It was a great day to dive, and awesome on New Year's eve. The site was calm and sunny with high tide. We dove the right side of the cut without scooters today. We descended to see the boot sponges below 80ft, and I ended up at 123ft to see the bottom of the wall. We then headed back up and swam back and forth as we rose to catch all the life on the wall. A super-awesome end to 2023 diving!
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Tyee VideoCold today on the surface and underwater. Visibility was really good today. We scootered to the small wall then swam past the end to the deep rocks and looked about, then scootered back to the tire and dock 2, then back to 1 for more swimming then scootered home. Great dive.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Prism Leak VideoGreat dive today. The water was pretty calm and tide not as high, so we headed out to the left to see wolfie again. After spending time with him, we headed over to dolphin and the returned to wolfie before heading back for deco in the shallows.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Tyee Video
Tyee Wolfie VideoGreat dive today. The water was pretty calm and tide not as high, so we headed out to the left to see wolfie again. After spending time with him, we headed over to dolphin and the returned to wolfie before heading back for deco in the shallows.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Tyee Video
Tyee Wolfie VideoWe met at Tyee but found the waves to be daunting, so drove back to Chemainus to find sun and flat, calm water. Visibility was decent though not crystal clear. Overall a nice dive.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus VideoCrummy vis today and cold on land. Still, a nice dive.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Tyee Video A
Tyee Video BA great dive today! It was cool but sunny at Tyee, and underwater visibility was some of the best this year - over 30ft. We scootered to grandpa's den and enjoyed the wolf eel's antics both in and out of the den. Then we scootered to Dolphin before returning home with 12+ minutes of deco, so we hung out in the shallows of the wall until clear. Overall an awesome dive.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Tyee Video
TyeeR50 Video
Tyee oops VideoIt was cool and rainy, with a very high tide at Tyee. It's the first time we've been here in quite some time, but the vis at Chemainus has been poor enough we wanted to try somewhere else
Visibility was awesome and there were so many creatures that it was just wonderful. I had a glove leak that dampened (literally) my enthusiasm for the dive, but otherwise it was a great dive.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Tyee VideoDecent vis today. Overall a nice dive.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus VideoDecent vis today. Overall a nice dive.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus VideoGreat dive today. Rain was in the forecast but it was fine at the beach. Visibility in the water was super compared to last week and we had a great dive on the far wall as well as on dock2.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus VideoWonderful warm sunny day, and visibility at the boat ramp was great. Unfortunately starting at the end of the ramp, visibility dropped to abysmal levels; it was so bad we could not scooter for fear of hitting the bottom. We tried to move close to shore but even there visibility was terrible. After a very short dive we called it and came back. I did manage to take a short video of us scootering in the shallows on the left side of the boat ramp.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus VideoI dove the doubles again today, but this time I had 4x4lb weight on the harness. I was much overweighted, but the dive was so very much better with weight. At the end of the dive I took off 2x4lb and was able to sink without issues, so 2x4 from now on. Also Meredith found the gopro stolen from her last Sunday by the octo! It was gone from the den and left the gopro behind, less the locking latch it tore off. Fortunately these housings stay sealed due to water pressure, so the actual gopro was perfectly intact and even fired up underwater! Overall a pretty good dive even though the visibility was really poor.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Maple Bay Video
Maple Bay Octo-Gopro VideoTried out a set of double HP100's today. I didn't take any extra weight and so ended up far too light by the middle of the dive. Not as much fun being 'floaty' as my usual dive. Visibility was good which did make the dive worthwhile.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Maple Bay Video
Maple Bay Octo VideoCrummy vis again, but overall a nice dive to the small wall and then dock 2 before home. I do need to rebuild the Prism mouthpiece as it was leaking pretty badly during the dive.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Good dive today on all four docks plus the small wall and deep wall.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Octo VideoGood dive today on the small wall and right deep wall plus docks 1 and 2.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus VideoAnother poor vis day as well as windy conditions on the surface. We made it to the far right wall again, then back to the tire and dock 2 before heading back to dock 1 and home. Nice to get wet.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Visibility was decent today and my achilles tendon was it pretty good shape. I did use a strap heel on my left fin instead of spring strap and it felt really good. We scootered to the far right wall beyond the tire and found some nice subjects to photograph. My trim was much better this week thanks to the alternate fin strap and so taking photos was no problem.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus VideoMy achilles tendon was extremely sore all week, especially where the tendon joins the heel. I could barely swim when not scootering in the mediocre visibility. As a result there are no photos this week as I was simply not able to stabilize myself enough to take any good shots.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus VideoThe full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Gunnel VideoToday marked the return of my Piranha P1 dive scooter. It's been down because the original lithium-ion battery pack died after 7 years and could not be repaired. Instead I purchase of of the last production runs of the Piranha PTB modules, where PTB stands for Power Tool Battery, or the battery packs used in power tools. After receiving the PTB module just over a week ago, I purchased 4 batteries (Waitley brand as they were much less expensive than Dewalt) and did some tank tests to ensure the scooter ran well and the new module seals were all good.
