So, who all is interested in doing these dives Saturday, which one first, and meet at what time? Earlier is better for me. It appears there is some current in the morning, and not much in the afternoon. Tides appear pretty mellow.
Rich
Day Island Wall & Titlow Sat, 9/2?
DIW
This is my last chance to dive for quite some time - I'm exiled back to Las Vegas for the forseeable future on Monday. I'd love to get in a dive on day Island Wall - I've heard a lot about it.
What is the best time to do this dive on Saturday?
I know Diver C is up for this, as is my wife, so we'll splash three divers for sure. More the merrier! Post if you're interested in making this dive with us!
Ryan
What is the best time to do this dive on Saturday?
I know Diver C is up for this, as is my wife, so we'll splash three divers for sure. More the merrier! Post if you're interested in making this dive with us!
Ryan
Day Island Wall: It's a GO!
This is it folks: The tides and currents are right to make a dive on Day Island Wall.
Slack before ebb will be between 2:53pm and 3:17pm. The ebb tide has a max flow of under 1 knot all the way to 9pm. Conditions for this dive COULD NOT be any better.
Using Gibson Point & S Narrows station for timing:
(http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/tideshow. ... on+Current
http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/tideshow. ... on+Current)
Here's a description of the site:
"The currents here have carved substantial ledges, fissures, and small caves/holes along the wall (mainly the top portion), providing excellent accommodations for some of Puget Sound's most popular dive companions.
It is these holes along the top portion of the wall that Wolf-eels have taken up residency. As this was our second dive of the day, we were limited to about 30 minutes of no-deco time on the wall, but we did manage to easily find six Wolf-eels without looking too hard. One was a female that was almost entirely black.
The Wolf-eels are definitely the main attraction here. However, there is other life on the wall. Small Copper and Brown Rockfish duck into the wall for cover where ever they can. Scalyhead and other small sculpins dart about. Shrimp are everywhere on this wall. What is missing is the brilliant color often provided by anemones, nudibranchs, and other invertebrate life. Although I did not have to fend off any Giant Pacific Octopus, we did find a mid-sized one that was readily visible in its den. I am certain we could find countless more octopus here if we had time to search around a bit more and weren't so enthralled with the Wolf-eels!"
Here's an overhead photo of the area, showing some of the wall structure (courtesy of Bandito's web site):
http://www.banditocharters.com/bandito/ ... island.jpg
"The wall is straight out from the access point, and must run for several hundred yards. The wall starts in about 50 fsw and is located about 100 yards off shore."
[Thanks to the SeaOtter site (http://www.seaotter.com/marine/html/daywall.html) for the above two quotes.
"ENTRY AND EXIT:
Stay within the bulkheads between the two residential properties. If you do
have a bad current day, walk back in the water (which is easier to do
anyway, with all that gear on)
SURFACE SWIM:
You'll see a buoy almost directly in front of you out in the water. Swim out
to that, and then about the same distance PAST that buoy. If there's bull
kelp a little bit past that, that is a good place to descend. Make sure you
take a compass heading back to shore!
THE WALL:
Your descent should drop you into about 40 feet of water. The wall starts
here and you'll fine yourself in a bit of rubble-strewn rocky area. This is
about mid point of the wall. To the right (north-ish) it stays pretty
shallow and is all broken up. To the left, it gets deeper (100 ft-ish) and
becomes a true wall. LOTS of nooks and crannies, bring your dive light and
camera! Look in every crack! Watch your guages - it's easy to get involved
in what you're seeing and not watch your air and nitrogen!"
[Thanks to OregonSCUBA message board poster Janna]
This is not an "epic" swim, but it isn't going to be a dip in Cove 2 either.
Here's the plan:
This site will be PACKED tomorrow, due to the favorable tides. Half the divers in Puget Sound may show up. Parking is EXTREMELY LIMITED: This is a lot like 3 Tree Point; room for only a couple of cars, and everyone else hikes.
We will plan on leaving Bellevue at 12:30pm.
I want to plan on being on site by 1:30pm. That will give us lots of time to survey the area, get suited up, and get in the water just before slack. We'll probably pack a lunch to eat on site. And if we're late on parking, it will give us time to carry gear down to the beach.
