Catalina 3-Day Weekend - August 20 - 22. WOW. So much fun I can't stand it!

[Mo2vation]

Claudette and I used to retire about quarterly to Catalina for a long weekend of drillin’ and chillin’. We’ve found its how we learn best – by high intensity, repetitive practice. Get in, do a bunch of dives and execute again and again.

We haven’t been to Catalina in about a year – with the winter and spring diving being so poor we’ve stayed mostly local. So this was going to be an exciting time – getting back to the place we’ve been so many times and trying / learning new stuff.

We left Friday morning from the San Pedro Catalina terminal – which again I have to give it up to. When you are moving the mountain of gear that we are moving, the SP terminal really is the best choice. It’s all at ground level – no ramps, no stairs. The doors are automatic (that alone is priceless) – you stage your stuff and queue up inside, the ramp is short to the boat, parking is the cheapest of the major Catalina terminals ($12 / day)… it’s just the best way to go.

We move enough gear for a 6 week Everest expedition onto the boat, and we’re off.


FRIDAY 8-20-2010

Objectives this day: Dive the Valiant, and then Dive Big Casino Reef.



Dive #1 – The Valiant



It has been over a year since I’ve been to the Val, so I’m way over due. This was to be the first trip with the new Micro Cudas – so it’d be interesting to see how fast we’d get there. We gear up, we splash, we get to the starting point (we always us the same starting point) and we go.

Less than 3 minutes. Nice.

The viz is still pretty yucky, but it was better at depth below the ‘cline – but still not wide-angle worthy. We get shots of all of the nudis, say hi to the two octos that live on the Val, and spin to come back. We usually spend an inordinate amount of time there, but our plan called for us to get on back.

On the way back we come up on two GSB’s spooning in the kelp – and it’s on. Claudette will spend time telling you about how amazing it was – and it was pretty amazing. HUGE male, much smaller female doing this slow courtship dance. We watched this for about 10 – 12 minutes. It was amazing.

We blast back to the park, cruise, off gas, get out and head to lunch and a long SI.



Dive #2 – Big Casino Reef


A couple of years ago we dived BCR. It was remarkable. We’ve wanted to get back to it, and now, armed with both Alberto’s excellent directions and a super high rez map from Boss Ross we head out.

We splash, scoot out on the surface to the drop point, drop, take a compass heading and zoom zoom. Within minutes the acres of featureless sand give way to a very nice rock formation, then another, and another. TONS of fish are on this reef as it’s literally the only thing within miles on way and hundreds of yards the other that rises off the bottom more than a few feet.

And the Nudis… wow. Eels, Nudis, so many fish, gorgonian of all color, and the kelp… just amazing. For many years, the Val has been my destination dive when I get to the dive park. I’ve totally fallen in love with BCR all over again. What a place.

After another long dive we head over to the secret spot to look for Hypselodoris. Jaye and I saw him last week. Sadly, he’s not there. So we blast back into the park, looking at more eels and gorgeous fish.

As we’re waiting to get back up the stairs, we both notice the same thing: The instructors on this Friday are exceptionally good. It doesn’t take much for the stairs to become a big cluster, and when we’re moving so much gear up and down, having instructors give clear, loud, concise direction to their students to keep things moving makes a huge difference. The two instructors that were there on Friday had their classes operating like a machine – on the steps, 1, 2, 3 OUT. Staged to come back up, 1, 2, 3 IN. It was great to see this.

We’re out of the water around 4:50 PM. We take down, hog a ton of lockers for the stuff not going back to the hotel, and move the rest back to the Atwater via Cab. Clean up, go dump the DS undies and glove liners and towels into the Laundromat dryer (so plush, diving Catalina!) and meet for dinner at the new Avalon Grill – if you haven’t been there, it’s a nice new place built in the old visitor center. DrB joins us for a bevy after dinner. Very good to get hang time with the doctor. Back to Atwater – face plant.



Some pics below. Next up – Saturday!


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We dive a lot of stuff because we bring a lot of stuff!

The Val is awash with Mexichromis making babies. We called it Sexichromis!
View Super-Size Sexichromis here: Chika Bow Bow

Light Table Janolus at 119 FSW at BCR. Very cool nudi's there.

BCR was teaming with Berthella. I mean zillions. They are so funny. They remind me of some wacky plow Ox. I love these guys. All from about 119 FSW.
View Monstah Size Berthella here: Linkage

Bunny-eared BCR Hudson's
To view Gigantic Bunny Ear Hudson, hop here: Boing

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[Mo2vation]

The adventure continues...

SATURDAY 8-21-2010


Objectives this day: Dive the Valiant, Dive the park a bit


I get to the park early to claim a bench (7:10 AM) and there are only two available. There are several large groups in today, and some very ambitious small groups. I grab my fav spot (so far, two for two!) and go to our 8 lockers and start pulling stuff out to stage on the benches. Chica is making the breakfast run, and rolls in a few minutes later with the best ice tea and muffin for me. YUM.

