Hooked up with Sounder, Tom Nic, bnboly, Spatman, Pez, and Peter for a three-tanker with Pac Adventures. It was an awesome day with lots of sunshine, glass-flat water, and 30-40 foot visibility. We did Pulali Fingers, Pulali South Walll, and Pinnacle (three great dives).
Quote of the day ... as Sam (Don's boat crew for the day) was fishing around inside of Sounder's drysuit she was heard to exclaim "I FOUND IT ... it's awfully small" ...
General mood for the day ... lots of happy faces ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Threats and ultimatums are never the best answer. Public humiliation via Photoshop is always better - airsix
Peter was just bubbling on the phone tonight about what an incredible day it was . . . But I was truly tearing my hair out when I heard that there are, in fact, schools of vermilion rockfish. Sounder hasn't been leading me on -- But I wasn't there to see them!
Boy, having to work for a living sucks . . .
"Sometimes, when your world is going sideways, the second best thing to everything working out right, is knowing you are loved..." ljjames
Grateful Diver wrote:
Quote of the day ... as Sam (Don's boat crew for the day) was fishing around inside of Sounder's drysuit she was heard to exclaim "I FOUND IT ... it's awfully small" ...
this was one of the best days of diving i've had yet in the sound or hood canal.
i really couldn't ask for much more (except maybe a sixgill): smooth ride up and back, absolutely gorgeous weather with no clouds or wind, an awesome group of divers, a fantastic captain and crew, and water that was smooth as glass on the surface and just as clear below.
Wow. THAT was definitely the best day of diving I've ever had in Hood Canal, and quite possibly the best day of diving I've ever had in our local waters.
The whole day was perfect.
As mentioned, the water was absolutely flat with zero wind. It was cool, but not cold. The fog started lifting as we stepped off the boat for the first dive. The bald eagles and harbor seals, including a little baby harbor seal, set the stage for amazing diving to come.
Don and Pacific Adventure Charters REALLY came through for us. Don has a new crew member named Sam who provided exceptional service throughout the day. Never once did we have to ask for soup (tortilla or chicken noodle), coffee, hot chocolate, tea, water, hot dogs, cookies, candy, or breadsticks! She was SO attentive, helpful, and really anticipated any and all of our needs. She was fun too - quite the spitfire, and she made the day fun.
The diving was incredible. The teams were Tom and Bill (pho-togs), Bob, Chris, and Matt (pho-togs), and Peter and I (no-phos).
First dive was on the South Fingers of Pulali Point. The vis was easily over 40', probably close to 50'. On this dive Peter and I saw 5 huge GPOs and 1 tiny red. We also saw 4 wolfies and a whole host of other critters. Rockfish of all colors were schooling and with the amazing vis we had, we were able to see them schooling in fantastic numbers. My favorites were the vermilion, the olive, the Puget Sound, and the black rockfish. Peter and I had a wonderful treat as well as we happened what appeared to be a couple blue rockfish!! Their coloration (deep purple) combined with the anal fin shape leads me to believe I may have seen my first blue. What a treat. Once finished with the main site, we headed to the another area where there is some substantial knife-edge reef features in shallow water. Following a perfect ascent, we surfaced to sunshine, the bald eagles, and cheers from the other teams who'd had an equally amazing dive.
...and that was just the first dive!!
After lots of soup, breadsticks, hotdogs, and hot drinks, we jumped in for our second dive at the West Wall of Pulali Point. The vis was about 40' and the water was quite cold at the surface, but warmed-up to 45 degrees at depth. On this dive we found 4 more big GPOs and 4 more wolfies along with many large vermilion rockfish. There were other usual suspects, but other highlights were my first golfball crab, lots of large nudis, and more schooling rockfish. The vis was so great that it was like swimming through an aquarium. We returned to the anchor line and had another great ascent which was followed by the slightest mild current which brought us from the bow to the stern ladder.
...and we've still got one more dive to go!!
More soup, hot drinks, chips, candy, and laughs, and we were ready for the third dive on the Pinnacle. We drop down the line and find a ling on eggs - so we quickly headed down to the east, giving him a wide berth. At 80fsw, we leveled off and headed around to the right. We found more wolfies, and yet two MORE big GPOs. One of these was perhaps the largest GPO I've ever seen. Amazing. The real show-stopper on this dive, however, was the schools of vermilion rockfish. There were over a hundred of them. At first you see one, then two, than two or three more, then you suddenly realize that because of their color they vanish until you light them up. As soon as you realize this, you start looking around and seeing them everywhere. Huge, mature vermilion rockfish, and they're everywhere! They're quite curious beasts and are generally unafraid of divers. It's just fantastic to have such beautiful, brightly colored fish come out of the dark and decorate the dive site. Peter and I circled the Pinnacle between depths of 80fsw-60fsw, and then headed up the east valley to the ridge. We made our way over to the mooring line and started our final ascent. Several minutes later we were climbing aboard the Down Time and enjoying a hot fresh-water rinse down.
