December '05 Dive Reports

[MaxBottomtime]

Date: December 25th, 2005
Dive Location: Marineland
Buddy(ies): Susan(coralcuts), Claudette(HBDiveGirl), Greg(Drysuit Greg), Jeff(Evil Jeff) and Lee(LLKZ16)
Time: 9:03
Bottom Time: 1:08
Max Depth: 42'
Vis: 0-4'
Wave height: 0-1' at the cove, higher elsewhere.
Temp at depth: 56F
Comments: We gathered for a Christmas dive that I was thinking all week wouldn't happen. I've been sick and the waves have been pounding SoCal. Fortunately we were spared Nature's wrath today and actually had pleasant entry and exits. Susan and I even exited in front of the cave and didn't fall down! Because of the waves all week and the surge today vis was very poor, but we still had an enjoyable dive. I never turned my camera on, although we found a few nudis and some lobsters tucked deep into their cave. Everyone who entered the water made it out safe, and those who were already in the water remained safe for another day. After the dive, Susan brought out the goodies. She baked brownies and krumkakas just for us, well, maybe her family got some first, but it is always nice having Susan there in her role as the holder of the treats.
Jeff, Greg and Claudette joined me for a walk in the park after packing away gear. We enjoyed another pleasant Marineland adventure. It was a great way to spend Christmas. Diving, friends and nobody had family with them.

 

[SharkDZ]

25 Dec 05
Location- Diver's Cove
Buddies- Chad, Tim
Dive time- 1046
BT- :41
Vis- 5-10'
Waves- 1-3'
Max Depth- 30'
Temp- 57F
Comments: Our first Annual Christmas Day Dive. We are all Skydive Instructors and have difficulty getting the same day off. We'd plan this all week, but were concerned with the waves and large swell. I figured we might be successful at some South facing beaches. I guessed right. Drove down along PCH and checked Crystal Cove and went by Shaw's, not really stopping until Diver's Cove. Got out. Watched for a bit, then began to jock-up. Shortly after we were getting ready some Lifeguards drove by and spoke to us and reminded us that the swell will be increasing throught the day. The surf entry was pretty easy in the 1-3 foot beach break and we swam out and made our descent. We swam out along the reef and the visibility was not as bad as I anticipated. Saw a few bat rays and the usual G-fish. They seemed curious with us, too. Made our way back to the beach and ate at Bruegger's Bagels for lunch!

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Christmas Gifts Galore

Old Marineland, Cobble beach, Reef extending from East point

12/25/05
Splash: 9:30 AM
Max depth: 35fsw
Temp: 57F (no thermocline)
Run Time: 56 minutes
Surf: 2-3 feet, but lulls were calm
Viz: 8-10 feet mostly, occasional 4 foot zones.

Plan to dive on Christmas morning? What a great idea! In the middle of 14 days of demented surf from multiple storms in the North Pacific? Oh, well… no charge to go look.

I thought I was just taking my gear out for a drive this morning, maybe to stand on the cliff's edge with Jeff Shaw, Phil Garner and others. I imagined we would stare at the sea, laugh painfully at the conditions, and then go to breakfast somewhere due to the rough nasty water. But 0800 in the parking lot had Phil, Susan G. and Lee gearing up, and Greg Cooke and Jeff Shaw starting to set up.

Well OK! I didn’t even look at the water. If they were going, so was I.

Cobble beach was drastically remodeled by the gargantuan surf 4 days ago (14-18 foot waves in the south bay!!) The small rocks are gone, and the shallow slope has been greatly steepened. Big rocks all the way to the water line! At least the lulls were calm and we all entered smoothly between the sets. Greg, Jeff and I made a team and descended carefully and together off the east point. 8-10 foot viz at 25 feet. Greg took navigation, and we found the reef almost immediately.

