First voyage of my 'pirogue' as Komokwa, named after the Kwakuitl mythological chief of the undersea.  Peter, Sam, Pablo, Matt and I made the drive from Seattle to Bowman Bay early Saturday for a voyage to the San Juans.  We planned the trip around the quarter moon tides but everything came together including light winds, 50F air temps and eventually, sunny skies.  We spent hours in the water on the south end of Lopez with very little current and decent visibility.  The water was a frigid 46F.  By mid afternoon it was time to negotiate the 8.5 mile crossing through a sea of dead head logs. The warm light of the afternoon painted the cliffs along deception pass.  Great winter day on the Inland Sea.

Click to watch today's video

The sun made an unexpected, but welcome, appearance on this chilly fall day.  Matt and Loren enjoyed the views on their pilgrimage from Seattle to Port Ludlow for a Panga ride out to Klas rocks.  The current prediction (Olele Point current) was spot on at Klas rocks today and we ended up having nice a reprieve from the current after a welcomed, post turkey day, workout swimming against the current and the wind.  As the current waned so did the wind and just about then I started seeing ling cod strew about the reef.  The Greenling were darting about too.  There was also a nice school of Black rockfish which was a welcome sight.  Not like Neah Bay schools but some nice size fish.  The highlight of the day was enjoying the underwater scenery through the clear water.  The drive back to Seattle via the Narrow... more

Jon and I dove the Triumph area while Tracy and Dennis stayed closer to shore.  Nice conditions were enjoyed by all.  Water was in the low 50s and visibility was 15'.  Melibe nudibranchs were all over the seagrass and kelp fronds.

Awesome visibility at Neah bay and great photo ops made for a memorable trip.  The resident grey whales where coming right next to the boat.  Maybe a reward for finally getting out to third beach to pack out the trash collected by the Earth day Surfrider beach clean up this past spring?

Clear water and sunny skies provided great photography conditions at Edmonds.  Dennis and Tracy joined me for a nice photo freedive.

We took the Panga down to Quilcene and visited Pulali point for an exploratory freedive.  Conditions were very warm and the water was clear on top and at about 45' with a murky layer about 30'.  Nice relief and many ling cod.  

Tony met me at the dive shop and we had a nice slack high dive along the breakwater.  After getting over the ice cream headache of the 44F water, we enjoyed the clear water and calm conditions.  Lots of ling cod were perched atop the neatly stacked slabs of rock.  Did not notice any nests however, neither did Tony.  The pinto ab and the colorful box crab were highlights of the dive.  Thanks to Tony for being a great host.

Peter and I took a long lunch hour to run out to the Dauntless for a mid winter plunge.  The water was clear and cold (45F) with a decent current running to the SW.  On the boat ride out we saw a gray whale just off-shore near Meadow Point.  Peter harvested some sea cucumbers which turned out to be very tasty.  Not much left of the wooden mosquito fleet ferry except its metal skeleton.  
This month NW Sportsman came out with a full page spread of my photos and a nice article on Freediving and spearfishing.

http://www.underseaimages.com/blog/nws/0901_nw_sportsman.pdf

Saturday, Jan 17, 2009, Peter, Sam, Jeff and I took the Panga across from Bowman Bay to South Lopez in the San Juans.  Flat water, sunny weather and decent visibility made for a great, but cold..., day on the water.  The water temp was a frigid 45F which made it warmer than the air....

Dean, John S., and Jon B. did a New years eve dive at Seacrest. The water was a frigid 45 degrees. The air was pretty cold too but... no rain anyway... We were only good for a couple of line dives and then we headed into the wreck. I did get a personal best of 121'. Enjoyed the warming up over a hot drink in the cafe.

The Bottom Sounders Ling closer brought great weather... for a change. I was sea trialing my new Calypso Classic which was delivered the night of Oct 9. We had an epic day on the 11th exploring reefs and shoreline of remote Cape Flattery. On the way home we dunked the panga in Lake Cresent for a swamp test.

Great indian summer dive

Explored around Halifax with the local Shearwater dive club.

We left the snow behind in Seattle to drive through the night to Neah Bay. Saturdays kayak dive was challenging and the rewards were not abundant. Sundays dive from Brian's boat brought us a lee from the wind and current and the visibility was fantastic (25'+) but the water was cold 44F.

Had a close encounter with a harbor seal at the Coral Street Beach along the Ocean View Blvd on the monterey Peninsula. Great visibility and calm seas made for a very enjoyable dive. Water temp was 52f.

All photos taken with a Canon 5D in Aquatica housing while free diving.

Martin visited Seattle to teach his four day Level II freediving clinic from Oct 13-16, 2007. It was a fantastic experience. We were riveted by Martin's easy going teaching style and in-depth knowledge of freediving physiology and technique. The information and experience gained from his clinic has made us safer and more knowledgeable freedivers. We are looking forward to the Level III clinic soon. Dive conditons off Seacrest Park were as good as they get with 30' visiblity and 53F water temperatures.

