- Messages
- 95,112
- Reaction score
- 94,796
- Location
- On the Fun Side of Trump's Wall
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
The first dive back after a warm water trip is usually a bit of a letdown ... but yesterday's dive was a bit more than that.
Arriving at Redondo I hooked up with Valerie in the parking lot, then walked across the street to look at the conditions. The water was a sickly brown color ... and for some reason there were rather large waves crashing into the rocks by the sea wall. This didn't look promising ... but we were determined to dive. Valerie had a new wing to try out, and I had a whole new rig, which included a set of HP100 doubles I had purchased just before leaving for Coz ... this would be my first dive using them. I had set up a backplate/harness for them just the previous night, and there were still some minor adjustments to be made.
The dive started rather inauspiciously ... my left dry glove flooded (again!), and Valerie lost a spring strap in the murk while standing in waist-deep water ... I eventually found it by groping around (vis was a few inches) while getting lifted and pounded into the bottom by the waves. Finally, we were geared up and ready to head out to the corner of the pilings to begin the dive.
We dropped down through the murk layer, and vis opened up to the point where I could actually see the bottom before running into it. Not that it did me much good. Not sure if it was the new rig (which feels VERY different than my 119's), or the fact that I had become accustomed to diving in a 3-mil wetsuit in 81-degree water ... but I found myself floundering around and working hard just to maintain buoyancy. There was a steady current moving north ... not bad, but enough that we had to adjust for it. We weren't off to a good start. I decided to just leave the camera clipped off on my D-ring and work on getting relaxed ... been a while since I felt this uncomfortable underwater. The drysuit felt binding and unnatural ... and the water in my left glove was definitely making my hand cold. I gave Valerie the OK signal and indicated that we should head downslope to the first boat. Welcome back to Puget Sound, wuss ... :shakehead
We slowly made our way down to the carousel boat, and after 15 minutes I started to relax. I felt my breathing slow down into the familiar pattern, and noticed I was no longer having to put effort into maintaining my buoyancy and trim ... I was just letting it happen. Ah ... much better ... if only my left hand wasn't so cold.
We made our way north ... staying at a deeper depth than I usually do for this dive. As a result, I actually found a few things (junk, mostly) that I hadn't seen before. Valerie also found a few things ... a mesh bag and a snorkel, neither of which looked like they'd been down there very long.
We eventually made our way up to the reflector piles, the VW, and the reef. Valerie found an old crab claw and started entertaining herself with it. I watched ... thinking to myself "ah, what a poor substitute I make for Jackie" (her usual dive buddy) ... Jackie would've been all over that claw, doing interesting and entertaining things that would've made both her and Valerie laugh till their masks leaked. All I could do is think about how much that claw resembled my left hand ... cold and dead.
Eventually we made our way back upslope to the pilings, and did our safety stop. We both played around with valve drills ... mostly to kill time ... and I was pleased to note that for some reason I had an easier time reaching the valves in this rig than I do in my 119's. OK ... that's a good sign. Then Valerie found a lovely sculpin ... perhaps a juvenile cabezon, with spots. I started to reach for my camera, only to realize that between the current, the surge, and my overall shaky (today, anyway) skills I wasn't holding buoyancy real well ... so I just clipped it back to the D-ring and worked on getting relaxed again.
Finally it was time to head in. As soon as we exited the pilings I could feel the surge rocking us back and forth ... hmmm ... if it's like this at 13 feet, what's it gonna be like on the surface. Well, when we surfaced, the waves were just kickin'! They were making big splashes off the sea wall ... and there was a group of folks up on the sidewalk watching us getting knocked around .... bmoogling at each other through our regulators (which we daren't remove from our mouths) while trying to help each other out of our fins. Then there was the slog back through the rocks .. with waves trying to push us over onto them ... to the stairs which were partly submerged due to the high tide.
As we ascended the top of the stairs, one member of the group who'd been watching us said that after seeing our exit they were gonna bag it for the evening. Probably a good call.
It's good to be home ... I realize it ain't Cozumel but hey ... it ain't Kansas either. Overall it was an enjoyable 68 minute dive. After another 68 minutes or so, the feeling started returning to my hand ...
