Meet Antigua
August 23, 2010
Antigua
A few days ago I got a call from Reid saying we had a mission and time was of the essence. A small harbor seal pup had come ashore and was suffering from several wounds and appeared to be abandoned. We met up at the the Horizon Lines crane facility in gear ready to capture the seal, put it in a modified dog kennel and get it to cargo where the little critter was going to be flown to Anchorage and the Alaska Sealife Center was going to pick her up from there and take her back for evaluation and possibly rehabilitation.
When we arrived on scene the seal was gone, we searched the shore and under debris but he was no where to be found and we scrapped the plan. A day or so later, he was spotted again on the beach near Magone Marine, this time everyone and everything was in place and Reid was able to capture the seal and get her in the kennel.
The problem now is the air cargo was closed and Penair would not ship the animal by itself. Enter me and my flight out later that night. Reid called and asked if I’d take the seal as checked baggage. I said if you were paying for it I’d be happy to take her along.
Antigua
Everything was in place, I’d take the seal as a ‘pet’ via checked luggage, the good folks on the animal rescue team from the Alaska Sealife Center would drive up from Seward that night and meet us at the airport and take her back.
As an added bonus, the folks at the Alaska Sealife Center told Reid that I could name her. This years theme for rescued animals is ‘Coffee’. First thing in my head was Antigua. I passed it on the staff of the Sealife Center when we met in Anchorage and they said they would check it out.
I’m happy to say that officially her name is Antigua, after the coffee from Guatemala Antigua. You can check up on Antigua at the Sealife Centers official website.
Hunting King Crab
June 7, 2010
I guess that’s not really a fair title, there are a few of us in a unique position to actually find them. For the past few years I’ve been diving with friends for Alaska King Crab. In the summer time they come shallow then when winter comes around they head back deep. So from June to January King Crab is open for personal subsistence fishing and were able to use our scuba gear to dive down and grab crab. The State of Alaska considers Scuba gear to be acceptable subsistence fishing harvest gear. Here is an early video of me diving for crab.
This year I’ve decided to try my hand at pot fishing for King and Bardai crab. I borrowed three pots from friends and set two of them yesterday. These first two are set for Kings and the last one will be set much deeper for the Bardai. I need to get a little more line because of the depth and hopefully I’ll get it this week.
Crab Pots on Deck
I’m still going to dive for crab but with the summer season here and the Fire Fighter Academy in full swing – my time isn’t as free as it used to be. So I figure why not. One of the biggest considerations for using pots to fish crab is getting them out of the water.
Most boats fishing pots have a ‘pot puller’ or a block with an electric or gas motor and wheel used to pull up the pots from the bottom.
I’m not really interested in adding anything to the boat and the exercise wouldn’t hurt me – so I’m hand pulling the pots. Takes a few EXTRA minutes to pull them from 60 to 80 feet but they get eventually get up and when I’ve worked out all the the cramps in my arms – I check and set them back.
Back In The Water
March 16, 2010
PADI Dry Suit Certification Course
It’s been a while since I’ve been in the water diving so when I had the chance to help Reid this past weekend with three of his scuba classes I took it. Along with the chance to help and get in the water, I was able to bring my camera and underwater housing to take a few pictures from the classes. He had a new Open Water dive class that was almost finished with their confined water and dry suit dives, he also had an Intro To Scuba Class for kids and he had two other students wanting to get their dry suit certification.
PADI Dry Suit Certification Course
It was good to spend the weekend in the pool working with new divers, it was really fun. Although I’m not officially working on my Dive Master certification at the moment – Reid keeps logging all the intern skills and time in the pool required for the certification. (Thanks Reid).
The Open Water and first Dry Suit course was fun, all the students are local people I know fairly well. Everyone seemed to have the concepts down and they did real well on all their skills. The next step for that class is the open water dives.
