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

[HBDiveGirl]

Date: December 22, 2006
Drive Location: Old Marineland Parking Lot
Walk Location: The Point, and Bowling Ball Beach
Buddy: The irrepressible Mo2vation
Time: 8:30 AM
Bottom Time: ZEEEE-Roooo
Rock Time: 30 minutes
Max Depth: 1 foot above the high tide line
Vis: Couple of miles, Catalina obscured in clouds
Wave height: Some 4 foot mackers
Surface Temp: Hot sun, cool wind
Tide information: High, high, high
Gas mix: 89 octane in the 'cruiser, KenyaAA in the 'Chica, Jones-Sweet-Something for Ken.
Top reason Pasley should hurry home: Wind on water is prettier than wind over desert sand.

Comments: Last chance to dive before Christmas, ('cause I had to bail on last night's dive due to some virus going all speed-bag on my larynx all week.) so we headed for Old Marineland as the rain clouds cleared to cerulean blue skies. Gorgeous vistas and sunlight reflecting off an ocean colored like beaten copper. I saw a whale spout in the distance and birds flocked over roiling bait balls. The Marineland waterfall cascaded down into thickets of dried fennel. Birds sang.

That was the good news.

The bad news started with the swell: Big lines of corduroy slamming against the rocks at the point, the water gnashing almost up to the stubby pole on the highest rock. Our usual entry point was a foamy maelstrom. No diving out here.
The surge and draw at Cobble Beach, heretofore known as Bowling Ball Beach, was impressive. Water moving in and out at least 20 feet, producing that remarkable sound as the boulders were rolled about. Waves were crashing into the cave, spraying white water in all directions. What an endearing sound. I was very grateful to be hearing it from 10 feet above the high tide line rather than from 20 feet out past the surf zone.

It was an absolutely beautiful day.... to not dive.

Driving back toward the South Bay, the blue ocean frothed into white caps all the way to Pt Dume. Howling winds blew spume across the beaches at Redondo. It was nice to be warm and dry.

I missed diving with a wonderful buddy, but as a Drive, it rocked!!!!

Thanks, Ken, for always being ready to dive. 2006 has been spectacular!!

Happy Holidays, everyone!
'Dette

 

[divinman]

Location: La Jolla Shores
Time: 6:10 descent
Temp: 56 average
Vis: 0-8ft
Max Depth: 56 feet
Bottom Time: 48 mins
Buddies: Catalina

Album: http://www.scubapost.net/forums/Scorpionfish/122206/

As I was driving to the beach in the dim morning, rain pattering on my windshield, I thought....."Hmmmm, maybe I should have stayed in bed." The radio announcer was giving the local news and in that sound bite I distinctly heard "High surf advisor from 8am until Monday” Looking at the clock in the car and doing some quick math, I figured I could beat the 8am deadline.

Not a single soul at Vallecetos Street when I arrived. I quickly assessed the break and it was a manageable 2-4ft with some outside breakers. Geared up and in the water I soon discovered there is a fast moving south running current and by the time I got tired of kicking I was south of the boat launch. "Hmmm, maybe I should have stayed in bed."

Dropped in to almost no visibility at 15ft and headed due west to the edge of the canyon. Visibility finally opened up to a surgy muck-filled 8ft. I explored in north direction in anticipation of the current on the return trip.

Usually suspects were out.....I just couldn't SEE them very well. Surge kept trying to push me into the wall..."Hmmm, maybe I should have stayed in bed."

At 1800psi I decided I had enough bad pictures of snow and out of focus subjects and was just preparing for the turn when out of the gloom.......


TURTLE!!!!!!

Laying on the slope and much annoyed at my hooting and hollering to myself. I snapped a couple pictures and smiling, headed up slope and northeast toward home.

At 18ft I hit the WALL of current running south. I mean, RUNNING. I abandoned my leisurely frog kick for a more brisk flutter and still made about 1ft forward for every 5ft I was pushed south. "Hmmmm......" well, you get the idea.

At 15ft I was winded, visibility was zero but still had 1200 in the tank. I decided to surface so at least I could judge how far south I was. I was quite surprised when I popped up into a torrent of rain and much larger surf. The good news being I was almost in front of the restrooms. The bad news? Well I was moving quickly south and I still have ~75yards to shore. Ten minutes later I could touch bottom and made the timing of the surf well enough to not get hammered. I casually strolled back up the beach to the boat launch and then up the board walk to showers.

Not a stellar day. Not even an average day. But hey, I saw the turtle.

 

[LLKZ16]

Date: 12/21/06
Dive Location: Vet’s
Buddy(ies): Kevin (Also met up with Scott, Penny, Mark and Roger)
Time: 7:45 pm
Bottom Time: 1 hr 12 min
Max Depth: 95 feet
Vis: 15-20
Wave height: 1-2 ft
Temp at depth: 57F
Surface Temp: Mid 50’sF
Tide information: No Idea
Comments: GREAT DIVE

After all this time, I finally got to meet up with Scott and Penny. Also there were Kevin Lee, Mark and Roger. Talk about a great group of divers!

