We had, or rather I had a relatively uneventful dive today at Golf Ball Reef, but first, a bit of history.
For the past few years, we have had little to no function with our fishfinder. Reading everything I could find about the problem, I made several unsuccessful repairs. I updated the firmware, installed a larger battery, replaced the battery switches with a new panel, replaced alternators four times, replaced the GPS/Fishfinder combo, replaced the sonar module, replaced the cable, and replaced the transducer. I was going to wire the unit directly to a battery last week but decided to trace the wiring first to make sure I could wire it to an unused toggle switch on our dashboard.
The end of the sonar power wire was connected to the radio switch. I unplugged it and plugged it into the unused switch and suddenly I had a working fishfinder again. Apparently, the fishfinder was receiving interference from the radio. A lot of hours and dollars were wasted in this simple repair.
On to the dive. We arrived at Golf Ball Reef using the GPS and fishfinder together for the first time in years. The surface water was green, full of plankton and looked uninviting. We were here and were going diving no matter what. Visibility on the bottom was a pleasant twenty feet. Less than a foot from the anchor chain was a mating pair of Peltodoris mullineri. As I was photographing them, Merry arrived to tell me her drysuit was flooding. She aborted the dive while I stuck it out despite a leaky left sleeve on my suit. Berthella californica were everywhere, as were their large egg ribbons. I found two small Berthella chacei and managed to get one to stick on my stage. Paguristes ulreyi, Furry hermit crabs were piled on many rocks. I found a Berthella californica piled on a Furry Hermit crab. Juvenile Vermilion rockfish, Sebastes miniatus flitted just above the reef while a sea lion buzzed me a couple of times. After I surfaced, Merry and I hung our wet drysuits and headed back to the marina, contemplating more costly drysuit repairs/replacements. Merry suggested selling her camera and giving up diving altogether. She was only half-serious, but we really need a good dive soon.
Berthella californica
Berthella chacei
Henricia leviuscula, blood star
Sebastes miniatus, juvenile Vermilion rockfish
Peltodoris mullineri
Aplysia californica, California sea hare
Paguristes ulreyi, Furry hermit crab
Dysidea amblia
Berthella californica eggs
Rhinogobiops nicholsii, Blackeye goby
Paguristes ulreyi, Furry hermit crab
Berthella californica crawling on a Paguristes ulreyi, Furry hermit crab
For the past few years, we have had little to no function with our fishfinder. Reading everything I could find about the problem, I made several unsuccessful repairs. I updated the firmware, installed a larger battery, replaced the battery switches with a new panel, replaced alternators four times, replaced the GPS/Fishfinder combo, replaced the sonar module, replaced the cable, and replaced the transducer. I was going to wire the unit directly to a battery last week but decided to trace the wiring first to make sure I could wire it to an unused toggle switch on our dashboard.
The end of the sonar power wire was connected to the radio switch. I unplugged it and plugged it into the unused switch and suddenly I had a working fishfinder again. Apparently, the fishfinder was receiving interference from the radio. A lot of hours and dollars were wasted in this simple repair.
On to the dive. We arrived at Golf Ball Reef using the GPS and fishfinder together for the first time in years. The surface water was green, full of plankton and looked uninviting. We were here and were going diving no matter what. Visibility on the bottom was a pleasant twenty feet. Less than a foot from the anchor chain was a mating pair of Peltodoris mullineri. As I was photographing them, Merry arrived to tell me her drysuit was flooding. She aborted the dive while I stuck it out despite a leaky left sleeve on my suit. Berthella californica were everywhere, as were their large egg ribbons. I found two small Berthella chacei and managed to get one to stick on my stage. Paguristes ulreyi, Furry hermit crabs were piled on many rocks. I found a Berthella californica piled on a Furry Hermit crab. Juvenile Vermilion rockfish, Sebastes miniatus flitted just above the reef while a sea lion buzzed me a couple of times. After I surfaced, Merry and I hung our wet drysuits and headed back to the marina, contemplating more costly drysuit repairs/replacements. Merry suggested selling her camera and giving up diving altogether. She was only half-serious, but we really need a good dive soon.
Berthella californica
Berthella chacei
Henricia leviuscula, blood star
Sebastes miniatus, juvenile Vermilion rockfish
Peltodoris mullineri
Aplysia californica, California sea hare
Paguristes ulreyi, Furry hermit crab
Dysidea amblia
Berthella californica eggs
Rhinogobiops nicholsii, Blackeye goby
Paguristes ulreyi, Furry hermit crab
Berthella californica crawling on a Paguristes ulreyi, Furry hermit crab
