December 3, 2021
Suffice to say I woke up feeling like hammered shit from very little sleep. I had been up for over 24 hours by the time I finally fell asleep the night before. Really this was just an extension of the day before with a few hours of what might be considered sleep smattered in. But I got up and got moving anyway. The BnB host asked me what time I needed to be up and had breakfast prepared for me waiting in the little hallway outside of the rooms. There were 2 other guest rooms (I think) and I was in the middle one but I am certain I was the only one staying there since I didn’t hear a peep out of anyone the whole time. The rooms shared a common kitchen but I only went in there when breakfast was ready. The hosts were illusive which I think was by design. Anyway they sent me a text to let me know breakfast was in the kitchen and I went out to find what can only be described as a gourmet waffle with fresh fruit and whipped cream, and a charcutier platter with some type of cheese mini pie thing (these are all official gastronomic terms in case you didn’t know). Despite my ignorance on what I was eating, It was fucking delicious and I woofed it down. I took this as a sign that despite being tired, today was going to be ok and this was just the plate full of healthy energy that I needed to make good things happen.
After breakfast I drove over to Guy’s house and we discussed the dive which would be 25min @230′ or so. We planned a logistically easy shore dive at Beach Comber Regional Park which was about an hour drive north from Duncan. One of the neatest things about Vancouver island is the amount of deep diving just off the beach. We also planned on picking up another dive buddy named Jim along the way. Guy and I worked out the dive plan but to be honest my brain was fried from lack of sleep and feeling the fatigue when it came time to working out the math. I felt a little embarrassed but we got through it.
Once Gas was analyzed and we had all the gear loaded, we hopped in Guy’s truck and headed north. During the dive I learned that Guy’s family founded Shockeysville, Virginia, a town just on the boarder of West Virginia a stone’s throw away from my family homestead near Romney. I’ve driven through Shockeysville quite a few times growing up. So it was one of those small world moments. This however was several generations back but in a small way we had some commonality with West Virginia none the less and it was very cool. it took a special kind of person to carve out any type of existence in the foothills of WV/VA back then and I am often enamored by the thought of my relatives from the 1800s living in the small cabin (which we still own).
After a quick stop to pick up Jim and a bit more driving north, we arrived at the dive site which had the parking lot on top of a fairly steep hill. We carried the deco bottles down to the water and began to gear up next to the truck. Jim was planning on diving with us but as he geared up he had a dry suit issue and ended up not being able to do the dive. Despite being SUPER tired I was feeling good (likely due to the fantastic breakfast). After doing a GUE EDGE, we made our way down to the water. I thought to myself: I just need to get through the next hour and a half and then I can sleep/relax. Once in the water Guy and I donned our deco bottles, fins, hoods and masks, and took a moment to get situated before heading off. I was leading the dive and was doing my best to follow the beta that Jim had given: “Follow the slope down until you see what looks like a ditch at 20ft, then follow that until you get to 50ft and you will find another rock, etc, then drop over the series of ledges until you get to 230…” Something like that. The water was colder but familiar as I dipped my face underwater and began taking the first few breaths of my 50% gas (we used the 50% for travel gas to 30feet to avoid going hypoxic on 15/55 at the surface). Once we reached 30ft we did our switch to back gas and continued on the dive. The water was familiar and I was feeling incredibly relaxed.
