Wonderful Diving at Pt. Lobos!
We had two wonderful dives yesterday at Pt. Lobos! Now I know why people do this! On top of that, we met a great new dive buddy, Kim.
Kim had been reading this blog and agreed to go with us. Emily used her new / used drysuit and I rented a Whites Fusion. We got kitted up, mostly without incident (repetition, and the same equipment, makes it much easier). Kim suggested a great place for our lights, clipped to the right chest D-rig. This worked perfectly! Easy access to the light, and no hassle. We knew Emilys neck seal would leak so we duct-taped her neck.
Water was calm and viz was terrible at the boat ramp. We swam out a hundred yards or so and descended. Viz was immediately better, and we followed Kim. Our newly-repaired regs worked great DRIS did a good job. It was a lovely dive, no buoyancy or weight issues, no legs floating up, no rolling. Nice views of fish and other bottom critters. Emily got blown off a little bit due to the surge (she said later this is when her motion sickness started). I got to half a tank and we turned around but we could not get back to our starting point by the time I was down to 800, so we surfaced very slowly in a more or less clear spot, and made our way back across the kelp to the channel. Somehow I was nearly out of air at this point. Emily started really getting motion sick from the swells and threw up a little bit. I could tell she was really anxious. Some of this came about because there was some anxiety due to things at home (she takes care of her mother, 80, and its very trying). These issues are actually continuing today. On the way back we saw a sea otter and a pup floating on the kelp. They floated within 10 feet of us for much of the trip back. Kim towed Emily back for much of the way that really calmed her down. Great dive, except for Emilys motion-sickness.
Emilys neck seal leaked, and she was tired from being sick, so she wasn't up for a second dive. Kim and I went, it was beautiful. Very relaxing float / swim out to the channel, easy descent, great viz maybe 40 feet? We did a relaxing tour out towards the wall, and we reached the hole-in-the-wall. What a great view of the wall! I enjoyed seeing fish sitting calmly in the crevices in the wall, and the colors were amazing. Turned around a half a tank (me) and came back up almost exactly where we had descended. The surface swim back was relaxing, floating in the gentle swell and slowly kicking our way back. At times I felt like I was in Hawaii! Lovely dive. I had fun! (Almost for the first time in cold water). Finally, I can see what all the fuss is about!
From the time we did the first crappy dive which started this blog, it took us four dives, three pool sessions, and nearly $4,000 to get situated (this does not include rental and diving fees). And I still need a drysuit. And there was a drysuit course and six meh dives which preceded all this. Yikes, this is an expensive hobby! But now that we have our gear, per-dive costs are fairly low.
I really hope Emily can get comfortable with cold-water diving. I hate it when I think this, but the second dive with just Kim and I was much more relaxing than the dives with Emily. I wonder how folks deal with the whole issue of I want to dive much more than my partner. To date, she has been wonderful about taking on the hobby, though clearly I am more passionate about it than she is.
We really appreciated Kims approach to everything, which was relax, and enjoy the day. We needed to hear that! And we need to practice it more. Thanks, Kim! Hope to dive with you Wednesday!!
- Bill
The 2 Si-tech systems are compatible. The permanent wrist rings are similar to the DUI set up, enabling you to change wrist seals. Not that common to tear a wrist seal, especially if you don't trim them. Then they have the Quick clamp system for dry gloves (and I'll give it 2 thumbs up). Does take some practice, just like everything else. 
