Peter_C
Contributor
The Bamboo Reef Games were held again at Fort Ross, with the camping at Still Water Cove. As most of you know Still Water Cove has very nice campsites. Keith and I arrived Friday right about the same time others started to show up...including Pam. We started setting up camp and getting ready before the sun set. Of course as many of us were pitching our tents and blowing up our air mattresses we hear Scott hitting the self leveling jacks on his RV. LOL With a campfire roaring the chefs began preparing food. The crowd huddled, clutching their cold beers, around the campfire as the cool fog rolled in. Most were tired from a long week at work and preparing for the weekend, and everyone retired to a rest full night sleep...or was it? Shouldn't everyone have the experience of that one campsite that just doesn't know how to be polite? Playing funky band marching music in the middle of the night is normal right? Now yelling at the dogs that were running loose the whole time is probably normal by their standards, as is a loud nooky session in their tent in the wee hours of the night. Fortunately I slept through most of it.
Saturday folks casually rolled out of bed, loaded their dive gear and headed out to Fort Ross. LET THE GAMES BEGIN! Many went ab diving and spear fishing to get food for the night. Jim nailed his first ling ever that turned out to be just over 13 and 1/2 pounds. Pumpkins were loaded into bags or the tough just held them in their hands. Carving away underwater in nice dive conditions allowed some very nice pumpkins to come back out of the water. Richard won again this year on Saturday. He is probably the only one that practices pumpkin carving at home, but he is well rewarded for doing so with prizes. Reef Check was out surveying Fort Ross along with another crew doing some other site surveys elsewhere. Rescue pulled up with an abandoned kayak they found on the rocks, although they did not know where the owner was. Someone is either lost or they lost a nice kayak (Hopefully the latter). Keith decided he wanted to forgo the pumpkin carving (He sold my pumpkin??
) and head out into the deep. We geared up and headed down the beach to rollers lazily rolling up the beach a few feet. Walked out and put our fins on while standing since there was so little wave action. For the surface swim out to the end of the kelp on the right the conditions were prime as the sun was out and the sea was calm. We descended into 35' of water and found vis to not be as good as we had hoped. With a little surge and around 15' of vis we headed off on a 210 heading until it was time to turn around. This dive produced a few large ling cods and some nice vermillion. Along with lots of the usual rock fish, nudies, etc.
After a surface interval the games continued with the numbered rocks being tossed out to be found by divers. I partnered with Michelle and got out in the water with the rest of the group waiting at the surface for the majority of the people to arrive. Once everyone was ready we descended together and everyone went off searching for the painted rocks. Michelle and I ran sweep patterns searching, even surfacing once to get our bearings. We crossed over where we thought the rocks would be more than a few times only to get skunked. A few others managed to drop right on top of them and collect mass amounts of rocks in a short period of time. We headed back to the beach empty handed but enjoyed diving in the sand looking at lots of crabs and hermit crabs along with the other inhabitants of the sand, and the school of perch above. Pam gave out lots of really cool prizes for those enjoying the games. After a nice BBQ we huffed all the gear back up to the loading zone and headed back to camp.
Saturday night was a feast with all kinds of abalone dishes, fresh fish, and other side dishes followed by campfire s'mores. With many people partaking of adult beverages. It wasn't hard to convince Chris (Flyandive on NCD) that staying the night would be a good thing. He is a new member to NCD that had just met those of us attending the games. Everything from a spare tent, sleeping bag, mattress, and pillow were offered up. Slowly the crowds dissipated from around the campfire as the night wore on. This night was much warmer without any fog. Getting away from the light and looking up showed just how small we are on our little world being a tiny spec in a much larger galaxy. The stars were amazing in other words.
Sunday it seemed most were moving a little slow. Heck I beat Jim up! That has never happened before. We quickly packed up camp and headed out to look at conditions. A quick drive to Gerstle produced the sign posted at the gate "DIVE AT FORT ROSS". There the ranger told us a few folks had to be pulled to safety already this morning. Three fool hardy divers went South out of Gerstle Cove and wound up in distress waving at the people on the cliff. They attracted quit a crowd as they slowly, against the strong current, made their way on the surface back thru the boiling water into the safety of the cove. Although rescue was called they were not needed. The swells were much BIGGER today as expected. After chatting with the Reef Check crew and getting to meet Megan, one of the head honchos for Reef Check, we headed off to Fort Ross.
