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

July 23, 2016, 10:30 pm

	Dive 1	Dive 2		Dive 1	Dive 2
Place:	HMCS Annapolis	HMCS Annapolis	Buddy:	Doug
Weather:	Fine, Sunny		Type:	Boat (Topline)
Max. depth (m):	29.9	25.9	Visibility (m):	10	10
Time down:	09:26	11:24	Dive time (mins):	37	52
Average depth (m):	18.6	16.3	Water temp. (C):	10.4	10.4

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.