Intro To Scuba
I recall it was February when I completed my Open Water course. All my dives were done out here in the chilly Bering Sea. I’m happy I did the course here, Reid is a good instructor and the novelty of saying that I got my certification in the Bering is pretty cool. On another note, the facility Reid teaches from in through Test The Waters in Fairbanks (North Pole).
Intro To Scuba
On my open water card it shows I was certified in North Pole Alaska. That is a fun conversation starter. My current certification is that of Rescue Diver. I have two specialty courses I’m thinking about taking. Underwater Photography and Deep Diver. After that, maybe … just maybe I’ll venture out and officially start the Dive Master course. Until then I just want to dive for the fun of diving.
Dry Suit Course (PADI)
If you have ever thought about diving, contact your local dive shop and ask about an introduction course. Its a one day class that gives you a good idea of what diving is like and what it’s all about. There is a special kind of freedom I get while diving (not nitrogen narcosis) – it’s hard to explain. You should just give it a try for yourself.
Checkout the Bering Sea Divers website. Although not updated in a while, it still has some good photos and accurate information about our divers and the area.
There is a great group of local divers out here, if you plan on visiting and your a diver let us know. Besides plentiful shore diving a few of us have boats that we can take out for boat dives in places only a few if any have ever seen.
Sailing The Aleutians
March 1, 2010
Ulanah in SE Alaska
Back in January Matt the owner and captain of the Ulanah a 45 foot Ketch sailboat posted an ad on craigslist looking for a crew to sail from Unalaska (Dutch Harbor) to Russia and then down to Japan. I really didn’t have the time to offer myself for the entire trip but I was able to get a few weeks which would be long enough to sail down to Adak. We got together last week and came up with a plan that looks like it will work out well for everyone. I’ll sail for two weeks with him and his crew and when time permits we will get some diving in. It will give me a chance to learn more about sailing and to see if I’d like to pursue my plan to buy a live aboard boat myself. If all goes according to plan it looks like a departure date in the first week of June. It should not take two weeks to get to Adak but by taking it slow it will give him and the crew time get sorted out and comfortable with everything – and it will be one heck of an adventure!
Helix Wind.. a Recovery
December 17, 2009
Helix Wind Turbine
Last Sunday – for the weekly ‘Church of Scuba’ It was decided that we would scour the bottom of the bay in search of a local residents Helix Wind Turbine what was lost in the 125+ mile an hour winds that hit our island a week earlier.for
Check out Ann Hillmans report on the storm at the KUCB website.
We met at the small boat launch in Unalaska, near the Alyeska Seafoods plant at noon. Six of us divers surface swam about 281 yards to our respective search areas. Jennifer, Brandon and Myself were team 2 and Shari, Simon and Aura were team 1 (I just made that up to explain the teams) Team 1 practically descended on the target – reporting having to swim about 40 feet to it. Team 2 descended on an old ship wreck (by coincidence, not plan) after a few minutes of checking it out, we swam our pattern and found the wreck AFTER team 1 had already marked it and continued on a recreation dive.
Helix Wind Turbine
PLEASE NOTE: The turbine did not come off it’s mounts until winds reached 125+mph. More than twice the speed that it was rated for. Helix Wind is sending a replacement for free and some extra gadgets to help gauge the speed in real time. Please read the KUCB article!
The helix is in about 45 feet of water. The owners are not interested in it’s return. We decided that we would use the recovery as an experience in local salvage diving. Practicing underwater knots, c-links, lift bag inflation, monitoring and surface dive salvage profile planning. It will give our newer divers a chance at getting involved in recovery efforts of various items we come across in the drink. The photos in this gallery were take by Sgt. Jennifer Shockley of the Unalaska Police Department and the author of the world famous Unalaska Police Blotter. Google it, and you will see what I’m talking about… The rest of the gallery is here. We will document the rest of the recovery in January of 2010. (right after I return from Vacation) Those images will be in the gallery as well.
