fobturbo
Contributor
Today, I hit the big five-oh. Yes I know it's a relatively small number in comparison to others, but still a milestone for me. Most of the dives were racked up this year, and in some of the dives I definitely have a better grasp of exactly how much I don't know.
Earlier this year, I decided that I wanted to make PADI Master Diver (go ahead and scoff). With just under half of the necessary dives and almost half of the specialties racked up, I figured this would be doable. As the year draws to a close, I did not meet this goal. The only thing I'm lacking is the Rescue course. And the only reason is because I decided to wait for my preferred instructor to teach it again in mid January. Once I do get it though, I will definitely add it to my ever growing card collection.
I want to give Kristina a big thank you for taking me to Pt. Lobos today for my first time. Definitely special to me as I racked #50 & #51. Even a pair of dolphins came to say hello briefly, before they disappeared. Perhaps they overheard some divers from Anywater Sports talking about spear fishing in the area and decided to flee? Being a protected area, the sealife there is soooooooo abundant. At times there was so much of it competing for attention, it was almost overwhelming, and that's before adding in the krill that was even more abundant than the non-scented Tide foam at the surface.
The dreaded boat ramp I had heard so much about was nothing like the stuff of my nightmares. This would be because it had been hosed earlier, that and it was high tide. The water did look like someone had poured Tide in with a big patch of foam in the area, too bad it didn't leave a nice fresh scent on all of my gear.
I met Michelle & Paula for the first time today before our 1st dive. They gave us a good description on how to get to middle reef, but I think amongst the talk about (leopard?) sharks hanging out in the sandy area just east of Middle Reef and trying to find Itchy & Scratchy, Kristina and I meandered our way just outside of Middle Reef. The surge was definitely there, getting tossed around like were in a washing machine (again no fresh scent afterwards). After 58 minutes of searching and not finding any sharks nor Itchy & Scratchy, we end the dive. As we hit the surface, we see that Michelle, Paula and others are off on their first dive. Swimming on our backs, Kristina makes it towards the ramp, gets her fins off and walks up without trouble. Being myself, I take a nice wide pattern, zigging and zagging every direction but straight towards the ramp. I finally get close to the ramp and prepare to take off my fins, only my primary isn't in my hand and I don't feel like searching for it (lazy). Luckily, I know my octo is bungied around my neck and grab it without issue. The next 5 minutes I do my routine impression of a beached whale in distress, rolling and thrashing (and adding to the already abundant foam) as I try to get my fins off. I swear, once my boots are in my fins, it's as if they never want to become separated and are a PITA to take off.
Up in the parkinglot, I got to meet Brewski and wifey (sorry, I forgot your name, though the way you telling Brewski to get you your spare batteries, shall I start referring you to Brewski's boss? as they were talking about yesterday's happenings, I hear the (nearly always applicable) great advice of keep your regulator in your mouth no matter what.
After some more chatting and joking around, Kristina and I decided to follow the West wall out as it offered more protection from the surge. This turned out to be the better of the two dives (for me anyways). Surge is there, but it wasn't nearly as bad, and was almost enjoyable. Time it right, you can spread your arms out like wings and get pushed forward like you're flying, only not really. Along the way our, we did see what I believe to be a lingcod big enough to do some hurtin to either one of us if it wanted to. It was just sitting there almost vertical on a boulder. We were so pre-occupied looking for nudi's that we almost missed it. There was a bit of a harrowing moment--after we got separated, we surfaced and discovered we were just outside of the two large rocks. We decide to start heading back on the surface, but the waves were a bit big and the rocks were bit more solid than my head than I would like, so we decide descend and try our luck. It was better, only the surge kicked up lots of bubbles and once again we got separated. As I was trying to make my way back, I had to put one hand on my reg, and my other forearm in front of my face (I don't like it when things are harder than my head) lest I run the risk of getting a few more bumps on me noggin. After surfacing and meeting up with Kristina we made our way back to the ramp. And in my true fashion, I take the "scenic route" to the ramp, though this time I made sure to hold onto my primary, even when I wasn't using it.
