JUN 05 Dive Reports

[MaxBottomtime]

Date:6/19
Dive Location:Marineland
Time: 9:36
Bottom Time: :39 and :29
Max Depth: 54'
Vis: 20-25 on the first dive with 10' on the second
Wave height: Nada-2' on the second dive
Temp at depth: 51F
Surface Temp: Tropical
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments: Carlos (Dive California), Claudette, Jeff and I had a great time locating Headhunter Reef.
I had two minutes less bottom time because I surfaced to dump the rest of the water out of the buoy, a one gallon plastic bottle that can now be seen from shore, albeit a LONG way from shore. I thought it was about 100 yards, but as Claudette and I reached the cove one of the other divers who had just dived it thanks to the marker said it was closer to 200 yards. By the time Claudette and I surface swam to it, it seemed to be closer to five miles. It only took us about four or five minutes to make it back to the beach underwater.
My camera housing had more water in it than it is supposed to (none) so no pictures from dive #1. I dried everything off and went back to get some photographic evidence but this time the batteries were dead. That means I have to make that swim again!!!
The diving itself was fun. Claudette played with a couple Hermit crabs, Jeff retrieved the elusive Tigris Nikis (golf balls) and Carlos had a very cool body English when the structure showed up on his handheld sonar. It only took us a couple minutes to locate the platform. I left the buoy out there for all to enjoy, but after Scottfiji's weights were stolen yesterday and the garden hose that's been there for a couple years was gone today I don't have much hope that the buoy will stay forever.
If anyone wants to dive this platform, take a heading of 150 degrees from the right side (facing the ocean) of the cobblestone beach and you should see a white plastic bottle half way to Catalina, or 200 yards, whichever comes first.

 

[Grey_Wulff]

On the way out we spotted hundreds of dolphins hunting in large, scattered pods. When we approached a pod a number would break away and ride the bow wave for a while. In all we must have seen fifty or more dolphin at close quarters, the largest group under the bow being six to eight. Fantastic!

Date: 6/18/05
Dive Location: Lobster Shack, Coronado Islands
Time: 9:33am
Bottom Time: 53 mins
Max Depth: 61ft
Vis: 10-30ft
Wave height: none to speak of
Temp at Depth: 59F
Gas mix: Air (21%)

Comments: Went out with a local dive boat and did two dives at the Lobster Shack since it was well protected from the swell. On the first dive, headed into deeper water and found the small boat wreck. While broken into several pieces, there was plenty of structure to explore and a good number of fish hanging around. After a while headed back towards the dive boat, hit a distinct thermocline at 35ft and ended up exploring the rock piles close to shore. Lots of in-your-face garibaldis, a few spanish shawls and loads of giant-spined stars and sea urchins to name a few. Visibility distinctly better at depth but generally disappointing considering the location.

Date: 6/18/05
Dive Location: Lobster Shack, Coronado Islands
Time: 11:18am
Bottom Time: 61 mins
Max Depth: 40ft
Vis: 10-20ft
Wave height: none to speak of
Temp at Depth: 66F
Gas mix: Air (21%)

Comments: This time headed from the boat into shore and made our way North along the shoreline exploring all the nooks and crannies and hoping seals would join us. Made our way to the end of the island and started heading around the point. Good amount to see but no seals. Made our way back into a slight current and finally a single seal came down and started buzzing us. Good fun and a nice way to finish the last dive of the day.

Grey_Wulff

 

[mccabejc]

Myrna said maybe we should keep the mystery surrounding Headhunter Reef. No markers. No directions. Leave it as a challenge to the few, the strong, the most elite divers to find it. Now it's gonna become commercialized. Someone will erect a neon sign with a big flashing arrow out there. There will be dive boats from San Pedro ferrying boatloads of divers every day. McDonalds will have a floating drive thru, and sell Headhunter Fish Sandwiches and Nudibranch Fries.

And when Christian and I are in our 90's, we'll sit in our recliners and mumble stories about the good ol' days of Headhunter Reef...

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Leave it as a challenge to the few, the strong, the most elite divers to find it.

After making the swim out there twice today I can promise you that it is indeed a challenge. Now where did I put that Ben Gay?

