Kelp should be vertical

[Moonglow]

You must have dived with the Peace. I've dived San Miguel several times for academic/scientific purposes, it has never been fun diving there.

 

[TSandM]

Actually we dove San Miguel on this trip last year, and they were the best dives of the whole trip. And after this one, we went and did two at Wyckoff Ledges, and they were stunning dives, albeit with a bit of surge. The last dive of the day was elsewhere and had strong current, too.

I'd take the risk of a dive with too much current, to be able to dive San Miguel. If we'd taken our scooters, we would have had a good dive. The teams that did, raved about what they saw.

 

[Scott L]

You must have dived with the Peace. I've dived San Miguel several times for academic/scientific purposes, it has never been fun diving there.

Care to elaborate?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

You must have dived with the Peace. I've dived San Miguel several times for academic/scientific purposes, it has never been fun diving there.

Oh, I had lots of fun ... we had been hoping to get out to Judith Rock for dive #2, but given the conditions we opted instead for Wycoff Ledge. It was amazing, spectacular ... as good as anything I've ever dived. We had so much fun on dive 2 that we opted to stay right there and do it again!

Last year we did four amazing dives out there ... with Judith being the most amazing of them all. But last year we had calm seas and small tidal exchanges ... this year Mother Nature wasn't quite so kind.

I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Yes, we were on The Peace ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[limeyx]

You must have dived with the Peace. I've dived San Miguel several times for academic/scientific purposes, it has never been fun diving there.

We had stunning conditions there last fall. 80+ feet vis, no current.....

[vimeo]8937979[/vimeo]

[vimeo]8476619[/vimeo]

 

[Moonglow]

I'd take the risk of a dive with too much current, to be able to dive San Miguel. If we'd taken our scooters, we would have had a good dive. The teams that did, raved about what they saw.

The first time I dived there, two buddied teammates got caught in the current and were quickly fifty meters away from us. At the pre-dive briefing we were apprised that we could NOT swim against the current, and we were told that there would be two divemasters below with scooters to go get those who got swept in it. Within seconds of seeing the divers go, both divemasters went after them on their scooters - it looked like a scene in a James Bond movie - and towed them back.

Edited to add:

Calm waters; that' me, with the single, at 2:05:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaekMNZbAqI

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The first time I dived there, two buddied teammates got caught in the current and were quickly fifty meters away from us. At the pre-dive briefing we were apprised that we could NOT swim against the current, and we were told that there would be two divemansters below with scooters to go get those who got swept in it. Within seconds of seeing the divers go, both divemasters went after them on their scooters - it looked like a scene in a James Bond movie - and towed them back.

I don't think towing would've worked on some of our dives ... heck, one dive with me and Peter Guy, we barely made it against the current with our Sierras ... and we weren't towing anybody. I kept staring at this piece of kelp that I was barely making headway against and thinking "I sure hope I got enough juice in this battery to get back to the boat".

Still had fun ... we just had to work a bit harder for it than we were expecting to ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[fdog]

Um ... to have fun?

Well, OK ... maybe it wasn't as much fun as we'd hoped it would be. We were on a three-day liveaboard trip to San Miguel and Santa Cruz Islands. It's an annual event, and this year the wind and tidal exchanges were both higher than normal. The 21 divers on board are all very experienced, and well equipped.

I won't speak for the other teams, but our team chose not to bring our scooters on this dive because we anticipated even stronger currents on the next dive, and wanted fresh batteries for that one. In hindsight, that turned out not to be the best decision ... but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I think in this case, even the captain ... who's about as experienced as it gets when it comes to choosing the right sites for the conditions ... was a bit surprised by the strength of the current. But as they say when it comes to predicting weather and currents ... there's a reason why they're called predictions ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

That's the best one can do before a dive, I would think. You make the best informed decision and implement it.



...and yes, this particular dive was SPECTACULAR! We raved about the vis and scenery for hours. ...Just with a bit too much current for a pedestrian.


All the best, James

 

[fdog]

You must have dived with the Peace. I've dived San Miguel several times for academic/scientific purposes, it has never been fun diving there.

Oh, but it was fun! Everyone came prepared for it, with both stuff and (most important) the right mindset and training.


Here's half (yes, only half) of the scooters that were on board:

And some of the other stuff, too:

Despite cold weather, it was a blast.


All the best, James

 

[drbill]

San Miguel is usually the most weather impacted of the eight Channel Islands. Winds and current can be difficult. Heck, even getting there can be difficult. On my last trip there, my buddy had tried several times and never made it to the island. I had made it every one of the five times I've been there. Fortunately we broke his bad luck rather than my good luck.

When kelp forms surface canopy it is always a good thing to check whether the canopy is indeed at the surface, or submerged due to the effects of current. This happens even in our very protected dive park when currents kick up. It sounds as if the kelp there was not forming surface canopy, so it might have been impossible to tell from the surface.

I find diving in kelp to be at its very worst when the current has depressed it and it is lying horizontal nearer the bottom. Not only does this make navigation around it difficult, but a strong current often has the kelp whipping around as well... increasing the potential for entanglement.

Of course Lynne, Peter and Bob are all well seasoned divers but for less experienced divers this could have been a REAL problem.