We talked for a bit and then buddied up. I was with Kevin while Roger, Penny and Scott were the second crew in the water. Later on Phil and Merry showed up and we met them at around 30 feet near the stairs while Kevin and I were taking shots.

The waves were small and making it out was a piece of cake. We finned out to the end of the pier and dropped down. On the way down the vis was pretty bad but as we started to make it to the bottom, it opened up nicely. Both Kevin and I were taking pictures so we slowly made our way to 90 feet looking for interesting specimens. As we made our way back up the canyon, we came upon Phil and Merry.

To be honest, the most interesting critters were from 35-20 feet slightly south of the stairs. When we came upon a patch of nudis, we hung out and stayed for a long time. Since both Kevin and I were diving 130’s, I was looking forward to a LONG dive. After 1 hour and 12 minutes we decided to head up. I still had about 1300 psi left but Kevin was down to 500-600 psi. After comparing our psi when we were leaving the beach Kevin told me I was a “Woman”. I know there is a joke in there somewhere but at this point I will just walk away and leave it alone…..lol

Below are some of the highlights.

I Personally Prefer Coke

Squid Eggs

Scorpion Fish

Octo In A Bottle

Yellow Tube Anenome

Target Shrimp

Roughback Sculpin

Octopus Out And About

Dendronotus Frondosus

Need Help With This One….Any Comments

Spanish Shawl

Need Help With This One….Any Comments

Moon Snail

Plainfin Midshipman

The One That Got Away….Ask Kevin…..lol

 

[JMdiver]

Hi Terry,
Nice shots, do you see turtles there offend or was it just luck.

Happy Diving
John

 

[divinman]

Hi Terry,
Nice shots, do you see turtles there offend or was it just luck.

Happy Diving
John

Hey John. In the 5 years and 500 dives I have, this was the first time I have seen a turtle in SoCal. Made the nasty conditions worth it.

Terry

 

[riguerin]

Hey John. In the 5 years and 500 dives I have, this was the first time I have seen a turtle in SoCal. Made the nasty conditions worth it.

Terry

Very cool, Terry ! Glad you had a good time despite the deteriorating conditions. Hey, didn't John (RWJ) encounter a turtle at the Marine Room several months back ?

 

[SharkDZ]

Hey John. In the 5 years and 500 dives I have, this was the first time I have seen a turtle in SoCal. Made the nasty conditions worth it.

Terry

Great post and pics to a very cool dive. I like diving the Shores, even if I don't see anything out of the ordinary. My most recent dive there we saw over a dozen leopard sharks in very shallow water. The time before a large bat ray at the lip of the canyon. Now I have a UW digi to take some pics. Just need the subjects!

 

[SoCalAngel]

Hey John. In the 5 years and 500 dives I have, this was the first time I have seen a turtle in SoCal. Made the nasty conditions worth it.

Terry

There used to be turtle soup factories in San Diego, in the early 1900's. They caught hundreds of green turtles every day...so sad to think that we So Cals helped to decline the population. I saw a hawksbill turtle at Avalon underwater park back in October 2003. It was awesome! SO nice to see these really rare So Cal visitors!

 

[mark99]

Date: 12/23/06
Location: Catalina Island: Bird Rock Wall, Harbor Reef
Time: 9:30, 11:30 am
Temp: 59F average
Vis: 30+ft
Max Depth: 65, 78 FSW
Bottom Time: 43, 39 mins
Buddies: Mel, Brian, Harvey

Took the Psalty V to the Isthmus this am. We were a little worried by the wind this am, but the crossing had very little chop. The swell is still pretty big, up to 5 ft. on the way over. Once we were in the lee of the island the ocean was pretty flat. The sun was out all day and the air temp was in the 70's.

There were only four of us, so we were able to live-boat both dives. We dove the north wall of bird rock from east to west, and the south wall of harbor reef in the same direction around the big "reef" marker. The wall architecture is particularly impressive, with all the crevasses, chutes and overhangs. There is one especially deep cavern in the harbor wall with a lot of tasty looking lobster- way out of reach. We saw most of the usual fish, nothing unusual. Vis was good and there was very little current. We had lunch and made a smooth crossing back- arriving back at about 2 pm.