Life is good ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Arriving at Redondo I hooked up with Valerie in the parking lot, then walked across the street to look at the conditions. The water was a sickly brown color ... and for some reason there were rather large waves crashing into the rocks by the sea wall. This didn't look promising ... but we were determined to dive. Valerie had a new wing to try out, and I had a whole new rig, which included a set of HP100 doubles I had purchased just before leaving for Coz ... this would be my first dive using them. I had set up a backplate/harness for them just the previous night, and there were still some minor adjustments to be made.
The dive started rather inauspiciously ... my left dry glove flooded (again!), and Valerie lost a spring strap in the murk while standing in waist-deep water ... I eventually found it by groping around (vis was a few inches) while getting lifted and pounded into the bottom by the waves. Finally, we were geared up and ready to head out to the corner of the pilings to begin the dive.
We dropped down through the murk layer, and vis opened up to the point where I could actually see the bottom before running into it. Not that it did me much good. Not sure if it was the new rig (which feels VERY different than my 119's), or the fact that I had become accustomed to diving in a 3-mil wetsuit in 81-degree water ... but I found myself floundering around and working hard just to maintain buoyancy. There was a steady current moving north ... not bad, but enough that we had to adjust for it. We weren't off to a good start. I decided to just leave the camera clipped off on my D-ring and work on getting relaxed ... been a while since I felt this uncomfortable underwater. The drysuit felt binding and unnatural ... and the water in my left glove was definitely making my hand cold. I gave Valerie the OK signal and indicated that we should head downslope to the first boat. Welcome back to Puget Sound, wuss ... :shakehead
We slowly made our way down to the carousel boat, and after 15 minutes I started to relax. I felt my breathing slow down into the familiar pattern, and noticed I was no longer having to put effort into maintaining my buoyancy and trim ... I was just letting it happen. Ah ... much better ... if only my left hand wasn't so cold.
We made our way north ... staying at a deeper depth than I usually do for this dive. As a result, I actually found a few things (junk, mostly) that I hadn't seen before. Valerie also found a few things ... a mesh bag and a snorkel, neither of which looked like they'd been down there very long.
We eventually made our way up to the reflector piles, the VW, and the reef. Valerie found an old crab claw and started entertaining herself with it. I watched ... thinking to myself "ah, what a poor substitute I make for Jackie" (her usual dive buddy) ... Jackie would've been all over that claw, doing interesting and entertaining things that would've made both her and Valerie laugh till their masks leaked. All I could do is think about how much that claw resembled my left hand ... cold and dead.
Eventually we made our way back upslope to the pilings, and did our safety stop. We both played around with valve drills ... mostly to kill time ... and I was pleased to note that for some reason I had an easier time reaching the valves in this rig than I do in my 119's. OK ... that's a good sign. Then Valerie found a lovely sculpin ... perhaps a juvenile cabezon, with spots. I started to reach for my camera, only to realize that between the current, the surge, and my overall shaky (today, anyway) skills I wasn't holding buoyancy real well ... so I just clipped it back to the D-ring and worked on getting relaxed again.
Finally it was time to head in. As soon as we exited the pilings I could feel the surge rocking us back and forth ... hmmm ... if it's like this at 13 feet, what's it gonna be like on the surface. Well, when we surfaced, the waves were just kickin'! They were making big splashes off the sea wall ... and there was a group of folks up on the sidewalk watching us getting knocked around .... bmoogling at each other through our regulators (which we daren't remove from our mouths) while trying to help each other out of our fins. Then there was the slog back through the rocks .. with waves trying to push us over onto them ... to the stairs which were partly submerged due to the high tide.
As we ascended the top of the stairs, one member of the group who'd been watching us said that after seeing our exit they were gonna bag it for the evening. Probably a good call.
It's good to be home ... I realize it ain't Cozumel but hey ... it ain't Kansas either. Overall it was an enjoyable 68 minute dive. After another 68 minutes or so, the feeling started returning to my hand ...
Life is good ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