Right next to us is a very large group called Scuba Sean – a bunch of scouts working on their certifications. They see Claudette and me in our drysuits, cameras, scooters, bottles and stuff and we strike up conversation. Cool kids, neat dads. It was good to spend most of the day (and most of Sunday) with them. Scuba Sean has this wired . A large group with a plan is very nice to see.

Dive #1 – The Valiant



Time to return to the Val again. It’s like a morning tradition for us. We drop and we scoot over. Again, in less than 3 minutes. We shoot more Nudis, I shoot some of the Yellow Zoanthids that grow on the Val (I love them), shoot a sponge guts shot and lots of Mexichromis mating (we have now glossed them, “sexichromis”.) We spot a fried egg jelly puffing along just overhead. More shots, then we head back to the park to off gas and play a bit. We’re on air the rest of the weekend. Ew.

We stop in the kelp – it’s magnificent right now. The kelp is so thick in the park right now, it’s like a whole new place. After hundreds of dives here, you can drop me anywhere and I can recognize instantly where I am. But now, it’s like diving in a new place. There is kelp where there is never kelp – it’s funny. There are huge, HUGE bunches of kelp, and I go to the bottom expecting to see something dramatic, and it’s like a chair-sized boulder. Really? The kelp is amazing right now.



 
Dive #2 – The SueJac



Something amazing is happening. The parking lot is PACKED – but there is no line at the fill station for cylinders. Nearly everyone is diving the rental 80’s (BTW: They now have a small quantity of steel 72’s WITH DIN VALVES!!!) – so Chica and I roll over with our 130’s and there is maybe one or two cylinders in front of us. We’re getting filled in less than 10 minutes. A summer day, instant fills? Where the heck am I??

We’ve been here a whole day, and all our dives have been on the outskirts of the place, so we decide to go play in the park. We gear up, we drop and we start to scoot out over the Cousteau plaque to about 55, then make the right turn for the SueJac. We get to 55 and we are almost run over by a Giant Black SeaBass coming out of the murk (vis is still yuck.) He’s heading away from the Jac. I look at Chica, she smiles and we abandon the plan to go to the Jac and we give chase.

He slows way down. We’re scootering along, down shifting so as to not overtake phatty. Then he speeds up a bit, we shift back up. Then down, then back up (gotta love shift-on-the-fly). I motor ahead of him and wait. He comes by slowly, and gives me the eye – literally giving me the once over with that huge eye. Then he turns to Claudette and rushes her! She gasps, he slows and gives her a look- then goes around her and slinks into some far off kelp. SO COOL!

We do a 180, and are back on the plan – go dive the ‘jac! We scoot over and find it right away, just where we left it. Fed Ex on the swim through, always. I spot a Hopkins Rose near the bottom, a couple of clowns, more Mexichromis, a Flava, and of course a Limbaughs. 6 species on the ‘jac. Not too shabby.

Up back into the amazing kelp to head back. There is this area we call the Solarium – it’s at about 25 – 30 feet. Amazing. It’s a cut into the breakwall – flat sand bottom. The sun pours in there, and it’s nearly always without current or surge – prettiest place in the park. We hang out in the motionless kelp, sunlight blasting through. Gorgeous.

Claudette found an empty Swell Shark egg case and pocketed it. She brought it back to show our Boy Scout neighbors. It was a very cool scene when she whipped this out of her pocket and showed all these new divers.

Lunchtime! We take down, lock up and look over – there is the Lane Victory. It’s moored in San Pedro, right next to the Catalina landing. We always see it on the way in and out – I’ve never seen it out of port before. Kinda cool seeing this old ship breezing by the island.



Dive #3 – The Grand Circuit



After lunch at Dockside (grilled chicken breast sandwich with Swiss and an Ortega Chili… YUM) we head back to gear up. There is a very agro garibaldi guarding a nest on the Kismet wreck that I want to shoot.

As we’re getting ready, we see Mel Pasley. He is here with the Disabled Veteran divers group. We walk over to say hi, meet some of the folks and snap some shots. I remember seeing these guys on the way back in from dive two – putting one of the divers into the water as a team. Precision, teamwork, love. It was cool to watch.

We splash and scoot over the Kismet. It’s now afternoon, and the current is ripping. I mean ripping. I try to position for the shots, but there is no way. I’m getting pounded by blowing kelp and getting pushed off the mark again and again. Very frustrating.

We do what we do – make the best of it and modify the plan. I make our “swim platform” sign, ‘dette agrees and we put it perfect West for the platform. We’re there in minutes. I see a Fed Ex hanging like a bat, eating hydroids and get a shot. I look over, and there’s a scorpion fish on the top beam. I shoot.