Today's dive was sunny and hot on land, but nice in the water. Very good visibility made for an awesome long scooter dive.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the new Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Brittlestar Video
Chemainus Octo VideoThe full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the new Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus VideoIt was another super low tide day, so no scooters at all. It rained on the surface gearing up, but visibility was much better today than last week. We swam past dock 1 to the small wall, then to the deep wall before returing home from a long two-hour dive. Really great dive today.
I dove with my Inon macro lens and my Kraken 3000 ring light in the new bayonete ring with my R50 rig. It was excellent to use and I was able to take quite a few nice photos thanks to the decent visibility. The ring light really makes a difference on the macro shots.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the new Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus Ruby VideoHere are a few processed in Lightroom.
It rained for two days before today's dive. Today was sunny, hot and quite windy. The waves were quite rough but we figured with a higher tide we would be fine. Getting in was OK, but the visibility down to 20fsw was essentially zero. After 20fsw it opened up more and was almost decent on the dry docks and small wall. We travelled from dock 1 to the small wall, then right to the end before heading to dock 2. We also covered dock 3 before returning to one and home. Back at the boat ramp, the waves had really come up making exit quite horrible. Miraculously neither of us were hurt and all the gear was undamaged. A decent dive but horrible exit.
I dove with my Inon macro lens in the new bayonete ring with my R50 rig. It was excellent to use and I was able to take a few nice photos in spite of the horrible visibility.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the new Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Another dive on the Prism Topaz rebreather again today. Visibilty has been good, so I filled the Prism O2 tanks and changed the scrubber so it's time for fun.
My Piranha P1 is still unavailable until the new 'power tool battery module' arrives, so I hitched a ride with my buddy on her scooter. I ride from the boat ramp to dock 1, then repeat the same at the end of the dive. The rest of the dive I spent swimming and taking photographs and video. Overall an awesome dive.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the new Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus VideoToday after some while I dove the Prism Topaz rebreather again today. I've been waiting for better visibility simply because the Prism takes more time to rinse post-dive, so didn't want to do that unless the dive visibility was better.
Today's visibility was good, but not as great as last week. Shallow areas were poor and algae bloom was evident at the boat ramp. However at deeper depths, especially on the two walls, visibility was much better allowing for more photographs and a great dive.
As with last week, the new camera operated exceptionally well. I really love this new Canon R50 in the Nauticam NA-R50 housing.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the new Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
Chemainus VideoIt was cooler at home, but hot and sunny at the dive site. We wanted to scooter today, but my P1 won't run so I didn't bring it. I think the battery may have died.
The visibility was awesome today at 20-30ft, allowing for natural light photography and videos even at depth. It helped that it was low tide going in and even lower coming out. Overall an awesome day!
Today was the first dive on my new Canon R50 mirrorless with Nauticam NA-R50 housing. The camera comes with the 18-45mm zoom lens, and the housing is designed specifically for this lens. There is only one port on the housing, and it can't be swapped - much like the NA-G16 housing I've used before. The entire rig is brand new, except for the tray and handle which I took from my Nauticam NA-G16 rig that I've been using for some time. I bought the vacuum valve for the new housing as I really believe in the vacuum system as both extra security as well as early alarm for housing integrity. Everything worked perfectly today and I absolutely love the new camera system.
