Socal guys,
I hope you enjoyed your visit to Pt Lobos. I'm sorry I did not get a chance to meet you guys while you were in town - maybe next time, eh?
I saw for myself what conditions were like when I went diving with a couple of friends on Sunday (7/9). Sadly, the vis was not as good as it had been the last time I was at Lobos a few weeks ago. And for sure, the kelp was thick.
Regarding scootering in Pt Lobos when diving there for the first time or scootering in general as a new diver... I have 2 thoughts I would like to offer. This is really more for the benefit of anyone who happens to come across this thread. I suspect you guys, having had some recent experiences scootering in Lobos, know this stuff already.
First, if I were diving with a buddy who had no desire to go deeper than say 60 ft, I wouldn't bother bringing a scooter with me. The only sites in Lobos that I can think of off the top of my head that are 60 ft or shallower are Hole in the wall, Middle reef and Granite point wall. All three sites are easily accessible by a kick diver who has decent skill and experience. A scooter adds unnecessary complexity (have to get it down the super slick ramp, have dodge kelp during the dive, have to keep the scooter from getting caught in kelp even when not using, potential failures related to the scooter itself, etc) with minimal benefit if you are going no deeper than 60ft. Aside that, I personally did not have the wherewithal to deal with all the task loading a scooter introduces when I was a much newer diver. Just another thing to consider if another diver who is not yet comfortable below 60ft is considering a scooter dive.
Second, I don't know how many dives I've done in Lobos on a scooter (maybe 50?) but I personally have never had a scooter prop break because of kelp. In fact, of all the people that I know who use scooters, I have heard of all kinds of problems but never one that was due to the kelp. To me, this indicates a lack of familiarity with Lobos - that is, not knowing where you can easily travel without getting caught in the kelp and also not knowing how to "sense" when the sand channel is. Whenever asked, I always recommend to people to kick dive Lobos a couple of times before venturing out to places only accessible via scooter. Part of the reason is just to get a sense of how things are laid out underwater and part of it is also to give the diver a sense of what endurance is required (and perhaps establish the limits of the diver) should, for whatever reason, the diver has to return to ramp without the aid of his scooter.
Again, I offer these thoughts for the benefit of anyone who happens to come across this thread. Personally, while I enjoy my dives much more when I have my scooter, I also have seen some alarming instances where newer divers are bringing scooters either that they are not ready for or they don't need. In the short few years I have been diving, I know of at least 3 instances where experienced/reasonably well trained divers got into hairy situations scootering at Lobos. In one instance, a dive team started their dive at Lobos and inadvertently wound up in Monastery.
Anyway, my 2psi worth.