Unfortunately, the trip didn't begin with a bang, as our whole trip north (which began at 4 am) was done in rain, and the final boat ride from Port Hardy to God's Pocket was done against significant swell and chop. But the loading and the ride were our introduction to the God's Pocket crew, and a definite omen of what was to come. They were organized and methodical, and handled the rough seas extremely well.
We unloaded in a lovely, sheltered little cove. The colorful cabins are perched on the hillside above the bay, and have beautiful views of the sunsets.
We unloaded gear in the rain, and dry stuff temporarily into the mess hall, which smelled enticingly of butter and garlic. It turned out, in fact, that the food for the entire trip was incredible. On a dive trip, food is fuel, and I don't expect much excitement of it. But Trevor's creations from the kitchen far exceeded edible, and his baked goods were heavenly. There was much competition over the mini-scones that melted in your mouth! I think this is the first trip I can remember where I ate everything set in front of me, with seconds on some things, and ate dessert every night. I haven't even dared approach my scale.
The lodgings are amazingly comfortable, considering the remote location. The first cabin and our little, separate one have in-floor heating, so one got up in the morning and stepped onto a WARM floor. I found this delightful. Each room has its own bathroom and shower, and at least for us, hot water was not an issue. The tap water is full of tannins and has an odd, brown color which is somewhat offputting at first, but it is free of bacteria and doesn't taste bad, and it was great to wash in. There is filtered water available for general drinking purposes as well.
The lodge has a "drying room", which is a heavily heated room for drying wet gear. Dry suits left there overnight were bone dry in the morning, even the neoprene ones. In addition, there are hooks outside each of the rooms for suit hanging. Our room had plenty of storage space for bags and for chargers, cameras and assorted other things that needed to come inside each night. And thanks to the battery and inverter system they have, there is power there 24 hours a day, although the heat goes off at 11. There was never any problem getting full charges on light, camera or scooter batteries.
The routine is pretty simple. You unload your gear onto the boat the first day, and it stays there. Their fill whips reach onto the boat for fills at the dock, and they have (I think he said) 4800 cf of gas on board for fills between dives when the boat doesn't return to the cove. The dive boat has an enclosed cabin which is heated, and they keep a big ice chest full of hot water on the back deck for hoods and wet gloves. Thermoses full of tea, coffee and hot chocolate help the surface intervals (as did Trevor's cookies!) The dive deck is spacious, and with 11 divers (we had one non-diver on the trip) we had plenty of room to gear up and move around. They weren't accustomed to big tanks or doubles, but built an adapter system the first night. It wasn't ideal but it worked; we had some suggestions about how to change the benches which I think they will implement, that will make things easier next time.
Entry is via giant stride from the starboard side of the boat. There are two gates, and there is a swim platform that stretches between them. This makes it easy for a crew member to be down at water level, to hand off cameras, extra bottles or scooters, or to assist a diver who requires it. It made me a little nervous the first time, seeing that hard surface beside me as I jumped, but it was a complete non-issue in practice.
Reboarding is special. This dive boat, in the remote PNW, has . . . an ELEVATOR! You swim up to the boat, grab the handholds, make sure your fins are clear of the front of the platform, and give the operator the thumbs up, and up you go! I have long been a ladder snob, but all ladders have now been downgraded in my estimation. I honestly don't know why every boat doesn't do this. It was way faster to get divers up than climbing the ladder. There was less risk of someone falling onto the divers remaining in the water. And it was FAR easier to get onto the platform in rough water than to duke it out with a flapping ladder. I'm a convert.
Diving details to follow . . .
