Been to the Point the last couple of weekends, so I though Id share whats been going on over there.
I was there last Saturday (12/7) with our own Ms. Wrinkles. She'd never been to the dive park, and weve been talking about going diving since she blew us all out on the So Cal gathering to go dive the Peace,
so this was the trip.
We planned on going over on the 6:15 boat from LB. She arrives right on time at 5:15, and after a bleary drive to the landing, interspersed with some excitement (detour on the 710 and I took us to some other berth and halfway to the bridge I get so lost down there), we arrive with about 5 minutes to spare. After a half-awake commute to the island (saw my buddies from Malibu Divers on the boat) we arrive. There is a cab line when we get there, but nobody was moving just sort of standing around. So we sort of New Yorked it and grabbed one. It put us quickly at the point where we dumped our stuff and fixed our thoughts on Breakfast.
To me, Breakfast in Avalon means one thing: The Pancake House. To my sore dissatisfaction, the place is closed for the winter ;-0 Bogus. We hike over to Eat At Joes and have a mellow breakfast. We walked through empty Avalon back to the Point to suit up for dive one.
Dive one: The Glass Bottom Boat. 55 guppy dive a good place to get a feel for each other before hitting the Sue Jac at 90. I run her through the fineries of a DIR rig (shed never seen one before) and we hit it. Tide was up, brainless entry. Down the rope, and were there. My first dives with the new Big Eyes (more like Bug Eyes) mask. No leaks, no problems. And still minty fresh. I've grown to love this new mask.
I should interject here the girl can bring it in the water. You never know what to expect when diving with someone new, and Im pleased to say she was competent, confident, entered quickly, stayed close and sipped her gas. Not much else a person could ask for in a first-time dive buddy! Viz was great, it was warm (61 on the bottom) and we had a blast. On the surface at the end of the dive asked me where the REAL wrecks were (thinking Yukon and Ruby E, I guess ) I reminded her this was a small place, and what you see is what you get!
After an SI, fills and the requisite Apple Juice, we were ready for dive two. the Sue Jac. By this time a west-to-east current had kicked in, blowing the kelp down and transporting the silt the roto-tillers kick up in the sandy west side of the park towards the Sue Jac. With the current, we got there in about 8 minutes! Viz was a little hazy, but the big Sheephead showed up to take a peek at us. Huge schools of Blacksmith were out there, and it was very nice. Tide quite a bit lower, so getting out wasnt as easy but we exited gracefully.
Lunch time Dockside café closed for the season. No worries, we stroll over to Coney Island for some island grub. Its warmer now, the sun is peaking through and the wind had died down. She ran into some friends of hers from Aloha dive shop in the Valley its always great to meet new divers. Im hooking up with some of them next week (12/20) on the Peace. After a long SI, we prep for dive number three.
I can locate all of the major points of interest in the park the 3 major wrecks, the tires, the pilings, the engine, the chain graveyard beeline to all of them. I can never find the old swim platform on the first try! I will usually, eventually stumble onto it So I tried to find it for us on dive three. No luck. We putter around on the west end of the park, and the viz is back. It was mellow, it was nice. We get back to the steps, and the tide is completely out - so we roll out the old-school Casino Crawl and do a little rock climbing to scramble to the steps.
We were booked to return on the 8:45 PM boat. We look at each other after dive three and we thumbed the day! 5 hours early, we grab the 3:45 boat and sleep on the way back.
It was a great day. Wrinkles, you were cold and never complained. You stayed close, and I felt safe. You were confident, fun and a great hang. We can go back any time youd like!
K
I was there last Saturday (12/7) with our own Ms. Wrinkles. She'd never been to the dive park, and weve been talking about going diving since she blew us all out on the So Cal gathering to go dive the Peace,
so this was the trip.We planned on going over on the 6:15 boat from LB. She arrives right on time at 5:15, and after a bleary drive to the landing, interspersed with some excitement (detour on the 710 and I took us to some other berth and halfway to the bridge I get so lost down there), we arrive with about 5 minutes to spare. After a half-awake commute to the island (saw my buddies from Malibu Divers on the boat) we arrive. There is a cab line when we get there, but nobody was moving just sort of standing around. So we sort of New Yorked it and grabbed one. It put us quickly at the point where we dumped our stuff and fixed our thoughts on Breakfast.
To me, Breakfast in Avalon means one thing: The Pancake House. To my sore dissatisfaction, the place is closed for the winter ;-0 Bogus. We hike over to Eat At Joes and have a mellow breakfast. We walked through empty Avalon back to the Point to suit up for dive one.
Dive one: The Glass Bottom Boat. 55 guppy dive a good place to get a feel for each other before hitting the Sue Jac at 90. I run her through the fineries of a DIR rig (shed never seen one before) and we hit it. Tide was up, brainless entry. Down the rope, and were there. My first dives with the new Big Eyes (more like Bug Eyes) mask. No leaks, no problems. And still minty fresh. I've grown to love this new mask.
I should interject here the girl can bring it in the water. You never know what to expect when diving with someone new, and Im pleased to say she was competent, confident, entered quickly, stayed close and sipped her gas. Not much else a person could ask for in a first-time dive buddy! Viz was great, it was warm (61 on the bottom) and we had a blast. On the surface at the end of the dive asked me where the REAL wrecks were (thinking Yukon and Ruby E, I guess ) I reminded her this was a small place, and what you see is what you get!
After an SI, fills and the requisite Apple Juice, we were ready for dive two. the Sue Jac. By this time a west-to-east current had kicked in, blowing the kelp down and transporting the silt the roto-tillers kick up in the sandy west side of the park towards the Sue Jac. With the current, we got there in about 8 minutes! Viz was a little hazy, but the big Sheephead showed up to take a peek at us. Huge schools of Blacksmith were out there, and it was very nice. Tide quite a bit lower, so getting out wasnt as easy but we exited gracefully.
Lunch time Dockside café closed for the season. No worries, we stroll over to Coney Island for some island grub. Its warmer now, the sun is peaking through and the wind had died down. She ran into some friends of hers from Aloha dive shop in the Valley its always great to meet new divers. Im hooking up with some of them next week (12/20) on the Peace. After a long SI, we prep for dive number three.
I can locate all of the major points of interest in the park the 3 major wrecks, the tires, the pilings, the engine, the chain graveyard beeline to all of them. I can never find the old swim platform on the first try! I will usually, eventually stumble onto it So I tried to find it for us on dive three. No luck. We putter around on the west end of the park, and the viz is back. It was mellow, it was nice. We get back to the steps, and the tide is completely out - so we roll out the old-school Casino Crawl and do a little rock climbing to scramble to the steps.
We were booked to return on the 8:45 PM boat. We look at each other after dive three and we thumbed the day! 5 hours early, we grab the 3:45 boat and sleep on the way back.
It was a great day. Wrinkles, you were cold and never complained. You stayed close, and I felt safe. You were confident, fun and a great hang. We can go back any time youd like!
K
