The Pasley "Hurry Home" December '06 Dive Report Thread

[orangelion03]

Anastasia...great pics by Jeff! A fabulous wide angle shot of you in the kelp (a "classic" Cali kelp shot), and a sharp close up of a juvie sheephead! Thanks!

 

[Mo2vation]

Date: 12/15/06
Dive Location: Vets
Buddy(ies): HB-we-can-get-in-through-this-Chica
Time: 7:00 ish
Bottom Time: 55 minutes
Max Depth: 51 feet
Vis: Viz? Was there viz someplace? I didn't see any...
Wave height: 1 to 2 feet, with occasional 3 footers
Temp at depth: HAH - I never checked...
Surface Temp: Drysuit. Who cares.
Tide information: Very little movement - perfect formula for a great viz day...
Gas mix: Kuhmo
Top reason Pasley should hurry home: Diving in this was just like diving in a sand storm.

OY

I let my desire to dive and my drive to go try and get some better shots of the Dendy Nudi invation at Vets get the best of me.

A coupld of years ago, I would have thumbed this dive. Diving in this stuff used to freak me out. Now, if I can breath and I can see my buddy, its all good.

After getting turned back by the surf on our first attempt, Dette and I regrouped, scanned the shore and walked North about 50 yards, caught the lull and walked in. Moments later another set of 3 footers came rolling in... so we made it.

We kick out a bit, and we drop. The plan was to hang in the 25 - 40 range and locate and shoot the Dendy's that are all over the place right now.

We drop into a white out. I'm talking ZERO viz to maybe a foot or two. There were pockets where I couldn't even see the end of my camera. It was pretty brutal. And the intermettent surge made for tough shooting. I should have bagged the shooting and we should have just dived to 90 to get into some real viz, and maybe stumble on something to shoot. But we stuck with the plan, dived in the muck for an hour, got some really lame shots, had a hairy exit and went to dinner.

I'm becoming a weenie. Not a dive weenie, but a photo weenie. This was very combative diving. Vets is silt city anyway - I silt out my subjects when I back kick to aggressively. But mix in the surge, the tossing water and all the sand that is up, the conditions for shooting were just not there.

BUT - the best thing about shooting underwater is this: Even is your shots suck, you SAW all that stuff. I couldn't be more thrilled with all the stuff we saw: More Dendy's that I can count, tons of Vets Fakeyssindas, a couple of Fed Ex (rare at Vets... 2 on one dive!), a nice lobster that 'Dette just grabbed while it stumbled through the snow, tons of wacky crabs, the largest Octo I've ever seen at Vets, tiny rock fush all over, a juvi Kelp fish trying to get vertical in the surge, and more.

Its great to be able to confortably dive in these conditions - and there is always lots to see... but I was sad that the shooting was so rough. Got one good shot of a Fakey on a stick I was able to stop down to a black background... everything else is what it is.

The big octo was amazing... I was shooting the smaller lens (60mm) tonight, and he still filled the frame. He was walking down the canyon... I was back-kicking to keep him in frame.. so I got my first ever full frontal (read: double vent) Octo shot.

Fun dive. Exit wasn't pretty, but we got out in one piece. Dinner ruled.

Thanks for pushing through, Dette. You are my fav local dive buddy ever.

Some pics below.

---
Ken


HUGE Octo... I couldn't get far enough away, as he was rolling down the canyon. Thought he was gonna grab the camera.

Two dandy Dendies with a little tiny Fakey at the top of the stick

Dendy flying on a stick. They have this really cool pinkish / orange color. Kinda reminds me of those semi-clear rice candies.

Fakeyssinda isolation shot. Original Fakey Iso shot can be viewed here

Another shot of the Big Octo. I couldn't get far enough away... too funny. Glad I brought the 60mm - with the 105 I'd be getting eyeball shots only!

'Dette calls these "Flying Carpets"... this is the same guy as shot above, but you get the idea of the surge last night...

As always, if you're seeing the Red X of Death, just right click and select "show picture" and it shold come up. If not, hit f5 and reload the page.

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[Jake]

I wasn't able to convince anyone to try the interesting conditions today, but I was able to get to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Yeah, it's technically not a "dive", but it was the closest thing I could manage today. Thought I'd share a few of my crappy photos for those who couldn't get out either.

By the way, conditions were excellent.

This sea lion absolutely loved the toy my cousin was holding. If she held it out, this sea lion stayed with us, much to the chagrin of everyone else.

