Davidson Rock, 5/17/09

[LCF]

Because of the splendid tides this weekend, we cooked up a plan to head out in two boats to the San Juans, to do a site called Davidson Rock. It's kind of a misnomer, because nothing there breaks the surface, but since it has a big navigational buoy on it, I guess it merits a name. It's a steep, rocky pinnacle, descending in ledges to who knows where, and coming up to about 25 feet with a little kelp forest at the top.

We launched out of Cornet Bay, and it's about 7 miles or so across the strait to the rock, which lies at the south end of Lopez Island. We anchored in shallow water, but didn't follow the anchor line down -- we just dropped about 45 feet onto the rock, and continued to swim the steep slope downward to the south. We found a cool little canyon, very sheer and narrow (single file) that led us steeply down to 130, which was our planned hard deck for the dive. There, we turned east and worked our way along the small walls and ledges. Life was stunningly abundant at that depth -- I have never seen so much so deep. In fact, the site was better between 130 and 80 than it was shallower. TONS of sponges -- encrusting, branching, vase, nipple -- and gorgeous anemones, including some that looked awfully like the corynactis we saw down in Monterey. Solitary hydroids and some kind of crinoid were everywhere, and one rocky shoulder was wall-to-wall calcareous tubeworms. We found a juvenile yelloweye rockfish, and another red rockfish with white stripes that was clearly adult, and none of us knew what it was. We saw two gorgeous Red Irish Lords, and in the shallows, male and female kelp greenlings. I found one large cabezon by essentially running my head into him. The sea cucumbers with the red feeding tentacles were everywhere, and the largest purple urchins I have ever seen. Viz was probably 20 to 25 feet, allowing us to spread out just a little, so everybody had a good view of the structure.

We multi-leveled the dive, which was easy because of the topography, working our way east for a half hour, and then turning and drifting in the gentle, but building current, back toward where we had started. When we got up into the kelp, the viz dropped to more like 10 to 15, and at 27 feet, we ran out of pinnacle and blew a bag and ascended. We came up a little downcurrent of the boat, and it seemed like a long swim back -- I think this site is definitely best done with a boat tender (which we had). And clearly it is one to do only on very small exchanges, and at slack, because you are out in the middle of nowhere, with no shelter.

At any rate, this may now have displaced Waterman's Wall in my "best of the PNW" sweepstakes

[ljjames]

or a scooter

[LCF]

Well, I wouldn't have wanted a scooter for the majority of the dive -- too much life, too many fantastic small things. But having one for current insurance wouldn't have been a bad thing, and it sure would have saved us a long surface swim at the end!

[LCF]

I spent some time with the critter ID books last night -- I can't even find some of the things we saw, but the large red fish with the white stripes was an adult yelloweye rockfish.

[ljjames]

especiall with regards to anchored boat/no tender, and sites that are unknown, stacking deck in your favor is never a bad idea... (and youve already got the scoot... heck, make peter tow it around for the dive)

[dsteding]

especiall with regards to anchored boat/no tender, and sites that are unknown, stacking deck in your favor is never a bad idea... (and youve already got the scoot... heck, make peter tow it around for the dive)

Uh, thanks for your input Laura.

Since this has turned into a scuba police thing in terms of the dive plan, note that we had two boats, mine and Lynne/Peter's, and splashed two teams, Lynne's was the first (at slack on a small current day--the current was predicted to be around -0.2 knots during their dive, which was as predicted). Second team was going to be diving in a bit more current, so we all had scooters (I ended up aborting due to a suit flood) as well as a boat above us.

Don't know where you got the anchored boat, no tender thing.

[Sounder]

I think this site is definitely best done with a boat tender (which we had). And clearly it is one to do only on very small exchanges, and at slack, because you are out in the middle of nowhere, with no shelter.

Sounds like a great dive! It's definitely on my list of must-do's, but I think we should plan a weekend and stay at our place ON Lopez!!

[ljjames]

I wasn't referring to this dive or your team doug, merely the site which I have dove a few times. i was just stating something for the other peeps who may want to do this dive but may not have the luxury of multiple boats. Don't make assumptions with regards to my typing please.

the comment to lynne was a bit of humor that goes back a ways between her and I.

especiall with regards to anchored boat/no tender, and sites that are unknown, stacking deck in your favor is never a bad idea... (and youve already got the scoot... heck, make peter tow it around for the dive)

Uh, thanks for your input Laura.

