August '05 Dive Reports
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Diver_Jan
Contributor
Oh, I forgot to mentioin that we also spotted several Kellets Welk that had Gooseneck Barnacles growing on them. I had never seen this before, what an odd sight indeed.
Thanks Chris for a great dive, I had SOooooooooooooo Much Fuuuuun!!!
Hugs
Thanks Chris for a great dive, I had SOooooooooooooo Much Fuuuuun!!!
Hugs
scottfiji
Contributor
Mo2vation:
thanks for sharing the photos, I added a couple comments also. Looking forward to the feedback on the spectre... Scott
Grey_Wulff
Contributor
Date: 8/21/05
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores, North Wall
Time: 08:01am
Bottom Time: 43 mins
Max Depth: 81 ft
Vis: 20 - 30ft
Wave height: Knee slappers
Temp at depth: 53F
Comments:
Awesome first dive. As soon as we hit the sand it looked real promising,
you could see in all directions! We headed to the gully (disturbing a large
bat ray) and then proceeded westward along the North Wall. Loads of life
out on display including large sheepheads, blacksmiths, yellowtail, black
eyed and blue-banded goby, baby halibut, nudibranchs and a large decorator
crab that looked like it was about to make a meal of a sea hare. Returning
across the sand we found a sleepy horn shark resting in a hole. Great dive,
but boy it felt cold!
Date: 8/21/05
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores, North Wall
Time: 10:19am
Bottom Time: 44 mins
Max Depth: 86 ft
Vis: 10 -15ft
Wave height: Knee slappers
Temp at depth: 53F
Comments:
This time we headed 310 degree off our drop point beyond the buoy in front
of the lifeguard tower and intersected the North Wall part way along. This
gave us the opportunity of exploring further at the expense of a long
surface swim back. All the same life except we also spotted a spiny lobster
and a large great sculpin right as we turned for home. Visibility was
certainly not as good but still great considering general conditions this
year. To complete the day, two dolphins passed right by us as we swam back
in. If you get a chance, get out there!
Grey_Wulff
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores, North Wall
Time: 08:01am
Bottom Time: 43 mins
Max Depth: 81 ft
Vis: 20 - 30ft
Wave height: Knee slappers
Temp at depth: 53F
Comments:
Awesome first dive. As soon as we hit the sand it looked real promising,
you could see in all directions! We headed to the gully (disturbing a large
bat ray) and then proceeded westward along the North Wall. Loads of life
out on display including large sheepheads, blacksmiths, yellowtail, black
eyed and blue-banded goby, baby halibut, nudibranchs and a large decorator
crab that looked like it was about to make a meal of a sea hare. Returning
across the sand we found a sleepy horn shark resting in a hole. Great dive,
but boy it felt cold!
Date: 8/21/05
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores, North Wall
Time: 10:19am
Bottom Time: 44 mins
Max Depth: 86 ft
Vis: 10 -15ft
Wave height: Knee slappers
Temp at depth: 53F
Comments:
This time we headed 310 degree off our drop point beyond the buoy in front
of the lifeguard tower and intersected the North Wall part way along. This
gave us the opportunity of exploring further at the expense of a long
surface swim back. All the same life except we also spotted a spiny lobster
and a large great sculpin right as we turned for home. Visibility was
certainly not as good but still great considering general conditions this
year. To complete the day, two dolphins passed right by us as we swam back
in. If you get a chance, get out there!
Grey_Wulff
M&M's Excellent Weekend
I spent the best weekend of my life this past Friday through Sunday. I managed to remain wet most of the time, which, as an avid diver is a good thing. Saturday morning saw overcast and cold conditions as Missy and I showed up way too early at Dana Point Landing for our boat to Catalina Island. The ticket window wasn't open yet, so we walked around a bit, then had a filling, greasy breakfast. The boat was full, and I think it was mostly screaming kids and their inattentive Moms, but I did manage to get a little sleep in between the noisy assaults.
