Sitka 2016..

Tell us your tale of coming nose-to-nose with a 6 gill [--this big--], or about your vacation to turquoise warm waters. Share your adventures here!
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H20doctor
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Sitka 2016..

Post by H20doctor »

I spent a week as i always do up in sitka enjoying good friends and lots of diving... Every since Bassman took me up there , Im hooked , the cold water , the adventures , the good friends that ive made up there , it makes me Love it even more... I spent time with Diver dave , and His family, going out... drinking at the P bar, ( diver dave does not drink ) doing dives in the Harbour ... for me the best part was getting out to new sites and exploring for the first time... this was Only possible by efforts made by Herb McClenahan and the Loving kindness of us using his boat every day.. Diver daves Boat was Out and not working...
As with all trips to sitka , as soon as you get there , a Night dive is the first thing you do , unpack go dive ... Here is my first dive on the trawler .. with diver dive , and Sitka diver

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Next day was Us heading out to a Pinnacle in the straights... we had encounters with Humpback all day, and packs of sea Lions hunting herring bait balls , the whales and the Sea lions were hunting together ..

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day 3 was trying to get out and around the corner to dive and sit in the Hot springs south of sitka , but wind and waves stopped that , so we did some dives exploring on new spots ...

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Day 4 was heading way north to an island called sinitsin Island , we wanted to get out and exposed to see what was there for life and fish , The most beautiful part of this dive was the Kelp , I have not done kelp forest diving , and this was an amazing dive to experience .. As with most of my videos from this trip all i wanted to do was film kelp, and be in it .. the kelp is very beautiful.. the last part of the movie is me snorkeling trying to get footage of a large Baitball ... Herring season was in full force there during the time and i wanted to experience it first hand ..
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A big thank you to sitka diver , and Bassman for introducing me to these guys i now call family .....
NWDC Rule #2 Pictures Or it didn't Happen
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oldsalt
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Re: Sitka 2016..

Post by oldsalt »

Chris: Thank you for posting. While I have lugged my gear up to Alaska a couple of times, I've never dived it. A couple of special joys from your videos:
- The sun filtering through kelp seems nearly sacred to me, reminiscent of stained glass in a cathedral.
- The abundance of abalone reminds me of the "good old days" in the San Juans.
- Humpbacks are wonderful wherever you encounter them.
-Curt :rawlings:
Happy to be alive.
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sitkadiver
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Re: Sitka 2016..

Post by sitkadiver »

That was a great week of diving. I don't think we could have wished for better weather.

We didn't make it to the hot springs, but we can save that for next year. The boys are out of school for spring break March, 11th through the 18th, So I need to start planning!

I think we should dive the North side of Crow Island and the canyons for sure.
I do not believe in taking unnecesary risks, but a life without risk is not worth living.
-Charles Lindbergh
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Linedog
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Re: Sitka 2016..

Post by Linedog »

Looks like a lot of fun was had!
Pop tarts and gravy,
It's what's for breakfast.
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H20doctor
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Re: Sitka 2016..

Post by H20doctor »

oldsalt wrote:Chris: Thank you for posting. While I have lugged my gear up to Alaska a couple of times, I've never dived it. A couple of special joys from your videos:
- The sun filtering through kelp seems nearly sacred to me, reminiscent of stained glass in a cathedral.
- The abundance of abalone reminds me of the "good old days" in the San Juans.
- Humpbacks are wonderful wherever you encounter them.
-Curt :rawlings:
thank you for the compliments Old salt , it takes work and time to edit these silly videos, so i appreciate that !! :taco: :taco:

As for Abalone in the puget sound , I saw a very large one in San Juan islands a few weeks ago while on a Boat dive..I was in complete shock to see one
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H20doctor
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Re: Sitka 2016..