Brittle stars were out walking around as if it were night time, but the Chestnut cowries were packed away into crevices. One crevice had 12!! Found the smallest sunstar I’ve ever seen: About the diameter of my outstretched hand, and motoring rapidly across the rocky bottom. It stuck like crazy to my gloves, and to Jeff’s when I handed it to him. Very cool to see a little one. I've seen 30-inch diameter, 40-legged giants out on this reef. This little one probably had 20 legs already! Lovely bright Tethys sponge balls were common, as were painted greenlings and garibaldi and giant keyhole limpets, and big patches of sulfur sponge. A couple of pretty Sea Lemon Nudibranchs were fun to find.
One of the best parts of the dive was the teamwork! Greg navigated beautifully and Jeff and I stayed in visual while having lots of fun. In lousy viz, we all instinctively slowed down and checked locations frequently.
We got separated once in a section of very bad viz, but regrouped within one or two minutes using our HID lights. It was great! It was pretty surgy in several areas, but good for horizontal trim practice and working on those amazing kicks. It's coming together :-D

It was an unexpected delight just to be diving in the midst of awful wave conditions, and on Christmas morning. This may be a fun tradition to begin! Exit was smooth, although the late Champagne dinner last night had me not quite at the top of my game. I sorted out all my gear carefully (with cold stiff fingers) outside the surf zone and timed my exit well… Rule #6 compliant

Sunshine made the day beautiful, and friends made it fun. Thanks to all for a lovely morning underwater. Jeff and Greg: Great team work! Thanks!

Post-dive historical expedition with Phil, Jeff, and Greg was… unique!

 

[LLKZ16]

It was great meeting up with all of you yesterday!

Now I finally have faces to fit the names.

What seemed to be a doubtful day to dive turned into a great time.

Since yesterday was good, I called up local buddy Angelique to dive OML again. First thing that went south was the fact that the local dive shop was closed. No worries however because Angelique had a spare steel 80 all set to go.

When we got to OML, the conditions were exactly the opposite of yesterday.:scared: :dropmouth

The tide was going low and the waves were larger then yesterday. Also, the surge was noticeably more active too. Another odd thing was the fact that the water was a lot choppier.

DOH!

Needles to say, we ended up scrubbing the mission. Oh well, there is always a next time.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Saved myself a short drive this morning. I was planning to push my luck and dive on the main reef this morning, but as I headed to the garage to pack my gear the rain changed my decision. I didn't think rain would improve the conditions after the surf and poor vis all week. I'm hoping for a miraculous recovery for a Thursday evening dive at Vet's.

 

[mark99]

Date: December 26, 2005
Dive Location: Catalina Island- Long Point, Hen Rock X2
Time: 9 am to 2 pm
Bottom Time: :48, :41, :42
Max Depth: 68, 48, 45 fsw
Vis: 40-50'
Wave height: almost flat
Temp at depth: 57 F
Surface Temp: Air 65F, Water 61F
Gas mix: Air
Comments:
We left on the Psalty V from San Pedro, arrived at Long Point at 9 am, there were almost no boats in sight. Pulled right up in the cove on the east side of Long Point and anchored. The crossing had maybe 2 ft swells, but swells were very far apart and hardly felt. There was a little wind ripple on the surface but it was as flat at the Island as any day I've seen. You could easily see the bottom anchored in 30 fsw. The sun was off and on out, and the air was crisp and clear. Diving, we followed a course to the west around the point, following the wall. There was quite a bit of current (east to west) past the tip of the point. Saw the usual fish, a few lobsters tucked in the cracks, and some spectacular schools of fish. We moved over to Hen Rock for the second two dives, anchored to the west of the rock, and dove once in and west, and then in and east. Saw more fish, lobster and a huge moray in the rocks. The kelp looked just spectacular when the sun was out. The crossing back had a bit larger swells, it was a bit foggier and more wind chop, but all in all pretty smooth. Fantastic day.

