July '05 Dive Reports

[pasley]

Date: Sun July 3, 2005
...Still, I had a blast! (I *gotta* dive more!)

Paul Trivino

Paul,
Yes you do need to dive more. Living in SD and not diving every week could be a criminal offense! Dereliction of self interest!

This is a common crime occurring daily in Southern California. Too busy to exercise, run, walk, take stairs or SCUBA dive. You have got to take care of you and that means a dive a week or more. Living in a dive paradise like SoCal and not diving! Why that is just criminal!

Thanks for posting and get wet more.

 

[scubacalifornia]

Date: Monday, 7/4/05
Time: 7:17 AM
Dive Location: Laguna Beach / Shaw's Cove
Buddy: Ron Hawkins
Bottom Time: 72 minutes
Max Depth: 48'
Viz: 15'
Wave height: 0-1'
Surge: none
Temp at depth: 52 degrees Suunto
Surface Temp: 55 degrees Suunto

Big drop in the red tide from yesterday, nice viz throughout the dive but still too cold for this So Cal native. Crashed a garibaldi festival halfway through the crevice, found a sheep crab with my face for the second day in a row, and ended the dive with blue toes. Just another good day of diving.

Kevin

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Date:July 4th
Dive Location: Marineland
Time: 9:34
Bottom Time: 1:25
Max Depth: 51'
Vis: 10'
Wave height: 1'
Temp at depth: 50F
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments:Went on a nudibranch hunt this morning. Not the HBDiveGirl kind of nudi hunt. I just wanted pictures. I dropped off Drysuit Greg's team at the line and waited for Jeff and Sue Shaw to join me. They decided to head to the East reef instead. I hate you guys.
I'm glad they didn't follow me. It was cold at 50F, but even colder when you are staying in one place for a long time trying out different settings on your camera. At one point I was actually shivering in a drysuit. My fingers were nearly too numb to press the shutter. I found 17 different species of nudibranch, but only got decent shots of a few. After an hour and fifteen minutes in the fridge I decided to spend my remaining bottom time swimming to warm up. I headed across the sand, hoping to find batrays. No luck there, but as I was exiting at the cove I found an egg yolk jelly five feet from shore. I shot off several shots, but when I got home I found that I still had the camera set for macro and ambient light at fifty feet. I did manage to get a shot of the Popeye Maru anchored out by the platform. Hopefully Jim Lyle will post some great shots later.

More images from today at http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/1050

 

[ScubaBones]

Date: 07/02/2005
Dive Location: General Sherman Wreck, Myrtle Beach, S.C. (x2)
Time: 8:50 AM / 10:10 AM
Bottom Time: :28 / :23
Max Depth: 48 feet
Vis: 10 feet
Wave height: 1 foot
Temp at depth: 76F
Surface Temp: 83F
Gas mix: EAN (33%)
Comments:
This was my first ocean dive. The dive boat was carrying about 14 people, 4 of which ended up too seasick to dive.
I arrived solo, and was assigned a dive buddy, but my buddy ended up to be one of the sick ones. So I had to quickly dive and and catch up to a group that just went under.
This was my first dive without a hood, and I loved it! 77 degrees at depth was about 22 degrees warmer than anything I've done so far.
There wasn't much to see on this wreck, and I was pretty disappointed. I would probably not make this dive again.

My 2nd dive, as soon as my head went under, my mask flooded. I cleared it, and it flooded immediately. I had to surface and return to the boat. Inspecting my mask, the Dive Master discovered where the left lens had somehow separated from the mask. Luckily they had a spare onboard and I was able to continue my dive.

Total Time - Left dock at 6:45 AM, returned 12:45 PM.
Total Cost - $67 for the dive, plus $24 for the Nitrox. $91.00

 

[alaity47]

Date: Monday, 7/4/05
Time: 7:30 AM
Dive Location: Laguna Beach / Shaw's Cove
Buddy: Jeff Laity
Bottom Time: 0:50
Max Depth: 25'
Viz: 5-15'
Wave height: 0-1'
Surge: 0-1'
Temp at depth: 52
Surface Temp: 54

I love the ankleslappers, but BRRRR!