Post by H20doctor »

BOOM !!! so here is the final and last video of the trip , this was a first for me as i did not know that sitka Had a Navy installation

Construction of the 8,100-foot, rock-fill causeway proved most difficult. The
water varied in depth from 12 to 60 feet. Strong currents, angry waves, and
fierce storms required the causeway to be armored with rocks weighting up to
40 tons. The causeway was continually breached, resulting in seemingly
endless repairs. The islands themselves were rocky knobs that had to be
levelled. Costing over $2 million, the causeway was completed, apparently, in
the summer of 1942. Non-fortification facilities included:
In July 1943, Makhnati (including the causeway) was declared to be the
headquarters post of the Harbor Defenses of Sitka and was named Fort
Rousseau, in honor of Maj. Gen. Lowell H. Rousseau. Defense structures were
erected on four islands, with the principal works being on Makhnati. Still
standing on Virublennoi are three reinforced-concrete, igloo-type ammunition
magazines and an earth -covered, concrete "bunker" of unknown function.
Moving out to the next island, Sasedni, one finds four reinforced-concrete
emplacements. These were for four of fourteen 20mm antiaircraft weapons that
the navy gave the army in July 1942. Near each emplacement is a
reinforced-concrete structure that appears to be a personnel shelter.
Makhnati Island was not only the headquarters for Sitka's Harbor Defenses, it
had a fixed battery of two 6-ipch guns, flanked on either side by a 155mm gun
emplacement (Panama mounts). These defense works are impressive. To the
rear of a rocky hill are two large splinterproof , reinforced-concrete magazines.
Camouflage in the form of chicken wire and strips of burlap still festoon their
fronts. Forward of the hill is the 6-inch battery. The weapons were mounted
in barbette emplacements. Behind them is a complex, casemated structure that
housed ammunition magazines and administrative areas that housed the Harbor
Defense Command Post, Harbor Entrance Control Post, and headquarters for
Harbor Defenses. Deep underground are three rooms whose function is
unknown (local tradition holds they served as a hospital or dispensary). Even
the Coast Artillery was impressed; the commanding officer wrote -Ihe Alaskan
Department, "You should see it, a typical Coast Artillery Fortress."
Makhnati and its Causeway, portions of which have been damaged by storms,
are now cut off from Japonski Island by a modern jet runway. The airport
management, however, makes arrangements for visitors to cross the runway at
scheduled times. The Causeway and its islands are owned by the State of
Alaska.
Other coastal defenses at Sitka included an unfinished, fixed 6-inch gun
battery at Shoals Point, Kruzof Island, eleven miles west of Sitka, and called
Fort Babcock. Shoals Point also had a temporary battery of two 6-inch naval
guns. A similar, incomplete battery was constructed on Biorka Island twenty
miles south of Sitka

web site here ..
http://www.sitkaww2.com/navy/navy.html

Matt Hunter is the Local historian and leads tours over to the causeway
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So what does this all mean ? well sitkaDiver wanted to go treasure hunting and the only way to do that was to go Vintage , since the Navy built the Place , we had to dive vintage and explore vintage ... Now i never knew david was a double hose diving Connoisseur , in fact he is and has the most amazing collection of vintage double hose regulators.. that i have ever seen , when i had seen him diving on one i thought he was nuts , like you are a crazy fool for diving that thing and your going to die .. But the more and more i researched the double hose , the more and more i understood the design and how well it works.. very cool
We loaded up for the dive and david's goal was to find stuff , little did we know that the navy decided rather than taking stuff of the island , they would just pick a spot and throw in the water ...

Here is the video
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Now since i drank the double hose Koolaide :koolaid: :koolaid: :koolaid: :koolaid: :koolaid:
i was Hooked hard , i started looking at ebay and vintage forums to cure my thirst.. And i have been diving My double hose now for 4 months and it is the coolest piece of gear i own now ... its rebuilt , updated and breaths like butter ...
vintage.jpg
my favorite Picture from the dive trip.... Busted In sitka
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NWDC Rule #2 Pictures Or it didn't Happen
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oldsalt
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Re: Sitka 2016..

Post by oldsalt »

Chris: The mess deck trays and the dishes with the blue stripe and anchor put me back in time. If you are a reader of history, "The Thousand Mile War" is a good account of WWII in Alaska. Somehow, in my travels to Alaska, I have missed Sitka. You've shown me I need to fix that. Thanks again.
-Curt :rawlings:
P.S. I'm glad they got that animal under control. ;)
Happy to be alive.
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Gdog
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Re: Sitka 2016..

Post by Gdog »

Hahaha.....what a pose.
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