Last week was ugly in SoCal. Rain, wind, cold and general yuck.
It was time to get on a boat and get away from it all. We have crazy lithium ion batteries for the scoots - its time to leave the chargers at home and pound 4 long dives into the battery.
Fortunately, and quite unbelievably only 9 other people had the same idea. So Chica and I, along with 9 other people (about 7 or 8 other divers) boarded the Peace on Friday night in the broken rain and bedded down with hopes for a clear Saturday.
We woke on Saturday to an empty boat (this is the first time I've been back on the Peace since my charter this summer.... when we had twice as many scooters as people on this current trip) and a cloudy day. It was a bit windy, but it looked OK.
We exited the harbor and the boat wasn't rocking too badly. In fact, it was a very mellow crossing to Anacapa. I went back downstairs, as I've been sick of late, and I did a complete face plant.
I awake to the PA calling out "20 minutes!" - so I shake off the cobwebs and stagger upstairs to set up the cameras. I start with the Macro rig, and by the time I'm done we're at the site! That was NOT 20 minutes...
I jump into my drysuit. This first dive will be Macro. Hope its a good site.
The first dive
I look out and I see that our first dive is on Rat rock (only my favorite spot on the island!) The water looks pretty darn clear - but there's no way I'm gonna take another 15 minutes to set up the second rig, as the gates are open and Chica and I are already looking like we're gonna be the last ones in (if you know us, you know we do very long dives with very large single cylinders... so we try to get in early)
We splash, and I'm killing myself. The water is gin clear. Probably 50 to 70 feet of viz. Within 3 minutes of splash, I see a Pacific Electric Ray. The current is ripping, and he's slowly finninginto the current - barely moving.
Then we see another.
Then another.
Then another.
By the 7 minute mark, we have now seen 9 electric rays - mid-sized ones, big ones, HUGE ones. All slowly finning into the current.
The we saw another one.
Then another one.
They were up high. They were on the sand. They were right in front of us. They were all around us.
By minute 10 we counted 18 Electric rays.
EIGHTEEN!
As if this wasn't crazy enough - it was about to get crazier.
By minute 12 we had counted TWENTY SEVEN electric rays.
Of course, I'm dying inside. I have on a 105 Macro lens.
The good news is the Nudis were all over the place too. We saw the smallest Monterey Dorid I've ever seen. He was maybe 1/2 inch. We saw Fed Ex and Sandy's and so many more.
We turned the dive at about 40 minutes of scootering with the current. We're FAR from the boat, and way around the corner. 'sall good. These batteries have no "E" on the meter - so we zip back past ray after ray after ray - lazily finning into the current we're cutting right through with our scooters. I see the anchor chain up ahead - and I throw the Hail Mary. We're at about 80 feet or so, and I look up - and about 30 feet above us is yet another ray. A big one. I line him up against the sun with my 105mm, and he fills the frame. I snap off one shot.
I'm heart broken that I missed probably 200 or more unforgettable images, but I'm heart happy that just had one of the dives of my life.
The Second dive (all that for one dive???!!) was near Coral Reef (only my second favorite site on Anacapa and definitely a Macro dive)... We drove this dive to nearly 100 feet and worked it back up. No rays, but amazing schools of fish. Huge schools - tons of Nudis on the amber waves of Brittle Stars. Another very clear site - clean water, gorgeous dive.
LUNCH - no rain. No wind. A rainbow off the starboard side. It was so sunny that Claudette and I ate outside.
The Third dive - Cathedral Cove. I've dived this site probably 30 or 40 times, and I've had maybe 3 or 4 nice dives here. Today was not one of these times. It was surgey, it was cloudy, it was snotty. SO glad I didn't set up and schlep the Wide Angle. Of course when Chica and I scooted back to the boat, it turns out the boat was sitting in the 100-square yards of perfection. So we spent the last 10 minutes under the boat in still, clear, vertical kelpness. Lovely.
The Final Dive - OMG. This was on the edge of a site called "goldfish bowl" - this site was the coldest of the four (52) and the clearest. Another couple of electric Rays, more Nudis, and more wishing I took the time to set up the W/A. I've dived this site a zillion times, but this was the clearest and cleanest I've ever seen it. We could count stones at 60-feet while floating on the surface. Unreal.
Chica and I are the last ones out (big shock there...) We hit the swim step and the clouds open up. Its not pounding, but we're getting our first real rain of the day.
The ride back to the harbor was shockingly, surprisingly, miraculously smooth and mellow.