The Sun was beginning to peek through as we arrived. We trudged our way over to the Casino. I usually bring my own tank, but decided to avoid unnecessary back problems by renting a tank at the point. I haven't used an aluminum tank in more than a decade and quickly remembered why. During our first dive I was underweighted, my new single tank wing lost its bolts and a strong current pushed us around a bit. With my tank hanging by a thread at a 90 degree angle, I sucked through an 80 cu ft tank in 33 minutes. I was embarrassed and worried that Missy was thinking less of my skills as a diver. I managed to fix the bolt problem thanks to directions from Dr. Bill to the local hardware store, plus finding seven pounds of lead left for me by thoughtful (or is it careless?) divers. I managed to get in two more dives of an hour plus. I was feeling better about myself until Missy showed me her spg. Her SAC is off the scale. After an hour and fifteen minutes and a lot of swimming she still had 1300psi. She's amazing in so many ways!
During our last dive, the strangest thing happened. We came upon a diver struggling to free himself from kelp. He really wasn't tangled badly, but was struggling nonetheless. Missy went over and lifted the kelp off of him and he was free. She later told me that his eyes were wild and he definately looked paniced. She turned to look for more life on the rocks as the other diver began to pull his knife out of its sheath. Knowing that the park is an unofficial reserve where there is no hunting, my concern for Missy's safety made me get between her and the crazy guy immediately. He backed away to the next kelp stalk, where he began slicing and stabbing at it before bolting for the surface. I usually dive to get away from people like that! One good thing that happened was that I fed a piece of broken kelp to an abalone. It came pretty far out of its shell for the salad. It was the first abalone Missy has seen.
After returning home Saturday night, Missy and I swam in her pool for awhile before boiling in her hot tub. She's been promising me a hot tub visit for a few weeks, and it was worth the wait.
Sunday morning was another cold, misty day as we arrived in La Jolla, which is Spanish for No Parking. We had an early lunch, then headed to the Shores where we unloaded gear. Missy's favoite benches have been removed so we had to set up near the playground. We had lots of kids asking us about scuba diving, which I always get a kick out of. As I went back to get the last of our gear a prime parking space was available! I've never parallel parked so quickly!
The visibility at La Jolla was poor to fair Sunday, but I was happy just to be floating along with Missy. We found the giant sand dollar beds she dived last week and began our search for creatures large and small. Hermissenda Crassicornis were everywhere, but no sign of the new nudibranch Missy "discovered" earlier. We played with a couple pipefish and watched the flatties scatter as we moved just over the sand on our way in.We exited right in front of the showers, just as we planned.
After a long surface interval we headed out again. This time we kicked gently, talking about our weekend, plans and life in general. Before we knew it we were well beyond the buoys. We dropped down and found good visibility below 16 feet, but there was no bottom in sight. Finally we found the sand at around 80-90 feet. It is a strange feeling to make an open water descent from the beach. I'm used to having an anchor line to guide me to a wreck when I do this. We headed North along the canyon wall until we arrived at Vallecitos Point, where the Sheephead family was there to greet us. The largest male was enjoying a Senorita cleaning station while the others hovered over the edge of the dropoff. As we said goodbye to our striped friends we found a medium sized Batray. He swam away into clouds of silt made by his buddies out for a clam dig. As we made our way back to the beach we found a large Brown shrimp, another Batray, Pipefish and a school of baitfish close to shore. We stayed around ten feet to offgas and just relax in the surge and poor vis. Missy wrote a love note for me using small rocks. It was a perfect way to end our first full weekend together. I think there will be a few more. :07:
I spent the best weekend of my life this past Friday through Sunday. I managed to remain wet most of the time, which, as an avid diver is a good thing. Saturday morning saw overcast and cold conditions as Missy and I showed up way too early at Dana Point Landing for our boat to Catalina Island. The ticket window wasn't open yet, so we walked around a bit, then had a filling, greasy breakfast. The boat was full, and I think it was mostly screaming kids and their inattentive Moms, but I did manage to get a little sleep in between the noisy assaults.