 

[divinman]

Location: San Diego-HMS Yukon
Time: 16:16
Gas:32%
Dive Time:1:01
Temp on Surface: 68F
Temp at Depth: 51F
Max Depth: 97 feet
Surface conditions: Lots of wind chop and rolling swell
Images: http://photobucket.com/albums/v109/divinman/Yukon 061805/

Made one dive on the Yukon using 32%. Plan was 90ft for 40 minutes with 9 minutes of deco. Dive went as planned with tons of schooling fish and beautiful jellyfish everywhere. Did see a nice Polycera Atra but a unobservant diver ran into me and then I couldn't relocate it. Visibility was an easy 25 ft on the wreck with the standard muck layer up top. Deco was a short wait on the line with even more jellyfish near the surface. I sat out the second dive as planned and talked with the boat captain and dive master while some dived and others (most) ummm, relived their soup and sandwiches.
Awesome day on the wreck.

Terry

 

[mgmonk]

Date:6/19
Dive Location:Marineland
Time: 4:44
Bottom Time: 41
Max Depth: 40'
Vis: 5-7 ft
Wave height: 1 to 2 foot
Temp at depth: 51F
Surface Temp: Wonderful
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments: After a long day of driving up and down the coast, 3 of us ended up ay Marineland. We started the day at Leo Carillo (9:30 AM)...due to a forgotten wetsuit (doh!) we trekked back for lunch and said neoprene. Looked at Malaga Cove at around 2PM (brown, muddy) and picked Marineland. Complications (yes more of them) ensued and one of us had to bow out with a leaky BC. Finally, at 4:44PM the remaining troopers descended to a whoping 5 ft of coffee. The funny thing is, it was still a great dive (I think they always are). Most intresting was our choice of making the entry/exit in a backwards kind of order. We came in from the cove, swam for 10+ mintues before descending and took our dive SW. When we surfaced (past the point) we decided to make our exit on the rocks where I ususally would enter. It was (in the lax surf) actually a blast. Tossed areound a bit, but in before we knew it.
Good times.

 

[ChrisM]

Date:6/22
Dive Location: Redondo Canyon
Time: 7:45
Bottom Time: 40
Max Depth: 79'
Vis: 5-7 ft to 30, 15 below
Wave height: 1 to 2 foot
Temp at depth: 52F
Surface Temp: 60
Comments: First dive here in a while, been avoiding the red tide, seems to be gone for the moment. Dropped at 20 fsw or so and headed into the canyon.. ******* it's cold!! 52 at depth, in a 7 mil and gloves held together with holes. Hands were freezing!. LOTS and lots of critters out. Octos from tiny to couple fist sized, some bigger ones out. Skeleton shrimp, feisty sarcastic fringeheads, largest bay pipefsh I've ever seen - fat and happy - in 25 fsw, also the largest moon snail trucking across the sand, looked like a VW, about the size of a football. Lots of kelpy debris on the wall, great habitat for all the crabs and snails and nudis right now.

 

[divinman]

Date: 06/23/05
Dive Location: Vallecitos Pt
Time: 18:44
Bottom Time: 1:00
Max Depth: 122ft
Vis: 20-25 at depth, 0-5 shallow
Wave height: 3-5 and steady
Temp at depth: 50F
Surface Temp: 69F
Tide information: on its way in.
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments:

Tyler and I geared up and swam out to the buoy while dolphins crossed by. It was a nice easy swim out once past the breakers but in doubles, it sure is a drag.

We dropped in just west of the orange marker and through the soup. 4 feet from the bottom I finally saw it. Tyler and I completed our bubble checks and we headed west. As we crossed the sand flats we found a small pipe with an even smaller fringehead in it. Moving in we would see the usual suspects of horn sharks, octopus, small halibut and vast fields of sand dollars. It was a chilly 50 in the canyon and the thermocline at 20ft sure felt nice.

We had plenty of gas left at the shallow part of the dive so we explored the rock piles and flats and just enjoyed the quiet of the dive. Visibility was only about 5 feet in the good spots but it was nice to be underwater.

Thanks Tyler for the invite.

Terry

 

[headhunter]

Date: 06/23/05
Dive Location: Vallecitos Pt

Terry,

Nice report!

It that dive info/graph produced from your Sensus Pro?

Christian

 

[divinman]

Terry,

Nice report!

It that dive info/graph produced from your Sensus Pro?

Christian

Yes it is from the Sensus Pro. clips nicely in my DS pocket. easy to carry into the house and quick to download.

Terry