3TN has been a favorite spot for Tom and I but neither of us had been there in quite a while so we elected to visit again today. There was a weird current headed north-bound in the morning... very odd for 3TN but it wasn't anything we couldn't manage. We saw zero nudis too which was also weird. In the afternoon, a slowing southerly current was exactly what we expected as we progressed south from the entrance.
During our dives we enjoyed extended visits with egg yoke jellies, large lingcods, beautiful kelp and painted greenlings, C-O Sole, wolfeels, a red octopus (out in the open just "cruising"), a stubby squid who showed us all his colors, lots of curious rat fish, and a rather large grunt sculpin who was also out in the open posing and saying hello. All the critters were friendly and seemed glad for the visit (they weren't running off or trying to get away).
The rockfish are VERY pregnant and are moving rather slowly when they're not simply sitting on something... I can't say I know how they feel, but I've been around enough human ladies nearing delivery to know that leaving them alone is what they want the most.
All in all it was a great day and was full of life. Anytime you see an octopus, squid, grunt, or wolfie it makes for a special dive. To see them all in one day was exceptionally special - enough to warrant an underwater high-five.
The benefits of HID lighting were clearly evident and we enjoyed slicing through the muck with our light sabers. With the tugboat overhead, the pounding in our ears was only exceeded by the thumping in our chests.
I also got to play with a self inflating SMB. It is the AP Valves "Buddy" SMB which has a 0.1lt bottle used for self-inflation. Because it continues to inflate (once you open the valve) as it literally "shoots" or "rockets" for the surface, the diver can deploy a much larger SMB than a more traditional single-breath SMB. The luxfer bottle easily fills from a normal DIN fitting tank for the next dive. It was fun to practice with this SMB and moving forward I can see myself bringing it on most every dive around here. NW Sports Divers carries them (or can order one if you want different colors) in Kenmore and I just can't recommend it enough! If you'd like to try it out, just say those three magic words... "let's go diving!"
Nearing the end of the second dive we were approaching NDLs so we enjoyed healthy stops at 50', 40', 30', 20', 15', 10', and 5' on the way up the hill while exploring some large tire reefs. We eventually surfaced, after a very conservative ascent with the several stops, feeling great and celebrating the wonderful dive. I'm finding more and more that making 10' stops all the way up hill makes a huge difference in how I feel when I surface.
All in all it was a great day. Good to get back in the water following my 14 days surface interval... being dry for 2 weeks feels like a crime... no matter the excuse. I'm sure Tom will post soon, complete with pictures.
I can't wait for Friday!!!
Bummer dude... so, how DID the vinegar work now that we 
(I LOVE the for-the-most-part civil nature of NWDiveClub!) 
Then you could show Doug's Grump Old Man a thing or two
