Roughwaterjohn
Contributor
Conditions:
3-4 waves, steady, but with predictable lulls.
Surge was evident, but minimal.
Surface temperature was 63 degrees, dropping to 53 in the canyon.
Visibility at 25 fsw was 15-20, with several patches of 30-40 at depth.
Maximum depth was 84 fsw, with an average depth of 72 fsw.
Total bottom time was 38 minutes.
Photos:
Here is a link to photos from this and last weeks dive.
http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/photogalleries.php?s=5543
The Report:
Heading over to La Jolla Shores this morning, I was cruising along at .well lets just say a relatively safe speed. Even with that much momentum working in my favor, I was constantly being passed by a variety of vehicles carrying surfboards in or on them. Lots of them, all driving much faster than I was, and in mass quantities. Hmmm I thought, scratching the stubble on my chin, what do they know that I dont? Once parked, and cruising along the boardwalk, I could see that theyd all been headed here, La Jolla Shores Surf Park.
Since patience is a virtue, and may be the only virtue I can claim as my own, I decided to not take these waves at face value and relaxed for a while, watching and learning. After 5 minutes of that, about the same amount of time I spent learning in school by the way, I realized conditions were not what they seemed. Yes, there were steady sets of 4rs tossing themselves down on the surface like a two year old in the throes of a tantrum, but there were several, timeable and predictable lulls, and as expected, the waves decreased in height and severity the further south you went from Vallecitos. Being the professional and serious diver I am, I Wooo-Hoood my bad self over to my truck to gear up.
Wayne, Mickey, David (Sr.), Pat and I made the return trip to the beach, geared up and ready for diving. We entered in front of the Sea Lodge and gained about 4 of water when the incoming sets regained their earlier stature. We shuffled forward, waited for a break, shuffled some more, waited out a few sets, then when opportunity raised its soggy head from the seas, we gave it a quick military salute and headed out deeper, donning our fins as we went. An easy, slightly rolling kick out, and we were at the buoy and making our descent.
The dire predictions of algae blooms and mask deep visibility were obvious by their absence. In 25 fsw, we were welcomed with an easy 15-20 of slightly greenish visibility. Striking out for the canyon and heading deeper, we encountered a brisk thermocline at 30 fsw and visibility in the canyon opened up pleasantly to 30-40. It wouldnt stay that way, as we encountered several murkier patches of 15-20, but it kept returning to better visibility as we moved south.
We saw a couple of 3 Halibuts sail off into the deep upon our approach. Sea Hares were abundant in a variety of sizes, as were the usual Sea Pens and Anemones. We say quite an abundance of Gobies along the wall. We had obviously just missed a fight between different Goby factions, as in addition to the usual Bay Gobies, we saw several Black Eyed Gobies, the obvious losers in that school yard tussle. We also saw several San Diego Dorids and a few Spanish Shawls.
All the previously listed sea creatures continued to fill our visions as we explored along the walls and rock faces. Eventually, one of our group reached turnaround pressure, so, sending the others on their way, he and I headed up slope and turned towards shore. We saw another 3 Halibut on the way in, a decent sized hermit crab moving himself and his home to a better trailer park, along with a couple of patches of Swimming Crabs being their usual feisty selves in the sand. They kept drawing lines in the sand, daring us to cross, to which we politely refused. Other than a Stingray that was as startled as we were as we cruised low over it, we encountered no other visible life. Visibility dropped to 5 or less in the surf, which was to be expected, but it was a safe exit to a wonderful dive.
John A.
3-4 waves, steady, but with predictable lulls.
Surge was evident, but minimal.
Surface temperature was 63 degrees, dropping to 53 in the canyon.
Visibility at 25 fsw was 15-20, with several patches of 30-40 at depth.
Maximum depth was 84 fsw, with an average depth of 72 fsw.
Total bottom time was 38 minutes.
Photos:
Here is a link to photos from this and last weeks dive.
http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/photogalleries.php?s=5543
The Report:
Heading over to La Jolla Shores this morning, I was cruising along at .well lets just say a relatively safe speed. Even with that much momentum working in my favor, I was constantly being passed by a variety of vehicles carrying surfboards in or on them. Lots of them, all driving much faster than I was, and in mass quantities. Hmmm I thought, scratching the stubble on my chin, what do they know that I dont? Once parked, and cruising along the boardwalk, I could see that theyd all been headed here, La Jolla Shores Surf Park.
Since patience is a virtue, and may be the only virtue I can claim as my own, I decided to not take these waves at face value and relaxed for a while, watching and learning. After 5 minutes of that, about the same amount of time I spent learning in school by the way, I realized conditions were not what they seemed. Yes, there were steady sets of 4rs tossing themselves down on the surface like a two year old in the throes of a tantrum, but there were several, timeable and predictable lulls, and as expected, the waves decreased in height and severity the further south you went from Vallecitos. Being the professional and serious diver I am, I Wooo-Hoood my bad self over to my truck to gear up.
Wayne, Mickey, David (Sr.), Pat and I made the return trip to the beach, geared up and ready for diving. We entered in front of the Sea Lodge and gained about 4 of water when the incoming sets regained their earlier stature. We shuffled forward, waited for a break, shuffled some more, waited out a few sets, then when opportunity raised its soggy head from the seas, we gave it a quick military salute and headed out deeper, donning our fins as we went. An easy, slightly rolling kick out, and we were at the buoy and making our descent.
The dire predictions of algae blooms and mask deep visibility were obvious by their absence. In 25 fsw, we were welcomed with an easy 15-20 of slightly greenish visibility. Striking out for the canyon and heading deeper, we encountered a brisk thermocline at 30 fsw and visibility in the canyon opened up pleasantly to 30-40. It wouldnt stay that way, as we encountered several murkier patches of 15-20, but it kept returning to better visibility as we moved south.
We saw a couple of 3 Halibuts sail off into the deep upon our approach. Sea Hares were abundant in a variety of sizes, as were the usual Sea Pens and Anemones. We say quite an abundance of Gobies along the wall. We had obviously just missed a fight between different Goby factions, as in addition to the usual Bay Gobies, we saw several Black Eyed Gobies, the obvious losers in that school yard tussle. We also saw several San Diego Dorids and a few Spanish Shawls.
All the previously listed sea creatures continued to fill our visions as we explored along the walls and rock faces. Eventually, one of our group reached turnaround pressure, so, sending the others on their way, he and I headed up slope and turned towards shore. We saw another 3 Halibut on the way in, a decent sized hermit crab moving himself and his home to a better trailer park, along with a couple of patches of Swimming Crabs being their usual feisty selves in the sand. They kept drawing lines in the sand, daring us to cross, to which we politely refused. Other than a Stingray that was as startled as we were as we cruised low over it, we encountered no other visible life. Visibility dropped to 5 or less in the surf, which was to be expected, but it was a safe exit to a wonderful dive.
John A.
I'm glad you both enjoy them. I hope you have as much fun reading them as I do writing them!
