Northwest Dive Club

FYI, at my supplier a K (250 cf) costs $80. The booster cost me ~$250.

I think I've saved at least that (maybe 2x as much) in gas and time not driving to a shop already.

Here's a good (technical) explanation of argon. http://www.decompression.org/maiken/Why_Argon.htm I'm a believer. Its not an enormous difference, but significant esp as the SI temps are lower and its harder to get hot in between dives. There are some who dispute this and they have 1 published study ...

You really don't lose heat any faster or slower breathing helium mixes. You're major loss of heat in your lungs comes from the evaporation of moisture from your wet lung tissues to the ~20% humidity air - bringing it up to 100% RH in your exhaled breath. Ryan how many dives do you have in a drysuit?...

That's what I'd do, you can get cold galvanizing in a spray can (basically a high zinc paint) at most hardware places.

The allen wrench loosens/tightens a spring which holds the ~135 psi of IP in. I've never had one bubble when it shouldn't, but I have heard of one which did not vent when it was supposed to. Fortunately the hose didn't blow, but I think the ascent was a bit rough. I wouldn't worry about it too much,...

Or try these:
http://www.diveriteexpress.com/lights/lighthidhh.shtml

FYI, Catalina never used 6351 aluminum so you can go back further than 1990 and still get 6061 aluminum in those.

I'd suggest getting brushed Al, not painted, esp. for rental service. I have stripped all of my painted AL cylinders, its actually pretty easy.

Richard

I haven't been on that portion of the plateau. Rob Holman has and he reported sand with scattered boulders and a rippin' drift.

The shallow portion of the bar (~50-60ft depth) to the northwest is sand with small deeply undercut clay lenses - with huge lings in the undercuts.

Since when does google have bathymetry?? That is rad. I'm guessing the wall is peetering out by the Cape Cod like hook that juts out at 3 o'clock relative to the southernmost land. I don't really know though since I always come back to the upline and haven't done any concious surveying of distances....

The wall peters out to the south, turning into a steep silt/sand slope. But I've only gone about 100-150 ft past where the sandstone chunk ends - maybe it picks up again?

"The rock" is the common drop point and where I've always entered.

Southeast tip of Whidbey Is. - its a boat dive

(or scooter from the marina place about a mile north on the east shore - never heard of anyone scootering it, but its plausible for the right person)

Hesers are made as a backup light but can work as a primary. They aren't cheap at ~$250 but it is half of an inexpensive canister. Roughly 1/5th of a 21w HID

No one was buying Katrina's old drysuit anyway :la: The center spot is dimmer, but they work much better than the halogen module. I have to get a couple more. I've been putting the halogen modules in the UK lights and keeping them around the house. Th UK eLED lights are $50 + shipping from a major u...

You know that the LED modules in those are the exact same as in the UK C4 eLED lights. They also work in both 2 and 3 cell Halcyon Scouts. (not so bright in the 2cell scouts though)

The best backup lights going right now: http://www.cnsales.net/photontorpedopage.htm A single 3w LED which IMO is about like a 7 or 8w HID in brightness - fantastic. Dive-rite's canister lights are more budget minded than Salvo's, Halcyon, or Sartek. I have a DR 10w HID and its a bit underpowered bu...

Trimix didn't get much recreational use at all until the late '80s. Its still voodoo gas in many minds, just look at the DSAT curriculum. 2 deco mixes with their potential switch mixups are ok for intro tech divers but a clear head isn't? (The Rouses knew how to dive helium mixes but chose air becau...

I'm under the impression that you buddy is a significant other? It has taken my wife and I a long time and many dives to get a positive and healthy diving relationship. Above water and below water are whole different interpersonal worlds. You have every right to expect a non-SO buddy or a SO buddy t...

I agree 20ft is oftentimes at the margins of visibility. You and Sarg. Pepper need new buddies IMO

Would you go rock climbing with a buddy who sometimes held the belay rope?

You talkin' to me or Gillyweed?

Good suggestion,

Depends on the site and how good the coordinates are. A wall can be a piece of cake even with no GPS or even without a depth sounder. A tiny little wreck is another issue and can take 2 minutes or 5 hours (or more).

There are a few sites which don't require GPS, but not many. There are some sites with bouys (placed by Alan Gill of Spirit Diver I believe) or identifiable from landmarks in the Blakely Harbor area. Otherwise most require GPS and a depth sounder. I have an el cheapo fish finder and it works fine (w...

See if you can find this book at your LDS or neighborhood bookstore. Some of the coordinates are in the wrong format, but its still worth having.



Not sure why amazon wants $100 for the thing? I don't think its out of print.

If you want to buddy boat to an "easy" site sometime in the spring give me a shout. BYOB, bring your own buddy :-)

Get a BIG anchor. Anchoring on a dive site by definiton means its almost always deeper than the West Marine monkeys even think about. So even if you have 200' of line, your scope can be pretty minimal. So you want weight down there. I have a 10 lb navy anchor with 5 feet of heavy chain on 200' of 3/...

I would understand getting >20ft away once, and I would discuss it in a post dive briefing. But I would not dive with a buddy who got >20ft away from me more than once. I value situational awareness very highly - probably even more than actual UW problem solving ability.