4th post-OW cert dive

[Monkey Knife-fight]

Just thought i'd share a really fun dive i just got back from in Van Damme Park in Mendocino County in Northern Ca. There was a little swell but this little cove is VERY protected. Neither I nor my buddy have too many dives under our belt so we kinda fumbled around the cove looking for some depth. Once we got to some deeper water (~30' it's a shallow cove) it was highly fun. We found an old anchor and some old containers that were used way back in the day to ship to load the Redwoods onto ships bound for wherever. 15'-20' vis easily. Got the usual different rockfish which i have trouble identifying. Also saw 2 sea hares which I've never seen before. A clown nudibranch was also my first and MAN was he far out looking. Tons of crabs and some thing called a Giant Pacific Chiton which was just kinda a big shell that slimed along. Anyway had a great time so figured i'd throw this up there for anyone who couldn't get wet this weekend.

 

[widebody50]

Thanks for sharing your dive Monkey. Sounds very cool. Maybe the wife and I will have to take a jaunt up from Orange County and check out your neck of the woods.

 

[jagfish]

Thanks for the report...
glad to hear you had a good dive. Must be pretty cool there around now...Were you diving dry?

 

[Monkey Knife-fight]

Yeah you should definately look at the swell forcast before you come up. Weather can blow it out up here often during the winter. But today was actually a little intimidating according to NOAA and ended up being great.

2/5/05
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS AND HAZARDOUS SEAS TODAY AND
TONIGHT...

.TODAY...N WIND 20 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT. NW SWELL 4 TO 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS.

Big wind but it ended up being fine. When the storms hold off it can be really mellow and fun up here.

I dive wet. And by the end of the dive the zippers on the back of my wetsuit and both leg zippers were open so i'm glad i don't get cold easy. It was 53 degrees(Aeris). There was definately some free-flow through the whole dive.

Got to use my new Suunto compass and loved it just to know somewhat where shore was and avoid a huge surface swim back.