While the Scuba divers went wreck diving, I checked out Snake Island and the harbor seals. The water was clear 30', and not too cold 50F. The Seals were not wanting to play but I enjoyed diving in the shallows.

All photos taken with a Canon 5D in Aquatica housing while free diving.

Had a close encounter with a seal who was apparently sleeping under a rock and would come up for a breath every now and then. In between I would compose on the thousands of seastars. Water was fairly clear 20-25' and about 52F.

All photos taken with a Canon 5D in Aquatica housing while free diving.

The visibility was surreal and added to clear skies and warm water, it was a great day to be underwater. A rare day in Puget Sound.

All photos taken with a Canon 5D in Aquatica housing while free diving.

John Shields and I did a day trip to Neah bay. Water was 46F and pretty clear. Slack current until we paddled back when the flood was kicking in strong. We started out with a very low tide. My humminbird Smartcast 35 transducer barge made it through the heavy kelp without getting snagged once. We had a grey whale surface near us just inshore of the kelp bed we were diving. Great dive.

Great day for a dive with sun and great visibility. Visiblity was 25' and temperature was 54F.

All photos taken while free diving using a Canon 5D in Aquatica housing. 16-35mm zoom and magic filter

Couldn't pass up the sunny weather so I went for a noon dive at edmonds to try out the new camera rig. Magic filter was used and the vis was decent. surface was 55F.

All photos taken while free diving using a Canon 5D in Aquatica housing. 16-35mm zoom and magic filter

John and I met Friday morning at Mats Mats boat ramp (remind me to get an annual pass). We paddled out to Colvos and Klas rocks and had a great day on the water which was very calm. John got a greenling and I concentrated on photos. Lots of Harbor seals. We had a welcoming committee and an entourage where ever we went. Water was 52F and not too clear. Currents picked up in the early afternoon and they were very manageable. This was the first time I was able to really test out my Humminbird wrist mount smart cast. At one point I confirmed the depth using my suunto D3, both read 41 feet at the bottom. It worked great.

Took advantage of the great weather and met Peter at Smith cove for a quick dive. The Herons were lined up on the breakwater above as were the lingcod below. Nice visibility and cold (46F). I took my Necky spike sit-on-top so I could test out my Smartcast 35 wireless fish finder. It worked great and the tow rig allowed me to be underway at half speed and still get a depth return. Towing the transducer by itself required very slow headway or stopped.

Pablo and I dove Edmonds Marine Park on cold slushy morning. The water was cold too at 48F but clear. Very high tide with drift logs getting refloated off the beach. Current was going offshore at the surface and longshore at depth. Pablo was mugged by a Cabezon but he did survive the attack.

The foggy cool morning transformed into a sunny afternoon just as we were getting into the water. It was a very low tide when we arrived and the incoming tide brought some unexpected clear water. I took photos and tried Pablo's new RA 100. Lots of kick to it. Lots of neat creatures to see.

We got together at the Marina beach to say farewell to Vaclav before he moves to LA to begin his show biz career. We had a great dive. Click here to see movies
(you need quicktime)

Mark, Jerry and I took Mark's new vessel up to Smith Island for some exploratory dives.

Vaclav and I enjoyed the sunny warm weather today at the beach. Water temp 53F, air temp 70s and sunny skies.

Travel to St. Lawrence Island to board Healy by helicopter and sail to Dutch Harbor on the final week of the SLIPP research cruise. Debarked in Dutch harbor on June 5, 2006, a beautiful day with change of command and SCUBA dive on Unalaska.

Darrell and I went down to Edmonds on a sunny warm day to get in a relaxing freedive. Visibility was 15+ feet and water temp of 50 degrees F. There was a slight Southerly current.

Peter, Rafael and myself drove to Whidbey to dive with Mark Borden. Light winds, strong current, 48 F water temp. Our initial plan was to take Mark's boat over to Port Townsend to dive McCurdy Point and Protection Island, however, although the winds were light, a strong ebb was causing some very large waves in the channel. So we decided to dive Ebeys landing. The ripping current had the kelp pinned to the bottom so we started out live boating. Toward Noon we could swim against the current. Nice visibiltiy despite the strong currents.

Great conditions above and below the water at Neah Bay for the Bottom Sounders Season Opener. 48 degree F water temp 20'+ visibilty.

Ebeys Landing, Whidbey Island. Sea temp 46F. Dave, Mark, Rafael, Salim. Choppy conditions and opposing current and wind made for an interesting dive.

Vaclav and I braved the cold morning for a dive at the pier. We didn't last too long in the 46 degree (F) water. Vis was pretty good ~12'.

Braving the freezing air temps and snow. Water temp 46-48F.

Neah Bay opener with perfect weather and great visibility.

Mark and I had a nice dive in a kelp bed.