Roughwaterjohn
Contributor
LJ Shores 03-05-06
Conditions:
Sunny, clear and cold
0.5’ low tide on a 1.5-knot ebb, slack at 0840 hrs
Visibility, 8’-10’ at depth, 2’-5’ at depths shallower than 30’
Sea surface temperature 55 degrees
Bottom temperature 50 degrees
Max depth 96’
Average depth 74’
Total bottom time 57 minutes
Photos located at;
http://photobucket.com/albums/v116/krowsea/LJ Shores 03-05-06/
The Report:
Terry and I decided to meet up this morning at La Jolla Shores for a quick dip in the pool. It was sunny but ‘crisp’ this morning so we wasted no time between outfits, changing from civvies to drysuits in record time. Loaded up, aired up and pumped up, we headed to the boardwalk and the long expanse of beach before us. Walking across the vast sandy desert, we had plenty of time to watch dolphins playing in the surf zone before we dipped our toes in the water. Actually, we had time to do our taxes, rebuild an engine and solve the square root of Pi using clay tablets and a sharpened stick, but we did eventually hit water.
The surf was only 1’ or less, but past the surf zone, mild swells were starting to come in. With no major obstacles before us, we kicked out lazily on our backs, watching the dolphins between our fins and the beach and listening to more dolphins surfacing behind us. We cruised passed the orange buoy without slowing, picking a drop site at random, if random means we both stopped kicking within seconds of each other, immediately asking if the other was ready to drop down. Realizing an answer would be redundant for either of us, we said no more and accomplished what we had asked.
Stopping just shy of our 28’ bottom depth, we oriented west, kicking and descending, as the canyon edge had been reached in short order. We saw a couple of hutches of Sea Hares, but not much else as we descended to the 90’ish zone. A few starfish and the occasional Sea Pen were all that entertained us until we headed slightly upslope in a southerly direction. Between 85’ and 65’, we began seeing various Terry-identifiable nudibranchs, Lizardfish and a good sized Hermit Crab, which despite its crankiness, was out and about this morning.
Terry and I continued to leapfrog our way upslope. I caught glimpses of flashes from Terry’s camera behind me as I stopped to photograph my own subjects, only minutely aware as his fins glided overhead while I cursed my camera for not doing what I wanted and tried another shot. Soon after, I would glide over Terry and the process would start again. With nothing apparently alive that was bigger than my closed fist, and with the majority in the 1” or smaller range, we went slowly and methodically, covering little ground, but doing it with style and panache.
Eventually making our way back onto the sand flats, we encountered another cantankerous Hermit Crab, or possibly the same one as earlier, assuming it was capable of teleportation or faster than light travel. After all, who really knows what Jules Vern’ish secrets lay within the shell of such an ornery but clever beast?
Returning towards shore, conditions passed 30’ turned green and slightly turbulent, attributed we assumed to an increase in the swells we had encountered on our way out. The bottom stayed pretty stirred up the rest of the way in, limiting visibility and our ability to stay in one spot. Just before surfacing, Terry found an Octopus hiding out in cylinder #7 of a rusted out V8 engine block, half buried in the shifting sand. Once on the surface again, it was an easy swim in, despite the swells.
John A.
Conditions:
Sunny, clear and cold
0.5’ low tide on a 1.5-knot ebb, slack at 0840 hrs
Visibility, 8’-10’ at depth, 2’-5’ at depths shallower than 30’
Sea surface temperature 55 degrees
Bottom temperature 50 degrees
Max depth 96’
Average depth 74’
Total bottom time 57 minutes
Photos located at;
http://photobucket.com/albums/v116/krowsea/LJ Shores 03-05-06/
The Report:
Terry and I decided to meet up this morning at La Jolla Shores for a quick dip in the pool. It was sunny but ‘crisp’ this morning so we wasted no time between outfits, changing from civvies to drysuits in record time. Loaded up, aired up and pumped up, we headed to the boardwalk and the long expanse of beach before us. Walking across the vast sandy desert, we had plenty of time to watch dolphins playing in the surf zone before we dipped our toes in the water. Actually, we had time to do our taxes, rebuild an engine and solve the square root of Pi using clay tablets and a sharpened stick, but we did eventually hit water.
The surf was only 1’ or less, but past the surf zone, mild swells were starting to come in. With no major obstacles before us, we kicked out lazily on our backs, watching the dolphins between our fins and the beach and listening to more dolphins surfacing behind us. We cruised passed the orange buoy without slowing, picking a drop site at random, if random means we both stopped kicking within seconds of each other, immediately asking if the other was ready to drop down. Realizing an answer would be redundant for either of us, we said no more and accomplished what we had asked.
Stopping just shy of our 28’ bottom depth, we oriented west, kicking and descending, as the canyon edge had been reached in short order. We saw a couple of hutches of Sea Hares, but not much else as we descended to the 90’ish zone. A few starfish and the occasional Sea Pen were all that entertained us until we headed slightly upslope in a southerly direction. Between 85’ and 65’, we began seeing various Terry-identifiable nudibranchs, Lizardfish and a good sized Hermit Crab, which despite its crankiness, was out and about this morning.
Terry and I continued to leapfrog our way upslope. I caught glimpses of flashes from Terry’s camera behind me as I stopped to photograph my own subjects, only minutely aware as his fins glided overhead while I cursed my camera for not doing what I wanted and tried another shot. Soon after, I would glide over Terry and the process would start again. With nothing apparently alive that was bigger than my closed fist, and with the majority in the 1” or smaller range, we went slowly and methodically, covering little ground, but doing it with style and panache.
Eventually making our way back onto the sand flats, we encountered another cantankerous Hermit Crab, or possibly the same one as earlier, assuming it was capable of teleportation or faster than light travel. After all, who really knows what Jules Vern’ish secrets lay within the shell of such an ornery but clever beast?
Returning towards shore, conditions passed 30’ turned green and slightly turbulent, attributed we assumed to an increase in the swells we had encountered on our way out. The bottom stayed pretty stirred up the rest of the way in, limiting visibility and our ability to stay in one spot. Just before surfacing, Terry found an Octopus hiding out in cylinder #7 of a rusted out V8 engine block, half buried in the shifting sand. Once on the surface again, it was an easy swim in, despite the swells.
John A.
