West Coast Shootout # 1 for 2011

West Coast Shootout # 1 for 2011 has been announced for the month of January. I am excited to announce that it is going to be happening at Madrona Point in Parksville BC. Anyone interested in going on this adventure needs to check out the West Coast Shootouts page or Facebook for all the details. 2010′s West Coast Shootouts were a phenomenal especially out trip to Barkley Sound. I can't wait to see what the next twelve months will hold.
Scott

West Coast Shootout #12 - 2010 Finale

The plan for the final West Coast Shootout of 2010 was to dive Saanich Inlet with Pinnacle Scuba Adventures. One dive was to be at Sananus Island and the second was planned for Repulse Rock (The White Lady). The day began with the remnants of the torrential down-pour from the previous day breaking, and all that was left was the fresh water runoff clouding the surface of the water with a thick brown cast so bad that a number of the divers on board were very skeptical of how the dives were going to turn out. These condition did not discourage me because of all of my previous dives in Saanich Inlet, the water colour on the surface is not a good indication of what the visibility is below and I wanted to push on. Sananus Island is an amazing dive site: this small island just north of Brentwood Bay is one of the only places on Southern Vancouver Island to have cloud sponges accessible at recreational limits making it a great spot for all divers including tech divers and underwater photographers.

As everyone returned from the first dive they were ecstatic about the cloud sponges, but most importantly how great the visibility was once everyone descended below the initial 15 ft (3 m.) of brown fresh water. The water at this depth completely cleared up and visibility was around 50 – 60 ft. (17-20 m.)! We then motored towards our second dive destination, Repulse Rock, but the wind began to pick up as we got closer to the dive site to the point where we were unable to dive safely. The consensus with the group was to dive McCurdy Point, which was much more protected from the nasty weather. The topography as we approached the site according to the sounder looked very favorable for the divers. Everyone returned even more excited from this dive than the one at Sananus Island: the life and visibility they reported was beautiful and everyone wanted to return to both locations to spend more time exploring on a future trip.

Everyone on board was so pleased with the day of diving and this was a great conclusion to 2010′s West Coast Shootouts.

Scott


 
Additional images from West Coast Shootout #12 link

The Ogden Point Reef Ball Project featured in the Time Colonist.

The Victoria Times Colonist in conjunction with UVic knowEDGE will be featuring a story about Valerie Mucciarelli and the Ogden Point Reef Ball Project at the Ogden Point Breakwater. The December 26, 2010 issue will feature the story written by Peigi McGillivray with underwater images from Scott Stevenson of Pacific Marine Imaging.

New Fusion Drysuit Images posted on Whitesdiving.com

Whites Manufacturing has posted some of the images on their website from the Fusion Drysuit photo shoot I did for them back in September. Now that the new Fusion Drysuits have been showcased at DEMA, I am able to share some of the images from this photo shoot.

Scott

Dive Weekend Part 2 - Race Rocks and the Bedford Islands

Day two of our little mini adventure we planned visit to Race Rocks and Church Island. We left the marina on time with the forecast looking excellent for our dives to come. As we exited the mouth of Pedder Bay it was clear, calm, and crisp. We had a full boat with a total of 8 divers on board, all of whom seemed thrilled for the day’s adventures! After a vote on whether to visit the sea lions or West Race Rocks, it was unanimous that the Sea lions at Helicopter rock were the choice of the day. The dive went perfectly the sea lions where as playful as ever and I was able to get some great shots of them frolicking in the shallows and interacting with the other divers. After the dive everyone on board the boat were sharing stories of their encounters and ready to visit the next dive site. Jessie turned the boat west towards Church Island for our second dive.

As we approached the West side of the island it was clear that although there was little wind, there were still 3 meter swells crashing into the west side of Church Island. Jessie first priority is the safety of the diver and after observing the conditions moved us to a different location. We made our way towards the more protected Island of West Bedford for our second dive. If visibility is good, this site has some great topography and offers a beautiful dive. Unfortunately, the visibility today was below average due to the high winds and surge the day before. The nice thing about diving around BC is that even if the visibility is low you can still have a great dive. We were lucky enough to encounter a Giant Pacific Octopus just resting on one of the rocks. It was just awesome because a number of people in the group had never seen one out in the open. I was able to get a number of great images before the octopus crawled away.

