Cordova Dive Blog

Saturday, 16 February 2019

Open Water Dive 2 with Megan Gauthier

Got up about 6:00 am. Walked Mia and loaded the truck. Failed to convince Martha to use the 5D Mark iii to take pictures but she did agree to carry the flag. Megan came at 7:00 am and we got to the beach at about 7:20 am. Took a while to gear up and discuss the dive and how we would handle the skills demonstrations. We got in the water and swam out to the buoy line to descend at 9:00 am.

Visibility was poor at the buoy line. Milky and maybe 5 ft. We met at the bottom then swam East to the Wrap Around Ledge, around the Ledge and up on top toward the Rockline, but we never found the Rockline. Must have gotten set to the North. Since we were on the sand flat, I signaled for Megan to watch as I took the regulator out of my mouth and turned the mouthpiece upside down before putting it back, clearing it and breathing again. I motioned for Megan to demonstrate the skill and she did. One by one we went through the various skills. She performed satisfactorily and we soon headed East across the sand flat. 

We did not find the Swiss Cheese Reef. I thought we might be too far North, and headed South, but did not encounter any landmarks I recognized. I slowed and demonstrated the mask removal and replacement skill. I motioned Megan to demonstrate the skill and she did. We went through several of the skills while horizontal in the water rather than kneeling on the sand. Again, she performed well. I spotted a telephone cable but stayed North, then found the large rock to the South of the Wrap Around Ledge and headed to the beach. Ended up right where we started, just as if I knew where we were all the time.

I was cold by the end of the dive. Megan was below 500 psi we swam into 5 ft of water to walk out. Everyone made it standing up, but Megan helped Martha and might have given me a push, too.

Dive time was 67 minutes, maximum depth was 19.8 feet, bottom temperature was 73.4 degrees, my SAC was 18.78 psi/minute and my RMV was 0.48 cubic feet per minute.