I had the opportunity to head from the South-lands up North through the jungle that is Seattle traffic to a site that you North dwelling NWDiveClubbers get to dive regularly, but our South Sound contingent don't often get up that way. I am almost embarrassed to say that it has been years since I dove Edmond's... couldn't really pull up a specific date without consulting the ancient manuscript portion of my dive logs, but suffice it to say I was a newb.
All I can say is "Why in the blazes did I wait so long?!?"
We braved traffic both ways and did three hour plus dives. (Surface interval? Who needs a surface interval when you never hit 40fsw and are diving nitrox?! Get out of your suit, go to the bathroom, gear up and by the time you drop for your next dive you've almost been out an hour anyway!) I will spare my easily distracted friends a hugely detailed report, but just wanted to post a couple of conclusions I came to based on the difference between diving it as a newbie and diving it now.
1) Do Multiple Dives! There is so much to see, and it is so shallow that even diving air you don't load a ton of nitrogen. Coming from the South you really need to make an extended day of it to make the drive and the traffic worth it.
2) Do The Surface Swims!! OK, I absolutely HATE surface swims. I HATE THEM!! 'Nuff said. But here they are SO worth it! Our first dive we swam to one of the near buoys and began our dive there. Our last two dives we swam WAY the heck out... starting our last dive on the pontoon.
You drop right on amazing structure, and whether you like big stuff or little stuff there is TONS to see and photograph. And when you are ready to move on you have more tons of cool stuff to see on the way in. Seriously, the length of your dives here are only limited by your cold tolerance or ability (or inability) to offload your body's urine!
3) BIG Fish! Gi-frickin'normous Fish! Give-you-nightmares Fish! Did I mention the big fish?
The largest ling I saw was conservatively 5' long and I've heard rumors of larger ones. These big boys make the Lings at Sund look like babies, and the minute you think you've seen the largest one you go around a corner and "BAM!" Oh, and speaking of "BAM!", a couple of Cabbies are still sitting on dead clutches of last year's eggs and have not gotten the memo that their Daddy duties are done. I swear they have to be the coolest, meanest, ugliest, most cantankerous critter in PNW waters. They just look pissed off, don't they?!? :angry:
4) Don't Miss The Small Stuff! Yes, the name of the game is structure and huge fish, but there are also alot of tiny things to find if you will slow down and look.
Thank to Bnboly and Zsaoly for letting me tag along on their adventure and for being great dive buddies!
I am more and more keenly aware of the limitations of my camera equipment, especially on a dive like this where wide angle and a couple big strobes would be so welcome. That said, I love taking pics, both for memories and ID purposes and on the off chance of capturing a really nice image. A few that I liked are below, and the ones I uploaded are here.
When you stop being distracted by the big boys there are small Sculpin everywhere, and they are fat and well fed! Here was a particularly ambitious male Scaleyhead that was doing its best to consume a hermit crab. After bothering him for about five minutes with my camera the hermit crab escaped and the Scaleyhead went off to resume its hunting expedition for more easily consumed fare.
And of course - the big boys. Wish I had strobes and a wide angle for these guys... or as Bassman says, "You need to carry a toothbrush and put it in the picture for perspective!"
by Unknown
and thank you Tom for coming out you to Bill.
It was more of like a schedule change with my wife.