This octopus, on every occasion I've been to the aquarium (maybe a dozen times) has never come out of its hiding place. Today it did for quite a while, but the lighting made shooting less than ideal. You try and tell the animals to hold still so you can get a longer shutter speed, but they never listen! In any event, here's some Photoshop processed shots.

I was trying to shoot the sharks (not many people around today, so access to the glass was good), but the acrylic doesn't like me very much. The AofP has a new bull shark. It's a really cool animal and worth a visit.

 

[mark99]

Date: 12/16/06
Dive Location: Catalina Dive Park
Buddy(ies): My daughter Kara
Time: 8 am, 10 am
Bottom Time: 38 min, 36 min
Max Depth: 79 FSW, 65 FSW
Vis: 40+
Wave height: Flat
Temp at depth: 59F
Tide information: Low and rising
Gas mix: Air

Fantastic conditions at the dive park. We did two dives, had lunch, and caught the 2 pm boat home. The crossing was a little rough, but the park was absolutely flat with moderate surge only on the entry/exit. It was really a walk in and float out. The vis was great, and the water was pleasant. Fun day.

 

[JMdiver]

Date: 12/17/06
Dive Location: Casino Point
Buddy(ies):Robert
Time: 9 AM, 10 AM & 11:40 AM
Bottom Time: 28, 44 & 38 min.
Max Depth: 84, 57 & 54 fsw
Vis: 35 to 40 ft.
Wave height: 0-1 ft
Temp at depth: 62 deg.
Surface Temp:
Tide information: high going out
Gas mix:air
Comments:We had a great ride to the Island & back. We saw the usual critters, Oscar came by for a visit. There was a lot of juvenile fish all over, that was nice to see. We found a nice fat lobster right in front of the stairs. It's also nice to see the kelp coming back. Still no Giant Sea Bass for me . On the ride back we were treated to a Dolphin show, they were jumping high out of the water.

Happy Diving
John

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Date: Saturday December 16, 2006
Dive Location: Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands from the Peace Dive boat
Buddy(ies): Ken and Josh underwater, Angelie on Surface Support
Time: All day! Island time, mon almtree:
Wave height: Majestic... 8 - 10 foot massive rollers in the morning
Temp at depth: 57 - 59F
Gas mix: VooDoo 33% for breakfast, cut with Plain-Old as the day progressed.
Top reason Pasley should hurry home: Pacific Electric Rays and Nudibranchs.

All of us were excited to go diving on the Peace, and then this big ol' storm had to roll down the Eastern Pacific. "Gale force winds" said the predictions. "12 - 18 foot swells" said the models, painting the computer screens all kinds of threatening colors.

Friday afternoon I filled tanks with nitrox and waited for the phone to ring. Surely Eric wouldn't put the Peace into this.
Driving north to Ventura Friday night, iPod blasting, I waited for the good news/bad news phone call. I wanted to dive, but not in a tempest.
Walking down dock G to the Peace, starry skies over a warm and mellow night, I was not surprised to be the only person on the boat. I WAS surprised to see the white board message: "0700 Departure, Please sign in."

Really? We might dive??! Wow!

Set up gear. Dinner. Sleep. Not a breath of wind. Silence.

We set off in the morning, leaving a still quiet harbor and pointing into Massive Rollers! Gun-metal gray walls of water towered up 15 seconds apart, and the Peace calmly rose and fell. My stomach suggested I might be better off sleeping, so I dreamed the morning away in a comfortable bunk and felt great when we arrived at Anacapa.

Dive #1: Offshore Reef, backside Anacapa Island.
Buddy: CoolAsAcucumberKen
91fsw max. 55 minutes. 33% nitrox. 59F. 60-80 foot visibility
The surface was pretty nasty looking, but we splashed in, vented wings, and dropped....
...... into clear blue water and the flamboyant architecture of ocean stone. The bedrock structure stepped down and away, and we followed, wandering over sandy boulevards between the huge stone "buildings" of the reef. Nudis adorned the walls, including FedEx, Cadlina luteomarginata, Limbaugh's, and a gorgeous Triopha catalina. I saw my first Fleshy SeaPen (Ptilosarcus undulatus.) THAT is weirdness...
The sense of Big Blue Space was delightful, and the boat was clearly visible overhead... 90 feet away! As Ken burrowed down photographing a clown nudi, I gazed around enjoying the big vistas and the large Pacific Electric ray cruising casually toward us. What??!?!? The third electric ray in our last month of diving??!!? Wooo-Hooooo! Ken saw my light signal, looked where I pointed, and clearly communicated: "Oh, yeah.. nice ray... I'll finish this shot and get right back to ya. Lemmie know if it gets too close." Ah, cucumber-coolness . Moments later he joined me against the rock as a 3-foot-wide electric ray oscillated sloooowly by us, tilting up and toward us so we could see its small mouth. I held position as long as I could, until it swerved toward me again.... then I faded up and behind. That odd slow swimming motion is impressive in its fearlessness. It was minute 31. For the next 10 minutes we strolled the boulevard behind this gorgeous creature, sand and boulders below us, stone walls on either side, blue space all around. It was majestic. Nothing moves like an electric ray. A couple of sea lions blazed by, swooping around the pinnacles like fighter jets. Fish scurried out of the way as the ray sailed along, a few feet over the ground, its gills opening and closing like sightless round white eyes.
This was a beautiful dive I will long remember.

