Kevin's Port McNeil dive Week-end

May, 2000

"Port McNiell here I come".

That's what I was thinking as I pulled away from the shop on Saturday afternoon. OOPS, not even out of the parking lot and had to stop to go back and get my drysuit. Gave Sue a good laugh.

I started hitting the rain just north of Sayward and got to Alder Bay Campsite just before the divers were going for their next dive. After a quick visit with the Top Island Econauts and the Comox base club, I took a quick trip to visit Telegraph Cove. The boardwalk has been cleaned up and looked quite quaint, but the hillside to the south looked devastated.

That evening the Top Island Econauts hosted a Salmon and Crab Barbecue. The food made up for the weather. The Econauts tried to arrange tarps (and did an excellent job of it) but the rain could not be held back. I jammed out and instead of sleeping in the back of my truck I went to a motel in Port McNeil.

Sunday morning dawned with minimal wind and no rain. As I got offered a ride on Steve Lacasse's boat the sun started peeking out. Introductions made and we were off to dive. First a stop at Stubb's Island to check out the Stellar sea lions. Our on-board naturalist gave us the standard sea lion talk, which led into a conversation on the 'Origin of Man' (always interesting discussions on a dive boat). The dive was at a site called Warbonnet Wall in the Plumper Group. I think Steve took the round-a-bout way so we could never find this excellent site again. The dive started with a beautiful Orange Peel Nudibranch and progressed through Soft Corals, Basket Stars, and Puget Sound King Crabs. Wonderful dive to just flow with the current and enjoy the life.

As we got back on the boat to enjoy the beautiful blue sky and sunshine, Steve, with a smile in his eye, said, "don't take off your gear just yet." After all were on board we headed for the middle of Johnstone Straits, off of Telegraph Cove to look for white sided dolphins. And there they were, just waiting for us to jump in. Having 5 dolphins streak around you is hard to describe. They flash by you so quick it is hard to keep track of them, but the whole time you are watching them you see their big eyes contacting you. After about 30 minutes of their bedevilment they decided to move on and off they went.

What a way to end the dive.

A big thank-you for an enjoyable and well organized week-end to the North Island Econauts. I would strongly recommend to anyone to try to join them for next year's dive Extravaganza 2001.

-Kevin Bates-

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