so stron that we couldn't manage. Several times I had to brace with one hand on a rock to take a picture, but it was all good times. At one point I encountered a small octopus exploring a small space in the rocks, and spent some time taking photos and video of the little creature.

After circling the island, we exited the water near our entry point (but for low tide creating a land bridge to the island). Then back to the vehicles and over the hill to where the main group had finished off most of the food. Fortunately there were some leftovers for us, and we all had a good time chatting about the dives.

Overall a great dive to start the new year!

Neck Point Video 

Neck Point Octopus Video