After inspecting the conditions at Fort Ross it looked diveable so we unloaded our gear and suited up. Upon hearing the dive reports I started wondering why I had brought my gear down. Even offered Chris the option to back out. He said he was game so off we went. This time the surf entry was a real surf entry. We quickly donned our fins and headed out through the choppy surface. As we passed the rocks the wind picked up and the waves got bigger. Once in a while the swells would smack my head from behind. We found Jim out there ab diving. The surface current was running pretty strong and if I stopped kicking I drifted towards the other side of the cove pretty quickly. Here we headed down by Jim in 34' of water. Vis was craptastic at around 2' or maybe less. I think the best we saw was 3'. To keep Chris and I together I used my can light pretty much continually aimed at him. We stayed close and moved slowly never getting separated by much. The surge was strong and pushed us around like we were bathtub toys. Sometimes it was disorienting since you couldn't see a solid object, and with the water around you not moving past you, actual movement was deceiving. Right until a rock came sailing at us. There were many times I had to put my hand out to keep from crashing into a rock. Much of the dive consisted of moving from kelp stalk to kelp stalk. I have never used my hands that much on a dive before. Hiding behind rocks to view what life they held on them. We only saw a few small fish and nothing larger than 4". We turned the dive at 20 minutes because I was starting to feel just a little woozy. As we got closer I signaled to Chris the out exit to pick up the pace a little. We hit the sand which was easy enough to tell since we couldn't see anything. I didn't want to surface under the kelp canopy with the swell moving. Here we started our ten foot stops for a minute each until we hit the surface.
The exit was a little more sporting even. On our way in we watched another diver get nailed by a wave and fall then someone else lost their fin. It was definitely a time to keep your reg in mouth. I exited smoothly, then watched Pam come skipping out of the water like it was no big deal.
A few went out and did some more pumpkin carving. Then the BBQ began and everyone feasted. Since I didn't have to drive, a couple of beers made for a treat. Once everyone was out of the water prizes were awarded for best pumpkin. Odie won the pumpkin contest this time. Everyone was entered and walked away with something for the main drawing and there were some excellent prizes awarded. Who wouldn't be excited to get a brand new puck computer? You lucky dog Chris!!! How about some new fins?? Or a couple SK7 compasses? Gloves, bags, hats, t-shirts, slap straps, masks, lights...AWESOME!!! That is the only word needed to describe the prizes Bamboo Reef provided.
Thanks to Sonoma Bamboo Reef for providing the event and especially to Pam for spear heading it. I know you worked hard and we all appreciate it. To anyone who missed it...well maybe you should try to make it next year
Saturday folks casually rolled out of bed, loaded their dive gear and headed out to Fort Ross. LET THE GAMES BEGIN! Many went ab diving and spear fishing to get food for the night. Jim nailed his first ling ever that turned out to be just over 13 and 1/2 pounds. Pumpkins were loaded into bags or the tough just held them in their hands. Carving away underwater in nice dive conditions allowed some very nice pumpkins to come back out of the water. Richard won again this year on Saturday. He is probably the only one that practices pumpkin carving at home, but he is well rewarded for doing so with prizes. Reef Check was out surveying Fort Ross along with another crew doing some other site surveys elsewhere. Rescue pulled up with an abandoned kayak they found on the rocks, although they did not know where the owner was. Someone is either lost or they lost a nice kayak (Hopefully the latter). Keith decided he wanted to forgo the pumpkin carving (He sold my pumpkin??
After a surface interval the games continued with the numbered rocks being tossed out to be found by divers. I partnered with Michelle and got out in the water with the rest of the group waiting at the surface for the majority of the people to arrive. Once everyone was ready we descended together and everyone went off searching for the painted rocks. Michelle and I ran sweep patterns searching, even surfacing once to get our bearings. We crossed over where we thought the rocks would be more than a few times only to get skunked. A few others managed to drop right on top of them and collect mass amounts of rocks in a short period of time. We headed back to the beach empty handed but enjoyed diving in the sand looking at lots of crabs and hermit crabs along with the other inhabitants of the sand, and the school of perch above. Pam gave out lots of really cool prizes for those enjoying the games. After a nice BBQ we huffed all the gear back up to the loading zone and headed back to camp.
