Northern Channel Islands Dive Trip

[DocWong]

Seriously?? I had NO idea. But wait, what the heck was I pouring into my cereal every morning? :shocked2:

Do standardized meals mean we're going MREs next time around?

While there was plenty of milk, cereal and bread around, the actual cooked meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner did not contain dairy or gluten. The cook was very very cool!

 

[Gombessa]

nice video. I have done a couple of dives at Cathedral Cove (loved it, one of my favorite dives EVER) but have never heard of "garbage dump". What is that?

Out of 13 dives, Cathedral Cove was definitely in the top two as well, it was the best last-dive-of-the-trip we could have hoped for.

Garbage Dump Cavern: Essentially there's a small swimthrough in Cathedral Cove that's more like a vertical fissure in the wall of the island itself (starts at about 6:00 in the video); it's mostly open water but from below looks just like a cave/cavern entrance. If you go through, it opens into a rocky pit or "caldera" in the island itself (~10ft deep, at 7:00). We were told people stationed on the island dumped stuff into the pit, and it's not visible in the video but there's definitely some old equipment/pipes resting against the walls in the pit (but I didn't see anything underwater). An extremely cool area of the site since it's pretty dark, a stark contrast from the well-lie aquarium-like kelp everywhere else, and there are spiny lobsters under every rock you can see!

 

[TSandM]

It was pretty funny, the food . . . When Doc told me he was lactose AND gluten intolerant, I looked at him in sympathy and asked, "Oh, man, what CAN you eat?" So as Joe produced one delicious meal after another, Doc would elbow me and whisper, "Gluten and dairy-free!" It amazed me and delighted him. Joe's a treasure.

 

[orangelion03]

Thanks for posting the great video!

All of my dives at Cathedral, I have never been into the Garbage Dump, though I can imagine the conditions have to be just right to get in and out without much drama. Will make an effort to check it out next time.

As for Joe The Cook...without diminishing the quality of the rest of the crew on Peace, his contribution to making a trip out on this boat is major! Excellent cook and a super nice guy to boot!

 

[ligersandtions]

Great video....thanks for posting! As a local socal diver, I haven't been out to many (if any) of the sites you guys hit on this trip and now I see what I'm missing. It's a shame I spent all my money on gear!

 

[Gombessa]

So as Joe produced one delicious meal after another, Doc would elbow me and whisper, "Gluten and dairy-free!" It amazed me and delighted him. Joe's a treasure.

I'm not even really sure what a gluten is, but after that trip, I'm 99% sure I wouldn't miss it if it disappeared from my diet! Dairy however, is a dealbreaker for my coffee

Great video....thanks for posting! As a local socal diver, I haven't been out to many (if any) of the sites you guys hit on this trip and now I see what I'm missing. It's a shame I spent all my money on gear!

No doubt about it, the gear accumulation NEVER stops. As you're seeing though, it does eventually slow down enough for you to start funneling resources to other diving-related money pits, such as travel and additional training But no bones about it, the slow-down is merely a plateau, and it starts up again before you know it! What's the total for a scooter + X1 again?

 

[fnfalman]

To me Joe is what really made the Peace stand out from the other dive boats. No offense to the rest of the Peace crew but it's just that I have yet to be on a boat that has a bad crew. However, the gastronomic delights that Joe put out...oooh lala.

 

[Ben_ca]

No doubt about it, the gear accumulation NEVER stops. As you're seeing though, it does eventually slow down enough for you to start funneling resources to other diving-related money pits, such as travel and additional training But no bones about it, the slow-down is merely a plateau, and it starts up again before you know it! What's the total for a scooter + X1 again?

Yes but also with the building of gear and training comes the community of solid and fun filled diver friends who share the same mindset and skill set. This is part of what this trip was about. A social experiment of putting together a solid group of non drama/high fun ratio divers that came from different places but who could also "bring their own fun" and raise the bar on the live-aboard experience.

"if you build it... they will come"



Spend your time on the bunny slopes and build those solid skills. These will bring you further that you could ever imagine

 

[TSandM]

Oh, you are SO right, Ben!