Two great day of diving! Thank you to Jessie, and everyone from Seattle for a great weekend. 

Scott

Race Rocks dive site link / images
Bedford Islands dive site link

Dive Weekend Part 1

I was invited out with Pinnacle Scuba Adventures for a weekend of diving and help Jessie showcase our wonderful dive sites to a group that had come up from Seattle, Washington for the weekend. Unfortunately the weather doesn't always cooperate and the 20-25 knot Southwesterly wind and swell prevented us from visiting Church or Swordfish Island on this trip as we had originally planned. So as all good captains do, we changed our plans and decided to dive at Albert Head. Albert Head is a great dive site that can be dove when the conditions are unworthy on the west side of Vancouver Island. The wall is always covered in life and during the summer months there is a large kelp forest that is home to a large number of rockfish. Once back on the boat, the folks from Seattle were extremely please to have seen a number of different nudibranch species as well as some Northern Abalone. I was able to get some great images of large colonies of Hooded Nudibranchs that were spawning all over the kelp in the shallows.  It was really nice to have the opportunity to showcase a dive site to divers that would not normally have the chance to dive the area, and who were both accommodating and enthusiastic throughout the trip. The great dive site and even better company made the day a success for all.


Scott

   

Albert Head dive site link

Additional images from Albert Head link

Adventure Day Recap

Beechy Head and South Bedford Island (Wreck of the Swordfish)

Wow its a little cold out there! Although the thermometer read -4 Celsius the team was assembled and ready to commence with the days adventure. Jessie had prepared "The Pinnacle" for the day’s adventure ahead, and I was very optimistic with what lied ahead. Getting to the first dive site took a little longer than usual, as the cold seems to slow everything down one way or another. We arrived none worse for wear to our first dive site, The Wreck of the Swordfish. It was an Iron Hulled sailing  ship that sank in 1877 after striking the Southern reef off South Bedford Island. It was a great day for current: between 11am and 3pm there was nothing over 1.5 knots and none of us had any problem finding parts of the wreckage in the kelp forest. This dive site was covered with a great variety of life from wolf eels to sponges and anemones.  Pair the abundant sea life with the history behind the wreckage, and you have a first class dive site.

Although we had three dives planned, the wind had begun to pick up, however we did manage to squeeze in our second dive at Beechy Head, which was a stellar dive. The wall is covered in life and painted in an array of colour that cannot be described, as you must experience it first hand. Anemones, sponges, and rockfish adorned both the wall and surrounding water, making for dive that filled all senses.  As we surfaced from the dive the snow had begun to fall. Back on board we all sat in the heated cabin and talked about everything we had seen on the two dives and how epic the day had been. 

Scott

Adventure Day

This Sunday I am head out for Pinnacle Scuba Adventures "Adventure Day." Elasmo-man Andy Murch, Extreme Diver Chris Vanderford, Aqua-model Ken McAlpine and myself are stoked for some adventure. We are going to explore some lesser known west coast dive sites. These sites include the current swept reef off of Beechy Head, the historic Wreck of the Swordfish just off of South Bedford Island, and the majestic O’Brian Point. I plan to take tons of great images and share them and the story on the blog when we get back!


Scott

Some Cool Dives!

Saturday’s trip to Swordfish Island and Race Rocks was great! We had pretty good weather and the visibility was 30+ feet. I went out with Pinnacle Scuba Adventures and on board was Paul Kennell from cooldives.com, along with some other divers. I had wanted to meet Paul for quite some time and really wanted him to experience how great race Rocks and Swordfish Island really where. 

Swordfish Island proved to be a great first dive. The visibility in the tunnel was great and everyone really enjoyed the amazing life that thrives in that unique environment. Dive number two was at Helicopter Rock located in the middle of Race Rocks which provided some of the best Sea lion interaction we have had this year! I was so stoked on all the images I was able to get. Paul and the other divers where ecstatic about the two dives and Jessie proved once again to be a great host. 

Scott






Check out Paul’s account of the days adventures link
Race Rocks images link
Swordfish Island images link
Sea lion images link