Vancouver Island Diving Conditions Summer 2020

Ten Years Gone…

Good day readers, and thank you for subscribing to my newsletter I hope all is well in your world and that you are getting lots of diving in. It is late September as I write this, with the Nanaimo, Nanoose Bay area having pretty decent viz right now (somewhere in the range of 40 feet I would say). I am doing my best to take advantage of it on most weekends. I am planning on going over to Orlebar Point on Gabriola Island very soon, and if you have not done this dive (and are confident of your buoyancy skills), you should definitely go, it is spectacular. I think this dive can honestly be rated as the best shore dive on Vancouver Island. Please be aware that there is potential for some current here, so try and do it on days with little tidal exchange, and always have an inflatable marker buoy with you. Also notable, entry and exit are much easier at high water!

So in this edition I want to remind everyone to be safe and vigilant about their diving in regards to buddy checks, this is something you never want to have second thoughts about…trust me!

This year is a tough 10 year anniversary for me, as on Nov.02/2012, I was involved in my own diving incident, which both sadly and tragically led to the fatality of my diving buddy, Paul Scott Revane.

To this day I still find myself questioning what happened (yes second guessing), and I have to suppose I’ll never know. I do know that we asked each other about how much air we had, which we both relayed to each other as being 3000psi. So maybe out of complacency and even a little machismo, we forewent a thorough buddy check.

We each knew about our air according to the others word, but everything that happened afterward is speculation. Did Scott have a seizure, stroke, or a cardio infarction? Or was it simply that he had checked his air and turned it off again (forgetting to turn it back on, before entering the water?).

And again, speculating? Did he turn his air on, but just barely? This as I hope you know, would have given him a correct reading on his pressure gauge, but sadly once he submerged, would have had grossly affected the available volume necessary to breathe, if in fact it worked at all…

So please folks, please be thorough and vigilant! When diving we are utilizing a life support system, and entering a hostile environment. I can tell you from experience, when shit happens, it can be the worst kind, and it can haunt you for years…

I am so fortunate and thankful that I am still here, and at that time 10 years ago that I had strong support from my dive buddies, along with some excellent grief counselling. Conversely, I also have the knowledge that Scott Revane didn’t make it, and so is not here, and that the many who knew him were, and are, still devastated by his loss.

I am so sorry for his loss, and at times still struggle with it. I cannot imagine the impact and suffering his passing caused his family, friends, and associates, as his untimely death, rippled through all who knew and loved him. In memory of Paul Scott Revane 1959 - 2012 Dive safe, and make it home for those that love you!