Northwest Dive Club

Say goodbye to the good vis we've been enjoying lately.

Elliott Bay has a fresh tint of brown to it this morning. Looks like the rains have mucked up the vis again . . .

The rivers have crested, so hopefully this isn't as bad as last November. Right now the Bay isn't solid brown, it just has patches of brown freshwater floating around on the surface.

Hopefully we'll be able to get below it ... find out in a few hours ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Grateful Diver wrote:Hopefully we'll be able to get below it ... find out in a few hours ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I'm sure you will. It looks like it is on the surface, the ferries are churning up blue water.

It hasn't quite touched Cove 2 yet, the line of the plume is at the barge right now . . . I'd say this will mess with the top ten feet of the water column, and then we'll have that 2 week snowstorm affect as it rains out.

Day Island Wall was 25ft or more this morning.

Redondo tonight...the first 20 feet was crap. After that, we had a good 15-20 feet. It looks like spring vis is on its way.

We did manage to see a beautiful skate tonight. Nothing else exciting to report.

Last night's Cove 2 dive wasn't bad at all ... there were a lot of "floaties" in the water, but vis was still a good 20 feet ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Keystone Jetty - Whidbey Island. Yesterday, Tuesday the 13th, 20 plus feet, visibility today little bit down, about 15 and more silt, but still OK.

Jan K wrote:Keystone Jetty - Whidbey Island. Yesterday, Tuesday the 13th, 20 plus feet, visibility today little bit down, about 15 and more silt, but still OK.

Good to know Jan, we are heading up there Saturday, I was wondering how Keystone faired.

Is it usually the surf that kills the vis there, or is there a river nearby? I think I read somewhere that south winds are what really mucks things up there, I imagine with the strong currents the vis clears up pretty fast . . . what has been your experience?

-Doug

Doug, you got it right, the southerly wind does make mess at Keystone, by Saturday - well, lets hope it will be clear and calm. I hope you can make it to Whidbey

Jan K wrote:Doug, you got it right, the southerly wind does make mess at Keystone, by Saturday - well, lets hope it will be clear and calm. I hope you can make it to Whidbey

Thanks Jan.

This will be our second attempt, the first was back in November and we called it because of the floods . . .

BTW, we are following the NW Shore Dive's advice to splash a half hour before slack (or current "turn" I understand slack doesn't really happen there), which is at 10:45 am. Does that make sense to you?

In addition, I've had some people tell me that the jetty can be dived on a smallish flood-any experience there? Looks like Saturday is about a five foot flood. We are planning on a second dive at Langley on the way back to the ferry, but I'd be interested in your thoughts on doing two dives, the first at 10:45 am and the second probably splashing around 12:30 ish or so.

I'm looking forward to getting up there, it has been a while since I've been in that neck of the woods, and I've never dived Keystone before . . .

Thanks for sharing your knowledge,

-Doug

Doug, your plan is a good one, of course one really doesn't know, I have dove Keystone when there was current when none was predicted.. Even if current is running strong, if you stay away from the end of jetty, you should OK. Keep close to the rocks where all the life is, cannot get lost
As far as Langley goes, it is diveable at all times, the currents are not that problematic there. Hope you will have enjoyable dive here on Whidbey. Jan

Hope it clears up for ya. Got to Cove 2 around 5 ... the NWSD guys were packing it in, hadn't even got wet. I took a walk out to the fishing pier and looked down, and could see why ... well, actually it's what I COULDN'T SEE that was why.

Vis looked to be less than a foot, looking down the pilings.

Decided to bag the dive ... just ain't much to see when it gets like that.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Grateful Diver wrote:
Vis looked to be less than a foot, looking down the pilings.

Decided to bag the dive ... just ain't much to see when it gets like that.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Ooommpphhh. What I thought. Yesterday, the plume from the Duwamish was about the edge of the barges offshore of Cove 2. Today, it had spread out all across Elliott Bay and half way to Bainbridge. Yuck.

I'm hoping that Whidbey is better because it is not so close to a river . . .but don't have much experience there.

The Duwamish came up 8 feet from last weekend's storm, has only come down about 4, so we got a bit to go.

Good news is the spring blooms are what, like a month away?

Arrggghhh.

Doug, I told you you should have come to Cozumel and warm, clear water with us . . . It's the only cure for the cold green pea soup blues.

LCF wrote:Doug, I told you you should have come to Cozumel and warm, clear water with us . . . It's the only cure for the cold green pea soup blues.

Arrgghhhhh. I am going to regret not coming, aren't I? Next year for sure.

At least I have Maui in April, but that will probably be just a couple dives . . .

I'm going to need at least 16 dives in Cozumel ... I need 20 right now to hit 1,700 ... and I'd like to hit the century mark down there. Got four more planned before I go ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Grateful Diver wrote:I'm going to need at least 16 dives in Cozumel ... I need 20 right now to hit 1,700 ... and I'd like to hit the century mark down there. Got four more planned before I go ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Awesome Bob, I hope you hit it down there (I bet you will).

FWIW, after Saturday I will be 4 away from 100 . . .

Doug, Thursday 10:30 AM dive at Keystone, some silt, but still 15 to 20 foot visibility.

Thanks, Jan (I'm part of this Keystone expedition, too).

What are the chances you'll be there? I'd love to meet you in person and thank you for all those lovely pictures and artwork you have posted.

Careful Doug... you have a scooter commitment too!

I'm counting on you dude.

CaptnJack wrote:Careful Doug... you have a scooter commitment too!

I'm counting on you dude.

Just decided not to buy a house until a year from August. Scooter is in play for sure in December or thereabouts.

Jan, thanks for the additional update, and if you are around on Saturday I'd love to meet you as well. I'll definitely take 15-20 for vis. Crossing our fingers for no big south wind between now and Saturday . . .

For Admiralty inlet from http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/west/sewmz.htm

SAT
S WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING VARIABLE TO 10 KT LATE.
WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING.

CaptnJack wrote:For Admiralty inlet from http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/west/sewmz.htm

SAT
S WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING VARIABLE TO 10 KT LATE.
WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING.

Crap.

Doug, we were there yesterday (Thur) and we mis-read the tables or failed to calculate the conversions anyway we were late as usual When we arrived it was glass, by the time we entered the water, the end of the jetty was swirling a little. By the end of the dive about 45 min. later we still had well over 1000 psi but it was really rippin. At the surface it was downright broiling. Felt like we were working going out, then when we could feel the end of the jetty we turned and we were working coming in. At about 30fsw we had to work to stay near the jetty. It was a lot like swimming in a toilet after it had been flushed.

But, the Vis was decent!! And we had a good time.

Pez7378 wrote:Doug, we were there yesterday (Thur) and we mis-read the tables

Thanks for the report Chris.

What time did you hit the water? Northwest Shore Dives says the correction is-31 minutes from slack current at Admiralty Inlet and then to splash 30 minutes before that.