BC's Sat Oct. 13th Morning Dive

[Rickster]

Hey how did my name come into this. I have enough trouble carrying my own gear The hill is a healthy hike, put it that way. It is not that bad. It is comparable to Staircase at 40,000 PCH.

There will be a refreshment table and rest station at the halfway mark

Rick

 

[Tailchaser]

Can't blame me for trying.

 

[Tailchaser]

Is this dive rain or shine? And I know were going to get wet anyway so it shouldn't matter!!!!

 

[Empty V]

Is this dive rain or shine? And I know were going to get wet anyway so it shouldn't matter!!!!

But it does my friend. I was actually going to start a thread regarding this so our new divers that aren't aware of what happens to the beaches when it rains will be well informed. Runoff from the cities pours into the coast. That runoff is pretty nasty and has all sorts of bad things like increased probability of a staph infection or certain types of hepatitis.

"Spending more time in the surf increased risk of fever, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, skin infection, eye redness and other symptoms, according to the report in the American Journal of Public Health."
taken from CITY RAIN RUN-OFF POSES THREAT TO COASTAL WATER USERS

I've surfed for the past 10 years and always kept my immunization up to date just because of this. Plus because we've had almost no rain all year I'm going to make an uneducated guess and say that there is more nastiness in the runoff because it hasn't runoff much this year, but I could be wrong with that like I am most things.

Then again this doesn't seem to be a very significant rain. In the end it's your decision. I'm sure there are divers out there that do dive immediately after a torrential downpour, I personally rank those people farther to the left on the evolutionary chart though. :mooner:

Also remember, because there are no human inhabitants on our Channel Islands, with obvious exception to beautiful Catalina, boat diving is not affected by rain runoff, it's only beach diving. I've heard that because of the way they handle Catalina's waste and runoff it's totally safe to dive there even after a heavy rain, but that would require a little research and the expertise of Dr. Bill.

Rain runoff only affects the beaches when there is a significant downpour and this one doesn't seem to be one of those, just a light rain It takes a lot of water to move all of that junk from the streets and freeways down to our beaches.

Billy

 

[Rickster]

What Rain? There isnt enough rain to call this one off. The runoff is usually after a long rain. I dive after a light rain and find the conditions even better than before. The rain settles all the particles and the vis is usually awesome. As of 3am this morning, there isn't any rain. It all goes back to my usual saying "when planning a dive, go look, then decide" The surf reports, weather, and disgruntled individuals seem always be wrong. I have had great dives on days when the surf report says huge surf, only to find the ocean looking like a lake. The best judge of water conditions, and whether to dive of not, is not online, or on tv. It is looking for yourself. Over the last couple years, I have dived in the worst conditions, before, during, and after the rains. I can only think of one or two I have called off.

For the last year, the water conditions have been excellent.
here is a report on the water quality:

http://lapublichealth.org/phcommon/public/eh/rechlth/ehrecocdata.cfm

Santa Monica bay is where most of the bad water conditions are. We dive No. L.A. County and Ventura.

As I said, lets go diving! Forget all the other bull online.

The dive is on,
Rick

 

[Empty V]

Well it's 6:03AM the morning of the Beach Crabs dive, my gear is at the front door, my tank is filled to a nice 3600PSI and I so bummed because I'm congested! What a bummer, this is too many of the amazing Beach Crab events I have missed. right now I feel somewhat like our LA Dodgers, losing every time I go out for a game(in this case diving). This really sucks! Have fun everyone without me :mooner:

Billy

 

[Tailchaser]

How was it??? I gave up after Empty V's post... I know how the water can get after a heavy rain with all the run off... Figured with the drizzle we got it was "STORM WATCH 2007"

 

[Rickster]

Well, I recieved an emergency family matter call this morning. I couldn't make it either. I am currently in Lancaster. I talked to Ken this morning, and he was going to be at the divesite at 8am. I hope someone showed up to dive with Ken, since He and I were the only ones willing to brave this big bad storm with all the runoff.

pssst-check out the new BC Sub-forum!

Rick

 

[Empty V]

How was it??? I gave up after Empty V's post... I know how the water can get after a heavy rain with all the run off... Figured with the drizzle we got it was "STORM WATCH 2007"

Tailchaser, I really hope that my post didn't influence your decision wether to dive or not. I am not certified to make any type of judgement on our water quality and have not done any scientific tests or data gathering. I'm just another 125-150 dive newbee who still has much to learn. Rick is really the person to listen to, he's got the experience and knowhow when it comes to diving, not me.

Billy

 

[scjoe]

I think the general view is that if the rain is enough to get a good flow of water going down the street gutters then it is time to think about waiting a few days before diving. Light drizzles don't count. One thing that some of us living close to the beach forget is that a heavy rain inland can be a problem even if there is no rain at the beach. Sometimes after a good rain inland with no rain at the beach you can go down to the beach and see a scum line in the water. A lot of divers skip dives in those conditions.

I believe the advice to stay out of the water 48 to 72 hours after a heavy rain, which I follow, was initially directed at surfers and beach goers, not necessarily divers. My understanding is that the bacteria readings are taken in the surf zone or ankle deep water. Most of the advisories talk about time spent in the surf zone. Surfers spend all of their time in the surf zone while divers spent about a minute. It would seem that the risk of infection for divers after a heavy rain is much less than for surfers or others playing in the surf zone since the time exposed is much less.