Meg Rebreather Demo at Dutch 5-28-16

Everyone whom dives with me knows that I have wanted to cross over to a rebreather for a very long time but, two kids in college has made it cost prohibitive.  Over recent years it has become increasingly apparent to me that I personally would benefit greatly from having a constant PO2.  Therefore, I am beginning the process of demoing a few rebreather units and then I will decide which unit is best for me.  Since I dive predominantly on a rebreather dive boat, I have observed and learned a lot over the years and the Megaladon is definitely well liked and reliable.  So, I left the shore on Memorial Day weekend for Dutch Springs, PA to demo a Meg with Leon of ISC and Becky Schott whom is a Meg Instructor.  I have to admit I am definitely partial to the Meg and after the rebreather overview discussion and diving the unit it has definitely swayed me.  However, everyone has advised to try other units for comparison purposes and so that you are confident on your decision.  I will take definitely take this advice as any wise consumer would do and intend to demo the Revo and possibly the JJ-CCR too.

Pre-demo briefing

Today I dove the Meg 15 with Leon Scamahorn and I could not have asked for a better experience.  Leon is thorough, patient and takes it very slow.  I had some mask fogging issues and then a piece of hair caught in my mask that lead to a steady leak but, Leon stuck with me until I got those minor things sorted.  Both Leon and Becky stressed the importance of weighting yourself correctly as to have neutral buoyancy which definitely added to the having a comfortable rebreather experience.  It is known that your buoyancy is difficult to maintain when you are a new rebreather diver but, at least today, I did not feel as if I had much of an issue with that.  In fact I thought it was easier to maintain buoyancy than on open circuit especially on ascent.  Leon encourages you to turn upside down, lay on your back etc., so that you can see with the front bladders you achieve a constant ability to breathe freely.  I did not do these things on my dive but, I can now see how that is very important it is not to have your air delivery compromised due to diver positioning.  I did feel comfortable in the unit and the ability to easily reach my O2 and diluent.  I have always been leary of trusting a computer with my life but the Meg has several "brains" so that if one fails the unit will still function.  This is definitely assuring since electronics seem to always fail at one time or another.  Both Becky and Leon travel a lot and also dive the units in all types of conditions and depths and for them as well as myself it is very important to have a rebreather that will be reliable.

 I am glad that today I spent my time making new friends and enjoying a new experience with other wonderful people. Thanks Becky and Leon for making today another great day for me!  I am very grateful for demoing the Meg with both of you, I think I am hooked...

The Stolt Dagali 5-14-16

Today was my best 1st dive of any given dive season ever!!!  The early spring is noted for rough seas, cold water, and bad visibility.  Today we had glass for seas, at least 25' of visibility on the bottom and probably closer to 30' on the top of the wreck,  the water was a tad warm for this early at 47 degrees top to bottom, and little or no current.  I have never had such awesome conditions this early in the year and I loved it!!

We were originally destined for the Arundo but, afternoon storms and winds predicted lead us to the Stolt.   I used to not really enjoy diving the Stolt because I never had decent visibility on her and with the wreck lying on an angle I was always left disoriented and could never easily navigate the wreck.  In the past 10 years however, I have had several great dives on the wreck and more or less memorized the layout so that I know where I am in all conditions.  For a history on the wreck and a video, see my post from 9-16-12.

Some old Stolt photos from 2012.

Today was everyone's virgin dive for the 2016 season.  As we anchored up to the wreck we were accompanied by the Tenacious dive boat.  The Stolt is pretty big and can easily accommodate two dive boats.  As I was shuffling to the ladder to splash today, I tripped on the rubber mat and fell (I never said I was a graceful diver!!!).  On my way down to the deck,  my camera hit the rail and the ball joints of the strobes popped out.  I should have sat back down and spent the 10-20 minutes it would have taken to fix it but, I figured that it was wishful thinking to have good viz and opted to just leave my camera topside.  As soon as I was under I could see pretty far and it was not long and I could see the wreck.  I was very upset that I did not have my camera.  Not only could I see as far as I wanted to see, there was no green layer blocking the sun so it was bright on the bottom which would simply make the photos that much better.  Oh well, I swam the entire wreck, checked out areas that I had not noticed before and marveled at how pretty the wreck looked this year with less mussels on it and more sea anemones,  I even saw a lone medium size star fish and some microscopic ones on the wreck which makes me hopeful that they will make a comeback this year.

I did not see a lot of life in terms of fish, scallops or lobsters.  I did see lots of bergols pecking at the mussels and swarming around a single mussel hoping for a piece of the meat and I saw a small school of Atlantic Pollock which I do not usually see in the summer.  Up on the surface, there was one flounder taken and a few scallops too.  All of us were thankful for such a great dive with awesome visibility.  If this is a sample of what the year will bring, I will be one happy diver!!!

I think this is Capt. Dan from a few years ago on the Stolt.

This next weekend is the new wreck that the Indy located last year, given the great conditions this weekend I may just head back out again... I have to close with one more sea lion photo, miss the fun of these awesome creatures!

