Search found 5524 matches

by LCF
Sun Aug 23, 2015 7:42 pm
Forum: Everything Else
Topic: Thank You!
Replies: 5
Views: 2588

Re: Thank You!

Glad your dive was saved!

That second picture is downright weird :)
by LCF
Fri Aug 21, 2015 8:42 pm
Forum: General SCUBA Discussion
Topic: NITROX problems
Replies: 26
Views: 6549

Re: NITROX problems

Be careful with the Oxycheq El Cheapo. It's not just a bit of soldering, and installing dials and switches, which is what I thought when I bought it. You get the hard plastic box with no holes cut in it at all, and it's not easy to cut. You have to remove some components from the circuit board and r...
by LCF
Fri Aug 21, 2015 8:38 pm
Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
Topic: Whidbey Island Critters
Replies: 5393
Views: 924851

Re: Whidbey Island Critters

We did a dive at Cove 2 yesterday, and I was thrilled at the numbers of ochre stars we saw (interestingly, all orange in color) but not so thrilled at the number we saw clearly affected by this disorder. We also saw a couple of adult Stimsons stars, and none that showed wasting. Not a single sunflow...
by LCF
Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:46 am
Forum: Gear Central (Recreational)
Topic: Scooters. What do you have? Your likes and dislikes?
Replies: 48
Views: 14525

Re: Scooters. What do you have? Your likes and dislikes?

I have a Sierra, and like YellowEye, I don't use it much. But it is VERY useful for getting to some sites which are not practical from shore by kicking, like the Alki Fishing Reef and Northwest Island, and I do use it for insurance against current at places like Day Island Wall. There isn't anything...
by LCF
Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:56 am
Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
Topic: Whidbey Island Critters
Replies: 5393
Views: 924851

Re: Whidbey Island Critters

You know, as I recall, the ochre stars were hit less hard and later than the sunflower stars, the first time around. I wonder if there were susceptible individuals who survived the first plague and are now getting sick, as opposed to the sunflower stars, where anything that survived was pretty resis...
by LCF
Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:53 am
Forum: Dive Travel - Planning and Adventure
Topic: Maui Diving Advice
Replies: 22
Views: 7966

Re: Maui Diving Advice

We've never had bad fills. And they have set up DIN tanks for us, too.

Check out Maui Tacos for great lunch stuff. We always make a point of eating there several times each trip.
by LCF
Thu Jul 02, 2015 10:14 am
Forum: Dive Travel - Planning and Adventure
Topic: Maui Diving Advice
Replies: 22
Views: 7966

Re: Maui Diving Advice

I dive dry in Maui. Water temperature is often below 80 degrees, and we tend toward long, slow dives that don't keep me warm. I honestly find it easier to get in and out of a dry suit with minimal undergarments than to get in and out of a heavy wetsuit. (Oh, and btw, my in-laws lived on Maui for the...
by LCF
Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:48 pm
Forum: Dive Travel - Planning and Adventure
Topic: Maui Diving Advice
Replies: 22
Views: 7966

Re: Maui Diving Advice

Ulua Beach is a very pleasant dive. Decent parking, easy entry. Follow the rocks on the right-hand side of the beach out to their end, then swim the same heading (IIRC about 240) for about 50 feet or so, and you'll find the second reef. That one is extensive and shallow. We've done 90 minute dives p...
by LCF
Sat Jun 27, 2015 8:59 pm
Forum: Dive Recaps & Trip Reports
Topic: My dive today
Replies: 13
Views: 3728

Re: My dive today

If one has a scooter, going out to Northwest Island is a fantastic dive. Great wall there, covered in life. About 8 minutes on a Sierra.
by LCF
Sat Jun 20, 2015 11:29 pm
Forum: Everything Else
Topic: Beer rankings
Replies: 11
Views: 3528

Re: Beer rankings

Whoever did the rankings clearly has a thing for IPAs. Not my kind of beer.
by LCF
Sat Jun 20, 2015 12:41 am
Forum: Gear Central (Recreational)
Topic: HOG regulator tech...
Replies: 2
Views: 1801

Re: HOG regulator tech...