The Sun was beginning to peek through as we arrived. We trudged our way over to the Casino. I usually bring my own tank, but decided to avoid unnecessary back problems by renting a tank at the point. I haven't used an aluminum tank in more than a decade and quickly remembered why. During our first dive I was underweighted, my new single tank wing lost its bolts and a strong current pushed us around a bit. With my tank hanging by a thread at a 90 degree angle, I sucked through an 80 cu ft tank in 33 minutes. I was embarrassed and worried that Missy was thinking less of my skills as a diver. I managed to fix the bolt problem thanks to directions from Dr. Bill to the local hardware store, plus finding seven pounds of lead left for me by thoughtful (or is it careless?) divers. I managed to get in two more dives of an hour plus. I was feeling better about myself until Missy showed me her spg. Her SAC is off the scale. After an hour and fifteen minutes and a lot of swimming she still had 1300psi. She's amazing in so many ways!
During our last dive, the strangest thing happened. We came upon a diver struggling to free himself from kelp. He really wasn't tangled badly, but was struggling nonetheless. Missy went over and lifted the kelp off of him and he was free. She later told me that his eyes were wild and he definately looked paniced. She turned to look for more life on the rocks as the other diver began to pull his knife out of its sheath. Knowing that the park is an unofficial reserve where there is no hunting, my concern for Missy's safety made me get between her and the crazy guy immediately. He backed away to the next kelp stalk, where he began slicing and stabbing at it before bolting for the surface. I usually dive to get away from people like that! One good thing that happened was that I fed a piece of broken kelp to an abalone. It came pretty far out of its shell for the salad. It was the first abalone Missy has seen.
After returning home Saturday night, Missy and I swam in her pool for awhile before boiling in her hot tub. She's been promising me a hot tub visit for a few weeks, and it was worth the wait.
Sunday morning was another cold, misty day as we arrived in La Jolla, which is Spanish for No Parking. We had an early lunch, then headed to the Shores where we unloaded gear. Missy's favoite benches have been removed so we had to set up near the playground. We had lots of kids asking us about scuba diving, which I always get a kick out of. As I went back to get the last of our gear a prime parking space was available! I've never parallel parked so quickly!
The visibility at La Jolla was poor to fair Sunday, but I was happy just to be floating along with Missy. We found the giant sand dollar beds she dived last week and began our search for creatures large and small. Hermissenda Crassicornis were everywhere, but no sign of the new nudibranch Missy "discovered" earlier. We played with a couple pipefish and watched the flatties scatter as we moved just over the sand on our way in.We exited right in front of the showers, just as we planned.
After a long surface interval we headed out again. This time we kicked gently, talking about our weekend, plans and life in general. Before we knew it we were well beyond the buoys. We dropped down and found good visibility below 16 feet, but there was no bottom in sight. Finally we found the sand at around 80-90 feet. It is a strange feeling to make an open water descent from the beach. I'm used to having an anchor line to guide me to a wreck when I do this. We headed North along the canyon wall until we arrived at Vallecitos Point, where the Sheephead family was there to greet us. The largest male was enjoying a Senorita cleaning station while the others hovered over the edge of the dropoff. As we said goodbye to our striped friends we found a medium sized Batray. He swam away into clouds of silt made by his buddies out for a clam dig. As we made our way back to the beach we found a large Brown shrimp, another Batray, Pipefish and a school of baitfish close to shore. We stayed around ten feet to offgas and just relax in the surge and poor vis. Missy wrote a love note for me using small rocks. It was a perfect way to end our first full weekend together. I think there will be a few more. :07:
ScubaSeanMaui
Contributor
Site Name: San Diego: Ancient Sea Cliffs
Max Depth: 98 feet
Bottom Time: 36:40
Simon, Max, Paul and I headed to the tip of Point Loma to dive the train wheels. We geared up and headed into the emerald green waters. We followed the anchorline down to the site, but mistakenly Simon and I didn't follow the anchorline all the way down and we hit a site just east of the train wheels site. Max continued onto the proper location and saw the wheels and explored the crack. We were in a similiar spot with 2 walls and a path inbetween them. The site was covered with life, nudis, rockfish, gorgonians, sponges, etc. It's an amazing site. We saw a few jellyfish on the way down and on our safety stop. The vis was up to 50 feet. We were really happy with the coniditions! We headed back to the boat and motored over to 3 fingers which is to the north.
