Dive reports with beach/weather conditions

[idive2]

11/26/10
s. brohard
early afternoon
topside weather windy
seas 2-3 ft rollers
winds S 15 kts.
viz 1-3 ft.

we checked viz from anchor line reconsidered topside weather and called dive.

 

[makomary]

11/28/10
between Venice jetties and fish pier
Noon
topside weather windy
seas 2-3 ft rollers
winds N 5-10 kts.
viz, less than 1 ft.....what viz????
By 2:00 wind calmed

Couldn't see much but found shark tooth fragment...

 

[Dive4LifeSW]

Did Kayak dive off Service Club/Alhambra today:

Winds: 10-15'ish
Swells : 0-2
Water temp: Estimate 65-67... bottom line: drink a lot of gatorade and pee in your wetsuit whenever possible... it is cold!
Viz: 1/2 ft to 4 at best. Would not recommend diving... did 2 dives 8:30 am and 10:45am... when out of water by 1'sh viz was getting really bad. Aborted 3rd dive plan.

Strange thing on viz: really bad between 12-18 feet. At 18 ft it was a ceiling and cleared to 3-5ft at points (20-24 ft), but dark.... sun not getting to bottom... was surrounded by night creatures (crabs, rays, etc) all in open.

Again, this was a KAYAK dive about a mile off shore. Shore viz was much worse and didn't attempt it based on what i saw. In retrospect, not sure I would have done this dive based on viz I saw/effort...

 

[Dive4LifeSW]

Tried Alhambra today with Kayak... my weatherperson was WRONG... winds were probably about 15 and whitecaps were all over the place. Started to launch and then called it.

Got wet enough to say the water was cold... probably upper 50's.

In sum:
Aborted dive
Waves : 2-3 heading north/NE (white caps).
Wind: would estimate 11+
viz: not good... on surface it was less than a foot. Didn't think it was calm enough to see about bottom
Water: upper 50's.

 

[Dive4LifeSW]

ATTEMPTED Service Club today with kayak:

Water: 54 (will wake u up! )
Surf: Minimal to 1 ft (around 10 am)
Current: moderate North to South side-chop
Wind: minimal... gusts of 8 miles an hr?
Viz: Less than 1 ft... in fact aborted dive... I can do 1 ft, but less is not an option... thought that the rough surf would take sometime to settle down... would give it a few days more. Just my 2 cents.

Good hunting to all, but what is up with the weather/viz lately! Last year the silt. This year the waves.

 

[Dive4LifeSW]

One dive:
Boneyard on Kayak

10am today
Winds: minimal (5 miles or less from n/e'ish)
Surf: Glass... to 1/2 ft (beautiful day)
Current: North to south minimal
Tide: Low
Water temp: 57'ish +- depending on thermals (hey, warmer than last time!)
Viz: 0 to 1.5 (that is 1.5... put your arm out and you will not see your fingers).

Still trying to get out... storm last week still messing with viz. Did 40 min or so just to get wet... only could see what was in my dive light beam (little freaky.. found 1 tooth... ).

One side note: Saw silt on the ground in areas it was not in 4 weeks ago... up to 3 inches of it... hopefully we are not headed for a repeat of last years conditions

Have only been diving 2 winters (2.5 yrs) for fossils... is silt common every winter (comment in general topics if you have views)?

Thanks to all... Will keep trying and posting (I guess being on a kayak on my day off is not so bad even if not diving).

 

[Dive4LifeSW]

Yes, I tried again !

Alhambra/Service Club:

conditions were glass, but tried 4 areas around there (with one tank). No viz really... 0 to 2 ft (for a patch). Mainly zero.

Water: Cold (58).

On the bright side the bottom looked really good... no silt to speak of and really turned over,.... just didn't find anything

With the new front moving in, might try again in a few weeks.

Good luck to all... Spring here yet? Missing my teeth

 

[Dive4LifeSW]

FINALLY!

1/16/2011...

Did 3 dives:

Location: far off the bone yard/Alhambra (on kayak)
Water temp: estimated 56 (COLDDDDD)
Waves: first/second dive glass 0-1ft (9a-1pm) by 2pm maybe 1.5 at times

Viz: averaged 3-5 off shore (had to go out further than normal to get this viz... might have been out 3/4 mile at one point?) Last dive (around 4:30) used last 1/2 tank to come in close to shore (for those shore divers)... viz was about 0-2ft (and 2 ft is being generous).

Bottom report: closer to shore there was some silt (1/2 inch to up to 3 inches). Further out, not much to speak of. Bottom is REALLY turned up... Areas I frequently dive I didn't recognize under water... exposed limestone bed!??... found some megs but most with chips out of them or broken (normally bring back intact few). Found my first mammoth teeth (actually 2 of them!). Will post photos later.

Sorry for not posting same day... long drive back by the time 3rd dive ended.

Good hunting to all

 

[Dive4LifeSW]

Me again :shocked2:

Did Alhambra and surrounding areas looking for viz (shore to 1/2 mile out)... thought conditions would be better... on surface could see 6 feet below (in some areas) but bottom conditions STINK.... less than 1 ft in all areas I tried...

at 9:50am:

Waves: 1 ft but picking up
Swells: coming on shore with chop (at one point tipped kayak... first time in ages... swells were like long "rollers")
Water temp: Was around 58 but felt MUCH colder (lack of sun/fog)
Finds: nothing really other than picking up crabs I thought were fossils (we both were suprised).
Viz: Again LESS than 1 ft.

Wish I had better report....

 

[Dive4LifeSW]

Did 3 dives yesterday:

All at the Alhambra/Service Club area in a kayak:

Surf: ankle high/glassy by end of day.
Water temp: Estimated upper 50's (58-60)

Viz was not so good on morning dive (had to relocate 4 times to find viz and had to go out further than usual). As day moved on it improved (by noon'ish I found spots of 1-3; by 2:00 it averaged 2-3 with one spot hitting 5). Because viz was so "good" considering what it had been I moved in closer to beach area (blocks at Alhambra) to see what it was like. No viz there and silt was present all over from what I could see. If going out you will probably need kayak and plan on getting a workout.

Silt was heavier towards Alhambra area (less but still present as I moved towards pier). It isn't as bad as in prior years (esp last year!) If you hunt around some areas have minimal to no silt. But plan on relocating many times (or getting lucky) to hit it.

So, a better day, but noticed swells are supposed to pick up, so???