Since this has turned into a scuba police thing in terms of the dive plan, note that we had two boats, mine and Lynne/Peter's, and splashed two teams, Lynne's was the first (at slack on a small current day--the current was predicted to be around -0.2 knots during their dive, which was as predicted). Second team was going to be diving in a bit more current, so we all had scooters (I ended up aborting due to a suit flood) as well as a boat above us.

Don't know where you got the anchored boat, no tender thing.

[dsteding]

I wasn't referring to this dive or your team doug, merely the site which I have dove a few times. i was just stating something for the other peeps who may want to do this dive but may not have the luxury of multiple boats. Don't make assumptions with regards to my typing please.

the comment to lynne was a bit of humor that goes back a ways between her and I.

Oh, okay. The "or a scooter" comment was a bit odd-as was the no boat tender/anchor thing (and the make Peter tow it thing). Combined, those comments were just a bit weird in terms of this being a trip report, and not a dive site listing.

For what it is worth, if you're suggesting that a scooter is a substitute for a live boat or a boat tender, it is probably worth noting that if you get blown off the pinnacle, you may have trouble scootering back to the boat, Cuda, no Cuda. And, you're in a high traffic area with a shipping lane to the south. So, I'd say it is a "work damn hard to make it back to where you started dive" with a contingency of a boat tender (anchored or live--but if anchored make it so the boat can chase quickly if need be).

Good things to add to a dive site listing, I suppose.

[ljjames]

like i said, it was a humorous poke to lynne with regards to her long surface swim comment.

with regards to it being a substitute, you are 100% correct, it is absolutely not a substitute for proper planning and ideal resources.

[BDub]

For what it is worth, if you're suggesting that a scooter is a substitute for a live boat or a boat tender, it is probably worth noting that if you get blown off the pinnacle, you may have trouble scootering back to the boat, Cuda, no Cuda.

And I can attest that there's a second pinnacle!

[CaptnJack]

Yeah bathymetry is not done at the O2 stop scale. No second pinnacle shown on the 1:25,000 chart. You can see how close you are to the southwest outbound shipping lane though.

[dsteding]

Yeah bathymetry is not done at the O2 stop scale. No second pinnacle shown on the 1:25,000 chart. You can see how close you are to the southwest outbound shipping lane though.

It could be that 4 on the east-northeast corner--we were anchored just south and west of the marker.

[CaptnJack]

Sure but even the 1 and 2 fathom contours don't suggest a 50ft deep dip to the NE. I'll guess that once NOAA finds a notable/markable rock they don't exactly take the energy to survey it's "top" all that precisely. They may not even be able to given their own draft. Additional subjectivity is incorporated into the actually cartography and what they try to show at any given scale. 1:25,000 is not super duper large scale yet (like 1:5,000) so minor little bumps up to 30ft right next to a bump up to 15ft aren't going to be obvious. Even if they are known, they aren't necessarily going to be shown on the actual chart.

The 2nd little bump is good local knowledge though, and especially applicable for doing any kind of tech dive here (if you're thinking of coming back up the rock).

It doesn't look like there's a site review of Davidson here on the board though.

[Grateful Diver]

Because of the splendid tides this weekend, we cooked up a plan to head out in two boats to the San Juans, to do a site called Davidson Rock. It's kind of a misnomer, because nothing there breaks the surface, but since it has a big navigational buoy on it, I guess it merits a name. It's a steep, rocky pinnacle, descending in ledges to who knows where, and coming up to about 25 feet with a little kelp forest at the top.

We launched out of Cornet Bay, and it's about 7 miles or so across the strait to the rock, which lies at the south end of Lopez Island. We anchored in shallow water, but didn't follow the anchor line down -- we just dropped about 45 feet onto the rock, and continued to swim the steep slope downward to the south. We found a cool little canyon, very sheer and narrow (single file) that led us steeply down to 130, which was our planned hard deck for the dive. There, we turned east and worked our way along the small walls and ledges. Life was stunningly abundant at that depth -- I have never seen so much so deep. In fact, the site was better between 130 and 80 than it was shallower. TONS of sponges -- encrusting, branching, vase, nipple -- and gorgeous anemones, including some that looked awfully like the corynactis we saw down in Monterey. Solitary hydroids and some kind of crinoid were everywhere, and one rocky shoulder was wall-to-wall calcareous tubeworms. We found a juvenile yelloweye rockfish, and another red rockfish with white stripes that was clearly adult, and none of us knew what it was. We saw two gorgeous Red Irish Lords, and in the shallows, male and female kelp greenlings. I found one large cabezon by essentially running my head into him. The sea cucumbers with the red feeding tentacles were everywhere, and the largest purple urchins I have ever seen. Viz was probably 20 to 25 feet, allowing us to spread out just a little, so everybody had a good view of the structure.

