Lost-ish at Edmonds: Where were we?

carlk3 · Post by **carlk3** » Mon May 11, 2015 9:35 am

We dove Edmonds yesterday morning in about 5 to 10 ft of viz. We could use your help confirming where we were.

We descended at the 2nd Jetty Way buoy (Yellow) and swam North for 20-25 minutes. Turned 180 degrees and returned.
(Our primary plan was to swim to and follow the Centennial way line, but we were never sure of finding the lines, so we went with the back up plan of swimming North and then back South.)

With your help, we'll be able to figure out where and how far we went.

So, is this "Giza (pyramid)"?

Is this "Mono Rails"?

Any idea what/where this is? (It seems like some kind of A-frame)?

Any idea what/where this little bunker is?

Finally, this seastar is a mature Sunflower Star, right?

Thanks!
Carl

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Mon May 11, 2015 10:15 am

I think you were on milk crate way which is the middle of the 3 basic north/south lines. That runs into the pyramid things about 3 intersections to the north of jetty way.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » Mon May 11, 2015 11:19 am

The "monorails" looks exactly like the Slinky

carlk3 · Post by **carlk3** » Mon May 11, 2015 2:20 pm

Thanks for the suggestions, so far. Here is picture of my rough guess of where we were:

Bruce Higgin's map says that

"T" is "Sebastian's Tower"
"X" is "Giza (pyramid)"
"03" is "Mono Rails"

In these pictures the hoopy things do look like "Slinky", but "Slinky" is actually one of the few features that I know. I think "Slinky" is a bit bigger (easier to swim through) and plastic. This feature is smaller and metal.

- Carl

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Mon May 11, 2015 3:26 pm

Why didn't you follow an established line? All the junk, umm I mean habitat, is along the lines or adjacent to them.

carlk3 · Post by **carlk3** » Mon May 11, 2015 4:56 pm

CaptnJack wrote:Why didn't you follow an established line? All the junk, umm I mean habitat, is along the lines or adjacent to them.

Good question. We thought "North from Yellow #2" would be a sensible shortcut on the way to Glacier way. But finding the lines as we crossed them was too hard and Edmonds was too big. (In contrast, finding the Alki Cove 2's cross-cove line is easy to find and Cove 2 is small.)

We've learned our lesson. From now on, at Edmonds, we'll surface swim to where we want to be (for example, the buoy at intersection of Centennial way & Glacier Way) and descend there.

- Carl

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Tue May 12, 2015 8:57 am

Yeah cutting across lines is iffy under the best of conditions as there's typically more open sand space than you imagine in those areas. When the vis is terrible and your eyes are in macro mode its best to just stay on the junk lines and celebrate the "small"

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Tue May 12, 2015 10:50 am

That's true, although I've seen some of my best Edmonds nudibranchs in the sand patches.

GearHead · Post by **GearHead** » Tue May 12, 2015 12:49 pm

I enjoy the final swim through the Eel grass at the end of a dive at EUP. All kinds of fun little critters to look at.

Navigation can be a bit tricky in low vis. I try my best to find a line and use my compass to confirm which direction we're going. The bottom is so flat that it's easy to be 90 or even 180 degrees off course.

Northwest Dive Club