THERE ARE NO BATHROOMS HERE: Take note, and use the facilities at some fast food joint on the way in.
NEIGHBORS DON'T LIKE DIVERS: Keep the noise down. Don't blow air into regs/valves to clear them on site. Don't play loud music. Don't shout or yell. The cops are called here often to make traffic citations - the neighbors tried to block beach access and lost a suit with the state over it. They're grumpy.
After our first dive, we'll evaluate if we want to go again, or pack up and go north to some other site, like Titlow, or Sunnyside Park. With tides this minimal, we should do 2 good dives, regardless of where we go.
If we get on site and we cannot park, and we cannot schlep gear with any reasonable access, we'll abort and try something north of here. Please have your cell phones handy to get reports of parking or an abort.
Directions:
1: Take Ramp (LEFT) onto I-405 11.2 miles
2: Road name changes to SR-518 0.0 miles
3: Take Ramp (RIGHT) onto I-5 22.0 miles
5: At exit 132, turn RIGHT onto Ramp 0.2 miles
6: Take Ramp (RIGHT) onto SR-16 0.9 miles
7: Turn off onto Ramp 0.3 miles
8: Turn LEFT (South) onto S Union Ave 0.2 miles
9: Turn RIGHT (West) onto S Center St 1.0 miles
10: Road name changes to Regents Blvd 1.3 miles
11: Keep STRAIGHT onto 27th St W 1.3 miles
12: Bear RIGHT (North) onto Vista Pl W 0.0 miles
13: Keep STRAIGHT onto Day Island Bridge 0.2 miles
14: Turn RIGHT (North) onto E Day Island Blvd W 0.3 miles
15: Arrive 0.0 miles
The public parking area will be on the west side of the island. I understand there's a walk down to the beach from the parking area. We've never been there before so we'll be hunting for it. Look for the Red Honda Element and the tall guy with grey hair.
Good luck, and good diving!
Ryan
Slack before ebb will be between 2:53pm and 3:17pm. The ebb tide has a max flow of under 1 knot all the way to 9pm. Conditions for this dive COULD NOT be any better.
Using Gibson Point & S Narrows station for timing:
(http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/tideshow. ... on+Current
http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/tideshow. ... on+Current)
Here's a description of the site:
"The currents here have carved substantial ledges, fissures, and small caves/holes along the wall (mainly the top portion), providing excellent accommodations for some of Puget Sound's most popular dive companions.
It is these holes along the top portion of the wall that Wolf-eels have taken up residency. As this was our second dive of the day, we were limited to about 30 minutes of no-deco time on the wall, but we did manage to easily find six Wolf-eels without looking too hard. One was a female that was almost entirely black.
The Wolf-eels are definitely the main attraction here. However, there is other life on the wall. Small Copper and Brown Rockfish duck into the wall for cover where ever they can. Scalyhead and other small sculpins dart about. Shrimp are everywhere on this wall. What is missing is the brilliant color often provided by anemones, nudibranchs, and other invertebrate life. Although I did not have to fend off any Giant Pacific Octopus, we did find a mid-sized one that was readily visible in its den. I am certain we could find countless more octopus here if we had time to search around a bit more and weren't so enthralled with the Wolf-eels!"
Here's an overhead photo of the area, showing some of the wall structure (courtesy of Bandito's web site):
http://www.banditocharters.com/bandito/ ... island.jpg
"The wall is straight out from the access point, and must run for several hundred yards. The wall starts in about 50 fsw and is located about 100 yards off shore."
[Thanks to the SeaOtter site (http://www.seaotter.com/marine/html/daywall.html) for the above two quotes.
"ENTRY AND EXIT:
Stay within the bulkheads between the two residential properties. If you do
have a bad current day, walk back in the water (which is easier to do
anyway, with all that gear on)
SURFACE SWIM:
You'll see a buoy almost directly in front of you out in the water. Swim out
to that, and then about the same distance PAST that buoy. If there's bull
kelp a little bit past that, that is a good place to descend. Make sure you
take a compass heading back to shore!
