My ex-wife once carried three tanks up the hill by herself. I get tired even thinking about doing that!
JUN 05 Dive Reports
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scubainspired
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Hi everyone! It was very nice meeting you amd I can't wait to dive with you guys again. Steve (stoddu) and I did one more dive. I'll just cover the second since Phil did such a great job on the first.
Dive# 2
Buddy: Steve (stoddu)
Date: June 04, 2005
Dive Location: Scotchmans Cove/Reef point, Crystal Cove
Time: 11:13 a.m.
Bottom Time: 42 min
Max Depth: 45
Vis: 5-15
Wave height: 1-3 ft
Temp at depth: 56
Surface Temp: ?
Tide: High
Comments:
First dives at Crystal Cove. The viz stayed around 5-15'. The surge picked up a little, as well as the surf.
Steve and I tried made our entry about ten yard left of the first entry point. There were some rocks, however, I recommend the second, it was much easier. Basically, if its high tide you should enter just left of ALL exposed rocks. We saw all the usual suspects: another sheep crab. There was a huge fish 4 in length maybe? I only got to see it's shadow as it swam away. Steve might have a better idea of what it was and the size because he saw it before me.
I really like this dive spot there are basically enough structures to empty 50 tanks. You do have to swim a little, but any level diver should be able to handle it. There are many schools of fish here and the rocks have plenty of crevices to explore.
Steve and I made a text book exit I was very happy with my skill improvement: both in navigation and surf exit and entry.
One thing that did bother me I ran out of air much faster than I usually do. I am guessing it was my new regulator. I bought a Mare Axis and it does not have a valve to control the air flow. I thought this might be an issue It could be that I was not rested enough? Any Ideas? I am usually the last one to run out.
Dive# 2
Buddy: Steve (stoddu)
Date: June 04, 2005
Dive Location: Scotchmans Cove/Reef point, Crystal Cove
Time: 11:13 a.m.
Bottom Time: 42 min
Max Depth: 45
Vis: 5-15
Wave height: 1-3 ft
Temp at depth: 56
Surface Temp: ?
Tide: High
Comments:
First dives at Crystal Cove. The viz stayed around 5-15'. The surge picked up a little, as well as the surf.
Steve and I tried made our entry about ten yard left of the first entry point. There were some rocks, however, I recommend the second, it was much easier. Basically, if its high tide you should enter just left of ALL exposed rocks. We saw all the usual suspects: another sheep crab. There was a huge fish 4 in length maybe? I only got to see it's shadow as it swam away. Steve might have a better idea of what it was and the size because he saw it before me.
I really like this dive spot there are basically enough structures to empty 50 tanks. You do have to swim a little, but any level diver should be able to handle it. There are many schools of fish here and the rocks have plenty of crevices to explore.
Steve and I made a text book exit I was very happy with my skill improvement: both in navigation and surf exit and entry.
One thing that did bother me I ran out of air much faster than I usually do. I am guessing it was my new regulator. I bought a Mare Axis and it does not have a valve to control the air flow. I thought this might be an issue It could be that I was not rested enough? Any Ideas? I am usually the last one to run out.
Lots of things affect your air consumption.scubainspired:
It could have simply been that you were using a new piece of equipment. Give the new reg a couple more dives and I bet you'll be right back to where you normally are.
Also, I notice that when people think about their air consumption it usually goes up, but it they relax and just breath slowly and deeply that it goes down.
You may have simply not given yourself a couple of minutes before dropping down after a surface swim to let your body settle down.
Of course, if you find yourself racing around to keep up with a buddy, that will make your consuption shoot up as well.
Christian
Dive# 1
Buddy: Jaye (wifie...)
Date: June 04, 2005
Dive Location: 2 Harbors, Catalina Island
Time: 12:00 PM
Bottom Time: 240 Minutes
Max Depth: Sealevel
Vis: 34"
Wave height: .025"
Temp at depth: 62
Surface Temp: 62
Tide: huh?
Comments:
Highly recommended pours:
Chardonnay: Carmel Road 2003 Monterey, Diamond Oaks 2001 Carneros, Benzinger 2003 Carneros,
Pinot: Carmel Road 2003 Monterey, Byron 2003, Strangeland "Vintner's Collection"
Cabernet Sauvignon: Beringer 2001 "Knights Valley" (duh...), 5 Rivers 2002, Peachy Canyon 2000
Zin's of note: Peachy Canyon Paso Robles Westsided (wow...) Optima 2002 (not too shabby... smaller and more accessible)
Optima was also pouring a Port of Zinfandel. Being a Port guy, I had to try it. WOW. Very nice, indeed. The vendor in their booth stashed the last two glasses and waited for Jake and I to walk pass, then hailed us over... what a cool guy. A great way to end the day, for sure.
