The Pasley Aug 06 Dive Report Thread

[Frank O]

Date: August 20, 2006
Dive location: Avalon wreck, Palos Verdes
Buddy(ies): Jon Davies
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Run time: 44 min
Max depth: 73 ft
Vis: 50 ft+
Temp at depth: 55 F

Jon and I got really lucky with conditions Sunday. First we took our respective preteens (and my spouse) to Christmas Tree Cove in Palos Verdes for freediving/snorkeling, anchoring in about 20 ft of water on the south side of the cove. Vis was very good, about 25 ft, though a little fuzzy. We watched a pair of bat rays digging up lunch, and I made a couple of stabs at long-lost breath-hold (deepest freedive was 23 ft -- Tanya, your records are safe). Surface temps a tropical 68 F.

Next we headed over to the Avalon wreck for the dads to do a tank dive. As we descended we headed into a layer of green schmutz which steeled me for resignation -- but below about 40 ft the vis opened up to 50 ft+. A couple of giant sea bass darted by, but were too skittish and too far away for my fisheye. There were three or four big lings, a couple of dad garibaldi guarding nests and an assortment of slugs. It was a little chilly in wetsuits on the wreck, but our stops were toasty.

​

 

[Empty V]

Frank, great pics, but that first one is just killer

Billy

 

[divinman]

Went out with Kim, Marianne and Jen. Steve was suppose to be there but cancelled last minute. BIG mistake.

Hightlights? Sea Bass! BIG SEA BASS. And a 5ft angel shark on the point.

Here is the album. http://www.scubapost.net/forums/Scorpionfish/082206/

Here are the pictures:

 

[divebrasil]

Great pics divinman. Could you please send the dive info? site, vis, temp?

Thanks a lot,

Yan

 

[riguerin]

Date: 8/22/2006
Dive Location: Fisherman's/Diver's Cove, Laguna Beach
Buddy(ies): Brandon, Glycerin
Time: 7:25 AM
Bottom Time: 110 MIN
Max Depth: 33 FT
Vis: 5-15+ FT
Wave height: 0-1 FT
Temp at depth: 62 F
Surface Temp: 65 F
Tide information: Pushing; High tide 9:55 am, +4.38 ft
Gas mix: 21%

Comments: B-Boy and I hooked up with Josh this morning for AM dive before work. We wanted to squeeze in dive before the next round of South swell energy forecasted for later in the week. Top side conditions this morning were very nice. It was mostly sunny with some scattered clouds and light NW breeze. Surf conditions were meager with some small-scale, long period lines showing out of the SW as the tide was filling in. We decided to try the cross-county trip from the West end of Fisherman's to Diver's Cove.

The entrance was easy-peasy. We finned out to drop area adjacent to the shallow reef area and dropped in approx 11 FSW. Vis was an acceptable 10FT and surge was ~2-3 FT in the shallows. We worked the cut in the reef as we made our way South toward deeper water. We eventually ran out of reef and started working our way East across the sand, toward the opposite side of Fisherman's Cove. As we reached the West facing ledge, vis deteriorated rapidly. There were lots of suspended particles in the water column. We hovered a few feet off the bottom as we continued to head South. As we approached the end of the reef, we were able to finally get out of the muck, by popping on top of the reef. Surge and vis improved on the backside... around 10-12 FT vis and 1-2 FT of surge. We continued heading East, working the little cracks and holes in the ledge along the way. After ~80 minutes, we finally made the turn North into Diver's Cove. We continued slowly across the sand and patchy reef all the way to the beach. We startled the lonesome on duty Life Guard when we stood up to surface in ~5 FSW ... we must have looked like 3 creatures from the dark lagoon ;-) We walked out of the ocean without incident.

As far as critter sightings, we saw plenty of the usual suspects. Lots of fish including - Garibaldi, Barred Sand Bass, Sargos, Black Smith, Senorita Wrasse, Rock Wrasse, Painted Greenlings, Ghost Gobies, and Opaleye; various Sea Urchins & Starfish; lots of California Sea Hares, Chestnut Cowries, and Spiny Lobster; and a handful of Octopi.

Overall, another REALLY LONG and fun dive. Thanks for a great dive Josh and Brandon.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Date: August 22, 2006
Dive Location: Marineland
Buddy(ies): Solo
Time: 2:45
Bottom Time: 1:15
Max Depth: 66'
Vis: 10-12'
Wave height: 0-2'
Temp at depth: 62F
Comments: I rushed over to Marineland after work today hoping to enjoy some of the great conditions from the weekend. I guess they headed south. The vis was 10-12', which is still good enough to see the critters. I entered from the Point and dropped down into only five feet. I think I need to give my camera more surface swimming time. It fogged as soon as I hit the thermocline. I managed to get a few pictures, including the first MacFarland's chromodorid I've seen at Marineland.

Ted's Pinnacle

Greg's pipe

 

[alaity47]

Date: August 22, 2006
Dive location: Vets Park (Redondo)
Time: 8pm
bottom time: 47 min
Max depth: 48 ft
Vis: 10-15'
Temp at depth: 67 F
Surf: 0-2', 6-8 s period
Tide: high

First beach dive with my video camera... luckily it was pretty small surf, but in retrospect I still should have given it a go in the daytime first! This was my husband Jeff's first Redondo night dive, and I was bummed that we didn't see any octopi this time. Still, he found me a sarcastic fringehead to video, and we saw plenty of the other usual suspects: crabs, soles, round stingrays, big fat snails, sleeping scorpionfish and barred sand bass, and a little horn shark that followed my light.