The full set of photos for my 2023 dives using the new Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 photos can be viewed here.
My review of the Canon R50 camera with Nauticam NA-R50 housing can be found here: Canon R50 & Nauticam NA-R50 Review
Chemainus Buddy Video
Chemainus Squids VideoImages processed in Lightroom compared to originals
Worst visibility yet; less than a foot anywhere deeper then 10ft. Almost a braile dive to dock one and back. Still good to get wet.
Chemainus VideoWorst visibility yet; less than a foot anywhere deeper then 10ft. Almost a braile dive to dock one and back. Still good to get wet.
Chemainus VideoVis was again a bit better today than the past few weeks, but not much. We swam to dock 1, then the wall to the end, then back. Overall a pretty good dive.
Chemainus VideoVis was a bit better today than the past few weeks, but not much. We swam to dock 1, then the wall, then along and over to dock 2, then back. Overall a pretty good dive.
Chemainus VideoWorse crummy vis today! We started scootering but had to stop at the differential and swim the rest of the dive. Good dive, terrible vis.
More crummy vis today. We elected to swim the entire dive to the wall and back. Overall a great dive.
Chemainus GPO Video
Chemainus Ruby VideoCrummy vis today, such that we had to swim at times in order to follow lines. Still, a great dive.
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Octo VideoNot as cold underwater today, and sunny and warm on the surface. Nice dive but the vis was rubbish due to the herring run.
Chemainus Mer-Stage Video
Chemainus Fish Clip Video
Chemainus Dock1 Scoot VideoStill cold! Nice dive on the small and deep walls with decent visibility.
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Octo Video
Chemainus Richard VideoCold! Coldcoldcoldcold!!! Even colder in the water than last week! Nice dive on the small and deep walls with decent visibility.
Cold! Coldcoldcoldcold!!! It was -5 on the surface and 45 underwater today. Dove early to beat the predicted snow dump later today. Visibility was kind of crummy, much like Maple Bay last week. Dove all walls and docks. Overall a good dive.
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Lingcod VideoNot a bad dive today. Typical poor Maple Bay visibility, and cold. Took the scooters for something to do.
Maple Bay Video
Maple Bay Octo VideoGood dive today. Cold. Very cold. Saw a seal on the deep wall, so that was neat.
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Seal Video
Chemainus Video (sp)Good dive today. Cold. Very cold.
Chemainus VideoGreat dive. Sunny but cold on the surface, and very cold underwater. No GPO this week but a nice big lingcod on an egg mass on one of the drydocks. Awesome dive!
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Lingcod VideoGreat dive today. Sunny on shore, cold in the water. All my gear fixes worked. Same route as last week except for a 20+min stop on the small wall to video a GPO (about 25lbs). Awesome dive!
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Octo Video
Chemainus Short Octo VideoQuite cold today underwater. Vis started poorly at the ramp on an incoming tide but cleared up at depth. Scootered to dock 1, then along the small wall to the deep wall. Back along the small wall to the end and over to dock 2. Swam the top of dock 2, then back to 1 and home. The dive was marred somewhat by the replacement Prism diluent LP hose, which bubbled from numerous places and was very loud and annoying. We got video of the bubbles front and back, but it was so loud as to be quite a distraction the whole dive. Still, I lost very little diluent. Again I'll have to replace the hose.
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Bubbles VideoGood dive today. Went to the deep wall, then back along the small wall to where it begins. Found the small tire and headed south, arriving at dock 2 without difficulty, in part due to the good visibility. Swam the top of 2, then headed over to 3/4 and the boom boat. Scootered the 'crack o doom', then topside 4 before heading back over to 2, then 1. Swam the top of 1 and finally headed home. The Prism diluent LP hose was bubbling throughout the dive, so I'll have to replace it.
Chemainus VideoGreat dive today, though the water was the coldest yet. Scootered to deep wall then back to dock 1 where we swam a bit before heading in to the eel grass to photograph the hooded nudibranches. Awesome first dive of 2023.
Chemainus Video
Chemainus Video (bubbles)