We multi-leveled the dive, which was easy because of the topography, working our way east for a half hour, and then turning and drifting in the gentle, but building current, back toward where we had started. When we got up into the kelp, the viz dropped to more like 10 to 15, and at 27 feet, we ran out of pinnacle and blew a bag and ascended. We came up a little downcurrent of the boat, and it seemed like a long swim back -- I think this site is definitely best done with a boat tender (which we had). And clearly it is one to do only on very small exchanges, and at slack, because you are out in the middle of nowhere, with no shelter.

At any rate, this may now have displaced Waterman's Wall in my "best of the PNW" sweepstakes

Nice report, Lynne ... Davidson is one of my all-time favorite SJI sites. There's definitely a second pinnacle (Cheng and I ascended from it one time) ... and as I recall it tops at about 25-30 fsw.

Another thing for divers to watch for on this site is fishing activity ... it was pretty heavy last time we were there.

Would love to get up there for a deeper (200 fsw) dive sometime, just to see what's down there ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Tubesnout23]

Hi Lynne I have finally figure out who is LCF!

It sounds like a gorgeous site...too bad that it is out of reach for me... :blur:

[Mattleycrue76]

Hi Lynne I have finally figure out who is LCF!

It sounds like a gorgeous site...too bad that it is out of reach for me... :blur:

It's well within recreational limits. You just need to know someone with a boat

[Tubesnout23]

Hi Lynne I have finally figure out who is LCF!

It sounds like a gorgeous site...too bad that it is out of reach for me... :blur:

It's well within recreational limits. You just need to know someone with a boat

That means that you are volunteering? :occasion5:

Well it is not just about finding somebody with a boat, it is also about having more dives below 60 ft on my shoulder, taking a Nitrox and a deep dive class!

[LCF]

Betty, it's beyond your reach . . . NOW. But it's nice to know that, as your diving skills and experience grow, there will still be sites that are challenging and rewarding, isn't it? I don't think I would have been brave enough to have taken our own boat out there a year ago, but it was a lovely payoff for some work with the boat and the continued work on my diving, to feel confident enough to do it.

As my skills and confidence slowly increase, my horizons broaden, and the Pacific Northwest keeps paying off in terms of fantastic dive sites. Worth the work!

[BDub]

There's definitely a second pinnacle (Cheng and I ascended from it one time) ... and as I recall it tops at about 25-30 fsw.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Yep, it was exactly 30fsw when we hit it, expecting it to top out at 20fsw. Made our 20' gas switch in ripping current interesting.

[CaptnJack]

Well it is not just about finding somebody with a boat, it is also about having more dives below 60 ft on my shoulder, taking a Nitrox and a deep dive class!

You don't have to go much below 60ft, esp. if you go in the fall when the kelp is grown and the shallow vis is a bit better. So nitrox is good to max out your bottom time, but the whole "deep" thing isn't really required. There's good stuff in the 70-80ft range so a good advanced class and some experience at someplace like Skyline Wall (a shore dive in Anacortes) is suitable preparation for Davidson.

[Tubesnout23]

Betty, it's beyond your reach . . . NOW. But it's nice to know that, as your diving skills and experience grow, there will still be sites that are challenging and rewarding, isn't it? I don't think I would have been brave enough to have taken our own boat out there a year ago, but it was a lovely payoff for some work with the boat and the continued work on my diving, to feel confident enough to do it.

As my skills and confidence slowly increase, my horizons broaden, and the Pacific Northwest keeps paying off in terms of fantastic dive sites. Worth the work!

I was just kidding. I have no plans to dive Davidson Rock any time soon!

Happy save diving to the lucky ones who are planning to visit that pinnacle!

[Tubesnout23]

Well it is not just about finding somebody with a boat, it is also about having more dives below 60 ft on my shoulder, taking a Nitrox and a deep dive class!

You don't have to go much below 60ft, esp. if you go in the fall when the kelp is grown and the shallow vis is a bit better. So nitrox is good to max out your bottom time, but the whole "deep" thing isn't really required. There's good stuff in the 70-80ft range so a good advanced class and some experience at someplace like Skyline Wall (a shore dive in Anacortes) is suitable preparation for Davidson.

Hello CaptnJack!

Yes I am an AOW scuba gal now and I have dived Skyline 3 times so far. (The last time was a rather challenging dive. Full report at: http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=7968).

As Lynne mentioned earlier I do need more experience in diving below 60ft up to around 100ft for now. (The deal about depth is not because of the number but because it is a goal that would allow me to build up self-confidence...Do I make sense?)

Cheers