Archive for the ‘nitrox’ Category.

Dive #181: Cove 2, West Seattle, WA

Place:Cove 2 Buddy:Doug
Weather:Fine Type:Shore
Max. depth (m):31.4 Visibility (m):10
Time down:09:19 Dive time (mins):51
Average depth (m):17.1 Water temp. (C):13.4

Notes: Earlyish dive on a Sunday to do some skills: S-drills; shot a bag; did a decent enough, but slow, ascent. Found the monolith too, and also a metal cross that looked like it was marking something.

Equipment: All own stuff as previously. The battery cap of my Liquivision Xen, came apart as I took the unit out of the tub where I was rinsing it. Also during washing, some fresh water got inside one of my first stages. No idea how as I did not submerge it. Anyway, some things to attend to there.

Accumulated time underwater: 5 days, 2 hours and 48 minutes.

Dive #179, 180: HMCS Annapolis, Horseshoe Bay, BC, Canada

 Dive 1Dive 2  Dive 1Dive 2
Place:HMCS AnnapolisHMCS Annapolis Buddy:Doug
Weather:Fine, Sunny Type:Boat (Topline)
Max. depth (m):29.925.9 Visibility (m):1010
Time down:09:2611:24 Dive time (mins):3752
Average depth (m):18.616.3 Water temp. (C):10.410.4

Notes: I went to Canada with Doug to dive the HMCS Annapolis. We drove up on the Friday evening and stayed in Vancouver; very pleasant late dinner at the Blue Water Cofe. Up early then on Saturday to go to Horseshoe Bay and check in with Sea Dragon Charters at 7.30am, to be ready for a boat departure at 8am (CA$110 for two dives, back at 1pm). The boat was called Topline.

We had only one set of doubles each for the trip so we kept the first dive relatively short, aiming to come up with about 2200 PSI for the following one. It was a bit unsatisfactory. We did a brief shallow penetration at about 90 feet that used up a good bit of gas and then worked our way back to the line but we didn’t get a good feel for the layout of the ship. The second dive was much better. We did a nice controlled circumnavigation of the main decks of the ship along with a closer look at a helicopter hangar (no helicopter) and the bridge.

Equipment: As previous dive with my HP-100s. I should switch the ports to which my alternate second stage and drysuit inflator hoses are connected. This would slightly improve the routing of my short hose. I still need to shorten the bungee on my alternate second stage by an inch or two. My mask leaked a bit again on the first dive. Not sure why this is. My recently adjusted harness was ok getting in, fine underwater but very difficult to get out of. It turns out my light malfunction (intermittently turning itself off) on the previous dive is a known heat-related issue with Halcyon EOS Mini lights. It needs to be sent back to Halcyon for some small modification. It was ok on these dives though. These were my first dives using my own 10-lb v-weight (didn’t need to borrow from Doug). I have not done a proper weight check with this configuration but this seems to to be fine. Must do a proper weight check at some point. My long hose tends slip out after being tucked into the harness. Until I get a canister light, it might be worth while picking up a canister light simulator like this one.

IMG_0384.JPG IMG_0378.JPG IMG_0365.JPG IMG_0364.JPG IMG_0363.JPG

Accumulated time underwater: 5 days, 1 hour and 57 minutes.

Dive #136, #137: Fish Rock

 Dive 1Dive 2  Dive 1Dive 2
Place:Fish Rock CaveFish and Chips (by Fish Rock Cave) Buddy:Eithne
Weather:Sunny Type:Boat (The Sea Wolf)
Max. depth (m):23.426.5 Visibility (m):2020
Time down:08:1410:23 Dive time (mins):5648
Average depth (m):14.315.5 Water temp. (C):23.022.0

Notes: Double boat dive with South West Rocks Dive Centre.

Price: $140 for tanks (32% nitrox) and weights

Diving:

Equipment: Rented steel tank. 18 lb weight.