THE WALL:
Your descent should drop you into about 40 feet of water. The wall starts
here and you'll fine yourself in a bit of rubble-strewn rocky area. This is
about mid point of the wall. To the right (north-ish) it stays pretty
shallow and is all broken up. To the left, it gets deeper (100 ft-ish) and
becomes a true wall. LOTS of nooks and crannies, bring your dive light and
camera! Look in every crack! Watch your guages - it's easy to get involved
in what you're seeing and not watch your air and nitrogen!"
[Thanks to OregonSCUBA message board poster Janna]
This is not an "epic" swim, but it isn't going to be a dip in Cove 2 either.
Here's the plan:
This site will be PACKED tomorrow, due to the favorable tides. Half the divers in Puget Sound may show up. Parking is EXTREMELY LIMITED: This is a lot like 3 Tree Point; room for only a couple of cars, and everyone else hikes.
We will plan on leaving Bellevue at 12:30pm.
I want to plan on being on site by 1:30pm. That will give us lots of time to survey the area, get suited up, and get in the water just before slack. We'll probably pack a lunch to eat on site. And if we're late on parking, it will give us time to carry gear down to the beach.
THERE ARE NO BATHROOMS HERE: Take note, and use the facilities at some fast food joint on the way in.
NEIGHBORS DON'T LIKE DIVERS: Keep the noise down. Don't blow air into regs/valves to clear them on site. Don't play loud music. Don't shout or yell. The cops are called here often to make traffic citations - the neighbors tried to block beach access and lost a suit with the state over it. They're grumpy.
After our first dive, we'll evaluate if we want to go again, or pack up and go north to some other site, like Titlow, or Sunnyside Park. With tides this minimal, we should do 2 good dives, regardless of where we go.
If we get on site and we cannot park, and we cannot schlep gear with any reasonable access, we'll abort and try something north of here. Please have your cell phones handy to get reports of parking or an abort.
Directions:
1: Take Ramp (LEFT) onto I-405 11.2 miles
2: Road name changes to SR-518 0.0 miles
3: Take Ramp (RIGHT) onto I-5 22.0 miles
5: At exit 132, turn RIGHT onto Ramp 0.2 miles
6: Take Ramp (RIGHT) onto SR-16 0.9 miles
7: Turn off onto Ramp 0.3 miles
8: Turn LEFT (South) onto S Union Ave 0.2 miles
9: Turn RIGHT (West) onto S Center St 1.0 miles
10: Road name changes to Regents Blvd 1.3 miles
11: Keep STRAIGHT onto 27th St W 1.3 miles
12: Bear RIGHT (North) onto Vista Pl W 0.0 miles
13: Keep STRAIGHT onto Day Island Bridge 0.2 miles
14: Turn RIGHT (North) onto E Day Island Blvd W 0.3 miles
15: Arrive 0.0 miles
The public parking area will be on the west side of the island. I understand there's a walk down to the beach from the parking area. We've never been there before so we'll be hunting for it. Look for the Red Honda Element and the tall guy with grey hair.
Good luck, and good diving!
Ryan
Helpful tip for all those who want to dive Day Island Wall - only one dive can be done per slack; don't try to do two, one right after the other. 
We tried two, and the second one was a failure. We had a dive flag attachd to the top of the wall. On the surface swim to the dive flag for the second dive, out of three of us, only I made it to the dive flag. My friends got carried away by the slow, but strong current. They tried to swim below the surface to me, but got nowhere. They finally were able to make it back to shore on their own.
Meanwhile, the dive flag I was holding to finally broke free of the wall, and the flag and I were headed to the Narrows bridge. A boat ended up towing me to shore, which was not very fun, although, until then, I had never been five to six feet away from a moving prop before, so that was an interesting experience. Very exhausted once I made it to shore. Just before I left Day Island, others who had dove earlier (and were in the know) had come back for the next slack. Next time, we simply will intend on doing one very long dive, not two shorter ones.
