giles45shop
Contributor
As MissD said in a previous post, desperate times call for desperate measures, so I decided to end my dry spell by spending the weekend in SoCal.
I had made plans with HBDiveGirl (Claudette) to do a 4 tank boat dive to Anacapa on Sunday. This was my 3rd SoCal trip and going to be my first SoCal boat dives. Unfortunately, the weather gods intervened and 35 knot winds blew away the boat dive as well as all the shore dives we had planned. Shore diving in SoCal is so cool! You walk out through the surf and can be in 50-100' water a short distance off shore.
HB, being the local expert, determined that the only possible chance would be the Casino Point Dive Park on Catalina Island. So we decided to catch the 7AM ferry Saturday for the 1 hr ride to the island. She had also managed to round up two extra X-scooters (big thanks to Mo2vation), so we had three scooters charged and ready to go. This was to be my first scooter dive!
Claudette picked me up at the hotel at 6AM and we headed to the ferry terminal. We met our other dive buddy (Ken L.) at the terminal. First thing I noticed was the massive amount of gear. We had three large roller suitcases for the scooters, one large gear suitcase, one X-scooter without a case (it's case was fulll of back-up batteries for all three scooters), three large gear bags and three HP130's. We strapped the HP130's to our backplates, grabbed the rollers and managed to get everything onto the ferry in one trip.
There were only a handful of people on the ferry (capacity ~ 80 people), and no other divers. The ferry ticket office said that they would likely cancel the later trips due to the high winds. After a 1 hr boat trip in 5' seas and a short taxi ride, we arrived at the dive park. There were about 20 divers, in a place which typically has hundreds. The seas were a little calmer this close to the island, but still it was 3' rollers crashing over the concrete steps and rocks at the entry point. Definitely a big change from Gulf waves, but as a previous graduate of the HBDiveGirl Surf Entry School I was well prepared.
After a quick course in scooter operation, we geared up and hit the water. We all splashed in without incident. We descended and scootered off. The scooter definitely added task loading, and I was having issues w/ the 21 lbs of lead on my weight belt and the anatomical problems of having no hips
Buoyancy control on a scooter is also more tricky. You can quickly descend and as long as you're moving there's no issue. However, as soon as you stop you'll sink like a rock unless you add air while you are scootering. I want one bad, but you really need someone else with one as well, so I guess it will have to wait until I save up the $$ and find some local Tampa divers who have scooters.
You might wonder why so much lead? The water was a toasty warm 57F, so I was wearing a 7mm full suit and a 5mm hooded vest. I'm very cold tolerant, so this was no big deal to me, but it's definitely not for everyone.
Our first dive was 56 minutes long, with a max depth of 82'. We scootered through kelp forests, stopping at various places along the way to sight see. Saw garibaldi, octopus, sheephead, lobster and schools of large calico bass. This is a no hunting zone, so there's a ton of life. The dive park is not super large (size of a few football fields), but there's several sunken boats, a large sunken swim platform and several other structures, including a Jacques Cousteau plaque. Vis was 30-40'.
We surfaced back at the steps, to find conditions had continued to deteriorate. We managed to all make successful surf exits and headed to the dockside cafe for lunch. The wind was really picking up, anything that wasn't anchored on the table (plates, napkins, cups, etc.) was blown into the next county.
We decided to do a second dive, but to leave the scooters topside due to the conditions. I switched to Ken's weight belt, which stayed on my waist much better. I also dropped 3 lbs of lead. I was much happier with my trim and buoyancy, looking more like the rest of my experienced team. The diver population had continued to shrink, with only a handful of divers around when we started our second dive. The second dive we headed to the large swim platform to see more octopus, a few nudibranchs and more calico bass. We than swam to a large sunken sailboat with a swell shark sleeping under the keel. We did some more swimming through the giant kelp forests and headed back to the steps. Max depth was 75', temp was 56F, dive time was 53 minutes and vis decreased to 20-25'. We arrived back at the steps where the surf was still 3'+ and wind was whipping.
We all managed to make safe exits, and got the thumbs up from a couple instructors who were hanging out at the top of the steps to watch the fun. We saw lots of other people being tossed and rolled, and one diver who had to be tended to by the paramedics for a separated shoulder after being flung into the steps by the heavy surf.
As we dried off, we got notified that the 3:30 ferry was going to be the last boat off the island. It was a little after 2PM, so we quickly packed up the gear and headed to the ferry terminal. At the terminal, there were 100+ people waiting, and the ticket office told us the boat was full. After some effective pleading from Claudette, we managed to get on the boat anyway.
Then the fun began! Claudette called it a combination between being on a roller coaster and going through the car wash, it reminded me of scenes from "The Deadliest Catch" or "A Perfect Storm". The waves were easily 10'+, the tops of the waves were being blown off into heavy spray and the windows of the ferry were continuously awash with tons of water. Claudette said it was the worst conditions she had ever seen. I made it through about 30 minutes of the trip before depositing my lunch in the nearest trash can and spending the rest of the 1.25 hr ride standing up in the back by the restrooms with a pretty pale green complexion
We made it safely back to the terminal, off loaded all the gear and Claudette dropped me off at the hotel. I rinsed off my gear in the hotel bathtub and then had a wonderful dinner at a local Cuban restaurant with Claudette and her family.
It was a great way to end the dry spell, diving with excellent team members in a great dive location. I'm stuck in Phx next week, but looking forward to getting back to FL and ramping up my dive frequency w/ my Tampa buds in preparation for a cavern course.