Site: San Diego: 3 Fingers Reef
Max Depth: 79 feet
Bottom Time: 49:40
We changed our tanks and waited for a 1 hour surface interval before heading back into the water. When the time came, we entered the water and headed down the anchor line to check the anchor before our dive. The anchor looked good so we headed around to explore the rocks. We found this site covered with life. The vis was about 50-60 feet. The site was beautiful with kelp stalks rising to the surface all around us. We headed back up when we hit our max deco time. Everyone had another great dive. Check out the pics to see what we saw:
pictures: http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/seand/2005scubaphotos/asc_3fingers08202005/
Max Depth: 98 feet
Bottom Time: 36:40
Simon, Max, Paul and I headed to the tip of Point Loma to dive the train wheels. We geared up and headed into the emerald green waters. We followed the anchorline down to the site, but mistakenly Simon and I didn't follow the anchorline all the way down and we hit a site just east of the train wheels site. Max continued onto the proper location and saw the wheels and explored the crack. We were in a similiar spot with 2 walls and a path inbetween them. The site was covered with life, nudis, rockfish, gorgonians, sponges, etc. It's an amazing site. We saw a few jellyfish on the way down and on our safety stop. The vis was up to 50 feet. We were really happy with the coniditions! We headed back to the boat and motored over to 3 fingers which is to the north.
Site: San Diego: 3 Fingers Reef
Max Depth: 79 feet
Bottom Time: 49:40
We changed our tanks and waited for a 1 hour surface interval before heading back into the water. When the time came, we entered the water and headed down the anchor line to check the anchor before our dive. The anchor looked good so we headed around to explore the rocks. We found this site covered with life. The vis was about 50-60 feet. The site was beautiful with kelp stalks rising to the surface all around us. We headed back up when we hit our max deco time. Everyone had another great dive. Check out the pics to see what we saw:
pictures: http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/seand/2005scubaphotos/asc_3fingers08202005/
MaxBottomtime:
That guy still has me pretty freaked out... I'll never forget the look in his eyes... ugh!!! Pretty scary :11:
Next time- the ladder, the 2 hr dive (I was so close), and maybe you'll finally get a lizardfish to pose... (after I get over this cold)... Besides, I'm dying to try my Delta out!!!!
M
ScubaSeanMaui
Contributor
Simon and I went to Los Coronados with DCI. It was overcast and sorta cold on the way down there, and remaind that way the whole boat trip. Of course the sun came out when we got back to the harbor.
We got down to the Keyhole and jumped into the murky waters. We swam to the hole but I checked out the south wall inside the keyhole for the usual nudis. I wasn't dissapointed and found a few. We continued on through the hole and enjoyed the surge comming and going as we headed west. We explored the other side, checking under rocks. I found a few Scorpionfish. The vis was a little better on the other side at 30 feet +/-. We came back through and I was leading. We went to the right at first which lead us to some whitewash which I immediately turned around since I have done that in the past. We headed more north and found the proper return to the east side of the island. We explored the rocks finding some Morays. We returned to the boat and motored over to Lobster Shack. We headed north along the ledges, hoping to see some sea lions. I think they were cold so they didn't jump in the ocean to play with us. We continued on and find a few more Morays and a nice nudi I rescued from a red urchin who was poking the poor little nudi. He was on a rock so I moved him away and took a few pics of him as he slithered away down the rock. We headed back south, finding another Moray and looked for the triggerfish which are usually under the rocks below the boat. After our air ran out we headed up and back to San Diego!
Pictures: http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/seand/2005scubaphotos/loscoronados08212005/
We got down to the Keyhole and jumped into the murky waters. We swam to the hole but I checked out the south wall inside the keyhole for the usual nudis. I wasn't dissapointed and found a few. We continued on through the hole and enjoyed the surge comming and going as we headed west. We explored the other side, checking under rocks. I found a few Scorpionfish. The vis was a little better on the other side at 30 feet +/-. We came back through and I was leading. We went to the right at first which lead us to some whitewash which I immediately turned around since I have done that in the past. We headed more north and found the proper return to the east side of the island. We explored the rocks finding some Morays. We returned to the boat and motored over to Lobster Shack. We headed north along the ledges, hoping to see some sea lions. I think they were cold so they didn't jump in the ocean to play with us. We continued on and find a few more Morays and a nice nudi I rescued from a red urchin who was poking the poor little nudi. He was on a rock so I moved him away and took a few pics of him as he slithered away down the rock. We headed back south, finding another Moray and looked for the triggerfish which are usually under the rocks below the boat. After our air ran out we headed up and back to San Diego!
