BC Spearing Trip: Round Two!

[Amphibious]

Soooooo............. we had a blast last time, who's up for another go at Telegraph Cove in June 2007?

last years trip: http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthread.php?t=65249


Shallowest Duck and Catus Juice will be in attendance

[JMD]

oooo ooooo me i am i am... but do i have to drink the cactus juice? or the duck?

[Fondueset]

Workin on it!

[Erik]

I will make it this year I hope. My Indonesian relatives are coming this Summer and I need to mix the activities of taking them to the Coast and meeting up woth you guys. Can we start talking about dates that people can do this? Would be helpful and I can make sure everything coincides with my faliy's holiday.
Also is it to be Telegraph Cove again? Are there options amyone has considered? All good by me as I'll get in the water anywhere out there.
Erik

[Amphibious]

personally I think another trip to Telegraph cove at aproximately the same time of year would be a good idea. we've already done the on site recon and know where facilities, dives spots, etc are. would make for a more streamlined trip 2nd go around.

Late June seemed to be good timing. nice weather, clear water, and a lack of tourists.

[Fondueset]

If I can make it I'm up for anywhere out there. With the preponderance of cameras there are some definite advantages to going to the same place though. I'd like to get some more footage in and around the place where we saw the seals lounging. The underwater life there was phenomenal! And, of course, we know where the Ling are now I also want to do some spearo action footage. Hopefully our trusty captain is still about.

[Pinggene]

I have a brother in Seattle, WA. How far away is telegraph cove? Possibly I could combine 2 trips?

Thanks,

Gene

[Amphibious]

Mapquest Says 412miles. not to far.

[efattah]

I am definitely psyched to go.

In terms of location, I have a few ideas.

In the telegraph area, we never touched the God's Pocket area, which is reputed to be the best by far. So if we do the general area again, I definitely want to hit God's Pocket.

The real disadvantage to the telegraph/God's Pocket area is the cold water. You have to realize that in most of BC, the water temp in summer (June/July/August) is usually 17-21C on the surface. Compare this to the telegraph/God's Pocket area which is 10-12C -- a huge and dramatic difference.

I would categorize the possible areas as follows:
1. Northern Vancouver Island
Can be broken down into Telegraph area, God's Pocket area, and then over on the west coast, Tahsis, which has world class sites such as Mozino Point and Espinosa (and also much warmer water than the North East coast).

2. South Island: Victoria/Nanaimo/Saanich Inlet
High quality dives sites, but much closer to civilization. Some incredible sites like Race Rocks, but many sites are marine protected. This area also includes the southern Gulf Islands, which are surrounded by incredible sites, but generally they are far enough apart that you need a boat to jump from one site to another.

3. Cambell River (East central island)
Apparently very good -- I haven't dove there though.

4. Mainland: Sunshine coast
This area offers large possibilities, including four world class sites
- Agamemnon's channel
- Fearney Bluffs abyss
- Skookumchuck narrows
- Sarah point
The water is also relatively warm, and the visibility is enormous. However, good camp sites are limited, the main one being Mermaid's cove, which isn't really close to any of the above dive sites. Sarah point is only accessible by boat or by monster truck (literally).

5. Mainland: Sechelt Inlet
- A long inlet far from the open ocean means calm water with big vis. Dive sites are numerous, and there are some extremely remote camp sites only accessible by boat, including Nine Mile Point, which is surrounded by world class dive sites. This area has several famous shipwrecks as well. The water temperature is warm.

6. Inland: Indiam Arm
- Indiam Arm is another inlet which stretches WAY inland. The northern section of the inlet is extremely remote and unpopulated. Once again the inlet means calm water with big vis. There are some incredible world class sites in this area, and there are also several campsites, some of which are on islands only accessible by boat or kayak. The water here is very warm.

The choice of site comes down to the following questions:
1. What sort of balance between incredible marine life (sightseeing), and abundant fish (spearing) ?
2. What sort of water temperature ?
3. Camping or staying at Inns ?
4. If camping, then is it luxury camping at a full facility site (i.e. Jim Doe style), or is it remote minimalist camping?
5. Would we be renting a boat most days ?
6. Would we be renting kayaks ?

If we could agree upon the answers to the above four questions the site would present itself automatically. It may even be that last year's site (Telegraph) is the best solution to the situation, I'm not sure, it depends on what people want.

[Amphibious]

for the spearos I think anything in the georgia strait is out. severly restricted for us. long way to drive for greenling and flounder.

the TC camping was very posh, a nice change from what I'm used to, but the available power was nice for charging batteries, etc.

[Erik]

In my experience the life just gets better the further north you go, plus we can get fish there.
If you guys had a great experience up there then cool.
Indian Arm sounds intriguing too, I've never been.
Erik

[Erik]

Originally Posted by Pinggene

I have a brother in Seattle, WA. How far away is telegraph cove? Possibly I could combine 2 trips?

Thanks,

Gene

Gene you're looking at a full-day trip for each direction. Getting to the Ferries, waiting, ferry trip, then driving up the Island Highway will take longer than you might think. But well worth it if you've never been. I will die saying that north Vancouver Island is among the most beautiful places anywhere.

Erik

[Fondueset]

One of the more amazing parts of that trip was arriving - scoping a dive site - walking back to register, meeting everybody as they just happened to be standing around right there and being in the water within about 20 minutes. What with the time diff I was up at about 6 every day. After driving down to the campsite to put slugs on JimDoe's teeth while he was snoring, I could return to where Claire and I stayed, get into my suit and go for a dive in the very often sunny, calm morning waters. In other words I'm down with proximity to water. If we do TC this time I may try and get one of the cabins with a kitchen. They are geared to groups and I think it would be a nice recourse for everybody if it's raining. Elsewise we'll camp as the campsite was thoroughly awesome. I'm up for anything but I did like having the water right there.

[harbour seal]

another trip for this summer, what fabulous news!

i read last year's telegraph cove trip thread with delight---you guys certainly seemed to have a fun trip and the pictures were amazing. actually, i really should thank you folks as that thread and those pics were a real source of inspiration for me getting into freediving (last june was right around the time when i first discovered deeperblue).

what can i say? i am most definately up for it this year if you'll let a newbie tag along.

my fins just arrived in the mail and my elios suit should show up around the beginning of january. by june i even hope to have a good number of dives under my belt.

the difficult part for me will be not to get too excited yet as june is still many months away.

cheers,
sean
vancouver, canada

[Erik]

Originally Posted by harbour seal

what can i say? i am most definately up for it this year if you'll let a newbie tag along.

cheers,
sean
vancouver, canada

Sean, community is what this is all about amigo. We have our private moments in the water, but we need to share them! My analogies include: Christ's 40 days in the desert and return to community, Muhammed's times in the cave and return to community, Siddartha's 4 years in the forest and return to community.... heehee. Some of the most important people in my life have been met through freediving.
Hopefully see you in the Summer,
Erik