Not a whisp of silt was disturbed despite so many divers being in the water which meant everyone could visit and revisit their favorite places on the various sites as much as they wanted. The life on the sites was immeasurable - everywhere you turned was something cool.
This was an EPIC day of diving. Everything was perfect. The surface intervals were warm and full of laughs, and the diving was cold but so amazing that it didn't matter.
Days like yesterday are the reason I dive - it was inspiring. When local diving starts to feel unexciting, temperatures drop, and the vis goes to crap, days like this rekindle my passion and excitement. I'll be organizing another trip like this soon... around a day when Lynne can come see the vermilions with me.
Thank you again to everyone who came out. You're responsible for turning great diving conditions into an epic day I won't soon forget.
Last edited by Sounder on Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
GUE Seattle - The official GUE Affiliate in the Northwest!
You mean his AutoBOBography? (Ba dum bum!) Thanks Matt! I liked it too.
Another really cool thing about the Octo's, that is hard to capture in photo, is that they were reaching out of their dens. Two different Octo's extended their arms out and I had to put it in reverse to keep them from getting my Camera.
On the third dive, I almost drowned myself laughing at Spatman as he was almost attacked by a killer cucumber. If only I had the video going.
Pez7378 wrote:On the third dive, I almost drowned myself laughing at Spatman as he was almost attacked by a killer cucumber. If only I had the video going.
i had never seen a cucumber leap like that! almost made me poop my drysuit. and then it made these weird obscene gestures to Pez...
I also offered my HID as a tasty treat - they were quite curious about the warmth and they definitely were curious!!
It's not often that I write a long trip report. Yesterday warranted such a post... did I mention it was PERFECT in every way?! It was perfect all the way down to the fact that Peter, Chris, and I (we carpooled) were able to drive straight onto the ferry without having any delay!
I'm still giddy from what a great time I had.
GUE Seattle - The official GUE Affiliate in the Northwest!
Sam and I wanted to say thanks for all the kind words, and especially for diving with us yesterday! It was without doubt the best day I've had on the water in a while. Samantha took some great photos from the boat that I posted on the pacadventure.com photo page. I hope we'll see you all again soon!
don
don wrote:Sam and I wanted to say thanks for all the kind words, and especially for diving with us yesterday! It was without doubt the best day I've had on the water in a while. Samantha took some great photos from the boat that I posted on the pacadventure.com photo page. I hope we'll see you all again soon!
don
Don - thanks to you and Sam for one of the best days diving in the Hood that I've had! The Down Time was it's usual wonderful self thanks t you, and Sam was a welcome addition to the PacAdventure crew. A great bunch of folks on this trip, Left to right - Don, Matt, Bill, Peter, Chris, Tom, Bob, and Doug.
It was amazing, stupendous, epic, etc. etc. - all the superlatives have been pretty used up. I think I must have taken over 200 pictures... Some of the ones I uploaded are South Fingers , West Wall , and The Pinnacle Viz was the best I've had in Hood Canal other than one "Aquarium Dive" at Sund Rock a long time ago.
The chosen dive sites all delivered. I love Pulali Pt South Fingers - rock formations running perpendicular to shore, then a rock "lip" before the wall plunges to over 100fsw. To the South as you come in there are another set of fingers and a wall that we only had a little time to explore. The West Wall of Pulali Pt. is also a great dive site, and The Pinnacle never ceases to amaze as one of the best dive sites in Hood Canal.
It would not be an understatement to say we saw dozens of Lings guarding eggs - most of them pretty good sized and giving us the evil eye. Who would have thought a fish could be so expressive in their gaze? Nobody got rammed or bit as far as I know (maybe that's more Cabbie style) but I did see one chase off a large Copper Rockfish that got too close.
The mature Rockfish, especially at The Pinnacle, are a real treat. I saw a large Black - biggest I've ever seen, as well as the usual giant Coppers and Vermillions and Browns.
Oh, and did I mention the big GPO's? All over the place?
I really recommend getting some friends together and booking a day on the Hood with Pacific Adventure. 6 - 8 people is an ideal group size, and surely you have that many friends that can get away during the week?!? Great day, Gorgeous weather, good company, fantastic viz, cooperative critters - all adding up to one of the best days diving ever! Here's a couple more random pics:
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT "Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix "Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
