Channel Islands (Santa Cruz)...

[mikeguerrero]

Hi all,

Just wanted to make a quick report on my first liveaboard. I had an awesome time and would highly recommend it to any diver, beginner or advanced.

We were on board the Truth Aquatics, Conception under the watchful eye of Captain Jerry.

I'll try to keep it short, so I'll divide it into categories...

Food:

Oh my, breakfest, lunch, dinner and dessert. You will gain weight and it's like eating at a 5 star restaurant. I have never seen food like this on such a small vessel.

Living quarters:

Your option of single bunk, or double, with a fat mattress and plenty of blankets and pillows if you get cold. Super clean and has a privacy curtain to keep you secure in the night, plus you have a bright night light if you like to read before bed.

You get one shower per day and the water is nice and hot with body soap/shampoo supplied.

Deck:

All the space you need for your tank and gear, plus the fills are awesome, can we say 3500 psi on a HP steel tank for Guerrero? Yes we can, they have the compressor to meet that demand.

Crew:

They are family and are just simply the best, remembering my name as I exit the water and helping me gear up. The captain even gave us a tour of the wheel house and opened up to some adventure stories that I will keep to myself, you know me and my large fish questions.

Dives:

We dove just Santa Cruz Island which is the largest of the Northern chain because the wind and currents picked up. Captain Jerry found some nice mellow spots to anchor to and gave us an opportunity to have fun in relative shallow waters.

Dives never pushed us past 65 feet and viz opened up to 30 feet. The bonus was that I got to see hornsharks resting, swimming, tons of urchins, harbor seals, and the elusive bat rays.

The rays have to be my favorite because they were huge and just so beautiful, the way they swim and glide in the water is a sight to cherish.

There were lots of caves of which I stayed at the mouth of the entrance, there will be room for more as I get trained, I wanted to play it safe. These caves really draw you in, and can be very deceptive making you think they are safe to explore.

We also did one night dive and that was nice and eerie, reminded me of Halloween; dark and gloomy with a twist of mystery, I found a nice size octopus and odd looking shrimp that resemble debris.

Here are some pics that were taken of me. Special thanks goes to Alan for snapping candid pics of me as I got ready to dive.

Santa Cruz Island Appears...

Breathtaking cliffs...

Returning from dive...

Check list clears divers...

How was your dive? Just awesome...

Night dive, just about to jump in...

Oh my, this water is dark...

Spooked face after completing a dark dive...

 

[pacificgal]

I have a million questions.
How many days were you on it? How many dives per day did you do? What sort of on-boat thermal protection am I going to need next weekend? Do I need to bring long pants, a jacket and rum or shorts, t-shirts and rum?
I'm sure I'll think of more.

 

[limeyx]

Nice! Good to see you had fun.

This was this past weekend ? I think we saw you guys out there (we were on Peace)

We did manage a day at San Miguel but the currents were ripping and it was mostly scooter-only conditions.

 

[cricfanSD]

Kristina,
As the person who motivated Mike to go and ditched him on the last day I can answer few question
a) 3 Days and 2 nights
b) It has an open deck policy so you can dive as much or as little as possible. The maximum I did once was 6 and minimum was 3 (16 over three days)
c) It depends on how cold you get. Actually you can survive with just a jacket, if you don't venture out too often from the galley. If you dive wet, then one of those boat jackets will be very handy as you don't want to change to dry clothes after every dive and you are not supposed to go to the galley in your wetsuit. For drysuit divers, the undie was good enough protection.
Mike will probably tell you to bring a ski jacket and ski pants, also shark repellents while diving

 

[merxlin]

I have a million questions.
How many days were you on it? How many dives per day did you do? What sort of on-boat thermal protection am I going to need next weekend? Do I need to bring long pants, a jacket and rum or shorts, t-shirts and rum?
I'm sure I'll think of more.

