paradise dive trip to victoria

This was a great weekend. As my first dive outside of Howe Sound, it definitely opened my eyes up of what’s possible out there in the ocean… and this was only an extra hour or two away. Hope you enjoy this one!

Grab a nice pair of headphones, kick back, … and then sign up for scuba diving!

Night Dive along the wall at “The Cut” Whytecliff Park

1000 foot drop into dark nothingness. We went to 110. Had a brittle star crawling on me, saw some legit sponges, rockfish, fields of weird clear globule thingies, and chased a few giant prawns. All in all good dive

Jeff Blake’s first night dive.

It seems I’ve found a place where a cold, flooding darkness is not terrible – but actually wonderful. This video is of me at Porteau Cove, along the Sea to Sky Highway in British Columbia. It is filmed using a GoPro with the underwater housing by Russel at EyeOfMine.

Go to Youtube to see it in HD, or watch it here:

Life is Good When You’re Diving: Ansell Place, BC

Ansell Place, just past Horseshoe Bay on the Sea to Sky is quite a gem underwater. The reviews about it being a hard to access site is bologna … it’s easily trudged and definitely worth the effort.

I was feeling a bit poetic afterwards and wrote a couple one liners about my adventure:

stars of the water, and how they move
the dance for color
chasing tail
no place for dreams
what happens when two divers meet at depth.
Sword or the spear, the seal and success.

SCUBA Diving Porteau Cove .. 5 wrecks, 1 tank and a video

I faced a dilemma friday night: my family had left whistler after spending a week there at their resort, Club Intrawest. Me, I was diving nearby saturday morning. I weighed two options: drive home then back AGAIN in the morning, and …. find somewhere to camp in the woods for a night. I chose the latter.

It was… interesting. I’ll tell you one thing, getting new batteries for my flashlight was a blessing. It was pitch dark and all I could hear were bears growling (I was in the bush on Rainbow mountain).

I made it alive. Porteau was awesome. It was my first dive there. Visibility was awesome – at about 40 feet. Check out the video I made mixed with Gaia Aisha (Armin’s ASOT).

It’s worth watching in HD here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKQmgVz8dvk or just watch it here (non HD):

On my way out I met a group of freedivers. One of the guys says he has been to 250 feet! I haven’t even been half that deep on a SCUBA tank! Nuts. Anyway, they were cool and offered to teach me a few things sometime. Sounds good to me.

Spearfishing Day One. Jeff Nil

About eight months ago I decided I wanted to spice up some SCUBA hobby.. with what, I wasn’t sure. That’s when I learned of spearfishing. However, it wasn’t until recently that I finally made the plunge.

I ordered a JBL 38 Northwest Special and off I went last night to Copper Cove to try her out.

Sightings were slim. I was getting impatient. Then finally a giant lingcod appears, excitement builds, as I slowly stalk the fish into position. Aim… fire… a bare miss. I think I need to practice how to shoot the thing before I go for the real deal again. With no sights, or guides, you just have to get used to where the spear goes.

Til next time!