All told, I tasted over 40-some pours (jaye, maybe half that...) Some were excellent, some were surprising, and some were paint thinner. We usually eat light, so I was really looking closely at the Chards and Pinots - and it was great to see a few wineries break from the Oak Bomb Chardonnay that has been in fashion for so long to give me something crisper and faster - more fruit, more butter, less oak. We found a few treasures, for sure. But sometimes, I love a big Cab and an in-yo-grill Zin as much as the next guy - and the Beringer didn't dissapoint, and the Peachy Canyon Westside was an excellent find - so smooooov and accessible without beating me up.
Great day to dive into the annual Two Harbors Summer Wine Fest - much cooler than last year, lots of people, lots of great food, a fun band and some excellent wines.
This was my favorate shore dive of the year.
---
Ken
Buddy: Jaye (wifie...)
Date: June 04, 2005
Dive Location: 2 Harbors, Catalina Island
Time: 12:00 PM
Bottom Time: 240 Minutes
Max Depth: Sealevel
Vis: 34"
Wave height: .025"
Temp at depth: 62
Surface Temp: 62
Tide: huh?
Comments:
Highly recommended pours:
Chardonnay: Carmel Road 2003 Monterey, Diamond Oaks 2001 Carneros, Benzinger 2003 Carneros,
Pinot: Carmel Road 2003 Monterey, Byron 2003, Strangeland "Vintner's Collection"
Cabernet Sauvignon: Beringer 2001 "Knights Valley" (duh...), 5 Rivers 2002, Peachy Canyon 2000
Zin's of note: Peachy Canyon Paso Robles Westsided (wow...) Optima 2002 (not too shabby... smaller and more accessible)
Optima was also pouring a Port of Zinfandel. Being a Port guy, I had to try it. WOW. Very nice, indeed. The vendor in their booth stashed the last two glasses and waited for Jake and I to walk pass, then hailed us over... what a cool guy. A great way to end the day, for sure.
All told, I tasted over 40-some pours (jaye, maybe half that...) Some were excellent, some were surprising, and some were paint thinner. We usually eat light, so I was really looking closely at the Chards and Pinots - and it was great to see a few wineries break from the Oak Bomb Chardonnay that has been in fashion for so long to give me something crisper and faster - more fruit, more butter, less oak. We found a few treasures, for sure. But sometimes, I love a big Cab and an in-yo-grill Zin as much as the next guy - and the Beringer didn't dissapoint, and the Peachy Canyon Westside was an excellent find - so smooooov and accessible without beating me up.
Great day to dive into the annual Two Harbors Summer Wine Fest - much cooler than last year, lots of people, lots of great food, a fun band and some excellent wines.
This was my favorate shore dive of the year.
---
Ken
stoddu
Contributor
scubainspired,
That was the biggest fish that I have seen while in the water! I'm guessing that it was a Black Sea Bass. It looked alot like the ones that I saw at the Aquarium of the Pacific on Divers Day.
That was the biggest fish that I have seen while in the water! I'm guessing that it was a Black Sea Bass. It looked alot like the ones that I saw at the Aquarium of the Pacific on Divers Day.
This is a dive I'll definitely have to do next year!Mo2vation:
I'm sipping on a nice Baily Cabernet Franc as I read your most excellent sea level dive report. They've got some good wines coming out of the 909 (Temecula).
Christian
Peter McGuinness
Contributor
Two dives today, one at Scripps, one at the marine room. Both dives well worth while.
Photos are here:
http://www.mcguinness-family.net/albums/diving/SanDiego/ShoresJune05/
Dive #1 Scripps Canyon 10:30am
Depth 102ft
Time 35 mins
Vis: mucky above 45ft, a nice 15 - 20ft at 100fsw.
Critters seen: Swell sharks, sheepshead, treefish greenlings, etc etc.
Legendii: TWO!!!! They must be breeding!
No mechanisms of any kind were found, although a toy plastic soldier was recovered. It was naked-we won't go there.
Myself, the LDL and Martin P were the intrepid souls who braved the surf. It really wasn't that bad, honest! Since L was in a rush to go somewhere much more important than diving, we skipped the intro to south branch and cut right to the top of Clarity's. I was fighting a persistent equalisation problem in my left ear which caused me to forget to set my camera to macro mode, so the photos were rubbish again (sigh).
The surf was even more exciting on the way out than it was on the way in; vis was so bad in the shallows that we didn't even get to 10ft before surfacing.
Dive #2 Shores at the Marine room 3:30PM
Depth 59ft
Time 54 mins
Vis: zero around the bat rays, 10 - 15ft otherwise
Critters seen: Horn shark, lots and lots of big bat rays, navanax, various crabs and other shelled stuff. One creature completely new to me.
Went out to the first of the no boat area marker buoys and descended going towards the little flat bouy that someone has left over the canyon just there. I have an idea this is marking the pinnacles but since I had no intention of going that deep, I just used it as a direction finder for the canyon.