Diving with Steller Sea Lions, Quadra Island, British Columbia

Wow! What and experience, I do not even know how to begin to describe what it feels like to dive with Steller Sea Lions!!  It was so thrilling, exciting, intimate, and FUN!!!  When I first saw this trip advertised back in January by Becky of Liquid Productions Inc., I immediately felt the desire to go on this once in a lifetime adventure but, responsibilities and other obligations quickly put the idea on the back burner.  However, it kept rumbling inside of me and two weeks before the trip was about the embark, I received an influx of funds that enabled me to decide to spend my 50th Birthday Diving with these amazing sea lions!

The journey to get to Quadra Island, British Columbia involved driving, three flights, and a boat ride all while lugging along my dive gear alone.. Once I finally arrive, Becky graciously greeted me and made me feel at home. Diving in the Northwest is all about the tides and making sure you are in the water at slack tide, therefore our first day of diving after my long journey would begin at 7:30  am.  I could not sleep due to the time change and arrived at the dive boat on a dreary morning to be simply exhausted.  I was trying to remain optimistic and even though it was cold and dreary, my first dive to Steep Wall was spectacular!  The colors along the walls were festooning in pinks, purple, yellows and orange.  There were so many species of sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea anemones, and small fish.  Becky had advised to drop down to about 70-80' along the wall to see these enormous tube worms that were fluffy and colored in vibrant hues of blue and red, they were impressive.  This was a drift dive and it was so relaxing, the just the perfect entry to diving this area.  Our next dive was on a wreck called the Columbia...

The Columbia sits in about 110' of water and was sunk in 1996 as an artificial reef.  Prior to its demise it was a destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1959-1974.  The wreck is marked by three buoys which makes for easy and selective access to different parts of the wreck.  We decided on the stern section which comes up to about 70'.  As I descended, it was cold and dark but the visibility was still at least 30-40'.  There was not a lot of growth on the wreck and it was very easy to navigate.  I did not travel far when I saw the gun turrets and inside one of the turrets was a Greenling.  I also noticed that the wreck was not completely stripped and I could easily see lots of artifacts, including lights.  I sure wish I was prepared for artifact recovery.  I unfortunately terminated this dive after about 30 minutes due to the cold however, upon ascent along the mooring buoy I could not help to notice the abundance of marine line on the buoy line itself.  It was covered in kelp, tube worms, nudibranchs, and sea anemones.  I would have loved to spend time with my camera hanging around the mooring buoy line!

Mooring Buoy over the Columbia Wreck

The next day and 3 days after we did two dives a day at Vivian Island and Mitlenatch Island with the Steller Sea Lions.  We had plans to dive the Calipano and the Gulf Stream Wrecks but, given the fun we had with the sea lions we all decided to skip the other wrecks and hang with the sea lions.  My first time in the water with these amazing animals was on my birthday.  I have to admit seeing how large they are and how big their teeth were I was a little anxious about jumping in the water with them.  The also make loud barking and burping noises that seems ferocious...The water depths in the areas of the sea lions were about 20-40' so you could spend great amounts of time underwater with them.  As I settled on the bottom awaiting for them to come, I couldn't help to notice even here on these rocky islands the underwater world was so colorful and abundant.  I would take photos and video waiting for the sea lions to come and play.  When they would come into the area, they would come in quick, swim all around you and then leave, a few minutes later,  they would come back and get a little closer.  They are not shy about coming right up to your face, nibbling on your fins, arms, or head.  They are best described as puppy dogs that simply want to swim around,  play, and use you as  a chew toy.  I had quite a hard time trying to shoot video or photos of them since they move so quickly and I also was so preoccupied with just observing them.  On our way  back to the dock from my birthday dives we ran into a school of Orca Whales and Pacific White-Sided Dolphins.  I truly felt blessed to have spent my birthday with  Steller Sea Lions, Orcas, Dolphins, and lots of Bald Eagles too.  All of my new dive friends  were saying that my birthday brought us such good luck and an amazing day!  We topped off my birthday with a gourmet meal overlooking one of the quaint harbors of Quadra Island.

Orcas!

It turns out after we saw the Orcas they headed over to the sea lions for a meal.  We were afraid that the sea lions would be leary of us and of entering the water the next day but, they were not.  It is interesting to see how nature plays out.  As the days went on, I felt more and more comfortable with the sea lions and we actually started to name some of the larger ones.  I think they became accustomed to us divers too as they were not fearful of us.

I have complied some of my photos into a slide show and while looking at them I realizes that I did not take as many photos as I typically do because I was so enthralled with the sea lions, I just felt like putting the camera down and living in the moment.  I was also fortunate to be diving with a group from all over the US and Canada that were all strangers to myself, and each other and yet, we all meshed and had a great time together.  In addition to diving together we enjoyed great barbecues and bonfires at night with Leon being the master chef and fire master!

I would have to say that the experience I had diving around Quadra Island with the Stellar Sea Lions is a definite highlight of all my diving experiences and I would highly recommend that all divers try to experience this once in their diving life...I also cannot say enough thanks to Becky Schott for organizing this trip (Becky worked tirelessly to make sure everyone was happy and content) and to Pacific Pro Dive and Marine Adventures for their top notch dive boat and staff.  This trip was out of the box for me, as I traveled a great distance alone but, something inside of me guided me to persevere.  Always take a risk and follow your dreams, life is meant to be lived!!!

I will eventually share some underwater and above water video, but for now please enjoy the still shots.  I am planning on doing my first dive of the 2016 NJ Wreck diving season next week..can't wait!