Thursday morning my dive buddies and I took a trip to Hood Sports on the Hood Canal for a two tanker and to have our twins filled for a Canada dive trip that’s coming up quickly. The Canada trip is always worth the drive. Three days of divine diving and great visibility. We always check the equipment before we go and dive new equipment to make sure that it works and that we can use it.

 We arrived at Hood Sports and Dive Shop and unloaded the tanks for filling. Michael, the chief cook and bottle washer who always  has his eye on the equipment, quickly pointed out to me, yes me, that my tanks needed a visual. It had been several months since I used the requirement. The tank was mostly full and was only going to be topped off. However that did not happen until after the visual. 

 As Michael was checking the other tanks and my twins, he called me over to show me a bent bolt that holds on the V-weight. Boy he had a field day with me. Also the clamp on the pony tamer was bent and needs to be replaced. I agreed. I also made an appointment to have my regulators serviced when I arrived back from the dive trip. Michael and Ron know what they are doing and keep an eye on every piece of equipment that they get their hands on and think of new and innovative ways to replace or repair. It’s always a must to stop by the shop and talk with Ron and Michael. If Art is there he holds down the coffee pot.

 The trip went well. We did two dives at Sund Rock, which was a treat. We hit the North wall first because the tide was out and the depth was about sixty feet at the bottom of the wall. Upon arrival at the wall, we quickly located four, yes four giant Pacific Octopus. All were out of hiding and in the area not more then fifteen feet from each other. What a treat and a very large Wolf eel was right close waiting for lunch. If you have never dived the area around the Hood Canal, you are missing a great adventure. As I was getting into the water a beautiful large Bald Eagle swooped down right in front of me and picked up a fish and - away he goes.  What a sight! This was one of those star dives and a star was added to the dive log. Now that the dive report is done, we can go onto the equipment portion.

 As I wrote previously, Hood Sports and Dive Shop, is a real professional shop. You can trust them to have the best equipment and information to aid in your dive experience. Maintenance and repair is always first class; they have the latest equipment and the latest information on the dive condition; and the coffee is always on. Ron and Michael always have time to talk and treat you as a real diver. While I was there I showed Michael a valve that was my argon bottle; one look and I was told it was a goner. How it happened I will never know, but it sure got nicked some way. So now I am in the market not only for a scooter, but a valve for the argon bottle as well.

As a preview to next week’s article, I had a mask come apart at 130 feet. That is not a good thing when you have to do 15 minutes of deco at 20 feet. I think the main point is I did not panic. I said to myself, “I can do this” and it all came out well. In the next article we will cover maintenance and care of the mask so that you can perhaps avoid having yours disintegrate as mine did.

© 06-11-2005 G. Mc K.