Another Extended Dive Bum Vacation: Monterey & the Cali Coast

[kathydee]

I must be crazy to willingly pass on 4 weeks of diving my beloved 5mm & 80ft vis in the tropics - to stick around and dive local & become a better drysuit diver before taking Fundies in Feb ;-).

The plan did seem a little bit crazy at first, but it’s been tons of fun!

Left my comfy house in the city, rented a crash pad about a mile from BW & have been living in Monterey since 12/28 - diving everyday in all kinds of conditions!

At first I thought I’d log 3 – 4 dives a day, like in the tropics. Wrong! All this gear takes so much more effort!

I’ll use this thread to share dive conditions and dive reports when inspired. Feel free to PM me if you want more information. Hope to see some of you around & maybe even catch a few dives!

 

[kathydee]

12/28 Kick started the dive marathon by joining some excellent visiting divers: Claudette (So Cali) & Warren (Canada) & Al (local) for scooter fun all over Lobos! The surge was up and vis down which doesn’t seem a huge problem with scooters. Claudette wrote a great report on divematrix: A firm vote for The Middle: Surging 'round Middle Reef at Pt. Lobos, December 28, 2009 - The Dive Matrix Forums

12/29 After a day of trying to keep up with these superhero divers, I was so beat I slept in and caught the afternoon Lobos scooter dive which was surgy low vis dive with swaying kelp. But totally exciting!

12/30 My teammates Peter C & Erik came down to Monterey. Peter brought his Zodiac boat. The swell had passed & BW was like glass. We did a fun mellow kick around shale island with about 30ft vis & saw lots of critters and 2 cute octopi.

12/31 The conditions held and Peter stuck around for a very relaxing afternoon skills practice dive off BW

We brought the New Year in with style: A midnight dive with lots of cute little octopi along BW!

1/1 25ft vis at Lobos and reasonable swell. This time I had my own x-scooter for my first scooter dive followed by a pack of divers visiting from So Cal! It was great fun! But learned quickly that navigation is very different on a scooter! But we all made it safely back home .

1/2 Doc offered to help me out with doubles. The swell picked up at Lobos and it was quite rough for a practice dive. Vis was about 3-15 ft. The boat ramp was manageable. Doc and I hovered at 30ft for almost 80 minutes just floating through the surrealistic underwater kelp forest stormon the first dive till I became comfortable with the swell and extra weight on my back.

We dropped back in for a second dive and cruised around Middle reef dropping down to 40ft in exciting conditions! A huge sheep’s head came over to check me out praticing my new valve drills.

Doc & I swayed back & fourth, laughing till our masks flooded! It was my first real dive in doubles – we hung around for 94 minutes. Gas wasn’t an issue, neither was no pee-valve!

I think I like Ben V's doubles ;-). Not sure I'm giving them back

 

[Jim Ernst]

Kathy.

Are you saying you will be in Monterey longer???

Will you still be in Monterey now on the 23-24th of Jan???

 

[kathydee]

Hi Jim,

I'll be diving Catalina on Jan 22-24!

 

[Jim Ernst]

Hi Jim,

I'll be diving Catalina on Jan 22-24!

Oh.... Man...!!

Good for you, Bad for me, I was hoping to see/dive with you!:depressed:

 

[Gombessa]

Hey, I think we saw that same sheephead at Middle Reef today. A HUGE, HUGE male, very inquisitive, circled around us a few minutes. Huh, we were doing v-drills too, he must really have a thing for them!

 

[kathydee]

Yup,

He was huge! And also circled right next to me-checking me out, then switched to Doc - but only while we were doing the v-drills. Strange fish.

 

[mikeguerrero]

Kathy,

That is not a strange fish at all, from the reports of Ken, Doc and yourself, this appears to be a GUE/DIR fish instructor, just making sure you guys are doing it right...

 

[kanonfodr]

Sounds like you are having a ton of fun on your vacation, Kathy!! U can still visit Oahu for a weekend and I'll show you some of the sights if you want!!

Peace,
Greg

 

[kathydee]

1/3 Dove Lovers today with Peter C & Erik. There was plenty of surge and chop on the first dive, but by late afternoon the wind died down and it was much calmer. The morning dive was a skills dive while sampling a new set of doubles - which went so/so in the surge but the challenge was lots of fun ;-). I hope I didn't slow down my partners too much.

In the afternoon we cruised out to 40ft enjoying the kelp forest while I sampled Ben V's doubles again. Surf entry in soft sand with doubles is a bit of a challenge but now they have finally been added to my gear shopping list ;-).

Keeping our fingers crossed for good conditions tomorrow - it looks promising !!