It took about two minutes to run into the first of literally dozens of bat rays, but the real highlights of the dive were a baby horn shark which posed for me and a creature which I think may be a type of sea hare but is completely new to me - any help with an ID will be appreciated.
A very relaxing and unhurried dive, with easy entry and exit. I really enjoy the shores when it is possible to just mooch around and take a lot of time to poke around the nooks and crannies.
Peter
Photos are here:
http://www.mcguinness-family.net/albums/diving/SanDiego/ShoresJune05/
Dive #1 Scripps Canyon 10:30am
Depth 102ft
Time 35 mins
Vis: mucky above 45ft, a nice 15 - 20ft at 100fsw.
Critters seen: Swell sharks, sheepshead, treefish greenlings, etc etc.
Legendii: TWO!!!! They must be breeding!
No mechanisms of any kind were found, although a toy plastic soldier was recovered. It was naked-we won't go there.
Myself, the LDL and Martin P were the intrepid souls who braved the surf. It really wasn't that bad, honest! Since L was in a rush to go somewhere much more important than diving, we skipped the intro to south branch and cut right to the top of Clarity's. I was fighting a persistent equalisation problem in my left ear which caused me to forget to set my camera to macro mode, so the photos were rubbish again (sigh).
The surf was even more exciting on the way out than it was on the way in; vis was so bad in the shallows that we didn't even get to 10ft before surfacing.
Dive #2 Shores at the Marine room 3:30PM
Depth 59ft
Time 54 mins
Vis: zero around the bat rays, 10 - 15ft otherwise
Critters seen: Horn shark, lots and lots of big bat rays, navanax, various crabs and other shelled stuff. One creature completely new to me.
Went out to the first of the no boat area marker buoys and descended going towards the little flat bouy that someone has left over the canyon just there. I have an idea this is marking the pinnacles but since I had no intention of going that deep, I just used it as a direction finder for the canyon.
It took about two minutes to run into the first of literally dozens of bat rays, but the real highlights of the dive were a baby horn shark which posed for me and a creature which I think may be a type of sea hare but is completely new to me - any help with an ID will be appreciated.
A very relaxing and unhurried dive, with easy entry and exit. I really enjoy the shores when it is possible to just mooch around and take a lot of time to poke around the nooks and crannies.
Peter
Date: 04 Jun 2005
Dive Location: Palauan Wreck Santa Monica Bay
Time: 8:06
Bottom Time: 18:40
Max Depth: 110 FSW
Vis: 30 feet at bottom, above 60 feet 5-10 or so
Wave height: 2 foot swells
Temp at depth: 57 Suunto Degrees, quite nice actually
Surface Temp: 63 Suunto Degrees
Tide information: 03:37 PDT -0.71 feet Low Tide
10:06 PDT 3.53 feet High Tide
14:28 PDT 2.16 feet Low Tide (2:28 p.m.)
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Dive Boat: Island Diver
Comments:
One of my very rare boat dives. Met up with the Dive Vets Crew about 6:30 too early a.m. to go out. A couple of divers had doubles and oxygen tanks for the deco stop along with an impressive looking scooter. I waited for Scottfiji to post this dive report, as he is more eloquent than I and he has pictures. Now I am not opposed to diving deep, I just rater keep it in the 80 foot and less range for no particular reason, except you get very little NDL at depth and since I have my SUUNTO COBRA set for supper chicken P2 it docks me 3 minutes off the normal SUUNTO conservative NDL time. So with the dive set to go to Palawan which sets on a 130 fsw bottom with the top of the structure around 110 fsw, my bottom time was limited to 9 minutes. Mind you it was a very nice dive and I had never dove a wreck before that had structure and still looked like a ship sort of. So that was nice. The wreck is pretty and pink with nice amounts of fish chilling about. But to tell the truth, we just dropped down on the deck thanks to the down line sitting right on the deck provided by the Island Diver and then swam around one of the cargo holds. With 2 minutes of bottom time left, we started our assent back up the line making a 1minute stop at 60 feet (my call) and again at 40 and then my normal 3 minutes at 15 feet. The good thing is with 2000 PSI left in the tank, SC tops the tank up for free.
Date: 04 Jun 2005
Dive Location: Avalon Wreck Santa Monica Bay
Time: 9:51 a.m.
Bottom Time: 30:40
Max Depth: 74 FSW
Vis: 30 feet at bottom, above 60 feet 5-10 or so
Wave height: 2 foot swells
Temp at depth: 61 Suunto Degrees, quite nice actually
Surface Temp: 63 Suunto Degrees
Tide information: 03:37 PDT -0.71 feet Low Tide
10:06 PDT 3.53 feet High Tide
14:28 PDT 2.16 feet Low Tide (2:28 p.m.)