Apparently, Kristina wasn't happy with a pair of (already broken in) paddle fins that she won at a gift exchanged, and when she found another (single) one, she wanted to pose with her prize:
With such a highlight, I may hang up my fins for a bit, and enjoy the snow season. Looking forward to next year, I may go to the dark side, and try my hand at warm water diving, if I do, pray I don't start complaining that I feel naked with out a drysuit/7mm wetsuit
Earlier this year, I decided that I wanted to make PADI Master Diver (go ahead and scoff). With just under half of the necessary dives and almost half of the specialties racked up, I figured this would be doable. As the year draws to a close, I did not meet this goal. The only thing I'm lacking is the Rescue course. And the only reason is because I decided to wait for my preferred instructor to teach it again in mid January. Once I do get it though, I will definitely add it to my ever growing card collection.
I want to give Kristina a big thank you for taking me to Pt. Lobos today for my first time. Definitely special to me as I racked #50 & #51. Even a pair of dolphins came to say hello briefly, before they disappeared. Perhaps they overheard some divers from Anywater Sports talking about spear fishing in the area and decided to flee? Being a protected area, the sealife there is soooooooo abundant. At times there was so much of it competing for attention, it was almost overwhelming, and that's before adding in the krill that was even more abundant than the non-scented Tide foam at the surface.
The dreaded boat ramp I had heard so much about was nothing like the stuff of my nightmares. This would be because it had been hosed earlier, that and it was high tide. The water did look like someone had poured Tide in with a big patch of foam in the area, too bad it didn't leave a nice fresh scent on all of my gear.
I met Michelle & Paula for the first time today before our 1st dive. They gave us a good description on how to get to middle reef, but I think amongst the talk about (leopard?) sharks hanging out in the sandy area just east of Middle Reef and trying to find Itchy & Scratchy, Kristina and I meandered our way just outside of Middle Reef. The surge was definitely there, getting tossed around like were in a washing machine (again no fresh scent afterwards). After 58 minutes of searching and not finding any sharks nor Itchy & Scratchy, we end the dive. As we hit the surface, we see that Michelle, Paula and others are off on their first dive. Swimming on our backs, Kristina makes it towards the ramp, gets her fins off and walks up without trouble. Being myself, I take a nice wide pattern, zigging and zagging every direction but straight towards the ramp. I finally get close to the ramp and prepare to take off my fins, only my primary isn't in my hand and I don't feel like searching for it (lazy). Luckily, I know my octo is bungied around my neck and grab it without issue. The next 5 minutes I do my routine impression of a beached whale in distress, rolling and thrashing (and adding to the already abundant foam) as I try to get my fins off. I swear, once my boots are in my fins, it's as if they never want to become separated and are a PITA to take off.
Up in the parkinglot, I got to meet Brewski and wifey (sorry, I forgot your name, though the way you telling Brewski to get you your spare batteries, shall I start referring you to Brewski's boss? as they were talking about yesterday's happenings, I hear the (nearly always applicable) great advice of keep your regulator in your mouth no matter what.
After some more chatting and joking around, Kristina and I decided to follow the West wall out as it offered more protection from the surge. This turned out to be the better of the two dives (for me anyways). Surge is there, but it wasn't nearly as bad, and was almost enjoyable. Time it right, you can spread your arms out like wings and get pushed forward like you're flying, only not really. Along the way our, we did see what I believe to be a lingcod big enough to do some hurtin to either one of us if it wanted to. It was just sitting there almost vertical on a boulder. We were so pre-occupied looking for nudi's that we almost missed it. There was a bit of a harrowing moment--after we got separated, we surfaced and discovered we were just outside of the two large rocks. We decide to start heading back on the surface, but the waves were a bit big and the rocks were bit more solid than my head than I would like, so we decide descend and try our luck. It was better, only the surge kicked up lots of bubbles and once again we got separated. As I was trying to make my way back, I had to put one hand on my reg, and my other forearm in front of my face (I don't like it when things are harder than my head) lest I run the risk of getting a few more bumps on me noggin. After surfacing and meeting up with Kristina we made our way back to the ramp. And in my true fashion, I take the "scenic route" to the ramp, though this time I made sure to hold onto my primary, even when I wasn't using it.
Apparently, Kristina wasn't happy with a pair of (already broken in) paddle fins that she won at a gift exchanged, and when she found another (single) one, she wanted to pose with her prize:
With such a highlight, I may hang up my fins for a bit, and enjoy the snow season. Looking forward to next year, I may go to the dark side, and try my hand at warm water diving, if I do, pray I don't start complaining that I feel naked with out a drysuit/7mm wetsuit
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