See Ya Soon!
John
I had made plans with HBDiveGirl (Claudette) to do a 4 tank boat dive to Anacapa on Sunday. This was my 3rd SoCal trip and going to be my first SoCal boat dives. Unfortunately, the weather gods intervened and 35 knot winds blew away the boat dive as well as all the shore dives we had planned. Shore diving in SoCal is so cool! You walk out through the surf and can be in 50-100' water a short distance off shore.
HB, being the local expert, determined that the only possible chance would be the Casino Point Dive Park on Catalina Island. So we decided to catch the 7AM ferry Saturday for the 1 hr ride to the island. She had also managed to round up two extra X-scooters (big thanks to Mo2vation), so we had three scooters charged and ready to go. This was to be my first scooter dive!
Claudette picked me up at the hotel at 6AM and we headed to the ferry terminal. We met our other dive buddy (Ken L.) at the terminal. First thing I noticed was the massive amount of gear. We had three large roller suitcases for the scooters, one large gear suitcase, one X-scooter without a case (it's case was fulll of back-up batteries for all three scooters), three large gear bags and three HP130's. We strapped the HP130's to our backplates, grabbed the rollers and managed to get everything onto the ferry in one trip.
There were only a handful of people on the ferry (capacity ~ 80 people), and no other divers. The ferry ticket office said that they would likely cancel the later trips due to the high winds. After a 1 hr boat trip in 5' seas and a short taxi ride, we arrived at the dive park. There were about 20 divers, in a place which typically has hundreds. The seas were a little calmer this close to the island, but still it was 3' rollers crashing over the concrete steps and rocks at the entry point. Definitely a big change from Gulf waves, but as a previous graduate of the HBDiveGirl Surf Entry School I was well prepared.
After a quick course in scooter operation, we geared up and hit the water. We all splashed in without incident. We descended and scootered off. The scooter definitely added task loading, and I was having issues w/ the 21 lbs of lead on my weight belt and the anatomical problems of having no hips
Buoyancy control on a scooter is also more tricky. You can quickly descend and as long as you're moving there's no issue. However, as soon as you stop you'll sink like a rock unless you add air while you are scootering. I want one bad, but you really need someone else with one as well, so I guess it will have to wait until I save up the $$ and find some local Tampa divers who have scooters.You might wonder why so much lead? The water was a toasty warm 57F, so I was wearing a 7mm full suit and a 5mm hooded vest. I'm very cold tolerant, so this was no big deal to me, but it's definitely not for everyone.
Our first dive was 56 minutes long, with a max depth of 82'. We scootered through kelp forests, stopping at various places along the way to sight see. Saw garibaldi, octopus, sheephead, lobster and schools of large calico bass. This is a no hunting zone, so there's a ton of life. The dive park is not super large (size of a few football fields), but there's several sunken boats, a large sunken swim platform and several other structures, including a Jacques Cousteau plaque. Vis was 30-40'.
We surfaced back at the steps, to find conditions had continued to deteriorate. We managed to all make successful surf exits and headed to the dockside cafe for lunch. The wind was really picking up, anything that wasn't anchored on the table (plates, napkins, cups, etc.) was blown into the next county.
We decided to do a second dive, but to leave the scooters topside due to the conditions. I switched to Ken's weight belt, which stayed on my waist much better. I also dropped 3 lbs of lead. I was much happier with my trim and buoyancy, looking more like the rest of my experienced team. The diver population had continued to shrink, with only a handful of divers around when we started our second dive. The second dive we headed to the large swim platform to see more octopus, a few nudibranchs and more calico bass. We than swam to a large sunken sailboat with a swell shark sleeping under the keel. We did some more swimming through the giant kelp forests and headed back to the steps. Max depth was 75', temp was 56F, dive time was 53 minutes and vis decreased to 20-25'. We arrived back at the steps where the surf was still 3'+ and wind was whipping.
We all managed to make safe exits, and got the thumbs up from a couple instructors who were hanging out at the top of the steps to watch the fun. We saw lots of other people being tossed and rolled, and one diver who had to be tended to by the paramedics for a separated shoulder after being flung into the steps by the heavy surf.
As we dried off, we got notified that the 3:30 ferry was going to be the last boat off the island. It was a little after 2PM, so we quickly packed up the gear and headed to the ferry terminal. At the terminal, there were 100+ people waiting, and the ticket office told us the boat was full. After some effective pleading from Claudette, we managed to get on the boat anyway.
Then the fun began! Claudette called it a combination between being on a roller coaster and going through the car wash, it reminded me of scenes from "The Deadliest Catch" or "A Perfect Storm". The waves were easily 10'+, the tops of the waves were being blown off into heavy spray and the windows of the ferry were continuously awash with tons of water. Claudette said it was the worst conditions she had ever seen. I made it through about 30 minutes of the trip before depositing my lunch in the nearest trash can and spending the rest of the 1.25 hr ride standing up in the back by the restrooms with a pretty pale green complexion
We made it safely back to the terminal, off loaded all the gear and Claudette dropped me off at the hotel. I rinsed off my gear in the hotel bathtub and then had a wonderful dinner at a local Cuban restaurant with Claudette and her family.
It was a great way to end the dry spell, diving with excellent team members in a great dive location. I'm stuck in Phx next week, but looking forward to getting back to FL and ramping up my dive frequency w/ my Tampa buds in preparation for a cavern course.
See Ya Soon!
John