Saturdays Dive
December 15, 2009
Aura's Perfect Descent
Earlier in the week Aura sent out a ‘ I’m Having Dive Withdrawals – Someone Go Diving With Me ‘ So a plan was made to check out the new but unfinished small boat harbor. The Dutra Group was here all summer dredging out a small cove near bunker hill, placing rock to form a break water, they installed a small cement launch pad and pile drove a floating pier (or whatever it’s called)
Some Kind of Jelly Thing
The dive plan / profile was simple and fun. We agreed to test our navigation skills by only allowing ourselves to note our heading from the end of the dock to the end of the breakwater before actually getting in the water. Once in the water we could only descend and then head the direction we noted on the dock.
The bottom was mostly all sand, but still pocked with indentations made by the dredge. It looks like a mine field. Visibility was good, water was about 40 degrees and Aura being our chief navigator took us right to our destination. (nice job Aura)
I also took this dive as a chance to test out the underwater housing for my camera. I added a few images to the assorted dive photos gallery
Lets Dive…
December 3, 2009
Canon Housing for the G10
Last week I ordered a housing for my Canon Powershot G10 so that I could take pictures while diving. It arrived yesterday and I could not be happier with it. Rated to 140 feet or so I’m sure it’s going to last a lot longer in the drink that I will with water temperatures below 40. I’m hoping to dive all weekend on
Canon Housing for the G10
various projects and fun dives. I’ll be posting images soon. So check out the Diving Gallery under hobbies in the nav bar up top.On a side note, I’m still uploading images from the last few years of diving so please check the galleries often – chances are good that there will be recently added photos.
Thanksgiving Dive 2009
November 27, 2009
Thanksgiving Dive 2009
We have a tradition of doing a ‘night’ dive on the morning of Thanksgiving. Todays dive was on the ‘Reef’ behind Bunker Hill (or Little South America as we like to call it). We had about 12 divers and 2 shore support folks show up (3 including Vitus). The dive was pretty good (even though we didn’t get photos of it) it was still a night dive (meaning is was still pitch black out and we navigated with dive lights and glow sticks)
Afterward we got the fire going, and had our traditional post dive beverage. Grand Marnier soaked peaches and Champagne (Thanks Don & Chris). We also had coffee and cider and assorted doughnuts.
The fire roared for about an hour, the conversation was good, the company was great and it was a good way to kick off the day.
I have added a gallery of the get together here.
Alaska (Pacific) Octopus
November 23, 2009
Alaska (Pacific) Octopus
Todays dive was great. I’ve been spending a lot of time since my hike across the island (and rescue via the USCG) kicking back and relaxing. Todays dive was at one of our favorite local dive sites. Reid and I dove The Reef at Little South America to check octopus dens for eggs and occupation.
Jennifer and Simon were a head of us while Brandon and Mike were behind us. It was windy with winds of 35 mph coming from the south. Water temp was 39 but visibility was fantastic and at a max depth of 83 feet ~ I was happy to be back in the water.
We checked several dens – with Reid checking and marking down the results on the slates.
We saw several occupied dens and only one of them had eggs hanging. We had one den, near the end of the ‘reef’ that was occupied and had a huge ‘grave yard’ (also known by the marine biologist folk as a midden) out in front of it. It was littered with King Crab and Giant Clam shells.
Also worth mentioning is that just as Reid and I rounded the corner of the reef, I saw Simon backing off a large den enterance and an ocotpus backing back in to the den.
Simon told us top side that as he approached the den the octopus came out after him. whoa, better him than me!!
All in all a great dive with some great people.
Bonaire Diving Adventure
October 30, 2009
As most of you know it is taking me just shy of forever to get the photo galleries and albums back on line. I just finished adding the Bonaire pictures 
back to the gallery You can find them here and you can also find them under the adventures gallery int he menu bar at the top of the page. In August of 2008 a gorup of us local divers followed Reid and Sarah Brewer to Bonaire to celebrate their wedding and honey moon. It was a great time with great people and great diving.