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Dive Boat: Island Diver
Comments:
Continuing on the Island Diver our next stop was the Avalon Wreck. We dropped down the anchor line and soon found the old crane. Checked it out and saw the usual suspects. Because of the previous dive, our bottom time was limited on this dive to 22 minutes. I thumbed the dive with 3 minutes of NDL left and got hit with a mandatory stop when we hit 40 feet and went into a short deco dive. Only 5 minutes which was gone by the time we got to 15 feet. Nice slow assent taking 4 minutes to go from 64 feet to 30 feet, and another 5 minutes going from there to 15 fsw with most of that trying to get some Velcro lose from a signal sausage we wanted to run up before we surfaced as we ere doing a free water ascent. Finally got the darned thing deployed (belonged to Chris Albertson) my dive partner. But thats ok, made for an entertaining stop at 20 feet, and then we went to 15 feet and held there for 3 minutes before surfacing.
All in all it was a great day and we got below and beyond the red tide. The harbor had a definite unpleasant odor and the surface was a reddish brown with foam like soap bubbles on it. Red tide in full bloom.
Dive Location: Palauan Wreck Santa Monica Bay
Time: 8:06
Bottom Time: 18:40
Max Depth: 110 FSW
Vis: 30 feet at bottom, above 60 feet 5-10 or so
Wave height: 2 foot swells
Temp at depth: 57 Suunto Degrees, quite nice actually
Surface Temp: 63 Suunto Degrees
Tide information: 03:37 PDT -0.71 feet Low Tide
10:06 PDT 3.53 feet High Tide
14:28 PDT 2.16 feet Low Tide (2:28 p.m.)
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Dive Boat: Island Diver
Comments:
One of my very rare boat dives. Met up with the Dive Vets Crew about 6:30 too early a.m. to go out. A couple of divers had doubles and oxygen tanks for the deco stop along with an impressive looking scooter. I waited for Scottfiji to post this dive report, as he is more eloquent than I and he has pictures. Now I am not opposed to diving deep, I just rater keep it in the 80 foot and less range for no particular reason, except you get very little NDL at depth and since I have my SUUNTO COBRA set for supper chicken P2 it docks me 3 minutes off the normal SUUNTO conservative NDL time. So with the dive set to go to Palawan which sets on a 130 fsw bottom with the top of the structure around 110 fsw, my bottom time was limited to 9 minutes. Mind you it was a very nice dive and I had never dove a wreck before that had structure and still looked like a ship sort of. So that was nice. The wreck is pretty and pink with nice amounts of fish chilling about. But to tell the truth, we just dropped down on the deck thanks to the down line sitting right on the deck provided by the Island Diver and then swam around one of the cargo holds. With 2 minutes of bottom time left, we started our assent back up the line making a 1minute stop at 60 feet (my call) and again at 40 and then my normal 3 minutes at 15 feet. The good thing is with 2000 PSI left in the tank, SC tops the tank up for free.
Date: 04 Jun 2005
Dive Location: Avalon Wreck Santa Monica Bay
Time: 9:51 a.m.
Bottom Time: 30:40
Max Depth: 74 FSW
Vis: 30 feet at bottom, above 60 feet 5-10 or so
Wave height: 2 foot swells
Temp at depth: 61 Suunto Degrees, quite nice actually
Surface Temp: 63 Suunto Degrees
Tide information: 03:37 PDT -0.71 feet Low Tide
10:06 PDT 3.53 feet High Tide
14:28 PDT 2.16 feet Low Tide (2:28 p.m.)
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Dive Boat: Island Diver
Comments:
Continuing on the Island Diver our next stop was the Avalon Wreck. We dropped down the anchor line and soon found the old crane. Checked it out and saw the usual suspects. Because of the previous dive, our bottom time was limited on this dive to 22 minutes. I thumbed the dive with 3 minutes of NDL left and got hit with a mandatory stop when we hit 40 feet and went into a short deco dive. Only 5 minutes which was gone by the time we got to 15 feet. Nice slow assent taking 4 minutes to go from 64 feet to 30 feet, and another 5 minutes going from there to 15 fsw with most of that trying to get some Velcro lose from a signal sausage we wanted to run up before we surfaced as we ere doing a free water ascent. Finally got the darned thing deployed (belonged to Chris Albertson) my dive partner. But thats ok, made for an entertaining stop at 20 feet, and then we went to 15 feet and held there for 3 minutes before surfacing.
All in all it was a great day and we got below and beyond the red tide. The harbor had a definite unpleasant odor and the surface was a reddish brown with foam like soap bubbles on it. Red tide in full bloom.
Peter McGuinness
Contributor
headhunter:
Hmm, I wonder which buddy that could possibly be?
He shall remain nameless, but for the crowd's sake, it was not Peter. It was someone with hotter avatars.Peter McGuinness:
Christian
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