July '05 Dive Reports

[ChrisM]

Date: 7/20/05
Dive Location: Vet's
Time: 7 ish
Bottom Time: 42:00
Max Depth: 91
Vis: 20
Wave height: 0
Temp at depth: 55
Surface Temp: warm

Comments:
Dove with Frank O. Descended into green pea soup that cleared exactly at 40 feet to 20 foot viz. Clouded up again below 70 or so to 10 feet. Headed down to 80 feet and turned south. Due south takes you down to 91 feet then back up to 70 or so..... ALl the usual critters at the bottom, octos, flatties, crabs, target shrimp, no fringeheads though .

Headed northeast at about 25 minutes. Going up the slope is my favorite part of this dive site, everyehwere you look is some animal... decorator crabs, cusk eels, swimming crabs, bay pipefish, globe crabs. Hit the sandy ledge an the rays came out. Round rays, lots of thornbacks (Including the biggest one I've ever seen, tail was easily 3 inch circumference), and baby bat rays, LOVE the baby bat rays.

Coming up, vis was good from 60 to 40 or so, then we got hit by a red tide that only lasted until about 30 feet, but it was very weird, almost like smoke, you could see the tendrils of it as it came through, it wasn't a solid wall of red tide.....Great dive

Lots of folks hanging out in Redondo these summer evenings. Parking lot was packed

Chris

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Veteran's Park/Redondo Canyon
Splash: 7:45 PM
Surface temp: 70F
Temp 45-65fsw: 54F (Aeris)
Max depth: 65fsw
Run time: 41 minutes
Surf: 1 foot heavy surface chop, but gentle.
Gas: Redondo air 21%

Canyon was fun tonight...Sue and Jeff were wonderful watery playmates on a beautiful SoCal evening. Splashed in around 7:45 pm (with many thanks to DrySuitGreg for a much-needed weight belt for our group.) Viz on the sandy shelf was the dismal 3-4 feet everyone said, but what a difference 16 degrees F makes! From 70 to 54 F and ...poof..."It's a miracle! I can seeeeee!" AND I had Ross's HID light so I finned across the sea floor like the Sungod Apollo, bringing light to a darkening world!!! OMG....there's nothing quite like a big-$ flashlight....Thanks, Ross! You've spoiled me completely!
5 octopus (one that jetted off and parachuted down with cape spread out), juvenile scorpion fish and a couple of adults, some Hermissenda but fewer than before. Eggs of many nudi's and navernax. Three of the weirdest nudibranchs....2 - 2.5 inches long, orange, fat/chaotic orange cerata of all sizes covering the entire back, tips of many cerata were sort of hairy/fuzzy orange. Couldn't make out the shape of the rhinophores or gills...three of these guys/gals were within inches of each other in kelp debris at 60fsw. 15-inch horn shark in 12fsw just sat there and looked at us looking at him/her. Many little decorator crabs and 4 kelp crabs with the clean reddish shield-shaped bodies. We all stuck together nicely coming in through the rusty red shallows (bound together in worship of the almighty LIGHT!!!....) and exited after dark. Very pretty warm night and at least 25 gregarious divers in the parking lot.
It finally feels like summer is HERE!
Have a great weekend underwater, everyone!
Claudette

 

[HBDiveGirl]

July 22, 2005
Marineland, Cobble beach, HeadHunter Reef
Splash: 7:45 AM
Depth: 51fsw
Run time: 1hour, 5 minutes
Deep temp: 52F (Aeris)
Gas: 21%

Blue sky at dawn, flat aqua ocean, dreaming of driving to Marineland and finding the gate open and an eager Frank-O already in the parking lot at 6:50 AM. Seemed to gear up to the orchestral music of mocking birds in the empty parking lot. I looked down to see an HID light clipped to my gear…I must be dreaming! My retinas tingled in anticipation of the brilliant-hued, high-res delights awaiting them. Dreamily, we walked into still, turquoise water, dolphin slipping through the seas at Cobble beach. Accurately re-creating the inshore 5-foot viz, I dreamed we descended and hung a left at Phil’s line. I must have been snoring because I could almost hear and feel the air rushing through a regulator as time shifted aside and we dream-finned down the line until it began to rise up off the sea-penned sand…rising to nothing visible…just levitating…. Then the crosses and abundant life: Freeze-framed Sculpin, Rainbow perch, senoritas, ghost and blue-banded gobies, painted greenlings, sand bass lurking through the shadows within. My sleeping imagination packed the platform with kelp, masking crabs with brown-sponge and multi-colored-corynactis pelts, a decorator crab clutching a Stearns Aeolid nudibranch in its tiny right claw, Nudibranchs (Spanish shawl, Doriopsilla albopunctata on the sand, Facelina stearnsi over-running a corner post (12 at least!), Sea lemon (2.5 inch adult and a tiny half-inch pup), Aplysia calilfornica) and nudibranch eggs (all kinds, including a roseate curl with a 1/4inch aeolid-nudibranch pup in the center of the ‘flower’). In-between were sponges, hydroids, barnacles, bryozoans. Frank-O and I circled, crossed, and threaded our way around Headhunter Reef to our eyes’ delight. I even dreamed it was a cold 52F in July! Thankfully, I also dreamed the drysuit…(Frank, you are tough!) We sleep-finned back up the line to the beach, but nightmares lurked on the edge of sleep as we bounced around a bit until the surf finally spit us out on the cobbles. Silence still wrapped the parking lot…Ah, the magic of beautiful dreams.