Dive #2: Hungryman's Reef (Point? Rocks? I dunno...) Santa Cruz Island.
Buddies: Ken and Josh. 38fsw max. 50 minutes. 58F. 20-30 foot visibility.
The surface had gotten ugly by the time we surfaced at Anacapa, so anchor's aweigh and off to Santa Cruz in search of shelter from wind and swell. 2 hours later we splashed in at Hungrymans. The sand beneath the boat was dotted with 4 kinds of nudibranch egg masses!! HIDs blazing, we closely examined every rock and shell and bit of kelp... Nothing!! We did find three fat Navanaxes, wrapped in slime coats, resting on the bottom. Hmmm... very fat Navanaxes. Resting. As in, "after dinner" perhaps? EEK! Who knows... 4 kinds of eggs. No nudis. Just 'naxes. :11:
We headed for the shallower rocks and the Land of Chestnut Cowries! They were everywhere and many were oozing around in broad daylight. No empty shells. All alive. The current and surge were getting frisky as we headed for the boat and a move.

Dive #3: Seal Rock, Santa Cruz Island. BestestBuddy: Ken
29fsw max. 34 minutes. 57F. 20-30 foot visibility.
Conditions had gone to heck, and the Captain parked the Handbasket in front of Seal Rock. Eh... what can I say? We got underwater amidst a lot of pink and blue rock, with fuzzy brown algae carpeting and thin clumps of Giant kelp. One octopus got a lot of flashing attention from two photographers and stalked away in a huff. There were giant keyhole limpets. There were feather duster worms and little crabs. There were a million urchins, reds and purps. We were shoved about and rammed into rocks like paper cups in a big wind. Back on deck at exactly the appointed hour of departure, we broke down gear as the rain finally started.
I slept happily through the rough return to a dock drenched in rain.

It was an unlooked-for blessing to dive with friends as the storm swung towards us this day.
Dive #1 made it a spectacular day.
Sharing diving with wonderful buddies Ken and Josh (and Angelie, who will get that drysuit in the water on a better day ) makes it a sweet adventure every time.
Thanks for a day of fun on the Peace.

Claudette

 

[Glycerin]

It was an unlooked-for blessing to dive with friends as the storm swung towards us this day.
Dive #1 made it a spectacular day.
Sharing diving with wonderful buddies Ken and Josh (and Angelie, who will get that drysuit in the water on a better day ) makes it a sweet adventure every time.
Thanks for a day of fun on the Peace.

Claudette

You forgot to mention that is was also my first time trying out the Carols http://www.cdsportswear.com/wf_style2.htm the perfect first layer undie for dry suits.

 

[LAJim]

You forgot to mention that is was also my first time trying out the Carols http://www.cdsportswear.com/wf_style2.htm the perfect first layer undie for dry suits.

What size and how much?

Jim

 

[Mo2vation]

What size and how much?

Jim

I take a small. 'Dette and XS.

You should send an eMail to Carol Davis (caroldavis@cdsportswear.com) - she personally answers all of them, and she will hook you up. Tell her you got her name from me.

I use mine to extend the comfort range of my Undies. When its below 55, I don the Carols under my DUI 300 GR Polartec. When its 55 to 60, I wear just the DUI's. When its over 60 (like this summer when it was in the mid to high 60's) I just wear the Carols.

They dry fast, wick like a muthah, and like Dette found out this weekend, insulate pretty well when wet (if by well, I mean she didn't even know she had a leaky exhaust valve until she climbed into her bunk and found a very drenched left sleeve....)

When I dive, I'm usually shooting - which means I'm not moving much. If I didn't have these, I'd be paying through the nose for some exotic and very high maintenance DS undies.

You'll love 'em. Its the best $100 upgrade I've made to my diving.



---
Ken

 

[Glycerin]

What size and how much?

Jim

I got a medium and it’s a little baggy around the torso.