Accumulated time underwater: 3 days, 19 hours and 12 minutes

31-Dec-2013 08:11, Canon Canon PowerShot S95, 5.6, 6.0mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 160
31-Dec-2013 08:11, Canon Canon PowerShot S95, 4.0, 6.0mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 100
31-Dec-2013 08:16, Canon Canon PowerShot S95, 2.2, 6.852mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 400
31-Dec-2013 08:19, Canon Canon PowerShot S95, 2.8, 6.0mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 400
31-Dec-2013 08:20, Canon Canon PowerShot S95, 2.8, 6.0mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 400
 
31-Dec-2013 08:23, Canon Canon PowerShot S95, 2.8, 6.0mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 400
31-Dec-2013 08:26, Canon Canon PowerShot S95, 2.8, 6.0mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 100
31-Dec-2013 08:28, Canon Canon PowerShot S95, 2.8, 6.0mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 100
31-Dec-2013 08:31, Canon Canon PowerShot S95, 2.8, 6.0mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 400
31-Dec-2013 08:40, Canon Canon PowerShot S95, 4.0, 6.0mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 100
 
31-Dec-2013 08:52, Canon Canon PowerShot S95, 2.8, 6.0mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 100
 

Dive #108, #109: The Drum and Drumstick, Echo Point, Jervis Bay, NSW

 Dive 1Dive 2  Dive 1Dive 2
Place:The Drum and DrumstickEcho Point Buddy:Eithne
Weather:Sunny Type:Boat
Max. depth (m):22.518.6 Visibility (m):1510
Time down:10:0111:59 Dive time (mins):4540
Average depth (m):12.811.9 Water temp. (C):18.018.0

Notes: Double boat dive with Dive Jervis Bay based in Huskisson.

Price: $151 for nitrox-filled tanks and weights only.

Diving: Seals! Wisdom: Making a deliberate effort to warm up one’s core after the first dive, might make a huge difference on the second. I pulled down my suit, put on a fleece and stood in the sun as much as possible for the hour-long surface interval, and remained perfectly warm after getting back in the water.

Equipment: Rented steel tank. 18 lb weight. Hood.

Camera notes:

Accumulated time underwater: 3 days, 0 hours and 2 minutes

Dive #34: Split Bommie, GBR

Place:Split Bommie Buddy:Eithne
Weather: Type:Boat (Taka II)
Max. depth (m):12.5 Visibility (m):0
Time down: Dive time (mins):45
Average depth (m):0.0 Water temp. (C):0.0

Equipment: See previous.

Notes: The last dive of a fantastic trip. See Dive #33 for photos. After some advice from the captain, the group decided to revisit the Split Bommie rather than endure a seasick-ridden journey to another site further out to sea. A storm followed us home.

Accumulated time under water: 19 hrs 19 mins

Dive #33: Split Bommie, GBR

Place:Split Bommie Buddy:Eithne
Weather: Type:Boat (Taka II)
Max. depth (m):16.7 Visibility (m):0
Time down: Dive time (mins):55
Average depth (m):0.0 Water temp. (C):0.0

Equipment: See previous.

Notes: Some lovely photos of underwater flora.

Accumulated time under water: 18 hrs 34 mins

Dive #32: Beer Garden, GBR

Place:Beer Garden Buddy:Eithne
Weather: Type:Boat (Taka II)
Max. depth (m):15.7 Visibility (m):0
Time down: Dive time (mins):44
Average depth (m):0.0 Water temp. (C):0.0

Equipment: See previous.

Notes: Another lovely night dive. We woke a sleeping turtle.

Accumulated time under water: 17 hrs 39 mins

Dive #31: Two and two thirds, GBR

Place:Two and Two Thirds Buddy:Eithne
Weather: Type:Boat (Taka II)
Max. depth (m):12.1 Visibility (m):0
Time down: Dive time (mins):51
Average depth (m):0.0 Water temp. (C):0.0

Equipment: See previous.

Notes: Nothing fractional about this dive site. I saw the gills of a Christmas-Tree worm retract at my approach and had my first face off with a territorial Damselfish.

Accumulated time under water: 16 hrs 55 mins

Dive #30: Steve’s Bommie, GBR

Place:Steve's Bommie Buddy:Eithne
Weather: Type:Boat (Taka II)
Max. depth (m):21.8 Visibility (m):0
Time down: Dive time (mins):39
Average depth (m):0.0 Water temp. (C):0.0

Equipment: See previous.

Notes: The name of this dive site is on a plaque at the bottom of the bommie. I don’t know who Steve was. The word bommie, is short for bombora, “a shallow isolated piece of reef located a distance offshore“. Hell of a lot of fish.

Accumulated time under water: 16 hrs 4 mins

Dive #29: Gorgonian Wall, GBR

Place:Gorgonian Wall Buddy:Eithne
Weather: Type:Boat (Taka II)
Max. depth (m):26.1 Visibility (m):0
Time down: Dive time (mins):44
Average depth (m):0.0 Water temp. (C):0.0

Equipment: As before.

Notes: A gorgonian is an “order of sessile colonial cnidarian“. Only a few photos from this dive, and none of these.

Accumulated time under water: 15 hrs 25 mins