Getting away from the wrecks, I elect for a late afternoon dive on Snake Island wall, just a few hundred metres from the Cape Breton, but with Snake Island in-between.Getting away from the wrecks, I elect for a late afternoon dive on Snake Island wall, just a few hundred metres from the Cape Breton, but with Snake Island in-between.
Once over the edge, sections of this wall are steep, deep and dark. I renew my quest for a Pacific giant octopus; there were reports of such a monster on a sandy patch close to the mooring buoy. I find obvious debris left over from the octopus's dinner, but frustratingly the octopus is not at home.
A storm blows in from the north east and boat diving is curtailed. Making the most of the diving available I team up with another photographer and we drive north for a shore dive at Seducer's Cove. Here we have been tipped off we could find a wolf eel, another of the local species which is a diver's favourite, looking something between our own wolf fish and a conger eel.
It is another good dive, but despite finding Wolfie's lair we cant find Wolfie. As you might expect with a pair of photographers both hypnotised by the viewfinder, we soon become separated.
It is one of those cruel tricks of the photographic gods that my "buddy" is then mugged by a curious giant octopus. I had a lens capable of catching it, but am not there. He has a macro lens and even when he manages to get away from its tentacles cant get enough of it into the frame.
Even so, when he tells me afterwards I would willingly have swapped places and circumstances with him.
Memories of my previous trip to Nanaimo 10 years ago are beginning to return. The site I really want to visit again is Dodd Narrows, a narrow channel inside Mudge Island, with turbulent 12-knot currents and marine life to match.
I put in a request at Ocean Explorers, but the autumn weather conspires against me and next day diving is limited to local sites.
Clark Rock develops into another wolf eel photo hunt. Again I find a wolf eel's lair, but the owner is not at home. I use my film on a selection of fish, anemones and critters.
As I surface the weather is deteriorating rapidly. For a second dive there is only one option - Jesse Island. Close to the dive centre and well sheltered, Jesse Island is saved as a poor weather fallback site, though it's certainly not a second division dive.
Even though my luck with wolf eels and giant octopus is still out, Jesse Island has everything else, from humongous nudibranchs to a whole shoe shop full of wellie boot sized plumose anemones and everything in between. After the Saskatchewan I would rate this as the next best dive of the trip - apart that is from the elusive Dodd Narrows.
On my final morning I gaze out the window at the Buccaneer Inn to an encouraging bright blue sky, but one step outside and I can feel the wind building from the north. Dodd Narrows again looks marginal. Although the dive would be sheltered, getting there and back is dubious. It is the skipper's decision and he chooses to go for it.
With a few minutes to spare before slack water I study the north flowing current. A strong flow in the middle of the channel breaks into whirlpools and back eddies along both sides.
The current slacks and we drop in at the east side of the channel to visibility of just 7 or 8 metres, poor by local standards but plenty good enough to enjoy the dive. Through the year the best overall conditions are from July to October and the best underwater visibility from November to March.
To get going I have to swim hard down and northwards against one of the still swirling back eddies, then I am in a gentle northward flow across a pebbled seabed.
A bull stella sea lion effortlessly cruises past against the current, easily twice as big as the California sea lions I have dived with at other locations. Intent on hunting fish he gives a cursory glance and disappears into the gloom without getting into photo range.
Everything is covered in a tight encrusting yellow sponge and hydroids, except for the football sized dahlia anemones. Then we hit the wall. The plumose anemones are not quite wellie boot size, maybe just a medium length Doc Martin. This is more than made up for by the sheer quantity, there is a seemingly endless wall of millions and millions of them.
The current is perverse. Having drifted a way north I have to fight my way round an outcrop, then give up against a southward current that is a bit too strong.
Now retracing my route along a shallower part of the wall I hurtle beneath a pair of divers drifting south at a more moderate pace, then work my way shallower again into a northward current that takes me screaming back above them.
By all calculations the middle of Dodd Narrows should now be flowing southwards at several knots. My northwards drift continues through a safety stop and up tight against the side of the channel. As I mentioned earlier, the eddies along the side of the channel are perverse.
Ascending at the side of the channel against the rocks is part of the dive briefing you have to pay particular attention to. During slack water tugs tow freight barges and rafts of logs through the narrows with scant room to manoeuvre. Not the sort of thing you would want to surface in the path of.
The journey back to Nanaimo into a building sea is not pleasant, but I can happily put up with it for a dive at Dodd Narrows. A magnificent end to a week of cold water diving as good as it can get. I would just love to spend a few months here exploring the diving amongst the hundreds of islands.