Rich
We tried two, and the second one was a failure. We had a dive flag attachd to the top of the wall. On the surface swim to the dive flag for the second dive, out of three of us, only I made it to the dive flag. My friends got carried away by the slow, but strong current. They tried to swim below the surface to me, but got nowhere. They finally were able to make it back to shore on their own.Meanwhile, the dive flag I was holding to finally broke free of the wall, and the flag and I were headed to the Narrows bridge. A boat ended up towing me to shore, which was not very fun, although, until then, I had never been five to six feet away from a moving prop before, so that was an interesting experience. Very exhausted once I made it to shore. Just before I left Day Island, others who had dove earlier (and were in the know) had come back for the next slack. Next time, we simply will intend on doing one very long dive, not two shorter ones.
Rich
Valuable experience, Diver C, and at least no one got hurt. Thanks for sharing it.
You haven't lived until you've drug yourself along with your dive knife at Day Island or anywhere else against ripping current. ](*,) Bassman and myself had a similar experience because of poorly timing slack at Day Island Wall. We were at the top of the wall, everything was calm, taking pictures of a mated pair of wolf eels that for some reason were WAY back in their burrow, and WHAM... slack ended, "hurricane" started, and everything went sideways and we headed for shore kicking hard and grabbing anything we could to stay on track. The swim was long and tough, and we considered aborting and doing a midwater safety stop and getting to shore from the surface down current a ways. Thankfully we didn't have to do that (although we've practiced that skill since) but it was a challenging experience.
And everything I've read tells me it can get worse, much worse.
Experiences like yours and ours are the reason to treat ALL current intense sites with great respect
You haven't lived until you've drug yourself along with your dive knife at Day Island or anywhere else against ripping current. ](*,) Bassman and myself had a similar experience because of poorly timing slack at Day Island Wall. We were at the top of the wall, everything was calm, taking pictures of a mated pair of wolf eels that for some reason were WAY back in their burrow, and WHAM... slack ended, "hurricane" started, and everything went sideways and we headed for shore kicking hard and grabbing anything we could to stay on track. The swim was long and tough, and we considered aborting and doing a midwater safety stop and getting to shore from the surface down current a ways. Thankfully we didn't have to do that (although we've practiced that skill since) but it was a challenging experience.
And everything I've read tells me it can get worse, much worse.
Experiences like yours and ours are the reason to treat ALL current intense sites with great respect
-
Zen Diver v1
- Aquaphile
- Posts: 172
- Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:22 pm
Totally agree. It also points out the benefit of taking a drift class, if you haven't already. In a ripping current you will only get blown in mid water. If you wanting to drift, it's great, but if you are trying to make it back to shore, it's very very risky. Best place is low, down near the bottom, to avoid the current as much as possible. If all else fails, pull out the dive knife and pull yourself along.Tom Nic wrote:Valuable experience, Diver C, and at least no one got hurt. Thanks for sharing it.
You haven't lived until you've drug yourself along with your dive knife at Day Island or anywhere else against ripping current. ](*,) ...slack ended, "hurricane" started, and everything went sideways and we headed for shore kicking hard and grabbing anything we could to stay on track. The swim was long and tough, and we considered aborting and doing a midwater safety stop and getting to shore from the surface down current a ways.
-Valerie
-
thelawgoddess
- Pelagic
- Posts: 993
- Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 10:16 pm
scary!!! i really want to take a drift diving class/lesson ...
"Life without passion is life without depth."~J.Hollis
my FLICKR photo sets
my FLICKR photo sets
Lesson Learned:
At Day Island, even a 1 knot tidal exchange is too strong to swim against wearing a drysuit and doubles. We were not in any real danger, but we did have a tough swim back to shore after aborting the dive. It was one of those "keep your heads, don't panic, and just work the problem" situations that could have gone badly if someone wasn't able to stay cool, but as it turned out, other than some tired legs from the swim, all ended well.
Ryan
At Day Island, even a 1 knot tidal exchange is too strong to swim against wearing a drysuit and doubles. We were not in any real danger, but we did have a tough swim back to shore after aborting the dive. It was one of those "keep your heads, don't panic, and just work the problem" situations that could have gone badly if someone wasn't able to stay cool, but as it turned out, other than some tired legs from the swim, all ended well.
Ryan