Northwest Dive Club

The ordinance is unclear. It prohibits "watercraft", on or below the surface. I don't know if a scooter is a "watercraft". A friend has spoken with one of the folks who patrol the park, and basically been told that they're not going to hassle scooter divers until or unless they b...

We had a wonderful time. The weather could not have been more beautiful (for November, anyway). I was very happy to get to do Dalco again, because I'd only been there once before. The feeling of "flying" out over the edge of the wall is intoxicating. Rick did his usual masterful job of tim...

OOOOH . . . I spotted one of those on our James Island dive in the San Juans in early October, but nobody got nearly as good a picture of it as you got of this one! They're really beautiful in person, even without the benefit of a macro lens.

Well, we had a lovely shallow tour of Cove 2 yesterday. I didn't find a whole lot for us to admire, but we spent about 45 minutes looking. NeMEed is a trooper about being in the water that long in a wetsuit!

I have a visitor from Chicago, and we're going to join the fun tomorrow. Tony's a great guy and a beautiful diver, but he dives the Great Lakes and is afraid of fish. We should have lots of fun!

Jan, lovely photographs as usual, and educational as you so often are.

Thank you so much for continuing to create and post these pages.

Monday, of course (blush). Senior moment.

NeMEed and I are going to hit Cove 2 on Tuesday. A nice shallow tour is just what I need after a weekend of getting my rear end handed to me . . .

The class I was most disappointed with was Peak Performance Buoyancy. During the two dives, we never even really decided how much weight I should be carrying, let alone where. Subsequently, I have learned so much about approaches and ideas for teaching a basic buoyancy class that I almost wish I wer...

LCF, is the loss of motion worth saving a couple hundred dollars? It depends on two things. One is whether you think being able to reach your valve/s is a safety matter (which I do) and the other is whether you contemplate at any time in the future moving to diving double tanks, where you MUST be a...

Don't know the difference between the high and low profile SiTech valves, but I would highly recommend SiTech over Apeks dump valves, having owned both. The back zip suit I had, I really liked for fit, and for getting in and out of it (although one obviously requires help to get it zipped). But the ...

I did DIRF in a single tank, and it was a wonderful thing to do, and improved my diving from that point onward. When I took the class, I didn't have any ambitions beyond getting wet and looking at fish, but I subsequently fell in love with the idea of cave diving. I moved on to doubles, and I will s...

I have a Halcyon Pathfinder 400' reel, but I found it difficult to learn to use, because it was so big in my hand. While I was in Tucson last year, I got to handle (but not dive with) a Ralph Hood reel, and I really liked how compact it was for the same length of line. I think I'll get to use one in...

Valerie, great report!

Peter and I are going to dive Ginnie, Peacock and Jackson Blue in December. I'm looking forward to getting to put our Intro skills to use.

You need to plan a trip to Mexico now . . .

BTW, any time either of you wants to do some reel or line work practice, just let me know!

I think I forgot to mention Sheri Tepper -- Gate to Women's Country is another take altogether on gender roles. Her trilogy on the role of religion in human societies, which begins with Grass, goes through Raising the Stones, and ends in Sideshow, is simply superb.

5'4" and 120 lbs:

Trilam suit, one layer polarfleece undies, 200g Thinsulate vest, 200g Thinsulate jumpsuit
Steel BP, 3 lbs on the cambands, 18 on a belt for an LP 95
Al BP, 16 lbs on a belt with double 85's.

Add four pounds for my compressed neo suit.

I like Fat Tire and Negra Modelo.

2X LP72 doubles
1 set HP100 doubles
1 set LP85 doubles
2 HP 130s
2 LP 95s
3 single LP 72s
1 Al6 for Argon

Tanks have outgrown the shed where we originally kept them, and at this rate, they're going to need a house of their own . . .

I'm a rabid Viking ring fan. Two minute installation (I don't think it actually takes me THAT long now) and removal. Change gloves in the field in three minutes without tools. AND I'm the only person I dive with who has NEVER had a glove flood as a result of the glove popping off or the union leaking.

One of the things I love about your pictures is that they make me aware of creatures I may very well have looked past, or not even noticed. I'll have to look for the slime worms from now on!

Suit #1: Mobby's Trilaminate. Loves: It's the only truly self-donning suit I know. I can get in and out of it without any assistance whatsoever. Has the SiTech dump valve, which is efficient and fast, and it's located perfectly. Suit is light and dries quickly. Dislikes: Has had a crotch leak since ...

Ender's Game was superb, although the series deteriorated as it went on. I forgot about Frank Herbert -- Dune is a beautiful work, although again, the series went downhill. He also wrote some other superb and lesser known books, though, like the Santaroga Barrier and Whipping Star. John Brunner's Sh...

Another vote for the SK7 in the DSS wrist mount. This is one of Tobin's really good ideas.

Mischi, at Pelagia scuba (http://www.pelagiascuba.com/) teaches a tides and currents class. I've been meaning to take it myself for some time.

I've been a SF nut since I was in grade school, which is longer ago than I'm willing to admit (or think about!) I loved Heinlein, Andre Norton, Alan Nourse and Asimov in the beginning. Nowadays, I really like: Stephen Donaldson -- The Amnion series (not whiny) A Man Rides Through/Mirror of her Dream...

Glad to hear you came out okay, and didn't end up incurring the fine for being in the ferry zone. I was on a ferry one day that was delayed because it had to use its tender to rescue exhausted divers hanging on the ferry lane pilings. The current at Edmonds can be significant, as you learned. And it...