I've heard of the existence of the same thing, but never found out how to access it.
by LCF
Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:03 pm
Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
Topic: a purple dirona and an Eubranchus sanjuanensis
Replies: 1
Views: 1659

Re: a purple dirona and an Eubranchus sanjuanensis

Lovely photos! When I took my NW Marine Life ID class from Laurel LeFever, he told us that he often comes home and looks at his photos, and finds things in them he didn't realize were there when he took the shot. Just a reminder that life is EVERYWHERE in the water!
by LCF
Mon Jun 15, 2015 3:07 pm
Forum: Diving Education (Recreational)
Topic: Recreational Instructor Recommendations
Replies: 17
Views: 8902

Re: Recreational Instructor Recommendations

I know it sounds self-serving, but I think my husband does a very good job of his classes. We teach with the "early transition to neutral buoyancy" approach (no "on the knees") and emphasize good buoyancy control, trim, and buddy awareness. Peter teaches more gas management than ...
by LCF
Thu Jun 11, 2015 2:02 am
Forum: General SCUBA Discussion
Topic: Diver missing in Tacoma?
Replies: 19
Views: 5929

Re: Diver missing in Tacoma?

If the story is as reported, it is an object lesson in how bad group diving in Puget Sound is as a practice. Even when our viz is good, it's not good; if you have eight people in the water, it's just all too easy to lose track of one of them. I have been in situations where people wanted to dive as ...
by LCF
Tue Jun 09, 2015 9:05 am
Forum: Dive Recaps & Trip Reports
Topic: SJI 6/7
Replies: 7
Views: 2654

Re: SJI 6/7

Looks like a beautiful day! The photo of the swimming scallop made me smile with memories -- the first time I ever saw them, I was diving with Bob Bailey off Deception Island, and Bob startled one after another into the water. I laughed until my mask flooded. I still find them hysterically funny, li...
by LCF
Sat Jun 06, 2015 4:15 am
Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
Topic: Whidbey Island Critters
Replies: 5393
Views: 924851

Re: Whidbey Island Critters

I love watching them feed. It enlivens low viz dives :)
by LCF
Fri Jun 05, 2015 2:54 pm
Forum: Underwater Imaging - Photography & Video
Topic: Call for Actors - Divers - Mukilteo
Replies: 5
Views: 2849

Re: Call for Actors - Divers - Mukilteo

Unfortunately, I am out of town this weekend.
by LCF
Fri Jun 05, 2015 10:58 am
Forum: Dive Recaps & Trip Reports
Topic: Another Trip of a Lifetime!
Replies: 14
Views: 3636

Re: Another Trip of a Lifetime!

Lovely photographic documentation of what is really a fantastic trip. Diving with the manta rays at the Boiler will always be on my list of top dives ever.
by LCF
Fri Jun 05, 2015 12:29 am
Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
Topic: Whidbey Island Critters
Replies: 5393
Views: 924851

Re: Whidbey Island Critters

A decorator crab was the catalyst that made me fall in love with Puget Sound diving. On my 4th OW class dive, the instructor picked up a small one and let it crawl on his glove, and then handed it to me. I watched the graceful animal and was amazed . . . I haven't stopped feeling that way in the 10 ...
by LCF
Thu May 28, 2015 9:27 am
Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
Topic: Sea star die-off
Replies: 279
Views: 131249

Re: Sea star die-off

We dove Titlow Marine Reserve on Tuesday, and I was delighted to see several good-sized (8 - 10 inches) sunflower stars, which appeared healthy.
by LCF
Thu May 28, 2015 9:26 am
Forum: Everything Else
Topic: Looks like Starfish beer is back
Replies: 3
Views: 2143

Re: Looks like Starfish beer is back

Jan, your artistry always awes me! I'll have to ask our local store to get this in.
by LCF
Tue May 26, 2015 8:09 pm
Forum: Dive Planning
Topic: Anybody dived Titlow recently?
Replies: 7
Views: 3434

Re: Anybody dived Titlow recently?

Well, we did it today, and viz was better than that. The water in the shallows was clear, but out where the current was blowing, it probably got down to 15 feet or so. We got in at about 12:20 and we were too early . . . we fought current to the pilings, but once we got there, the current pretty muc...
by LCF
Sun May 24, 2015 10:15 pm
Forum: Dive Planning
Topic: Anybody dived Titlow recently?
Replies: 7
Views: 3434

Re: Anybody dived Titlow recently?

Very good to hear, and thank you!
by LCF
Sun May 24, 2015 3:02 pm
Forum: Dive Planning
Topic: Anybody dived Titlow recently?
Replies: 7
Views: 3434

Anybody dived Titlow recently?

We're supposed to be leading dives there on Tuesday, and I'm wondering what the visibility has been. I haven't been there in ages. (And I'm desperately hoping that this horrible cold I'm not enjoying will have relented a bit by then!)
by LCF
Sun May 24, 2015 9:15 am
Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
Topic: Whidbey Island Critters
Replies: 5393
Views: 924851

Re: Whidbey Island Critters

What beautiful scaled crab photos! That's my favorite crab species, after the PSKC.