Pictures: http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/seand/2005scubaphotos/loscoronados08212005/
ScubaSeanMaui
Contributor
Dive Site: LJ Shores - Secret Gardens
Max Depth: 139 fsw
Bottom Time: 91 minutes
Vis: 30-40 feet below 30 feet
Max and I met up at LJ Shores for a doubles dive. We geared up and kicked out past the blue buoy to drop down into 30 feet of water. After about 20 feet we hit the canyon. We saw a 4 foot Halibut and a mini-me Halibut right next to it(a small identical Halibut). After a few pics, we slowing made our way across the crack down to see the sea lion and baby corpses. Ronquels were all around the carcass, with a nice sized fringehead right next to them. We then saw the hundreds of squid eggs covering the bottom from 90 fsw down quite a ways. We saw a few divers comming into the canyon, but a few minutes later they were gone. I guess they headed for the North Wall. We slowly checked out the secret gardens going down to the deeper and further southwest sites. We didn't stay too long and headed along to the south. We hit 139 feet after about 15 minutes swimming south. The area reminded me of the Cabezon Cruiser but with a few flat fish here and there. After hitting our turn-around we headed up to a lesser depth. At 95 feet we encountered another spot with a few gorgonians, and a few octopus, big and small. We slowly headed up the wall and explored the sand as we decompressed. A storm of baitfish and Herring came through the area with dozens of fish running into us. It was quite an amazing experience having dozens of fish hit your at high speed. After that we saw indivudual baitfish and some shrimp and moonsnails. We ended our deco and headed into the beach. We encountered several round rays, and at the very end of our dive we came to an area with 3-4 round rays, 1 thornback ray, and a 3-4 foot shark swimming by. After checking a guide I think it was a Soupfin. He was swimming by gently. We saw him maybe 20-30 seconds. We exited just north of the lifeguard tower. Sadly no pic of the shark!
pictures: http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/seand/2005scubaphotos/ljssecretetc08232005/
Max Depth: 139 fsw
Bottom Time: 91 minutes
Vis: 30-40 feet below 30 feet
Max and I met up at LJ Shores for a doubles dive. We geared up and kicked out past the blue buoy to drop down into 30 feet of water. After about 20 feet we hit the canyon. We saw a 4 foot Halibut and a mini-me Halibut right next to it(a small identical Halibut). After a few pics, we slowing made our way across the crack down to see the sea lion and baby corpses. Ronquels were all around the carcass, with a nice sized fringehead right next to them. We then saw the hundreds of squid eggs covering the bottom from 90 fsw down quite a ways. We saw a few divers comming into the canyon, but a few minutes later they were gone. I guess they headed for the North Wall. We slowly checked out the secret gardens going down to the deeper and further southwest sites. We didn't stay too long and headed along to the south. We hit 139 feet after about 15 minutes swimming south. The area reminded me of the Cabezon Cruiser but with a few flat fish here and there. After hitting our turn-around we headed up to a lesser depth. At 95 feet we encountered another spot with a few gorgonians, and a few octopus, big and small. We slowly headed up the wall and explored the sand as we decompressed. A storm of baitfish and Herring came through the area with dozens of fish running into us. It was quite an amazing experience having dozens of fish hit your at high speed. After that we saw indivudual baitfish and some shrimp and moonsnails. We ended our deco and headed into the beach. We encountered several round rays, and at the very end of our dive we came to an area with 3-4 round rays, 1 thornback ray, and a 3-4 foot shark swimming by. After checking a guide I think it was a Soupfin. He was swimming by gently. We saw him maybe 20-30 seconds. We exited just north of the lifeguard tower. Sadly no pic of the shark!
pictures: http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/seand/2005scubaphotos/ljssecretetc08232005/
OP
Sean,
Nice pics.
It looks like everything was out smiling for the camera. What a bunch of hams! They're all "hamfish"!
When you say Max, is that MaxBottomtime you're talking about?
Christian
Nice pics.
It looks like everything was out smiling for the camera. What a bunch of hams! They're all "hamfish"!
When you say Max, is that MaxBottomtime you're talking about?
Christian
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