Rainer
Contributor
Jen and I were up around 3:30 am to make it down to San Pedro by 4:45 am. An early morning departure under starry skies on the Sea Bass would have us to Farnsworth shortly after sun up. The ride was bumpy (4-5' swell), but we eventually made our goal. The Magician was already there, so we anchored on the pinnacle further away from the island.
Dive 1 - Farnsworth
Jen and I splash into lovely blue water. With visions of epic visibility in our heads, we soon descend into snotty water. The anchor has missed the pinnacle and continues to the sea floor below in 125'. Jen ties off onto the anchor in 100' and we scooter until we find some structure, where we tie off the reel. Visibility is <10'. A real shame, as this pinnacle is gorgeous. The purple hydrocoral is abundant, large schools of blacksmith circle about, and the walls are just covered in various nudis. Unlike the area we explored on our Farnsworth trip back in August (Farnsworth Bank - DIR Charter - Trip Report ), this spot has lots of little canyons to work around. After 30 minutes at 100', we head up. A short video (which makes conditions seem better than they were) from the first dive:
[vimeo]16607373[/vimeo]
Dive 1b - Farnsworth
Given the poor conditions on the first dive (half the boat didn't make it to the pinnacle), we decided to head closer to the island in search of cleaner/clearer water. Unfortunately, the anchor was stuck in 125'. I borrowed Quintin's doubles (with 18/45) and Charles' deco bottle, and Ken and I went to free it. While it took longer than we'd hoped, eventually we got it cleared and shot up on a lift bag. Managed to see an Electric Torpedo Ray before we began our ascent and deco.
Dive 2 - Eagle Rock
We motored over to Eagle Rock for our second dive. This is like a shallower version of Ship Rock, but with less kelp and many more gorgonia. This time, Jen, Vincent, and I teamed up for a nice scooter dive. Jen led, and did a great job touring us about. We did just short of an hour. Visibility was a bit better here, but it wasn't great (<15') and we had to deal with strong currents the entire time (spare some pity for those kicking this site!).
Dive 3 - Eagle Nest
After a nice lunch, we headed toward the front side of the island, where we jumped in for a nice drift dive. Nicole and I teamed up for this one and soon found ourselves slowly gliding along at 60'. Visibility was much improved (a dark 30'). This area reminds me of the kelp to the east at Casino Point. Very pretty. Lots of blacksmith, garibaldi, and sheephead. Even managed to find a few morays and three abalone. Somehow all the teams basically ended up in the same area, at which point we popped SMBs, and ascended to find the boat right there waiting for us.
Just as we'd left, we returned to the dock under the stars. Long day. In all, a challenging day of diving, but time well spent with wonderful, fun divers. All capped off with a really nice dinner once back on shore.
Dive 1 - Farnsworth
Jen and I splash into lovely blue water. With visions of epic visibility in our heads, we soon descend into snotty water. The anchor has missed the pinnacle and continues to the sea floor below in 125'. Jen ties off onto the anchor in 100' and we scooter until we find some structure, where we tie off the reel. Visibility is <10'. A real shame, as this pinnacle is gorgeous. The purple hydrocoral is abundant, large schools of blacksmith circle about, and the walls are just covered in various nudis. Unlike the area we explored on our Farnsworth trip back in August (Farnsworth Bank - DIR Charter - Trip Report ), this spot has lots of little canyons to work around. After 30 minutes at 100', we head up. A short video (which makes conditions seem better than they were) from the first dive:
[vimeo]16607373[/vimeo]
Dive 1b - Farnsworth
Given the poor conditions on the first dive (half the boat didn't make it to the pinnacle), we decided to head closer to the island in search of cleaner/clearer water. Unfortunately, the anchor was stuck in 125'. I borrowed Quintin's doubles (with 18/45) and Charles' deco bottle, and Ken and I went to free it. While it took longer than we'd hoped, eventually we got it cleared and shot up on a lift bag. Managed to see an Electric Torpedo Ray before we began our ascent and deco.
Dive 2 - Eagle Rock
We motored over to Eagle Rock for our second dive. This is like a shallower version of Ship Rock, but with less kelp and many more gorgonia. This time, Jen, Vincent, and I teamed up for a nice scooter dive. Jen led, and did a great job touring us about. We did just short of an hour. Visibility was a bit better here, but it wasn't great (<15') and we had to deal with strong currents the entire time (spare some pity for those kicking this site!).
Dive 3 - Eagle Nest
After a nice lunch, we headed toward the front side of the island, where we jumped in for a nice drift dive. Nicole and I teamed up for this one and soon found ourselves slowly gliding along at 60'. Visibility was much improved (a dark 30'). This area reminds me of the kelp to the east at Casino Point. Very pretty. Lots of blacksmith, garibaldi, and sheephead. Even managed to find a few morays and three abalone. Somehow all the teams basically ended up in the same area, at which point we popped SMBs, and ascended to find the boat right there waiting for us.
Just as we'd left, we returned to the dock under the stars. Long day. In all, a challenging day of diving, but time well spent with wonderful, fun divers. All capped off with a really nice dinner once back on shore.