JUN 05 Dive Reports

[HBDiveGirl]

Sometimes diving really BITES!
Location: Marineland, Palos Verdes peninsula
Splash: 9:20 AM
Max depth: 48 fsw
Temp below thermocline: 49F (Aeris)
Run time: 49 minutes
Gas: 100 cu.ft. of air
Viz: 10-15 ft. in shallows, 20+ft. at the sunken platform

We were a little chilled, a little bruised, but still stoked and ready for more diving after our sunrise exploration of Pt. Vicente.
Carlos and I found Jeff Shaw and MaxBottomTime drinking coffee in the Marineland parking lot, ready to gear up and dive! We headed for Cobble beach, walked easily into minimal surf and smooth water, descended to the outermost rock on the west end of the beach, grabbed the cave line, (carefully following the triangular direction indicator…heehee…

), and zoomed off toward the Headhunter reef sunken platform. It couldn’t get any easier unless they installed an escalator!! Thanks, Phil, for putting down the line! I didn’t dawdle at all this time (actually swam right over an octopus in a hole with barely a pause…) and the platform hove into view after only 7 minutes. Phil and Jeff took lots of photos as we wander around examining crabs, nudibranchs, corynactis, bass, kelp….anything and everything that would stand still to be looked at. I was wondering why Jeff was passing his camera over to me, and then he pulled an underwater Frisbee from within his BC! All serious exploration screeched to a halt as we all rushed to get in the game….all kinds of throws, spins, flips, and catches were experimented with, including upside down and behind the back. Talk about slo-mo and silly fun…underwater Frisbee takes the pressurized cake!! We made a half-hearted start at finning over to the reef on the east side of the cove, but came to our senses at just headed back to shore along the line. It all seemed so benign and peaceful…hard to remember that SCUBA is an “extreme” sport. It remained a quiet walk in the park until I smiled at Phil as he took my picture, and then he felt “someone” grabbing and shaking his tanks around even though our other two buddies were ahead of us on the line. I looked at him again to see why he had stopped and was twisting around, only to suddenly see the Very Large male sealion swimming parallel to him, seemingly nipping and twisting next to him as I’ve seen many sealions do at Santa Barbara Island. “How cool,” I had time to think, “a playful and cute sealion!” and then Phil rolled to his side to see his “playmate” who suddenly snapped it’s head around and clamped down on Phil’s left elbow…and held it…hard!

Phil twisted and yanked away, clutching what I was sure was a punctured drysuit elbow. We surfaced as quickly as possible, joined by Jeff, trying to figure out how bad it was. Luckily the abrasion didn’t go through either the suit or Phil, but it sure scared the begeezus out of both me and him. It looked like play until that big doggy head snapped and bit. Bonus: Phil found his camera which had floated to the surface in the turmoil. I’m so glad the sealife is generally benign around here, but it sure has given the LA diveaholics another crazy story to tell.

We chewed over the event endlessly as we hiked to the hot and sunny parking lot. The infamous Headhunter reef sunken platform sure has attracted a lot of action this month. Another great day of SoCal diving! Thank you, Carlos, Jeff, and Phil, for making it possible and wildly fun.

 

[Dive California]

I'm with Jim on this...PHIL you have upset the Diving Gods...

Come on, we all know it's the "curse of Headhunter Reef". It was hidden for many years, and difficult to find. And now that it has been found, the spirits are angry.

Take the line down, and make an atonement to the spirits. It's the only way...

Take the line out, and you may never be attacked again...leave the line in...and I'm not sure I want to be diving with you the next time a squadron of sea lions come for you... :clock: Hurry up...time is running out...

 

[scubacalifornia]

Date: Sunday, 6/26/05

Time: 8:07 AM

Dive Location: Laguna Beach / Deadman's Reef

Buddies: Ron Hawkins, Marshall Krupp

Bottom Time: 56 minutes

Max Depth: 60'

Viz: 12' on the backside; 3' on top

Wave height: 1-2', long intervals

Surge: little overall except on top of the reef

Temp at depth: Brrrrrrr! 52 degrees Suunto

Surface Temp: 55 degrees Suunto

After looking at the swell model early this morning and factoring in the red tide, I didn't hold much hope for diving conditions today. Got to Crescent and was pleasantly surprised....water was relatively flat and surf small. Decided to swim out, dropped down using the "flagpole next to the green roofed house, lined up in the notch between the two Seal Rocks" navigation method. Water was red, dark, and landed right on top of Deadman's with little viz and some surge. Headed north just a bit, then decided to ascend and surface swim farther north and drop back down off the reef. Good decision; came down @ 55' depth and a 30 second swim from the backside of the reef. Very cold but viz was decent. Lots of schooling fish but only one garibaldi to be seen - the rest must have been huddled around the wood stove for warmth. Found a moray, octo, lots of blacksmith, etc. Despite the red tide, we had a perfect dive. Ran into Robb Phillips and company as well. As a side note, there was a garage sale going on just up the street and the guy was selling everything he's collected over the years from the bottom of Crescent. Must have had 35 snorkels, a bunch of masks, compasses, tons of fins, weights, etc.

Kevin

 

[Diver_Jan]

Despite the red tide, we had a perfect dive. Ran into Robb Phillips and company as well. As a side note, there was a garage sale going on just up the street and the guy was selling everything he's collected over the years from the bottom of Crescent. Must have had 35 snorkels, a bunch of masks, compasses, tons of fins, weights, etc.