We arrive, the boat ties up and the sky opens up. IT IS DUMPING. We have our North Face jackets, but we're in tennis shoes and sweats. Within 5 minutes we are soaked to the skin from the waist down.
And we have 3 more trips to unload (we roll large.)
We get everything loaded in to our trucks, take off our wet socks, wring them out in the parking lot, turn on the heater and head back to Los Angeles.
The Peace continues to excel. What a boat, what a crew. Excellent sites, super dives, great service.
Chica - super idea and most excellent forethought, booking this trip a couple of weeks ago. For four years now (and 601 dives together) we've been filling December with memorable boat dives. This was no exception. I'll never forget the parade of rays from dive one, the endless brittle stars and huge schools of dive two, the perfect dive that was right off the step in the kelp of dive three, and the jaw-dropping beauty of dive four. You are one in a million, and I can't wait for the next 600 dives with you!
Some pics below.
---
Ken
Smallest Monty ever. Check the signature fat head, split lip, yellow gill ring and the sticky skin! What a cutie.
Hail Mary Ray
Curious Limbaugh's - What 'cha lookin at, buddy?
Crevice Rosie (AKA: Chica Challenge #1) - Claudette saw this bouquet of Rosies, and she called me over, with a sad look. She was saying, "look how cool, so sorry you can't get a shot of these...." Silly Chica. Ken 1, Rose Bunch 0
Octo in the Crevice - This was Chica challenge #2 "no way Ken can get a shot of this guy...." Ken 2, Octo 0
House and Home! This is a Tylo - a very, very large Tylo that we saw at the end of dive 4. He was sitting on and amongst his fav food: Sulfur Sponge. Check out the munch marks on the twin towers in the back of the frame as dude climbs on top of his ottoman of grub to get a bigger bite!
Little Lemon on Brittle Star carpet
Stearnsi on a yellow sponge. I love these Nudi's.
Coffee Bean Cowrey - these are among our favorite critters. I've taken lots of shots of these. But I've never seen that beaver tail mud flap Mullet back thing he calls a foot. This was in a huge surge area on dive 3, and maybe they deploy footzilla to hold on? Who knows. I've shot many of these and never seen THE FOOT before. I took a lot of shots of this guy, and most were pretty soft because of the surge. His foot is mostly retracted here... in most of the other shots its even BIGGER. Crazy.
Tritonia on Reg gorg. We saw lots of these guys on dive 1.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It was time to get on a boat and get away from it all. We have crazy lithium ion batteries for the scoots - its time to leave the chargers at home and pound 4 long dives into the battery.
Fortunately, and quite unbelievably only 9 other people had the same idea. So Chica and I, along with 9 other people (about 7 or 8 other divers) boarded the Peace on Friday night in the broken rain and bedded down with hopes for a clear Saturday.
We woke on Saturday to an empty boat (this is the first time I've been back on the Peace since my charter this summer.... when we had twice as many scooters as people on this current trip) and a cloudy day. It was a bit windy, but it looked OK.
We exited the harbor and the boat wasn't rocking too badly. In fact, it was a very mellow crossing to Anacapa. I went back downstairs, as I've been sick of late, and I did a complete face plant.
I awake to the PA calling out "20 minutes!" - so I shake off the cobwebs and stagger upstairs to set up the cameras. I start with the Macro rig, and by the time I'm done we're at the site! That was NOT 20 minutes...
I jump into my drysuit. This first dive will be Macro. Hope its a good site.
The first dive
I look out and I see that our first dive is on Rat rock (only my favorite spot on the island!) The water looks pretty darn clear - but there's no way I'm gonna take another 15 minutes to set up the second rig, as the gates are open and Chica and I are already looking like we're gonna be the last ones in (if you know us, you know we do very long dives with very large single cylinders... so we try to get in early)
We splash, and I'm killing myself. The water is gin clear. Probably 50 to 70 feet of viz. Within 3 minutes of splash, I see a Pacific Electric Ray. The current is ripping, and he's slowly finninginto the current - barely moving.
Then we see another.
Then another.
Then another.
By the 7 minute mark, we have now seen 9 electric rays - mid-sized ones, big ones, HUGE ones. All slowly finning into the current.
The we saw another one.
Then another one.
They were up high. They were on the sand. They were right in front of us. They were all around us.
By minute 10 we counted 18 Electric rays.
EIGHTEEN!
As if this wasn't crazy enough - it was about to get crazier.
By minute 12 we had counted TWENTY SEVEN electric rays.
Of course, I'm dying inside. I have on a 105 Macro lens.
The good news is the Nudis were all over the place too. We saw the smallest Monterey Dorid I've ever seen. He was maybe 1/2 inch. We saw Fed Ex and Sandy's and so many more.
