Lost and found

Last Wednesday Nathan Shark_bait and I dove all day for our birthdays (mine is 3/12 and his is 3/13).

On the way back in the seas were calm and glassy and we were enjoying just paddling in and talking and enjoying the beautiful afternoon.

Right when we got by the big island out front of SWS beach I took a look back over my shoulder and said "Oh Sh*t!" Big steep wave picking up behind us!! Yelled heads up to nathan and started paddling as hard as I could to try and get into the safety of the lee side of the island. Didn't make it. 

The combination of super low tide and a freak sneaker set took us both out and we were honestly lucky that we didn't get slammed into the shallow reefs and break any bones....or lose our nice stringers or fish. 

After we both got back on our yaks and the set was gone we assessed the damage. All my gear had been stowed inside my yak so I hadn't lost anything...Nathan's gear had all been in his tankwell or shoved under bungies on his bow and pretty much all his stuff had ripped free...

We paddled through the destruction zone and picked up his hawgtrough, coiled floatline, one speargun, dive flag, GPS and radio. Nathan reported that he was still missing his dad's RA 80cm gun, fins, weight vest, dive watch and fins, but we had no more time to look so had to go home knowing the gear was still out there...

Recruited the help of Mikemcg, fuzz and Nelson Kwok and headed back out there on Saturday to see if we couldn't find some of the lost items.

Since fuzz and Nelson are notoriously late risers Mike and I decided to hunt for a few fish for dinner first. We each picked up a nice eating size ling and some rockies and then met up with the fellas to begin the hunt.

I got busy scanning the bottom and peeking under ledges interrogating every fish I saw asking them if they knew where my buddy's gear was....those who did not cooperate got shot in the face. Tough neighborhood...I ended up having to kill 2 decent monkeys, 2 small but legal cabezons, 1 grassy, 1 rubberlip, 1 greenling and a few kelpies. 

Nelson found the first item of gear...Nathan's loaner UK SL4 eLED L1 Divelight...which he had not even realized was missing! 

Then fuzz triumphantly surfaces with the RA 80! Score!!!!

There was a diver on a banks board who had been hunting in the same area the whole time we were there so fuzz went over and asked him if he had found the weight vest or any other lost gear...turns out the diver was natraps from NCUH and he had found the weightvest AND nathan's other dive light!! Awesome!!

Very successful gear recovery mission!

Huge thanks to fuzz, nelson, mikemcg and natraps for your help in recovering the gear! Natraps, next time you come down this way let me know and you can borrow one of my yaks and Nathan and I will show you around. 

I texted Nathan and let him know what we had found and he was super stoked, relieved and grateful...that afternoon he went on to win the State Gymnastics Championship in Parallel Bars and take 2nd place overall. 

1 UK Sl4 eLED L1 Divelight: $90
1 UK Sl4 eLED L1 Divelight: $90
1 Rob Allen 80cm speargun: $230
1 Omer vest and weights: $100

Total value of recovered gear: $510

Divers working together to help young Nathan get his gear back: PRICELESS

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Wow
great job....lucky a bit too....lotta hard work...gear $$$ ads up fast

Great report

AWESOME JOB Birthday boy!

Awesome work guys.

Super work! I especially liked: "interrogating every fish I saw"

Way to work as a team.........congrats on the recovery mission guys

Nice!

You dudes are bad ass!

Badass at it's finest!  Strong work guys!   

You dudes are bad ass!

Mmmm hmmmm he right

Thats some tight work guys!!

The best dive buddies a Dumbass could ask for. I didnt even have to ask them to gi look for my stuff! I cant thank you guys enough. I guess no more rocks in your kayaks would be a good start?
It was fun being the Easter bunny though and giving you guys a pre easter rather expensive gear hunt!   
thanks again!

The best dive buddies a Dumbass could ask for. I didnt even have to ask them to gi look for my stuff! I cant thank you guys enough. I guess no more rocks in your kayaks would be a good start?
It was fun being the Easter bunny though and giving you guys a pre easter rather expensive gear hunt!   
thanks again!

I think I can speak for all the guys when I say that we all know you would have done the same for us. 

Yeah, no more rocks would be nice. 

See ya soon buddy.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Good ending to a fateful trip. I've come thru that same area many times and only come thru there when it's FAC. I mostly take a couple extra minutes and enter thru the channel to the south/east,a little longer paddle but much safer. Glad you guys were able to retrieve the gear from the "locker".