Kevin[/QUOTE]

Hmmmm...Was that Rob or Marshall that was chit chatting with me on our way out to Deadman's??? LOL Hard to tell with Wetsuits on.

Re the Garage Sales, they rock! Unfortuantely, Neptune has not given up my Reflex fin as of yet, nor Jennifer's. However, I latched onto a pair of Deep Sea Gloves (Brand Spanking NEW) for $3; picked up a Sea Pearls ankle weight for $1 to add to my DM box; and finally at the other garage sale, a nifty picnic basket for $3. Gotta Love It!!! Especially when I was shopping for gloves on Saturday, but the LDS didn't have my size. Saved myself quite a bit of dough. Treated myself to a yummy breakfast at Madison Garden with the group.

 

[scubacalifornia]

Don't know who you were talking to Jan. I don't think it was Marshall because he was with Ron & I. Robb went out with a larger group just a few minutes after we entered the water. I saw those Deep Sea Gloves and almost bought them, but I think they were too small plus I wanted Kevlar. Let me tell ya, my 2mm gloves just don't cut it at 52-degrees! Brrrrrrrr. As for post-dive food, it was a breakfast burrito, extra spicy, from Husky Boy. Not as quaint as Madison Garden, but a post-dive tradition.
Smiles,
Kevin

 

[Diver_Jan]

Kevin,

I think it was Rob. He was three other divers I believe. They were coming back, as we were heading out. Didn't sound like they had as good of a dive as we did though. I had a blast. I wanted to do a second dive, but no takers in our group...sadly.

Hopefully the water will start to warm up a bit so divers will want to do more than one dive!

 

[Lexy]

Date: Thursday, 6/30/05
Dive Location: North Crescent Beach
Time: 6:58 PM PDT
Bottom Time: 68 mins.
Max Depth: 33 ft
Vis: 8-12 ft (variable, with red tide)
Wave height: 1 -2 ft
Temp at depth: 56 degrees
Surface Temp: 68 degrees
Tide information: not available
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments:
(Sorry John, this one is gonna be short) Super easy surf entry... low energy waves, long interval. The beach has definitely been effected by the waves - lots of speed bumps in the sand. Anyhow, we did the little reef structure that just extends out from the beach, nice and shallow. We were all feeling rather mellow and the swim to deadman's had no zesty appeal. Dropped down through pea soup, grainy hazy... had to get under the fog curtain and the haze cleared out at a depth of 12-15. Continued along to the reef and found an adult garabaldi convention (a swarm of at least 15). A few really adorable garabaldi juvies, a baby moray eel, 1 sea lion (didn't take a bite at my elbow - ouch Phil!!), lots of blacksmith. Cruised back in over the sandy flats and safely ascended when we hit 8 feet. Piece o' cake exit... no tumblage, but be cautious as the sand has shifted!

Sorry this is short. I'm sleepy. All in all, from what I experienced tonight - Crescent is very divable. Had a positive report from wet divers at Shaw's, who gave 10-12 ft. viz. Two thumbs up and z formation....

Go dive this weekend!!

 

[headhunter]

Yahoo! Sounds like you had a nice dive, Lexy. It looks like it may yet be a nice weekend for diving!

Thanks for the report.

Christian

 

[Grey_Wulff]

Date: 6/30/05
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores, Main Wall
Time: 08:05pm
Bottom Time: 37 mins
Max Depth: 58ft
Vis: inches to farther than our lights could reach
Wave height: ankle slappers
Temp at Depth: 57 F
Comments: We had been reading about the Bioluminescence all week and decided to take a look. Man, what a thrill! It’s so difficult to describe adequately how cool this is. Turn off all your lights and move - you glow vivid blue! Watch glowing air bubbles rush upwards from your power inflator. Wave your arms around and become enveloped in blue flames. Swim and see nothing but ribbons of cobalt light cloud your mask. For those that have seen the movie “The Abyss”, my dive buddy, surrounded in streaming light, reminded me of the way the aliens looked when they finally met up with Ed Harris. It’s totally trippy! Even on the swim back, we watched an underwater firework display as fish set off the luminance all around us.
In addition to the Bioluminescence, we came across a great octopus, lots of sleeping fish, a guitarfish, loads of baby halibut and crabs. All that being said, be prepared for some bad visibility. Real patchy, going from great to horrible (gauge in front of face stuff) in seconds. It caught us out just off the wall; we got separated and had to surface.

Grey_Wulff

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Sometimes diving really BITES!
It remained a quiet walk in the park until I smiled at Phil as he took my picture, and then he felt “someone” grabbing and shaking his tanks around even though our other two buddies were ahead of us on the line. I looked at him again to see why he had stopped and was twisting around, only to suddenly see the Very Large male sealion swimming parallel to him, seemingly nipping and twisting next to him as I’ve seen many sealions do at Santa Barbara Island. “How cool,” I had time to think, “a playful and cute sealion!” and then Phil rolled to his side to see his “playmate” who suddenly snapped it’s head around and clamped down on Phil’s left elbow…and held it…hard!

Phil twisted and yanked away, clutching what I was sure was a punctured drysuit elbow. We surfaced as quickly as possible, joined by Jeff, trying to figure out how bad it was. Luckily the abrasion didn’t go through either the suit or Phil, but it sure scared the begeezus out of both me and him. It looked like play until that big doggy head snapped and bit.

Jeff Shaw took this picture of me during the dive. The sea lion had to be sick. I don't look anything like another sea lion.