Squid Egg Shag Carpeting! Redondo Canyon! 1/28/07! Limited Engagement, Don't miss it!

[Mo2vation]

I know so little about Redondo (I think I only have like 3 dives there?) that it's going to be bad enough trying to find this stuff without hard conditions on top of it!

Thanks!
-jake

Vets is cake.

You can't miss the eggs.

The issue is the viz. We had 4 or 5 days of fantastic viz, and that is over for now. It was not great on Wed, it was really REALLY bad last night. Ocean conditions improved Thursday over Wed - meaning entry and exit was easier. But Undah Dah Sea was no bueno.

I got off maybe three shots and just folded up the arms and just had a fun dive last night. It was like driving with your brights in a blizzard, trying to take photos last night.

You'll see miles of eggs - but the vista won't be unlimited like it was last week.

---
Ken

 

[LAJim]

If the swell model can be believed conditions might be good Tuesday night. I'm interested in seeing them again.

Jim

 

[undrwater]

Dove there this morning with Leanne and Ken. Swells were WAY down, and entry was...cake. Vis was startlingly good...around 20', but not nearly as much life as at night.

It still might not be great for photos...lots of particles in the water, I got some shots but haven't seen them on the big screen yet. I'll post later if they come out OK.

We found the rifle, so I took a pic of Leanne playing 'Dette.

 

[Mo2vation]

Dove there this morning with Leanne and Ken. Swells were WAY down, and entry was...cake. Vis was startlingly good...around 20', but not nearly as much life as at night.

It still might not be great for photos...lots of particles in the water, I got some shots but haven't seen them on the big screen yet. I'll post later if they come out OK.

We found the rifle, so I took a pic of Leanne playing 'Dette.

You found it?!?!?!?!

That is so cool. Gotta see the pic.

Too funny.

---
Ken

 

[ScubaMilo]

Dove there this morning with Leanne and Ken. Swells were WAY down, and entry was...cake. Vis was startlingly good...around 20', but not nearly as much life as at night.

It still might not be great for photos...lots of particles in the water, I got some shots but haven't seen them on the big screen yet. I'll post later if they come out OK.

We found the rifle, so I took a pic of Leanne playing 'Dette.

Did the dive last night lot's of animals out.
Took a little video lot's of back scatter.
We left the gun staked into the ground is this where you found it?

Milo

 

[Leejnd]

Yep, found the gun staked in the ground! Russell took a few shots of me posing in an appropriately menacing fashion, then we staked it right back where we found it -- in the middle of the shag carpet.

Can't wait to see the pics on the big screen, Russell!

I'll tell ya, the waves were surprisingly...not there! If I believed the surf reports, today was supposed to be the biggest day all week. But yesterday I got seriously tossed and tumbled and maytagged trying to enter at Leo Carrillo...and we never did get underwater because my buddy lost his mask in the surf. Today the waves just licked at my kneecaps.

The vis was great! And it really is surreal to see the egg carpet. It's something every diver in this area should see if you can get a chance. Unfortunately, apparently the life doesn't come out until night time, cuz all we saw were a bunch of amorous crabs. I'm hoping to get back out there on Wed. night to see more life.

The surf reports indicate that it's going to be even flatter this weekend, so do head there if you can. Like others have said, you really can't miss it. Just head straight out from the second staircase (the one to the right of the parking lot)...and there they are.

 

[Robert Phillips]

Second staircase on the right and straight on until morning...

 

[Jake]

***HOW TO FIND one of the dense patches:

1. Start at the "middle stairs", which are 1/2 way between the shower building (at the main stairs) and the pier. You can even park here for a shorter walk. (Bring quarters, $1/hour)
2. Enter directly out from these stairs. Kick out on the surface, ideally until you are even with the end of the pier. Stay lined up with the stairs. If the surface chop is pounding on your head, drop when you need to, BUT TAKE A COMPASS HEADING FIRST!! 240 degrees is what you want, directly away from the beach.
3. Descend, and kick "straight out", at 240 degrees. Initially, you'll be perpendicular to the sand rills, so it's pretty easy. But the canyon curves slightly as it descends, so stick to the 240 heading. You'll start to see big egg patches at 65-70fsw, depending on the tide. The densest carpeting starts around 80fsw, and will be slightly to your right as you're moving on the 240 heading. It's solid eggs in the densest area. Drift closer to the pier if you don't see the Wall2Wall thing going on. The carpet narrows a bit around 105, but is still going deeper.

Hey Claudette-

When you make the descent at the end of the pier, what's the approximate depth when you hit bottom? I'd like to know when I'm getting near touchdown so that I don't land on any of this stuff (or anyone) if viz is poor tomorrow night.

 

[undrwater]

Here are a couple of the (not so great) shots.

 

[Leejnd]

Well, I think I look suitably menacing, don't you?