Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
Hi urchin divers,
The next purple urchin removal dive will be Sunday, June 9th.
We will meet at Stillwater Cove in Sonoma County at 8:00 AM.
Parking is available up on hwy 1 at the turnout right above the cove for free (get there early because the kayak fishermen have been hoarding spaces early on), or across the highway in the day use parking lot in the campground for $7 day unless you have a park pass. There is a beautiful trail that leads from the lot down through the redwood forest to the cove.
Some things you will need:
1. A valid CA fishing license
2. At least one game bag with a double ender bolt snap, the large green Trident bag or med size yellow bag. I use three bags and can fill them on one dive. The limit is 40 gallons of purple urchins per day (approx. 150 lbs.)
3. A lift bag if you are using a large green bag or multiple bags since they get too heavy to drag around underwater and back to shore. A yellow bag is half the size of the green and can be carried around underwater and back to the beach//exit so therefore doesn’t necessarily need a lift bag. The standard practice is to clip off the full bags to the lift bag and send them up. Then they can be floated in to shore. You will also need a dedicated double ender bolt snap for your lift bag to secure it to your rig when not deployed. I use a 50# official/real lift bag with a lifting strap, exhaust valve, inlet valve, etc.
4. A small gardening hand rake to save your gloves and prevent urchin spine injuries to your fingers. Hand rakes work very well and speed up the process multiple fold. Make sure it has a bungee or lanyard on the handle so you can secure it to your wrist. You will need to let go of it periodically to shake the urchins down into the bag with both hands and you don’t want to lose it.
Shore support will weigh all the urchin bags as they come in and all weights will be recorded.
Make sure your bags get weighed and keep track of your personal gear! It’s easy to lose track of your gear on the beach. I mark all my bags with some sort of identifying features to prevent losing track of them. All the bags look the same.
I recommend bringing at least two tanks.
Also, make sure all your gear is in top working order and don’t forget anything because there are no local dive shops up there.
We will provide all the containers and we will do all the hauling away of the urchins. All you need to do is show up with your removal gear, your enthusiasm, and your energy! It’s hard work so get ready.
If you have never attended one of these dives and are attending either from this posting or from the text alert list then you will need to fill out a liability release form which I will provide at the site.
I also hold a briefing before the dive.
Great!
We’ll see you there!
The next purple urchin removal dive will be Sunday, June 9th.
We will meet at Stillwater Cove in Sonoma County at 8:00 AM.
Parking is available up on hwy 1 at the turnout right above the cove for free (get there early because the kayak fishermen have been hoarding spaces early on), or across the highway in the day use parking lot in the campground for $7 day unless you have a park pass. There is a beautiful trail that leads from the lot down through the redwood forest to the cove.
Some things you will need:
1. A valid CA fishing license
2. At least one game bag with a double ender bolt snap, the large green Trident bag or med size yellow bag. I use three bags and can fill them on one dive. The limit is 40 gallons of purple urchins per day (approx. 150 lbs.)
3. A lift bag if you are using a large green bag or multiple bags since they get too heavy to drag around underwater and back to shore. A yellow bag is half the size of the green and can be carried around underwater and back to the beach//exit so therefore doesn’t necessarily need a lift bag. The standard practice is to clip off the full bags to the lift bag and send them up. Then they can be floated in to shore. You will also need a dedicated double ender bolt snap for your lift bag to secure it to your rig when not deployed. I use a 50# official/real lift bag with a lifting strap, exhaust valve, inlet valve, etc.
4. A small gardening hand rake to save your gloves and prevent urchin spine injuries to your fingers. Hand rakes work very well and speed up the process multiple fold. Make sure it has a bungee or lanyard on the handle so you can secure it to your wrist. You will need to let go of it periodically to shake the urchins down into the bag with both hands and you don’t want to lose it.
Shore support will weigh all the urchin bags as they come in and all weights will be recorded.
Make sure your bags get weighed and keep track of your personal gear! It’s easy to lose track of your gear on the beach. I mark all my bags with some sort of identifying features to prevent losing track of them. All the bags look the same.
I recommend bringing at least two tanks.
Also, make sure all your gear is in top working order and don’t forget anything because there are no local dive shops up there.
We will provide all the containers and we will do all the hauling away of the urchins. All you need to do is show up with your removal gear, your enthusiasm, and your energy! It’s hard work so get ready.
If you have never attended one of these dives and are attending either from this posting or from the text alert list then you will need to fill out a liability release form which I will provide at the site.
I also hold a briefing before the dive.
Great!
We’ll see you there!
