Mini-report: Cathedral 9/14/03

[mer]

Cathedral Ledges, Sunday 9/14/03. High tide at 2:11pm, entered at 1:59pm. 2 foot breakers. Some surge at depth. NELD induction dive and first time at site for Nelson.

People: Nelson, MSilvia, mer
Max depth: 58’ (planned for 85, but missed the bearing that takes to you the immediate dropoff).
Average depth: 35’
Time: 46 min
Temps: 61 deg surface, 57 deg at max depth, maybe a tad colder in some pockets, no noticeable thermocline.
Vis: 15’
Current: Some surge at depth, strange upcurrent around 50’.
Life: TONS of fish of various sizes, some lobsters – mostly shorts.

 

[notabob]

Mer, at high tide you can reach the 80s fairly easily if you head out straight east - 90 degrees. When you hit the sandy bottom, you're just about there. You may be able to reach similar depths heading south-east as well, but it'll be a longer swim.

-Roman.

 

[mer]

I think we headed out at 150 deg. You'd have to ask Matt though, since I was flag b*tch.

I'm writing that 90 deg bearing in my log right now, so I don't forget next time. I knew I should have called you and asked for the best bearing.

 

[Spectre]

mer once bubbled...
I think we headed out at 150 deg. You'd have to ask Matt though, since I was flag b*tch.

Going down that way doesn't get you deep, but it's my favorite area; when you get into the huge rocks with all the gullys...

 

[notabob]

Spectre once bubbled...


Going down that way doesn't get you deep, but it's my favorite area; when you get into the huge rocks with all the gullys...

No question about it - that's definitely the best part at Cath. Shallower than straight out, but a lot more fun! Those ledges and gullys can be downright stunning on those good vis days. You can hit 60-70 around high tide, 50s at low. Good lobstering area, too. There tends to be less seaweed on the ledges, so the bugs and other critters are easier to spot. Somewhere around 150 heading in the ledges there used to be a large old anchor. It was still there last fall, but I haven't seen it yet this year. Someone may have lifted it.

-Roman.

 

[Clutchcargo]

150? I usually head straight out at 90 and take a right when I hit sand. Run that heading for about 1000PSI and take another right until I hit about 30'-35' take a right and head back.
I'm going to have to try the 150 heading sounds like it might be more interesting. Is it just 150 out and 330 back or are there any turns in there?
Looking out at all the lobster bouys, I hate dragging the friggin flag around. I just narrowly averted the E.Police the last time I was there and diving without a flag. The guys in after us were not so lucky. That was about a month ago.
Cjh

 

[mer]

Yup, we found the gullys. They were definitely cool and would have been cooler with better vis. We were swimming perpendicular to them, but I think it would be a fun dive to do parallel to the big rocks, and dive them like walls or swim throughs. I'm not a big fan of the up-and-down sawtoothing.

The problem was we were trying to do a deep "practice" dive and a 150 deg heading doesn't help with that. Next time I wanna poke around without getting deep, I'll go looking for the gullys.

 

[mer]

Clutchcargo once bubbled...

Looking out at all the lobster bouys, I hate dragging the friggin flag around.
Cjh

In the 150 direction, there was only one pot line that I had to contend with, but of course that could vary from week to week.

I've seen Spectre and Notabob expertly anchor the flag at 30 ft and expertly navigated back. (And heard stories about them not-so-expertly anchoring the flag.) But, allas yesterday, I didn't have any extra hard weight and the surge was enough to make finding the flag were you left it questionable.