| Dive 172 |
Titlow Beach |
Tacoma, WA |
2003-05-10 |
| 26 Minutes |
24 feet max |
14 feet average |
Shore dive |
| Description: |
|
| On the previous attempt at certification, Corey had a problem with his buddy breathing skills, so we spent the last five weeks practicing buddy breathing, buoyancy, gear donning and doffing and other scuba skills at the pool with the dive shop. We also bought him all his own gear, so now he had a nice new BC that he'd been practicing with, his own regs, and an extremely comfortable wetsuit made from "Hyperstretch neoprene, which is way more flexible and soft than normal wetsuits. We came back to Titlow Beach to finish off his skills. On this dive, his instructor, Rod, buddied Corey up with me, and also took out two other divers that were certifying. He had them do their skills, then he had Corey and I buddy breath, which he did perfectly this time. Rod then led us all on a short dive around the pilings. Corey exited the water, now a certified diver! |
|
|
| Salt Water |
Day dive |
20 feet visibility |
Current: None |
| Water temp: 51 F |
Air temp: 70 F |
Lead: 34 lbs. |
Tank: Steel 100 |
| Thermals: drysuit |
Buddies: Corey, Rod |
|
| Dive 173 |
Titlow Beach |
Tacoma, WA |
2003-05-10 |
| 38 Minutes |
39 feet max |
23 feet average |
Shore dive |
| Description: |
|
| Now that Corey was certified, I wanted to take him on his first pleasure dive. We'd both looked forward to this day for years, and I was very excited to share the experience of the underwater world. We put on fresh tanks, and headed out. I was amazed at how at ease Corey was under water with all his gear on.
We headed out to the left (south) of the pilings a ways, and did a big loop, maxing out around 40 feet. We ended up at the pilings, where we circled it a couple of times, taking our time and looking at the little stuff. We saw a couple of large lingcod (2 to 3 feet), rock crabs, kelp crabs, some sort of decorator crabs, a beautiful white nudibranch with bright orange tips, rockfish, lots of perch, and of course the white metridium that cover the pilings. During our safety stop, Corey played with a little shrimp that kept touching his glove with its antenae. After the dive, I was happy to find out that Corey had never been uneasy, nervous or uncomfortable, he was warm throughout the whole dive, and had thoroughly enjoyed himself. It was a dream come true for both of us, and will always be one of my favorite dives. |
| Salt Water |
Day dive |
20 feet visibility |
Current: Slow |
| Water temp: 51 F |
Air temp: 70 F |
Lead: 34 lbs. |
Tank: Steel 100 |
| Thermals: drysuit |
Buddies: Corey |
|
| Dive 174 |
Battleground Lake |
Battleground, WA |
2003-05-25 |
| 30 Minutes |
30 feet max |
17 feet average |
Shore dive |
| Description: |
|
| Corey and I wanted to do an easy local dive, so our family headed out to Battleground Lake. There were tons of people here for Memorial Day weekend. We started at the boat ramp and headed out following the compass. The visibility was pretty bad, only three feet or so. We didn't find much life except some tiny trout in the grass in the shallows. We did, however, find a sunken rowboat on our way back in. The water was very cold at depth, but nicely warm in the shallows. |
| Lake |
Day dive |
5 feet visibility |
Current: None |
| Water temp: 46 F |
Air temp: 75 F |
Lead: 34 lbs. |
Tank: Steel 100 |
| Thermals: drysuit |
Buddies: Corey |
|
| Dive 175 |
Point Whitney |
Brinnon, WA |
2003-07-05 |
| 44 Minutes |
31 feet max |
17 feet average |
Shore dive |
| Description: |
|
| While camping with the Steve's Scuba group at Dosewallups State Park, we met Jerry and his kids Faith and Ben. Jerry and Faith are both divers, so we headed up to the nearby Point Whitney, only a few miles from camp. We followed the pipeline out for quite a ways, taking our time and enjoying all the aquatic life. We saw perch, sculpin, rockfish, painted greenling, pipefish and a couple of gunnels. Corey also saw his first octopus under one of the blocks supporting the pipeline! This really is an enjoyable and easy dive. |
| Salt Water |
Day dive |
15 feet visibility |
Current: Slow |
| Water temp: 57 F |
Air temp: 70 F |
Lead: 34 lbs. |
Tank: Steel 100 |
| Thermals: drysuit |
Buddies: Corey, Jerry, Faith |
|
| Dive 176 |
Carver Bridge |
Carver, OR |
2003-07-13 |
| 25 Minutes |
23 feet max |
11 feet average |
Shore dive |
| Description: |
|
| After a nice picnic lunch with Jerry, Mona, Faith and Ben, we divers headed out to check out the Carver Bridge. On the way out we saw one very large but dead salmon. There was quite a bit of life here for a fresh water site. We spotted several blue sucker fish, a dead lamprey eel, some crayfish, fresh water clams, one leather boot, and one tennis shoe. |
| River |
Day dive |
15 feet visibility |
Current: Slow |
| Water temp: 68 F |
Air temp: 80 F |
Lead: 34 lbs. |
Tank: Steel 100 |
| Thermals: drysuit |
Buddies: Corey, Jerry, Faith |
|
|
