Port Townsend dives?

[McGlencoe]

Looks like I 'll be up in Port Townsend this Sunday.

Anybody want to dive Pt. Hudson?

New OW cert. working towards my AOW
10 dives
Certified to 60'
Been to 80' so far
All puget sound cold water dives
No big concerns at this time, but I don't think I'm bullet proof either... we just finished a night dive that had about 5' viz, didn't seem to bother me much.
Have only been in light to mild current

I run a single LP80 with pony. Don't have a lot of fancy stuff, mostly 2nd hand and hand-me down gear, but all in great condition.

Tim

[Dusty2]

Tim, I hate to be a party pooper but your a bit early in the current cycle for Hudson. I wouldn't recommend Sunday for an inexperienced diver. Slack is 6:40am on Sunday and good for only about a 45 min. dive. If you miss the window Hudson will kick your ass.

I have posted this before but it's about time I refresh it for everyone. Pt. Hudson is very current sensitive and can change quickly. The current posting is for about a half mile out in the bay and the currents at the dolphin and jetty will be 2 to 3 times what the charts say. Hudson can be a nice dive for novice divers but only if you pick your day and time correctly. I class it as an intermediate to advanced dive and stress caution. I would highly suggest you do it with someone experienced at Hudson a couple of times first. You have little experience in current and that is the big factor at Hudson. 60' is fine as there is no need to go deeper but if the current picks up while you are out at the end of the jetty it can be brutal getting back to the entry point as the current will be against you.

I will be diving there this week starting monday morning. Mid week is best.

[McGlencoe]

Thanks for the post Dusty.

Thanks for the info on the current differences. The heaviest current I've been in was off Marrowstone at the sub net pillings, glad I had my iDI power fins and not the split fins. I don't know how to rate current yet, but the kelp was waving at me and the debris was streaming past. I could swim through it easy, but it would have been tougher with a milder fin.

[60south]

Hi McGlencoe,

If you get up to PT regularly, we might be able to dive some other sites when the currents at Pt. Hudson are bad.

A couple ideas --

- Fort Worden. Fairly shallow but pretty. Still current sensitive although somewhat more protected than Pt. Hudson.

- Along Water Street, more into town. It can be fun to poke around off the docks and in the eel grass. A bit deeper we occasionally find old bottles. (Parking can be a problem on summer weekends.)

glenn

[McGlencoe]

Hi Glenn,

A bottle hunt would be awesome! Will have to give the Water st. a go... Thanks.

Yeah, know all about the parking in town on the weekends... LoL! We did the NW Cider Fest down at the Maritime Bldg last Sunday, that was fun and tasty!

Tim

[eliseaboo]

Tim, go see Don and the folks at Octopus Gardens. They're very knowledgeable in local diving around PT and can point you in the direction of a dive site that's appropriate for the time you want to dive. Also, they're awesome people!

[McGlencoe]

Thanks eliseaboo, got over there last weekend for a tank fill and met Don and Jesse, definitely knowledgeable and they seem like good people!

[McGlencoe]

Headed back up to the PT area next weekend (26,27,28), looking for a dive buddy or two (or three...).

I'm down to try whatever... the Alaskan Reefer? The Ranger? The Comet? Bottle hunt off Water St? Crab hunt?

Dusty, 60south? Anyone else? ... Anyone? .... Bueller? Bueller? ....

[McGlencoe]

Anyone interested in diving the PT area this coming weekend?

[60south]

PM sent.

[60south]

Had a great dive with Tim (McGlencoe) today off downtown PT, looking for bottles and whatnot. I didn't find anything but he found some cool old china.

[McGlencoe]

Thanks again for the dive Glenn, had a great time and can't wait to go back.... almost called you this morning to see if you wanted to dive again LoL!

Glenn was great to dive with, didn't seem to bother him that I was a noob at all this, even after a bunch of questions about this that and whatever else popped in my head. He even swapped his HP100 for my LP80 to make sure we could extend the dive as long as possible and I still ended up being the first to thumb the dive at the half tank mark..... dang newbies... guess I better find that 120 tank soon.

Yes, we did see a lot of bottles, but most were newer vintage, need to let those sit out there for another 75-100 years before they're worth anything though. My big find of the day was a china dessert plate (?) with a Greenwood China co stamp on the back. From what I could find on the intardweb, that mark was first used in 1886 and the company closed up in the mid-30s.

Also found what I want to call a Demitasse cup, quite small, 'bout a half cup size, no marking on it that I could find, but it looks quite old. It does have a big chip missing out of it, but still pretty dang cool.

Thanks again Glenn, I'll let you know when I'm headed back up your way, maybe talk you into another dive or three.

Tim