Saturday night was a feast with all kinds of abalone dishes, fresh fish, and other side dishes followed by campfire s'mores. With many people partaking of adult beverages. It wasn't hard to convince Chris (Flyandive on NCD) that staying the night would be a good thing. He is a new member to NCD that had just met those of us attending the games. Everything from a spare tent, sleeping bag, mattress, and pillow were offered up. Slowly the crowds dissipated from around the campfire as the night wore on. This night was much warmer without any fog. Getting away from the light and looking up showed just how small we are on our little world being a tiny spec in a much larger galaxy. The stars were amazing in other words.
Sunday it seemed most were moving a little slow. Heck I beat Jim up! That has never happened before. We quickly packed up camp and headed out to look at conditions. A quick drive to Gerstle produced the sign posted at the gate "DIVE AT FORT ROSS". There the ranger told us a few folks had to be pulled to safety already this morning. Three fool hardy divers went South out of Gerstle Cove and wound up in distress waving at the people on the cliff. They attracted quit a crowd as they slowly, against the strong current, made their way on the surface back thru the boiling water into the safety of the cove. Although rescue was called they were not needed. The swells were much BIGGER today as expected. After chatting with the Reef Check crew and getting to meet Megan, one of the head honchos for Reef Check, we headed off to Fort Ross.
After inspecting the conditions at Fort Ross it looked diveable so we unloaded our gear and suited up. Upon hearing the dive reports I started wondering why I had brought my gear down. Even offered Chris the option to back out. He said he was game so off we went. This time the surf entry was a real surf entry. We quickly donned our fins and headed out through the choppy surface. As we passed the rocks the wind picked up and the waves got bigger. Once in a while the swells would smack my head from behind. We found Jim out there ab diving. The surface current was running pretty strong and if I stopped kicking I drifted towards the other side of the cove pretty quickly. Here we headed down by Jim in 34' of water. Vis was craptastic at around 2' or maybe less. I think the best we saw was 3'. To keep Chris and I together I used my can light pretty much continually aimed at him. We stayed close and moved slowly never getting separated by much. The surge was strong and pushed us around like we were bathtub toys. Sometimes it was disorienting since you couldn't see a solid object, and with the water around you not moving past you, actual movement was deceiving. Right until a rock came sailing at us. There were many times I had to put my hand out to keep from crashing into a rock. Much of the dive consisted of moving from kelp stalk to kelp stalk. I have never used my hands that much on a dive before. Hiding behind rocks to view what life they held on them. We only saw a few small fish and nothing larger than 4". We turned the dive at 20 minutes because I was starting to feel just a little woozy. As we got closer I signaled to Chris the out exit to pick up the pace a little. We hit the sand which was easy enough to tell since we couldn't see anything. I didn't want to surface under the kelp canopy with the swell moving. Here we started our ten foot stops for a minute each until we hit the surface.
The exit was a little more sporting even. On our way in we watched another diver get nailed by a wave and fall then someone else lost their fin. It was definitely a time to keep your reg in mouth. I exited smoothly, then watched Pam come skipping out of the water like it was no big deal.
A few went out and did some more pumpkin carving. Then the BBQ began and everyone feasted. Since I didn't have to drive, a couple of beers made for a treat. Once everyone was out of the water prizes were awarded for best pumpkin. Odie won the pumpkin contest this time. Everyone was entered and walked away with something for the main drawing and there were some excellent prizes awarded. Who wouldn't be excited to get a brand new puck computer? You lucky dog Chris!!! How about some new fins?? Or a couple SK7 compasses? Gloves, bags, hats, t-shirts, slap straps, masks, lights...AWESOME!!! That is the only word needed to describe the prizes Bamboo Reef provided.
Thanks to Sonoma Bamboo Reef for providing the event and especially to Pam for spear heading it. I know you worked hard and we all appreciate it. To anyone who missed it...well maybe you should try to make it next year
