Sorry I missed you Jamie and-- quite possibly Rick too!--
I got to Deercreek at 7:15 and it was nasty, but I really wanted to get a dive in so I headed to the next dive site south; 40000 PCH-- parking lot full of surfers; primarily because of the surf. I headed down to Leo, the south bay of Leo being my last chance-- Eureka! Although it had a bunch of surfers, the waves were ankle-slappers! Also, the tide was high, so I wouldn't have to scramble across the rocks, but enter rather leisurely and swim out past these obviously misinformed surfers. It seemed like a good, sound idea coming from a keen site evaluation; surf mild, kelp up, water not too churned up. I donned my suit and walk past a dozen cars back to the wooden staircase. As I gazed out at ocean, a big set of 4'-5' waves came in! I waited for a break and was able to get quickly get out without incident, but as I dropped down to 17', the water went from murky to dark. The kind of dark that a kick-ass halogen light doesn't dent. I struggled to see the rock formations that the surge raced me towards, and as I bounced off one laden with sea urchins, I decided that the nagging thing that was bothering me topside was the fact that THIS WAS A STUPID IDEA! I surfaced and swam back in-- proverbial tail between my legs as nearby surfers glanced at me quizzically.... On the positive side, the surface swim is a great workout for the legs! But you still have to wash your gear even if your bottom time doesn't break two minutes!.... Hope to see you guys soon1
I got to Deercreek at 7:15 and it was nasty, but I really wanted to get a dive in so I headed to the next dive site south; 40000 PCH-- parking lot full of surfers; primarily because of the surf. I headed down to Leo, the south bay of Leo being my last chance-- Eureka! Although it had a bunch of surfers, the waves were ankle-slappers! Also, the tide was high, so I wouldn't have to scramble across the rocks, but enter rather leisurely and swim out past these obviously misinformed surfers. It seemed like a good, sound idea coming from a keen site evaluation; surf mild, kelp up, water not too churned up. I donned my suit and walk past a dozen cars back to the wooden staircase. As I gazed out at ocean, a big set of 4'-5' waves came in! I waited for a break and was able to get quickly get out without incident, but as I dropped down to 17', the water went from murky to dark. The kind of dark that a kick-ass halogen light doesn't dent. I struggled to see the rock formations that the surge raced me towards, and as I bounced off one laden with sea urchins, I decided that the nagging thing that was bothering me topside was the fact that THIS WAS A STUPID IDEA! I surfaced and swam back in-- proverbial tail between my legs as nearby surfers glanced at me quizzically.... On the positive side, the surface swim is a great workout for the legs! But you still have to wash your gear even if your bottom time doesn't break two minutes!.... Hope to see you guys soon1
You need to log that dive. It could be worth a snorkel at one of our picnics.