I look over – there’s another one. I look over, and there’s another one on a side beam. And another on one of the angled beams.

They’re everywhere. It was like Raiders of the Lost Arc… where the floor was moving and you slowly realize it’s ALL snakes. This platform is covered with a couple of dozen Scorpion fish. Best camo of any fish in the park… these things are nearly invisible.

After a good long dive on air (Ew) we head back in. It’s pretty late now (nearly 5:00) so we’re closing up the park. Again. We lock up, head to the Laundromat dryer with the fuzzies and towels, go clean up and meet at the Country Club for dinner. After the CC we roll into town to find DrB at his second home, leaning on the stage of the Karaoke Bar. We swap some stories, talk critters and then it’s time for me to face plant. I hate diving air.


Pics Below. Next up: Sunday’s big finish!

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More Valiant Mexi! Love the glove, Mexi.
Link to Super-Size Mexi Glove here: Linkity Link Yo

Gotta love the Yellow Zoanthid all over the Val

Hogging lockers. This is one of 8. Yeah - we're locker pigs.

Sponge guts from the Val

Mel and the Disabled Vets Divers

Victory Lap

Swim Platform Critters! - Batty Fed Ex eating lunch of Hydroids,

Swim Platform - one of a zillion Scorpionfish, hiding they fuzzy self in the fuzz

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[Mo2vation]

Geeze - are these two still here????

SUNDAY 8-22-2010


Objectives this day: Less park diving (Sue Jac) and more dedicated drill time


Arrive early. Grab a bench. OK... unload the zillion lockers. Chica gets breakfast. This is a nice pattern we have going here.

We’ve been diving for two days, and paying attention to a list of skills we came in to work on, and have been adding to it each day. And things are going well – we’ve changed some things, improved some others – there’s been progress. Today is dedicated to more work time than play time, as we wrap up this drillin’ & chillin’ weekend.



Dive #1 – The SueJac



We didn’t want to load up again first thing in the morning, so we blew off the Valiant in favor of the Sue Jac. There were some Nudi’s I saw but didn’t get shots of last time over there, and I really wanted to root around the chain graveyard for critters. We gear up and walk over. The surge is kicking up. It’s pretty nasty on the steps. We splash, we head out.


I get a clown Nudi that is just performing for me – all posing and animated. Pretty neat. I get some shots of him, and it’s a return along the outside of the curtain to search for GSB and Bat Rays. We see a bat ray off in the distance, but that’s it.


Coming in was pretty challenging. The surge is hitting the steps hard, and there are some people struggling. Because I have the scooter and the camera, I come in with my fins OFF. I have found this the best way to come in – I slide off the fins on the outside and clip them off. I full inflate my wing so I’m corking, then grab the camera in one hand (clipped off to me still) and point the scooter in. I wait for the surge to push me into the steps – then I just stand up and walk to the top. No delay, no rolling around trying to take off my fins while getting pounded by surge.





Dive #2 – The final check list of skeels


The plan is to load up, head in and practice, review, practice, review. The surge is really hitting the steps hard. I decide to leave the camera. As much as I wanted it to be a part of our final skeels dive, doing a staged entry (handing off bottles and scooters) was not a good idea in the pounding surge. Without the camera, we could both glide with our own gear.
We get to our fav drill spot – about 45 – 50 feet deep on the outside of the curtain – and we pull out the wetnotes. There’s the list – ready, begin.

We’re swapping bottles, handing them off, making switches, doing ascents, scooter drills, OOA drills, etc. It’s all great fun. Suddenly, I look up and there are two very large GSB blasting towards us at rocket speed. I tap Chica on the head, she looks up. They throttle back as they go by, give us the once over with that big eye, then blast away on their way to the SueJac. Nice critter break in the middle of the drill time!


We do some more, and its feeling better and better. It’s really remarkable how much revisiting this stuff matters. We move up to 20 and 10 FSW so we can play with the O2 a bit. We pop – we talk, we drop, we work. This was an 86 minute super session. A great cap to the weekend.
The surge is kicking still – but it’s pretty manageable. I time it, and scoot in – then jog up the stairs with all this stuff on. Chica hits the stairs and I come down to assist with some bottle extraction.

We look up, and there is the Lane Victory again. Two days in a row. Two days, to Victory laps. Who knew?



Dive #3 – The SueJac



We head back over to the Jac. We’re hunting for Nudis and small stuff I can shoot. The water is so full of particulate there is just no way I can bust out the Wide Angle and have anything that doesn’t look like a snowstorm this weekend.

We find some more Nudi’s, some cool fish and structure. Chica finds an eel posing with one of his cleaner shrimp buddies. I get a shot. We head back. Through the solarium (it really is best in the afternoon sun) and across the rocks back to the park.