What boat are you on? I'll be on the Vision Thurs/Fri/Sat. This will be my 3rd time on this trip so maybe I can answer some of your questions-

The galleys are quite roomy, so unless you venture outside you should be warm, especially compared to the water temp, so I am more prone to suggesting the t-shirt and rum, but a sweatshirt and long pants might be a good choice after the evening shower. Also, a jacket is good if the wind picks up.

I've always found the bunk areas to be too warm than too cold, but again your mileage may vary.

You will eat too much.

On multidays we always seem to get 5 to 6 dives in on the first two days, then 3-4 on the final day as the boat starts back between 2 and 3 pm.

I've never heard of anyone not having fun on these trips. Last year we had nothing but green water and currents, plus surface swells- still had a ball! Crew is great and the boat is super comfortable. Just watch any bow entries, those make the side gates on most boats feel like a swimstep.

 

[marcus8]

best bang for your buck IMHO....those are great trips. Heading out myself on the vision come September. Thx for the nice report.

 

[pacificgal]

Hi Merxlin,
I will be on the Peace 7/11-13 (Sun-Tues), though I arrive in So. Cal. on the 7th (Santa Ana/HB/Irvine). Is it OK to go in the galley in your wetsuit if you have a boat coat over?
Can I bring a rubbermaid container for my gear or do I have to wear it onboard as if it were a 1 day trip? I would assume I would be sitting in my wetsuit all day and only have to worry about clothes for the evening and to sleep in? Do I have to bring a sleeping bag or is a pillow and blanket sufficient? Is there anything I need to know about leaving my car for 3 days at the dock, paid parking, etc?

 

[Hinalo]

I usually get 3 - 5 dives in per day on these trips. What someone said about bringing a boat coat for SIs if you're diving wet. It can get windy. I usually am happy to have a sweat shirt and jeans for apre dive attire, adding a jacket sometimes in the evening out on deck. Shorts are good during the day if you're having an extended SI, and for the trip back across the channel on the last day.

On Truth boats you can wear your wetsuit in the galley but not down in the bunk room. Do bring a container for your stuff, or a dive bag that you can work out of. You don't have to walk onboard with your suit on like you do with one-day charters. (you're going to bed before you dive anyway). Yes, only bring clothes for evening and the trip back, you'll be in your suit all day unless you take a break. I always bring a light sleeping bag and sometimes a pillow. I don't know about parking security at Ventura, but I wouldn't worry about it. There is probably a parking voucher, be sure to get one.

I don't know about the coffee on Peace, but I usually bring my own coffee on the Truth boats and a few extra beers in case someone else really needs one during the trip. Bring Bonine. Even if you think you don't get seasick. TMOT.

 

[pacificgal]

My doctor gave me the patches and I tried them out last weekend on the Sanctuary, worked just fine but I was heck of thirsty, I'll probably bring dramamine too, just because I have it. I'm trying to pack as light as I can, I am not only driving down with dive gear but goalie gear too, probably an ice chest for soda and water as well, since I'll be in a hotel for a few days beforehand. If I brought beer would I have someplace to keep it cold? That's why I was thinking rum, takes less space and you can mix it with coke or drink straight. I've never been on a boat long enough to do more than 3 tanks per day, but you can bet I'll try my hardest to get to 150 by the end of the trip (I'm at 132 now, with plans to dive Saturday and Monday before I go).

 

[mikeguerrero]

Kristina,

Seems like my crew has chimmed in and given you all your answers. Pack light, don't bring too much clothing, just what you might wear to bed, evening and going home.

I brought way too much dry clothes. Since you are not on a Truth boat, I wonder if you need soap and shampoo, I brought them and didn't require them. Also no need for hair dryer Truth had several in the shower area, but your boat may be different.

Regarding warmth on the boat, bring your Parka, I wore mine after stripping out of my drysuit. You can see me wearing it from one of the pics I posted.

They should also have a cooler for your beers, that shouldn't be a problem. Many brought wine, hard liquour and lots of beer.

I dove every site and completed 10 dives for the three days. Not sure how many I did in a given day, I'll have to look at the computer.

We can talk more in person on Saturday when we dive BW... I can tell you the secrets that cannot be disclosed on this open forum...