Keystone Jetty | Whidbey Island (winter)

That kettle isn't just for making coffee

Winter Diving in the PNW

A typical balmy PNW winter day of 43*F out and raining, we returned to the Keystone Jetty. This time on steel 95L tanks and a dry suit, we dove down to peruse the winter wildlife, look for GPO, and to just see if and what is difference during the winter months. Keystone Jetty | Whidbey Island (winter) above, also available on YouTube

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The dive conditions, despite the cold and rainy weather, itself was great. Little to no current, visibility was 20ft, but the critter variety was a bit less than when we were last here. This was part of a group-dive with Anecortes Diving club, and there was probably a dozen or so of us in the water.

The wildlife was out, from lingcod to of course the giant plumose anemones on the rocks. We did end up finding a baby GPO outside of its hiding-hole, but nothing as big as when we were last diving here in the fall.

Put a Kettle On

That hot water kettle isn’t just for making coffee. Finally diving on a drysuit of my own, our gloves and hood are still wetsuit neoprene. Thick of course to keep us warm, but a trick my dive partner and I were taught by our instructor is to keep a thermous of hot water handy. It helps keep our hands and our head warm on surface interval between dives. And should a diver have an Aeropress handy, well, it doubles as a coffee maker.

Gear

New gear on the dive was the Scubapro Exodry 4.0 drysuit.

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Authors
AJ Barse