We pop up and the stairs are roiling with surge. Big nasty stuff that is pretty scary to come back in through with all your gear. For the first time this weekend, I pause, and make a U-turn back to Claudette. I tell her I need to pause and time this or I’m gonna hurt something. She offers to take the camera – but there is no way we’re doing hand-offs in this at the bottom. I wait, time, count, time, count. I get the pattern down – and blast in.

I get spit out perfectly about 4 steps up from the bottom like Jonah from the whale. I stand up, walk out, heart still pounding. I turn around and Claudette is right behind me. She caught a pretty big one and took a little bouncy bounce, but no hard.

It’s late. We’re closing the park. Again.

We’re counting the bruises – up and down all weekend, in and out - there are a few. But no injuries. We’re piling up the gear… what a grip o’ stuff we bring. We lock it up and walk over to the Descanso Beach Club for some fresh Ceviche and bevys. We have a couple of hours before the boat leaves, so now we’re relaxing, loading images into the lapper, writing logs and watching the sun go down.


WHAT A TRIP!!!!

It was great to see so many friends this weekend. It had been a long time since I dived here with Claudette, and I learned so much my head is about to explode.


I especially want to call out Andy Huber. He was there with a class, and twice he came over to us, once while we were on the stairs going out into the big surge, and once as we were coming in – just to be sure we got out and got in alright. Without even asking, he saw all the gear, recognized what was going on, and came over just to be near in case something came up on entry and exit. Class guy. Thanks, buddy.


DrB – thanks for giving us so much time. It’s always a treat to talk critters with you. Great to see you again.


Chica – you rule the pool. Apex buddy. Inspiring, smart, courageous, strong, enthusiastic. They haven’t made enough good words to describe how much fun you make this. Thanks


-Ken



Pics below.
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Spread out!! Glad we got a bench every day!

Eel and buddy. Nice to live with your dental hygienist.
Link to Super-Size Moray image here: LINKOLA

Little Rosie

Performing Clown on the Sue Jac

Tylo!!! I love finding these. Check this one out - you can totally see its gills under the lid! These are called "mushroom side-gill" - but I've never gotten the shot I want of the side, looking up UNDER the hat they carry around. I love this shot!
Link to Super-Size Tylo image here (2500 PX wide...) LINKY

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[Bubbletrubble]

Let me guess. Two rolls of quarters over the weekend, right?

Thanks for the report! Awesome pics.

 

[Mo2vation]

Let me guess. Two rolls of quarters over the weekend, right?

Thanks for the report! Awesome pics.

Between 7 or 8 lockers a day for two days, plus mistakes ("is what we need in locker 934 or 937....?") plus the laundromat for revitalizing the fuzzy stuff, it gets a little nuts.

The Laundromat is usually my source of quarters. Walk a $20 in there and we're pretty close to fine. But the change machine was out of order this weekend. OY. Had to walk up stairs to the Metropole lobby to get quarters.

In a baggie.

A pre-marked Ziplock. They had Ziplocks in the room behind the counter in the lobby that has pre-determined amounts counted out, and marked with a Sharpie.

We bought a $10 bag.



Quarters.... Can't have enough on Catalina.


-K

 

[wrybosome]

Nice report.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Between 7 or 8 lockers a day for two days, plus mistakes ("is what we need in locker 934 or 937....?") plus the laundromat for revitalizing the fuzzy stuff, it gets a little nuts.

Have you considered taking pictures of each locker before you lock each of them up? At least then you could go back to your camera and reference the locker inventory. Obviously, this would only work for large stuff, but I suppose you could put the important small stuff (wallet/keys/phone/tools) in a uniquely marked bag. Just an idea.

 

[fnfalman]

That's it. Next time I go to Casino Point, I'd take a big ass tank, go down to the SueJac and look for nudies.

I've seen one fat Spanish Shawl at the swim platform once and that was it for nudies. I guess you gotta go deeper to find'em at Casino Point.

 

[Mo2vation]

Have you considered taking pictures of each locker before you lock each of them up? At least then you could go back to your camera and reference the locker inventory. Obviously, this would only work for large stuff, but I suppose you could put the important small stuff (wallet/keys/phone/tools) in a uniquely marked bag. Just an idea.

We have a good system down, having done this so many times.

The mistakes are the silly things. Like locking up the hangers (we take the Dry Suits back to the hotel to hang... need the hangers) or my fav - locking up the light battery in the light (we take all batts back to charge over night...)

If I had $.75 for every time I'd locked my light batt in the locker with my BP/W, I'd have an extra roll of quarters to spare...




-K

 

[liuk3]

I haven't been back to Casino Point in a while. Are they now letting divers use the benches again? Glad you guys had a great weekend.