The real bummer was that the showers were turned off by the time we surfaced. Doh.

 

[Jake]

Date: 8/22/2006
Dive Location: Fisherman's to Shaw's
Buddy(ies): DMS and two of his recent students
Time: 17:35
Bottom Time: 60m
Max Depth: 36ft
Vis: 10-20 FT
Wave height: 0 to slightly more than 0
Temp at depth: 64F

Date: 8/22/2006
Dive Location: Fisherman's to Shaw's
Buddy(ies): solo
Time: 19:05
Bottom Time: 61m
Max Depth: 22ft
Vis: 10-20 FT
Wave height: 0 to slightly more than 0
Temp at depth: 65F

Conditions were about as perfect as I've had at Fisherman's and Shaw's. We entered Fisherman's by walking around the east reef at Shaw's and entered in flat surf. Dropped in about 15 fsw and headed to the main Fman's reef. Played around in the grotto for a while looking at an abundance of lobster and fish. I saw 2 octopuses within about 10 feet of each other, which was a real treat. After a bit, we headed out into deeper water until hitting the edge of the shelf we were on, and turned to head back. The former student divers hit their ending pressure as we were making our way towards Shaw's. They surfaced at the east reef, and DMS and I stayed underwater for another 20-25 minutes or so as we headed slowly towards the main reef at Shaw's.

Conditions in the sand were gorgeous. The late afternoon sun was casting playful rays through the flat water, and I spent a lot of time watching schools of small fish dart about 6 inches from the bright surface. We hit the west reef, headed out to the crevice, and played in the arch for a bit. We played in the shallows for a while and surfaced at the 60 minute mark. The new divers thought we drowned. They didn't know people could actually stay down more than 30-40 minutes.

The three of them had to head out, so I found myself pondering my options at about 6:45pm. I had 3 full tanks, a pony bottle, and a decision to make. After consulting my pony bottle for his opinion, we decided that my 65th dive since my certification in January should be my first solo dive. The smile on my face was unmistakable as I ran down the cove.

I followed the same dive plan as on the first one to make things less stressful. All I can say is holy crap. Diving feels very different when you're out there by yourself. It felt very, very different once it turned into night. It was amazing during sunlight; it was simply surreal at night.

On this second dive I finally (!) found the shallow Shaw's swim-through just north of the crevice. That was fun to do a few times. I made a point of staying down a minute longer than the first dive, and made my short, happy walk out of the flat surf.

On both dives I saw a number of fish I had not seen before. They were small (like 1-2 inches), and were the same colors as juvenile garibaldi. They were bright orange on the bottom and bright, opalescent blue on top. I suppose they could have been very juvenile garibaldi, but they really didn't look like the same fish. They were also quite out in the open and not near the garibaldi dens, which I suppose would surprise me. In any event, they were really quite pretty and seemed entirely unafraid of me.

 

[Diver_Jan]

Tuesday night: Moss Point, South Laguna Beach

Surf: 0-1
Swell: minimal
Surge: moderate near shore/ nada at south end of reef
Viz: 20+ on drop down; 15-20 throughout dive
Temp: Toasty 63 degrees
BT: 80 minutes

Met up with the gang for an impromptu night dive. Tide was coming
in, conditions were right.

Highlights of dive: DOLPHINS!!! Several swimming back and forth
within a few feet of us. We could hear them 'talking' to each other.
SOOoooooooooooo COOL! Upon drop down on the reef, spotted not one, but
two Horn Sharks; numerous bugs skirting about on the reef; a nice sized
Octo; usual marine fish; an unusal 'sqiggly' that Dennis got some video.
I thought it was a baby Moray, but others thought differently. Strange
creature whatever it was. I happened to see quite a few of them out
and about float, twisting, spiraling about. Enjoy checking out the vast
walls and overhangs, so different at night than during the day. Very
calm too, and couldn't beat the viz! Turned around and made our way
back to shore. I was leading the pack and wasn't too sure where I was
since this was a night dive. I popped up in 8 feet of water to see that I
was 'dead on' for the stairs! Yippee.... Pretty much ankle slappers
in rapid sets on exit.

Thanks to my buddies for another great adventure!!!




http://mydivinglife.com/DiverJan/

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Tuesday night: Moss Point, South Laguna Beach

Surf: 0-1
Swell: minimal
Surge: moderate near shore/ nada at south end of reef
Viz: 20+ on drop down; 15-20 throughout dive
Temp: Toasty 63 degrees
BT: 80 minutes

Met up with the gang for an impromptu night dive. Tide was coming
in, conditions were right.

Highlights of dive: DOLPHINS!!! Several swimming back and forth
within a few feet of us. We could hear them 'talking' to each other.
SOOoooooooooooo COOL! Upon drop down on the reef, spotted not one, but
two Horn Sharks; numerous bugs skirting about on the reef; a nice sized
Octo; usual marine fish; an unusal 'sqiggly' that Dennis got some video.
I thought it was a baby Moray, but others thought differently. Strange
creature whatever it was. I happened to see quite a few of them out
and about float, twisting, spiraling about. Enjoy checking out the vast
walls and overhangs, so different at night than during the day. Very
calm too, and couldn't beat the viz! Turned around and made our way
back to shore. I was leading the pack and wasn't too sure where I was
since this was a night dive. I popped up in 8 feet of water to see that I
was 'dead on' for the stairs! Yippee.... Pretty much ankle slappers
in rapid sets on exit.

Thanks to my buddies for another great adventure!!!




http://mydivinglife.com/DiverJan/

What is this? DiveVets?