Some pics from the dive are here . It was a beautiful Winter morning in the Puget Sound for any dive, but especially for a milestone dive. A slight wind was from the South, which brought a bit of a chop to the Sound, but only on the South side of the Point - the North side was it's typically smooth self! What a day!
Ron, Bill, and I geared up in the parking lot, in a hurry to get in the water but feeling awkard because (Bill and I) hadn't dove but 2 days in January so it had been 2 weeks since we'd been wet. We hit the water, finned up, and after a bubble check and mask check we kicked out a bit and dropped. Viz was a stellar 40', with just a bit of particulate in the water. Unfortunately, Ron's computer leaked (again!), as did his dry suit, and he gave us the thumb at about 20 fsw and headed back for the car. Ron is developing his own personal theory about "the 3Tree curse", but I'm not buyin' it. Better luck next time buddy! All but one or two of the Lings were kind of smallish - or maybe it was remembering the monsters we saw in Hood Canal on Pacific Adventure a couple weeks ago that made them seem small.
Because of the viz the barrenness of our typical Winter underwater landscape really stood out. Things should begin to grow again in a month or two, but for now it's pretty barren! But there is life to be found, you just have to look. We headed down the tire piles and found a Ling or two guarding their future offspring on every tire pile, I'd say close to 20 in all. Some of them were right on the edge of the piles and very visible, some were tucked way back inside where you had to look abit more to find them.
We did see lots of Lewis Moon Snails on this dive, including quite a few juveniles - something that I've not noticed before. Here's a couple shots - if they're not Lewis Moon Snails please let me know. The small ones were the size of the end of my finger.
The little GPO is still hanging out under the cruiser - nice to see one of them stay around for a few months. And while there aren't as many Alabasters in the shallows as there have been there was still an area that had a quite a few mature ones. I managed to get a picture or two that I think turned out pretty good, even though (as my friend Keith always points out) I have tons of Alabaster pics. {Warning to Keith - Alabaster pics ahead!} All in all a great dive. Bill thumbed our second dive because he couldn't get his hands warm on the surface interval, even with hot water. I'm thinking that geezerhood has finally descended on my friend Bill and that he needs dry gloves! Any deals on Viking Dry Rings around? Thanks Bill for a great dive, congrats on #200, and good luck for the next 200! Here's a few more pics of the day.
