Dive Report - N Monastery/Barge - 31 May 09

[Ben_ca]

Dive Report - N Monastery/Barge - 31 May 09

SUN...NW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT IN THE AFTERNOON.
W SWELL 3 TO 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG.


With a forecast like that who can say no to diving!

I pick up Ted and off we drove to Monterey... talk of all our good times and dives we've had in the past dominate the conversation. The path we took getting to where we are today and how our diving has changed.

"I Love Diving..."

He said.

"I Love Diving"

I thought to myself reflecting his contagious grin back at him. We reminisced about the early days when every dive at the BW was a journey of discovery. How every fish, crab and anemone was looked up in the book or on metridium.com. It was like every dive was just another Nat'l Geographic adventure and we were in the front seats of this real life IMAX adventure documentary....

"I Love Diving" - we both muttered.



So where do we dive?

Someplace new?

Someplace old?

We missed the familiarity of our local mud hole... the comradery of divers. Lots of divers. Old divers, new divers, every color of the rainbow, every style in the book... even a few that wrote the books probably.

We also felt the tug of the explorer's spirit. What's around the bend? What's that new to me dive site like?

Tough choices.

Answer? Both!

We were diving singles in preparation for a secret trip (shhhh )
so a 2 dive location day wasn't a bad idea.

Dive 1

North Monastery


Lots of cars means good diving




Ted reading the new warning signs (Thanks Doc Wong!)


Monastery was beautiful... the sun was slowly waking up and trying to burn thru the marine layer. and the divers were out... Classes and fun divers, dive clubs and buddy teams were taking advantage of the Puget sound surf


North Monastery is where a lot of AOW classes go for their deep potion. This is the closest access to the Carmel trench. If get's deep fast. We staged the scooters and geared up. I found us a nice shortcut to the water (un knowingly putting us right thru a thicket of poison oak but heck that's what drysuits are for)








It was a very easy entry... no waves what so ever. We bubble checked, stops for a few before shots and hit the trigger into the blue.

Okey? Okey

Bubble check

One last look topside...

 

[Ben_ca]

Dude, Let's go...



Uhmmm enough with the camera... Let's go...

My finger's on the trigger...drop the camera and let's hit it!




The vis in the shallows was alot better than at depth. The slope into the canyon is a bunch of huge boulders... on a sharp slope. Just like the BW... only difference is the rocks are 10 times as big... Makes you feel like a minnow swimming amongst them. We scootered about 5 mins then we were in 80 FSW and dropping. We could easily see 30 but it was a hazy 30...







We kicked around for a while then headed in.. running into various groups of other divers... Some noticed us buzzing around some didn't... We waved and displayed our scooter hooliganism by doing loops and twirls


"Ben's lack of SA was apparent when he lost Ted only to find him plastered to the kelp ceiling"

 

[Ben_ca]

After Monastery we moved back to the Monterey side and to the Breakwater deli for some lunch. The russian lady was nice and cheerful...

We did a nice long SI then hit the water again.

The Barge was it's usual oasis of life out in the sand












On our way back to the wall we found a lot of squid eggs.. Some looked like they were ready to pop!

We tried to see if we could take a peak into the nursery but no joy... Hmmm Maybe next weekend?




"Dude... seriously.... you are not taking my picture like this..."

Overall a great dive... A bit of the new and a bit of the old...

Better than the dives are the great dive buddies who you trust. The underwater world just opens wide when you have your prime dive buddies by your side.

Here's to many more dives, laughs and lunches while we share the hobby we love together.

I Love Diving.

 

[ryssyr]

Awesome shots! that pic of Ted is great.

 

[micboucher]

Awesome report and pics Ben! I love diving and my amazing dive buddies too!

 

[ryssyr]

btw.. is that a cloud of steam over your head?? why so angry???

 

[Ben_ca]

btw.. is that a cloud of steam over your head?? why so angry???

I think I have that effect on my dive buddies...

Notice how Jim Ernst says he's a solo diver?

 

[Drewpy]

Nice!!
I bet you were glad you had singles after trudgeing up the dunes!
Man talk about flat!! The calmest Ive ever seen!

Great post..for me,the realization of a life long dream! I lived in Puerto Rico as a kid and snorkeled frequently but always longed for a tank!

This got me thinking..we really are lucky to live where we do and have such stellar diving so close! Just think..we could be stuck in Ohio or some such place..? (no offense to midwesterners!)

Ill ne at PL sat..hope it holds out!

Drew

 

[Ben_ca]

Drew,
I'm sure you'll have a blast. Take pictures and post a report...
It's nice to relive the dives by sharing them with others via words and pictures.

Ben
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Peter_C]

Well I would have taken 30 feet of vis for the 2 feet we had. For the second time ever I called the dive as soon as we hit the bottom, due to bad vis. Our second plunge off the boat revealed 10-20 feet of vis and a bazillion abalone. Made for a pleasant dive.

I may be down in Monterey, depending on vis up North, this Saturday to bring a friend out for some drysuit drills, along with every other drill. He is gonna hate me. Especially the mask removal drill LOL Oh well I will be right there showing him what I want him to do first.

Thanks for the dive report and pictures.

Speaking of single tanks, I supplied one of my friends with nitrox tanks, so we had a total of 9 tanks in my Prius. That is the most I have ever carried at once. Weight wise, throw the Gavin in and it makes up for the extra tanks weight.