It all felt so real I had to wash my gear and re-fill my tank…hmmmm……

Thank you, Frank! What a Fabulous Friday Phantasm!



I can hardly wait to see what I dream tomorrow!!
Claudette

 

[Frank O]

nudibranch eggs (all kinds, including a roseate curl with a 1/4inch aeolid-nudibranch pup in the center of the 'flower').

That must've been this guy ...

What do you reckon that was, a tiny little Facelina?

I'll have to check out the rest of the pics later ...

Great way to start a Friday!

 

[pasley]

Date:23 July 05
Dive Location: Crescent Bay, Laguna Beach CA
Time: 11:30
Bottom Time:0.00
Max Depth: 1 foot
Vis: 4-6 feet
Wave height:4-6 feet
Temp at depth: Unknown
Surface Temp: Unknown, felt warm like about 62 or so.
Tide information: High tide around 12:00 4.6 feet or so.
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments: I Arrived about 0900 at the beach and checked conditions. Waves were high at the usual entrance (north) and not too bad (2-3 feet) on the south end. Then I went to Laguna Sea Sports and met up with three dive buddies from Ft. Irwin. One elected to not dive today. So the other two rented their gear. During this process, Laguna Sea Sports announced they had moved to a YELLOW FLAG and were talking about a potential RED Flag later in the day. Moved to Crescent Bay and found parking...eventually (I had left my car there earlier and walked to Laguna Sea Sports).We went and checked the beach and it was still divable, but marginal *4 ft waves) given the experience level of my dive buddies. They were ok with it so out we went. Everyone did an acceptable entry and no one got tumbled. But by now the occasional 6 footer or larger were coming in and the surface was washing machine chop. We got off shore about 30 yards or so and tried to go down. My two companions were not correctly weighted and the rental equipment continued to malfunction with the regulators or octopus sticking and hissing when a wave would slap it. So after a few minutes of this, I thumbed the dive. Teh exit was just about as good as the entry, with one of my partners opting to do the fins on exit. He was rewarded with getting knocked down in about 8 inches of water. We returned their equipment and headed for Cocos in Newport Beach for a late lunch. Still a great day. There will be other days to go diving.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I just wanted to thank Sean, Terry, John, Tyler and Claudette for sharing a wonderful day in La Jolla. Only one of my pictures came out at all, but it is a cool little juvenile Wolfeel. We also found a few large male Sheephead, a couple of nice halibut and an adult Wolfeel as well. I'll write a full report tomorrow morning.

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

Thanks for the dives Phil, Terry, Claudette, and Tyler! We hit the South, East and North walls in 3 dives: the Cabezon Cruiser, the Secret Garden, and the Way North wall. The vis wasn't the best, but we saw some cool stuff! The big sheephead were out in force today!

Here are my wolf pics:

http://gallery.scubapost.net/d/27268-2/shores07232005-0144.jpg

http://gallery.scubapost.net/d/27283-2/shores07232005-0154.jpg

album: http://gallery.scubapost.net/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=27157&g2_page=1&g2_navId=xf47bb243

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Date: July 23, 2005
Dive Location: Cabezon Cruiser, La Jolla Shores
Time: 9:03
Bottom Time: 43 minutes
Max Depth: 141
Vis: 10-12'
Wave height: 1-4'
Temp at depth: 52F
Surface Temp: Boiling in a drysuit, 70F+
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments: Claudette and I made it down to La Jolla Shores
http://divebums.com/DiveSites/shores.html#anchor187818
for three very fun dives yesterday. After a short tour of the city of La Jolla we managed to snag a premium parking spot right next to the lifeguard's parking spaces. Sean, Terry, Tyler and John welcomed us with donuts and goofy hats, then we suited up and trudged down to the water. We made it a point to avoid the surfers in the middle of the beach, as well as the waves they were riding. We even managed to make three dives without getting knocked down once! After a short surface swim we dropped down near the Cabezon Cruiser where we enjoyed the company of some very nice sized Sheephead. We also spotted an egg yolk jelly, three foot halibut and a few nudis here and there. The San Diego Boys apologized for the poor conditions, but Claudette and I were thrilled after so many dives in red tide the past two months.

