Skookumchuk Narrows by Don Dorosh

Dad and Rod took Bout Time up Thursday morning, and did a dive just north of Green Bay. The bloom was in full force, and their dive was murky, dirty, and dark. On Saturday Dave, James, and I arrived mid morning so we could do a couple of dives. Everyone else arrived later that night.

We did the light on the north/west side of Captain Island, and the Power Lines. Captain Island was steep all the way down. James, Digger, and I buddied up on this dive. The cloud sponge and crimson anemones make this a special dive. After around a 4 1/2 surface interval we went over to the Power Lines - this was much darker than the first dive (we were at low slack) - it was close to a night dive. The time of year of bad plankton bloom is here, so be prepared (lights are a must).

Sunday morning Larry from Georgia Strait Charters picked us up at 09:00. We headed out to the Skookumchuk Narrows for the 10:00 slack. Dave and I hit the water first...we went out towards the middle of the channel and headed west. Less than 15 minutes into our dive the current was starting to blow us back up towards Sechelt. We drifted back with the current, and ended up in the shallows admiring the nudibranchs.

We got to see most of what the Narrows had to offer - we had a great dive. Unfortunately the current turned quicker than expected, so some of the group didn't get the full range of this spectacular dive site. The water on the surface didn't give a true indication of what was going on under the water. There were several other boats in the area and they didn't get any more of a jump on the slack than we did.

All in all it was a weekend filled with good diving, good weather, and good company.

See you in, on, or under the water soon.