Soon to heading off on probably my favourite trip of the year. Port Hardy with Todd, Rand, John and Jamie. Gonna be awesome. 10 days of taking the p*** out of Canadians... sorry I mean 10 days of the world's best cold water diving.

Thought I'd start a thread for our banter, updates and pix.

Still at the packing stage. The Subal train is about to leave the station:
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(only taking 2 housings, really: D700 and D2X).

Attached my cold water Inon switches in preparation for the thick gloves:
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Took these for a test dive yesterday too, although dived in my semi-dry to keep my dry suit dry for packing!

Got several new pieces of kit to test. Some pretty standard, but one is really out there. If it works it will be very cool.

It all kicks off at Edmonds Underwater Park (Seattle) on Sunday, where Rand and I will be diving. If anyone is in the area do come and say hi (or join us for a dive).

Alex

Hey Alex, I'm in Seattle, and I just spent 14 days up in Port Hardy. I've been diving the browning pass area for 10 years now, and I know the area really well (both Seattle and Port Hardy). Let me know if I can be of any help, and enjoy the trip!

-jon

the one on the far right looks like film....or is that the d100?

Hooded Nudibranchs are "blooming" right now at Edmonds, very cool, usually quite rare, but there are thousands of them in the eel grass. Transparent swimmers.

We're off tomorrow morning to dive there. If I'm around I might stop up Sunday, what time?

Jack

Got back from Port Hardy today. Hope you have better viz and luck than we did. It was still great with humpback and dall's porpoise sightings, but the viz wasn't great and not a lot of luck with some of the other animals we were looking for.

Alex, a package arrived from Reef Photo today...talk about last second...
Good news on the Hoodeds. Thanks Jack, that pretty much decides my lens choice for the Park. Did you see any with a crab on it??

See you tomorrow Alex. Safe flight.
Rand

The hooded nudis were amazing. Fields of them. A real wonder.

I was also pleased to see a cabezon for the first time.
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Alex

You guys hit the water a bit too early for me...Glad you got in a dive ok, it was pretty stormy.

There's some big a$$ed fish in the park, you should be there in Jan. when they're nesting and chase you...

Jack

Had a very nice few days in Comox, diving with Bill at Pacific Pro Dive in Comox.

Port in Comox
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Rand
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Todd
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Scenery, Denman Island
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Jamie
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Alex

Weather is supposed to clear up and get hot (for BC standards) tomorrow. I will be stuck in a classroom with Grade 9's. Have fun!
Cheers,
Marli

Wow what is that

A very enjoyable trip to the Island. Thanks to Todd for organizing, and to Rand, Alex and Jamie for all the Cheetos jokes.

The underwater photos are coming soon, but the nice thing about this trip is the topside opportunities too. We saw numerous bald eagles on our daily trips, including one that let us get mighty close:



Well, close enough at least for full frame with this lens (thanks to Alex for the photo):



We also saw sealions, seals, whales, deer, otter, and porpoises.

After diving Jamie and I headed to telegraph Cove for a day trip with Tide Rip Tours to see grizzly bears. We suffered through the rain to spend time close up with a mother and her cub. It was a great experience. The cub was adorable:



and wet:



Mom kept an eye on things:



And I should have taken my housing for some over/under shots, but I had to settle for the swimming shots:






Truly magnificent animals and we are fortunate to be able to spend some time with them. All the topside shots are posted on my website.

Wow! Beautiful!!! I like Image 36 at your website, wonderful details down to to the droplets of water on that eagle...

Yep, it was an outstanding trip. We had sunshine most days which is not common for Hardy. We had a Humpback sighting also.

The vis cleared up beautifully from a few weeks earlier according to the LA. I have been diving Port Hardy for over 10 years now and still love the area for so many reasons. Topside and below I really don't think there is much that can top it. That said 48-50 degreeF water can deter a few. Still able to get some 75 minute dives in without being cold thanks to the new drysuit underwear.

I should have images up on my hosting site sometime soon. Although there may be a few missing for competition reasons. I can always hope. LOL

Cheers

Todd

Yeah, it really was a wonderful trip. I hope to get a full gallery of images on my website soon. Been away quite a bit recently, but I am catching up with my processing...

Alex