Date: July 23, 2005
Dive Location: Secret Gardens, La Jolla Shores
Time: 11:44
Bottom Time: 46 minutes
Max Depth: 113
Vis: 10-12'
Wave height: 1-4'
Temp at depth: 52F
Surface Temp: Boiling in a drysuit, 70F+
Gas mix: Air (21%)

Comments: After bidding farewell to John (Krowsea) who had to go sailing the rest of the group headed out to the Secret Gardens. We dropped down near a dead seal and enjoyed the multitude of nudibranchs and blennies along the slope. Cruising along the flat sandy bottom on the way in we startled several small stingrays that were very well camouflaged in the sand.

Date: July 23, 2005
Dive Location: Way North Wall, or somewhere nearby, La Jolla Shores
Time: 3:35
Bottom Time: One hour
Max Depth: 83'
Vis: 10'
Wave height: 1-4'
Temp at depth: 52F
Surface Temp: Boiling in a drysuit, 70F+
Gas mix: Air (21%)

Comments: After lunch we headed back out in the now smaller surf and afternoon winds. The vis was down a bit, but the two Wolfeels we found more than made up for that. We dropped down almost on top of the Juvenile wolfie sitting out in the sand all by himself. He seemed to enjoy the three cameras flashing and HIDs light him up. After the photo shoot, he swam right up to Terry and Sean. We swam out a little deeper and were treated to a large adult Wolfeel hiding in an undisclosed location. Divers love to keep secrets.
All in all, a very fun day. NOw I need to wash gear, take a back pill and get some rest. Double 120s were not designed with beach diving in mind.

 

[alaity47]

Date:23 July 05
Dive Location: Shaw's Cove, Laguna Beach CA
Time: 10:00
Bottom Time: 0:45
Max Depth: 52'
Vis: 5-8'
Wave height: 2-4'
Temp at depth: 58
Description:

Our dive club originally scheduled a dive at Wood's Cove. While my carpool was en route, we got a call from someone who'd beaten us there saying Wood's was getting 7 footers, so we decided to go check out Shaw's instead. Shaw's seemed totally do-able - mostly 2/3 footers, lots of time between waves, with only the occasional 4 footer. I'm still a surf entry weenie, working hard to get over my wave-phobia, so I was happy with the conditions: easy enough not to freak me out, but with enough action to give me a little practice.

I did have a bit of a weird experience going in. I made it through the break just fine, got my fins on and paddled out a bit. All this time, I was wearing a HydroOptix mask that still had defog smeared all over the inside - I generally find it easiest to wear it through the surf zone all gooey, and then rinse it in clearer water past the surf. Between the heat, surf, blurry vision, and discomfort that is a neaoprene hood, I suddenly found myself VERY QUEASY. I actually threw up (right in front of my buddy - sorry, dude). Now, I do get seasick on boats, but this has never happened to me on a surf entry - and a pretty easy one at that!

I pulled off the mask and handed it to my buddy while I tugged at my neck to let in some cool water, and after a few minutes cooling down and resting I felt fine and we went on with the dive. There was some pretty good surge at spots, and by the time we surfaced later the chop was really going, but I never felt sick again. Anyone else had this kind of experience?

Anyway, the dive itself was plenty of fun. My photographer husband wouldn't have been impressed, but I had a great time cruising around the reef with my non-photog buddy for the day! We went all the way through a crevice (slightly deeper than The Crevice, which was too washing-machine-esque), and then looped back around the deep end of Shaw's, before making our way back to shore along the sand. Saw an enormous purple jellyfish dead on the bottom, tons of fish (including an area covered with garibaldi "thumping" at each other), octopus, and startled up about half a dozen different flatfish on our way across the sand. I saw at least 2 halibut, a sole, and a couple of little skates; very fun!

The surf seemed to be picking up, and the current conspired to push us towards the rocks, so I was feeling a little nervous about exiting. The great thing about getting OUT of the water is: you don't have a choice! I can't let my fear of surf scare me out of trying. Despite my qualms, exit was totally uneventul - I walked right out, bracing myself against a few medium sized waves, but did totally fine. I'm slowly getting to the realization that it's just NOT THAT SCARY, despite memories of nasty tumbles during OW certification (tip to instructors: don't take newbie divers into 5-6' surf unless you want to scare them off beach diving for years).

You guys will make a beach diver out of me yet.

 

[scubainspired]

July 23, 2005
Marineland, Cobble beach


Dive 1

Splash: 10:05 AM
Depth: 21'
Run time: 51min
Deep temp: 58

Vis. 10 - 15



Dive 2

Splash: 12:20 AM
Depth: 20'
Run time: 56 min
Deep temp: 59

Vis. 10 - 15



CaptainMarvel and I had a couple of pleasant dives in the shallows of Marineland. This was the first time here for both of us, so we basically went off of So. Ca. Best Dive Sites map. We kick out past the second rock took a compass heading at 230 deg and dropped down. There was a 3' surge and some particles. On our second dive we saw a large Scorpion Fish and found a rock we three Octopus chilling in one of the crevasses.

It was a great day for diving and I definitely want t hit this spot again. Thanks Scott will have to explore some more in a couple weeks!