Looking at the tide charts for Keystone on Oct 12 doesn't look too bad for late morning......can someone let me know what the current looks like? This is one of my bucket list dives, first time I've dove it. My friend and I are in the South Sound diving on Saturday, and hoping to check off two dives at Keystone on Sunday. I didn't see a thread in the site specific forum here (Ft. Casey/Keystone.....maybe I'm blind...or ) I've been reading the write up in "151 Dives."
This is the first time I've heard someone say they were going to boat dive Keystone. That would be interesting to see...
Anyway, you are likely to encounter current. Keystone is a funny place. Great dive but can hand it to you when you aren't expecting it. A six foot exchange is not exactly a great exchange for Keystone imo...
Thank you Jeremy, that did look a little bit odd... I amended my post so it didn't appear that we are boat diving Keystone! I thought too that it would be best to not dive on that incoming exchange in the morning, but try to hit slack...
On a different note, what's out to see diving Lake Pend Oreille and/or Lake Coeur d'Alene? I know Jeremy is always looking for new places to check off his list.
When was the last time you did something for the first time?
Thanks for asking! On our FB page I broke the sites down into photo albumns and some have write ups, FB>pictures>albums. They're site specific too. My favorite on Lake PO is the Trestle Creek Train wreck which can be accomplished on one tank easily. On Lake CDA I like the "trifecta" which is three boats in 115 feet that have lines connecting them, double tanks are helpful to dive those three. Access is via boat or scooter. Check out the albumn for the "Seeweewana," that's one of the boats. The other Lake CDA site is "Sanders Beach." We fin over under the docks, several small boats there and a couple barges.,loads of pilings on their sides which makes a interesting site.
I have dove the trestle creek train wreck. Not bad but a long drive even from my house. I would love to hit the "trifecta" with a local guide. Is it better in winter or summer?
You breath like a girl! -Blaiz
I thought she was right until I dove with eliseaboo!
Even though you have a larger exchange at Keystone doesn't make it undivable. You can do one dive as a pillings to jetty drift dive and then do just a jetty dive. You will be limited on how much of the jetty you can see but it is still worth it. YMMV.
You breath like a girl! -Blaiz
I thought she was right until I dove with eliseaboo!
We had hoped to get two dives at Keystone. I had thought about doing the pilings first, then the jetty around 15:00. Fingers crossed. I see from looking at YouTube vids there is a "line" about 40fsw connecting the jetty and pilings; I'm always up for a nice drift dive.
Diving the trifecta is iffy in viz. Some divers hit it last weekend and topside they reported seeing the neon yellow divers fins 40' down. Diving it in the spring early summer runoff predictably is the worst viz. boat traffic is slowing down so from this point forward it'll be decent. It's still pitch black down there though so a 21 watt or higher light is very helpful.
The trainwreck is a nice dive, strong lights for that one too. There's a nice barge in the water at Bayview on Lake PO that can be dive #2 or 3 for ya. It's 55' and a nice sight. I don't have it written up yet on our FB page, but here's a vid I made a year ago.. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rmb02MBBdzE
Yes the guide rope leaves from the southwest corner of the pilings and stays at roughly 40' all the way to the jetty. This rope also marks the point along the jetty at which the current can try to take you around the end. During a big exchange be very cautious if you proceed past the rope going deeper.
You breath like a girl! -Blaiz
I thought she was right until I dove with eliseaboo!
Thankyou!! That's very helpful. I don't like to dive a site without having had someone else as a buddy who has dove it, but in this case I research amap before the dive. Knowing that info about the line is very helpful.
The line can be hard to follow if there is heavy kelp growth. More useful is simply to watch your depth contour and your compass. If you do not go deeper than 45 feet, you won't get blown past the jetty.
"Sometimes, when your world is going sideways, the second best thing to everything working out right, is knowing you are loved..." ljjames
) I've been reading the write up in "151 Dives."