We turned the dive at about 40 minutes of scootering with the current. We're FAR from the boat, and way around the corner. 'sall good. These batteries have no "E" on the meter - so we zip back past ray after ray after ray - lazily finning into the current we're cutting right through with our scooters. I see the anchor chain up ahead - and I throw the Hail Mary. We're at about 80 feet or so, and I look up - and about 30 feet above us is yet another ray. A big one. I line him up against the sun with my 105mm, and he fills the frame. I snap off one shot.
I'm heart broken that I missed probably 200 or more unforgettable images, but I'm heart happy that just had one of the dives of my life.
The Second dive (all that for one dive???!!) was near Coral Reef (only my second favorite site on Anacapa and definitely a Macro dive)... We drove this dive to nearly 100 feet and worked it back up. No rays, but amazing schools of fish. Huge schools - tons of Nudis on the amber waves of Brittle Stars. Another very clear site - clean water, gorgeous dive.
LUNCH - no rain. No wind. A rainbow off the starboard side. It was so sunny that Claudette and I ate outside.
The Third dive - Cathedral Cove. I've dived this site probably 30 or 40 times, and I've had maybe 3 or 4 nice dives here. Today was not one of these times. It was surgey, it was cloudy, it was snotty. SO glad I didn't set up and schlep the Wide Angle. Of course when Chica and I scooted back to the boat, it turns out the boat was sitting in the 100-square yards of perfection. So we spent the last 10 minutes under the boat in still, clear, vertical kelpness. Lovely.
The Final Dive - OMG. This was on the edge of a site called "goldfish bowl" - this site was the coldest of the four (52) and the clearest. Another couple of electric Rays, more Nudis, and more wishing I took the time to set up the W/A. I've dived this site a zillion times, but this was the clearest and cleanest I've ever seen it. We could count stones at 60-feet while floating on the surface. Unreal.
Chica and I are the last ones out (big shock there...) We hit the swim step and the clouds open up. Its not pounding, but we're getting our first real rain of the day.
The ride back to the harbor was shockingly, surprisingly, miraculously smooth and mellow.
We arrive, the boat ties up and the sky opens up. IT IS DUMPING. We have our North Face jackets, but we're in tennis shoes and sweats. Within 5 minutes we are soaked to the skin from the waist down.
And we have 3 more trips to unload (we roll large.)
We get everything loaded in to our trucks, take off our wet socks, wring them out in the parking lot, turn on the heater and head back to Los Angeles.
The Peace continues to excel. What a boat, what a crew. Excellent sites, super dives, great service.
Chica - super idea and most excellent forethought, booking this trip a couple of weeks ago. For four years now (and 601 dives together) we've been filling December with memorable boat dives. This was no exception. I'll never forget the parade of rays from dive one, the endless brittle stars and huge schools of dive two, the perfect dive that was right off the step in the kelp of dive three, and the jaw-dropping beauty of dive four. You are one in a million, and I can't wait for the next 600 dives with you!
Some pics below.
---
Ken
Smallest Monty ever. Check the signature fat head, split lip, yellow gill ring and the sticky skin! What a cutie.
Hail Mary Ray
Curious Limbaugh's - What 'cha lookin at, buddy?
Crevice Rosie (AKA: Chica Challenge #1) - Claudette saw this bouquet of Rosies, and she called me over, with a sad look. She was saying, "look how cool, so sorry you can't get a shot of these...." Silly Chica. Ken 1, Rose Bunch 0
Octo in the Crevice - This was Chica challenge #2 "no way Ken can get a shot of this guy...." Ken 2, Octo 0
House and Home! This is a Tylo - a very, very large Tylo that we saw at the end of dive 4. He was sitting on and amongst his fav food: Sulfur Sponge. Check out the munch marks on the twin towers in the back of the frame as dude climbs on top of his ottoman of grub to get a bigger bite!
Little Lemon on Brittle Star carpet
Stearnsi on a yellow sponge. I love these Nudi's.
Coffee Bean Cowrey - these are among our favorite critters. I've taken lots of shots of these. But I've never seen that beaver tail mud flap Mullet back thing he calls a foot. This was in a huge surge area on dive 3, and maybe they deploy footzilla to hold on? Who knows. I've shot many of these and never seen THE FOOT before. I took a lot of shots of this guy, and most were pretty soft because of the surge. His foot is mostly retracted here... in most of the other shots its even BIGGER. Crazy.
Tritonia on Reg gorg. We saw lots of these guys on dive 1.
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.
.
.
.
.
.