 

[SoCalAngel]

Date: Dec. 18th (took me awhile to post, with xmas, cooking, and kids et all!)
Dive Location: Anacapa Island
Buddy(ies): Delton B, Micheal G, Mike H, and Jay L.
Time: hmmm, one morning and one afternoon
Bottom Time: longer than expected, shorter than usual
Max Depth: 43 and 33 feet
Vis: 45- 55+ FEET!!! hahahaha
Wave height: off boat, no waves to be seen...
Temp at depth: 55 F
Surface Temp: 57F
Gas mix: 32% both dives
Comments: Good to back in the water again!

I know this is a little late, but I had to share that I am back in the water again. I dove last Sunday, Dec. 18th, off the Peace at Anacapa Island. It was great. The crew on the boat (and captain, too) is awesome! They were kind enough to lower my gear into the water for me to gear up, and take my gear from me before I got on the swim step, as I am not supposed to lift anything heavier than 20 lbs.

The first dive (#499 for me) was uneventful and very rocky. Very few fish, but so glad to back in the water, I didn't care.

The second dive (for me for the day) was #500! Vis varied from 20 to 50 plus feet, depending on if we were in the sand or in kelp. SO much better in the kelp. It was beautiful. The sunlight came through the tops of the kelp forest in that gorgeous amber color. Fish were everywhere. I saw my first yellowtail rockfish. I actually got a picture of it's face, too. The coolest part was when I spotted the snail shell trail to an adorable little octopussy's den. Unfortunately, it didn't come out to play

But, no matter, I finally dove logged dive number 500! I am not an active DM, and was first certified on August 4, 2000! Thanks to all my dive buddies out there for putting up with me :05:

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Welcome back to diving and to Scubaboard Laurel. We missed you.

 

[Rickster]

Date: December 26, 2005
Dive Location: Catalina Island- Long Point, Hen Rock X2
Time: 9 am to 2 pm
Bottom Time: :48, :41, :42
Max Depth: 68, 48, 45 fsw
Vis: 40-50'
Wave height: almost flat
Temp at depth: 57 F
Surface Temp: Air 65F, Water 61F
Gas mix: Air
Comments:
We left on the Psalty V from San Pedro, arrived at Long Point at 9 am, there were almost no boats in sight. Pulled right up in the cove on the east side of Long Point and anchored. The crossing had maybe 2 ft swells, but swells were very far apart and hardly felt. There was a little wind ripple on the surface but it was as flat at the Island as any day I've seen. You could easily see the bottom anchored in 30 fsw. The sun was off and on out, and the air was crisp and clear. Diving, we followed a course to the west around the point, following the wall. There was quite a bit of current (east to west) past the tip of the point. Saw the usual fish, a few lobsters tucked in the cracks, and some spectacular schools of fish. We moved over to Hen Rock for the second two dives, anchored to the west of the rock, and dove once in and west, and then in and east. Saw more fish, lobster and a huge moray in the rocks. The kelp looked just spectacular when the sun was out. The crossing back had a bit larger swells, it was a bit foggier and more wind chop, but all in all pretty smooth. Fantastic day.

Glad you had a great dive, Mark. Sounds like it was well worth it.

 

[divinman]

Date: 12/27/05
Dive Location: San Diego/ Main Wall
Bottom Time: 64 minutes
Max Depth: 64ft
Avg Depth: 36ft
Vis: 5-10
Surface Temp: 59F
Temp at depth: 56F
Surf was 2-4 but easily entered with proper timing. minimal swell outside the break.

Images: http://www.scubapost.net/forums/Scorpionfish/122705/
All images are unedited. Resized only for your bandwidth pleasure.

Tyler and I met this morning at the main lot. Ocean conditions were definitely dive-able with only 2-4 breaking waves in front of the main tower. We geared up and kicked out to just south of the orange buoy and dropped in. From there we headed west to the edge of the canyon and then south/southeast along the wall. Lots of dead squid, thousands of eggs, a few nudi's and no camera/flash issues. Sea Lions and cormorants buzzed us almost continuously at one section of the wall. Nice to be back in the water BEFORE the new swell gets here.

Terry S.