I followed the instructions and found the landmarks we were looking for, and within a few minutes I was now at 230′ swimming south along a wall. There were tons of cloud sponges and all the other Pacific NW underwater alien life forms I’ve grown fond of. I flipped my heat on full as we swam for 10 or so minutes south then turned around and swam back. There was very little current either way and the dive was extremely relaxing. I didn’t feel the fatigue once in the water and I was relieved things were going well. Once back at the familiar landmark that we came in on, I thumbed the dive, communicated our average depth and time, and began running the ascent back up the slope. We carefully and methodically made our up to 70ft, switch to 50% and continued to slowly move up. The dive was relaxing and easy, as it should be. Each deco stop closer to 20 feet got longer and longer and I was starting to feel the cold, especially in my lips and face. During our 20ft deco stop, we were poking around the rocks looking for critters when suddenly I heard Guy shouting excitedly in his regulator and pointing towards a rock. Only this rock was moving and had 8 arms! It was a Giant Pacific Octopus and it was the size of a basketball with arms at least 5 feet long. It was a dark maroon/red and arguably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! We watched the octopus hunt along the rocks until it disappeared in the murk. The dive was almost over and I heard Guy again shouting “Look look!” and it was another GPO. Two GPO’s on one dive and at this site was considered rare for sure and I was feeling extremely privileged. Once we cleared deco we slowly made our way up to 10 feet and we stopped for a moment. Guy tapped me on the shoulder, he made a “T” shape with both hands followed by a number 2 and excitedly shook my hand. I had finally passed Tech 2.
Our heads broke the surface at the surface I took a moment to take it in. Jim had been waiting for us and asked how it went. I don’t remember what I said exactly because I was still in the moment. It had been such a journey to get here, and several weeks ago I didn’t think it would happen at all. Tech 2, in Canada for this Florida Cave diver. I’m proud of that.
We geared down pretty quickly and Jim helped carry gear back to the truck. Guy and I posed for the obligator picture and had some conversations about the dive and the GPO. My fatigue became apparent mostly once we were back in the truck, headed back south to Duncan but I was too excited really to let it take over. The trip back went by fast and Guy briefed me on the dive plans for the following day which I was excited about (an easy shallow wreck dive on 32%, yes please). At this point it was getting later in the evening I asked about dinner plans but everyone was busy and I was starving. I began googling places to eat and decided I’d have some Italian for the carbs and get back to the BnB as early as possible to get some sleep.
After dropping of Jim and saying our goodbyes and thank you for the help we got back to Guy’s house before sundown where I cleaned and put away gear for the night, hung my drysuit and popped the battery on charge. I said thank you once again for the class and headed out to find food. I decided on this little place called Romeo’s which wasn’t too far of a drive.
Surprisingly for a Friday night in the bustling metropolis of Duncan BC, Romeo’s wasn’t that busy. I asked for a table for 1 and was promptly seated. Truthfully I was feeling quite lonely and sad at this point. I was missing home and the normal end of class celebration that typically happens with your classmates had evaporated. I ordered a beer and drank it while I decided on what to eat. Lasagna sounded good and I put the order in with the waiter. Being honest (which I try my best to be on this blog), as I waited for my meal, I had a bit of an emotional release. I was physically and mentally exhausted, not just from lack of sleep and traveling, tech 2, etc. The rollercoaster of emotions of accomplishing T2 yet feeling incredibly sad. In this moment I battled with the heaviness of life, and where things were for me after 41 years of living. I had been having somewhat of an existential crisis for the last few months and It all just hit pretty hard. I hadn’t really been sleeping much at all since September because I was afraid of dying in my sleep (which by the way, continued for about a year). I couldn’t hold it in any longer and I felt my eyes get glassy, and then a few tears streamed down my face. I was on the verge of bawling but I wiped the tears away hoping nobody would notice. I didn’t want anyone to ask me if I was ok because I didn’t think I could hold it in. I didn’t want to talk to anyone or explain anything. The heaviness was everything, everything over the last several years, covid, my mom’s death; Just everything I had been holding back until that point. I pulled my shit together just in time for the food to come and I slowly ate my delicious lasagna. By the time I finished eating, I felt better. I was feeling more at peace with some things. I suppose I needed to complete this more than I realized. Tech 2 was over but I still had several more days in Canada and I was starting to get excited about the wreck diving in the morning.
I paid for my meal and made my way back to the car and drove over to the BnB to crash. It was early by most standards (probably 7pm) but I was absolutely done.