Diver Found at Skyline

[H20doctor]

Ya it was me ...... and Mike ....
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-krOibq2664[/youtube]

[dieseldude]

And you were going to say screw it & stay home! It was a real nice dive. I got home & passed out having only slept about 6hrs in the last 48-3rd shift sucks! I'm alive now & sort of so of coherent so I will try to get some pics & narration up before the night is over. Will probably be late as I have to run to the airport but I will post.
DECEPTION PASS-4/25 BE THERE SCOOTER!

[H20doctor]

Sure thing boss... Can't wait to get thrown around in a toilet bowl current at deception...

[BASSMAN]

I WANNA DIVE DECEPTION PASS!

[dieseldude]

Bring it Bassman. Supposed to be some other southenders coming down that day. You have to do the shore dive to see the good stuff. Bring a big tank or your best SAC-you"ll want the bottom time.
MJ

[BASSMAN]

Okay!
I just got a day of Vacation, APPROVED!
PM me with all of the gory Details!

[dieseldude]

I work nightshift now & spent my precious sleep time at Evergreen Dive services saturday am trying in vain to win something. At least I got a good deal on a Jacket that I have been eyeballing for a while & I picked up a reel for my kayak.
I got 4hrs sleep that day & headed back off to work another night shift. Anyone that does the graveyard thing will probably tell you how that they flip their schedules for the weekend to try & be human again which is what I was doing when Chris texted me asking where the dive was for the day. I had taken a 2hr nap & was enjoying my weekend breakfast treat. 6hrs sleep in 48 isnt the best for your health but I figured the cold water would keep me awake & the sun was already defying the weatherman at my house.
It happens that Mr. Merkel & the gang were at skyline yesterday so I queried him to verify sunday afternoon was a good time to dive & he agreed. Chris seemed a little skeptical....I believe his exact words were, " We're gonna die!" but I had faith in Fritz & they had a decent dive the day before . Heres a predive shot of our target:

I have never actually been here in the afternoon & being sunday, the diver traffic was real light. There were two actually coming out(not sure where they get their dive predictions)& then they went in for a snorkel. Chris, as you all know, has a new scooter & it is nice for sights like this one when the LZ is a bit of a surface swim away. The current was actually pulling nice enough that I could have made the swim quite easily but heck, I'm not gonna pass up a free ride & I was curious to see if that thing had enough giddyup to move us both. Bare in mind I'm a doubles guy with a slung pony & big wing so I create my fair share of drag. We ripped right along. I contributed some light fin work but It wasnt really needed.
The fish were a little scarce at first and I was afraid all we would see were orange sea cucumbers and there were plenty of them.

My first cool fish was this Buffalo sculpin that appears to be blind in one eye & cant see out of the other so he didnt mind me taking his picture. Havent seen buffalo's in a while so I thought this was pretty cool. Chris was giving me the "yeah, whatever" It's not easy being a fish geek.

We saw several young ling. Chris said he saw one nice one that he'd like to spear but I only saw smaller ones. Heres one of the brave little boogers.

The dive was filled with color from brilliant inverts, cool crabbies, & topped off with some naught nudi hanky panky.

Look Fritz-shrimp!

our slack came just a few minutes late but hung around longer than expected. It turned & gave us a nice ride back just like it was supposed to. We maxed out at 76' before moving up the wall for the ride back. Vis was better on the bottom than on the top but it was reasonable. More cool crabs to find.

Heres another fish Chris scoffed at me for shooting

I'm a little ashamed to share this shot cause its crap but its also proof-we found a mossyhead warbonnet on our way out. current was picking up & I was a little distracted & only got 3 shots at this guy so this was the best I could do

After 66 minutes of bottom time someone was cold so we called it a dive & guess what-noone died. Heres the smiling face alive & breathing just fine!

Good job Chris! you just got stronger. Thanks for not letting me sleep away my sunday. It was an awesome dive.
MJ

[fmerkel]

Looks like your day was as pretty as ours. That was sure a welcome reprieve.
I'm sure I saw that exact same buffalo sculpin as in the video. That fluorescent fat 'L' on the head is pretty distinctive. No candy stripe shrimp or King Crab for me although our group found some and a wolf eel. No GPO, not even any signs.