 

[Mo2vation]

Date: December 30, 2006
Location: Catalina (Bottom Scratcher - Barefoot Blue Charter)
Buddy: Who else? 'Dette-a-roo
Time: All Day - 3 excellent dives
Bottom Time: Over 3 hours... gotta love Charter trips!
Max Depth: 98 Feet Dive one
Vis: Pretty darn good. The real story was the surface conditions... glass on the back side!
Wave height: What waves?
Surface Temp: Sum-sum-summertime
Tide information: Whatever... boat dive
Gas mix: Pirelli
Top reason Pasley should hurry home: One a day like today, this water HAS to be smoother than your sand. Hurry home! (pack a lunch, lots o' pics on this one... :10: )


OK - I'll let The 'Dette post a detailed report. The summary is this: Tevis, a man with a heart almost as big as his shoes (what up, Shaq?) extended a kind invitation to me to join him and a collection of hand picked divers for a Charter on the Bottom Scratcher. I though, "OK.... Not a fan of the BS, and conditions will likely be poor, but it is Tevis, and the boy can cast a party... I'm in." If you're gathering I boarded with low expectations, you're getting my drift.

Let me tell you - I saved the best for last. This trip exceeded all expectations on every possible level.

DIVING - The diving was amazing. Having been unable to get to Avalon on Wednesday because of weather, and sneaking through and having very rough conditions Thursday and Friday, I wasn't holding my breath for a Saturday trip. But it was clear, calm, quiet, lots of critters, excellent dive sites... the diving just rocked!

THE BOAT - you all know how I feel about the Bottom Scratcher. Dangitall, this was an excellent trip - I think I may be changing how I feel about that boat! The Capt'n was positive, approachable, fun, accommodating, engaging and put us in great spots... a 180 from my last trip on this boat. The food was rolling all day, the fills were fast and phat, the thing operated like a dive machine. People on, people off, people filled, people fed... This can't be the same boat! Loved it (could it be the BFB touch???! )

THE HANG - generally the least important part of any trip to me is the hang. You people know me - I pretty much keep to myself, I'm not a Party Viking, I'm here to dive and take some pics. This was an excellent environment, and 100% of the credit goes to Barefoot Blue - who picked these people and put this trip together. Everyone was courteous, genuine, fun and experienced. No lost gear, no broken stuff, no running into each other, etc. It was like a concert and BFB was a master conductor - assuring our gear got on and off quickly, we were situated, we all got along, etc. Choco on the pillow of my bunk was a sweet touch! BFB just had it together, and in addition to excellent diving, it was a great hang, as well. I was very impressed.

I can't recommend Barefoot Blue enough. If you have an opportunity to get onto one of their trips (and I'm telling you - plan ahead, as if all of their trips are like this, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, they are all going to sell out FAST) you need to jump on it.

Claudette will fill you in on our three dives - here are some pics. I was shooting exclusively with my Nikon 105 Macro lens on this trip. No W/A this time.

Enjoy.

---
Ken


Juvi Gari - reminds me of the RCA dog ("Nipper") - this guy was too cute!

Albino Cuke??!! Who knew? He's not dead, he's just white. Jaye called this "Moby and Goby!"

We saw these two in open water on Dive 3. Salps? They look like Xrays to me!

Lots of Nudis this trip. This Fed Ex was feeding on these hydroids. It reminded me of an ice storm or a Snow Flake. Thought it was pretty cool for a Winter Pic. For full size, click here.

Found a new Nudi (new for me, anyway.) I took thousands of Nudi shots in 2006, but on my last dive trip of the year I stumble onto one I've never seen before. I love that! I've seen 2 or 3 names for it. I'm going with Dendrodoris Behrensi. Full size is here. Two more shots are here and here.

A TINY (less than 1/2 inch) puffy MacFarlands. Click here for full size.

We saw lots of Limbaugh's Nudis.

Fed Ex Munchin' Check out the top branch, picked clean. Dude even has his mouth full in this pic. He's just moving from branch to branch, chewin. Crazy!

Some Christmas Tree Wormies. There were tons of these on the back side of the Island. Full sized image here (its worth a look...)

Wall Flowers. I love these things. This one just became my wall paper. I flipped it 180 and have my desktop icons in the black. WOO HOO!

If you saw the SB thread, "What are your goals for 2007", I had one: Get a really good shot of a Zebra Goby. All my shots so far stink or just miss the mark. These shots are getting in the parking lot - a couple of more dives and I should be in the ball park. 2007 is my year to get the killer Zebra Goby shot! They're just so skittish, and they live deep in the cracks of rocks - its very hard to get in close enough to light them well enough to get a 1/500 of a second super detail shot without spooking them back into their holes.

I learn so much from taking pix when I dive. Just from these fuzzy ZG shots shots, I learned:
1) Zebra Gobys have emerald eyes... who knew?
2) They have a spike on their dorsal fin.
3) They have stripes on their anal and dorsal fins, but the stripes don't match up to their body stripes.
4) They have large scales. Again, I say, who knew?!
5) Their lines get all green and broken around their face
6) They have green lips.
7) Their pectoral fins are clear, as are most of their other fins.

Man! I have so much to learn. I can't wait to continue shooting these shy guys in 2007. One full size image here.

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As always, if you see the "Red X of Death", just right click and select "shot Picture" and it should come up. If not, come see the full gallery from this trip here.
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