My husband and I decided at the last minute yesterday to pick up a couple of tanks, and try to beat the July 4th beach rush down to Laguna for a dive this am. We were pleased at the easy entry (I'm a beach wimp, and Jeff was sporting his precious D-Rebel), but a little bummed that Saturday's clear conditions didn't last! It was pretty brown at the surface, clearing up to about 10 feet or more when you hit the thermocline at 15' or so. Did I mention, BRRR? My hyperstretch 7/5 can't keep up with these temperatures, especially since I don't get to move around very much when Jeff's sitting still taking photos!

We poked around in the crevice for a while, which was nice and calm - but sadly, murky. Startled an octopus who was chilling out in the middle of the sand about halfway into the crevice. Saw plenty of sand bass, some painted greenlings, a tiny catalina triopha nudi, and a bunch of Hopkin's Rose nudis; the first time I'd seen them. On the way back in (because I was FREEZING), we scared a few small soles out of the sand - and one really enormous halibut just about scared the heck out of me right back!

Nice way to start the day, especially after we topped off the dive with Ruby's strawberry pancakes. Mmm.

I hope the swell conditions are this nice the next time I hit the beach!

 

[ScubaBones]

Date: 07/02/2005
Dive Location: Barracuda Alley, Myrtle Beach, S.C. (x2)
Time: 3:45 PM / 5:20 PM
Bottom Time: :33 / :35
Max Depth: 62 feet
Vis: 20 feet
Wave height: 1 foot
Temp at depth: 75F
Surface Temp: 87F
Gas mix: EAN (33%)
Comments:
This boat was packed full. We had about 20 divers crammed onboard. 3 of those were too seasick to make any dives.

I enjoyed this wreck better than the Sherman. There was more to see, and the vis was a little better.

Dive 1 I just inspected the 150 foot barge, making 1 1/2 passes around it before heading to the safety stop. At the safety stop, we had a barracuda hanging out under the boat, probably a good 3 feet long. It just swam around, and was being followed by a swarm of small fish. I wondered if they were staying behind it so as not to be eaten.

The 2nd dive I descended to the barge, and followed a line to the armored personnel carriers. I heard there were 20 of them down there in a row, but after seeing the first three, they all started to look the same. So I just stopped at the third one before heading back to the barge.

As we prepared to leave, the dive boat had engine trouble, and could only bring 1 online. So we puttered back to the docks at half-speed.

I wish I had spent some time shell-hunting. One of the divers pulled up this very large sand dollar from around the wreck.

Total Time - Left dock at 1:45 PM, returned 8:15 PM.
Total Cost - $67 for the dive, plus $24 for the Nitrox. $91.00

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Scubabones, I enjoyed your reports, but you might get better reviews if you post them in the Mid Atlantic or Deep Dixie forums here at Scubaboard. SoCal refers to southern California.

 

[scottfiji]

Great nudibranch pics Phill! thanks for posting

Scott

 

[ScubaBones]

Oops. I didn't realize this was an area-specific thread. Sorry about that. :blush:

 

[Frank O]

An unbelieveable sight was 2 large fish battling it out, taking the other fish completely into their mouth in a fight for dominance. They were completely ignoring me, and I could even grab hold of them if I wanted to. I think they were very old treefish, but I couldn't be sure, one of them had really strange eyes!

Hey Scott,

In your photos, they definitely look like treefish to me. Great catch!

I see that in his "Probably More Than you Want to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast," Milton Love says, "Trees are highly territorial. When two meet, they flare their mouths and gill covers. The reddish color of the lips is probably used to warn off other fish." Looks like your encounter escalated an extra notch or so ...