The Pasley "HURRY HOME" February '07 Dive Reports

[divekim]

Date: 2/8/07
Dive Location: La Jolla Cove
Buddy: Jesus
Time: 6:41 pm descent
Bottom Time: 70 min
Max Depth: 45 feet
Vis: 10-15 feet
Wave height: the Cove doesn't really get what you call waves
Temp at depth: 58F

So Jesus wanted to do another night dive this week, of course who am I to say no and keep anyone out of the water I willingly obliged, though at first was not too thrilled with the choice of the Cove. If you've ever been diving the Cove at night you know it can be a little disorienting and getting back to the stairs is usually tricky unless you go straight out and straight back.

Well, it turned out to be an awesome dive, there were Chestnut Cowries out everywhere. Jesus pointed the first 3 out to me and we were just thrilled and then started to notice they were just all over the place, all with their mantles out until the light hit them. Ton's of Lobster also, of course it is still the season so they are still hiding in the Cove. A lot of Rockfish out including what I think was a Treefish with what I know was the tail of a Blacksmith sticking out of its mouth. The one thing that truly made this an awesome dive, the Moray Eel Jesus found, very small one, and the first one I've seen in San Diego. We also spotted a beautiful Red colored Giant Kelp Fish that was wedged in a rock making it impossible for me to take his picture.

On our swim in we hit quite a bit of surge and finally Jesus signaled he had enough and wanted to surface, this stuff doesn't really get me, its more of a little thrill ride bonus for the dive. Good thing we came up we were to far West and on our course would never had made the stairs but hit the cliff at Alligator Head instead. Very short swim around to the Cove though.

Date: 2/9/07
Dive Location: La Jolla Vallecitos
Buddy(ies): VetDiver, Divinman, ChickoftheSea
Time: 6:17am descent
Bottom Time: 70 min
Max Depth: 67 feet
Vis: 25-30 feet
Wave height: 1 feet maybe on the set waves
Temp at depth: 58F though I'm still convinced my computer is high on these temps

Another Friday and another dawn patrol, ankles slappers, glassy surface, no wind, no surge, no current, dang what more could you ask for....

So making our way to Vallecitos point from the Northern edge we did a really nice slow relaxing dive of exploration along the 50 foot contour with walls that drop to 60 then 70 and so on. Lobster, baby Rockfish, Octopus, Goby's, Barred Sand Bass, Perch, a school of baitfish all before we hit the point. Once we got to the point, Blue Banded Goby's, Nudi eggs everywhere but the only nudi's I found were the teeny tiny not photographable unless you have Ken's camera Doto's. Kelp Crabs, more Octo's, more Rockfish, baby Giant Kelp Fish, baby Sheephead, baby Blacksmith, Tube Anenomes all in attendance.

We actually got to explore the entire point and the wall on the southern edge running back east. Made it to the cinder block before heading up the sand and the swim back in which was very uneventful again. Stood up in 4 feet of water with big ole grins on our faces.

Seemed as though most of the critters today were trying to hide or in disguise, just a few...

I think this one is trying to decide to wig or not to wig

I love these guys, can you see him, I'm telling you master of camoflauge

 

[divekim]

Top Reason Pasley should hurry home: beautiful dive days when the weatherman is wrong again

Date: 2/10/07
Dive Location: Laguna Heisler Park
Buddy (ies): Divinman, Roughwater John, Vetdiver
Time: 9:09am descent
Bottom Time: 91 min
Max Depth: 38 feet
Vis: 10-15 feet
Wave height: I didn't think they had waves in Laguna
Bottom Temp: well it was a bit chilly after being in the water for 91 mins

A nice group of us made the trip from San Diego to enjoy the Wrinkles festivies and had planned to be the first ones in the water as usual but I understand some locals did an epic almost 2 hour dive beating us in the water by nearly an hour. Allison was so excited today, her first dives in Laguna, her first real Wrinkles event where she did more than introduce herself and run off like a mad lady, in fact as we waited in the water for the rest of our group to start the dive I understand all on the beach could hear her excitement and no doubt my laughing at her excitement.

We swam out to the lobster buoys to descent, finding a couple of small reefy areas and spending a bit of time there, Terry went up to take a new bearing, when he returned we headed off and found the large reef in no time. Lots of life here, many Octopus, Scorpionfish, Sea Hares, Greenlings, Garibaldi, Juvenile Garibaldi, schools of Blacksmith, Urchins of course, beautiful Anenomes of every color. You know I find that taking photos really does sort of take from my exploration a little. I don't notice the path or trail of the dive and I actually take less time looking for critters.

Swimming over to the other side of the reef to see what was there I stopped to take a photo of a Greenling and whoosh this big Octopus comes flying out from under me, obviously he was on top of the reef and I didn't see him. There were big Sea Stars, and more Octo's hiding in the cracks and crevices, also ran into John briefly. As he left me to return I swam back over the reef to rejoin Terry and Allison. Terry pointed out a very nice Scorpionfish, and I quickly found 2 others within a few feet of it. We continued on our way down the reef, Allison found a Spanish Shawl at the same time Terry was trying with all his might to take a picture of a Juvenile Garibaldi on top of the reef, it was surrounded by Gorgonians and reef structure, and each time Terry went to snap the pic the Garibaldi would swim into a hole on top of the reef. I finally started laughing so hard I flooded my mask.

Determined it was time to head back, we swam along and over the reef toward shore, once we hit the sand we saw a couple of Bat Rays swim out of our path, of course couldn't catch up with either. I also saw a very small one. Making it to 6 feet of water right where we started, Allison and I completely thrilled we did a 91 min dive and she had an unheard of amount of gas left in her 100, this girl definitely has gills.

Dive 2
same place, in at 12:53pm, 99min dive,
Riguerin, Divinman, VetDiver

This time Rick would show us around from Fishermans and back around, or I think thats what I recall. We dropped in early due to spotting a big Bat Ray in the sand on our swim out, I think Terry said he got some video, I barely got a pic from long distance before it swam away. You know, I can't recall much of anything else other than the Garibaldi were just ridiculously annoying, Allison saw her first Horn Shark, Rick thought Allison and I needed to share air when Allison made the motion that the Halibut that just swam away was good enough to eat, he also though we needed to share air when she excitely showed me her computer that we had past the 91 min mark and a new record.

I tryed my hardest to stay on the bottom in 4 feet of water to hit the 100 min mark but my computer hit 3 feet and ended my dive for me. I was pretty chilly on this dive seeing as it was so friggin long and we were really taking our time around the reefs. Thanks Rick for putting up with us, hope we didn't stress you too much Sweetie.

Kim

 

[riguerin]

Dive 2
same place, in at 12:53pm, 99min dive,
Riguerin, Divinman, VetDiver

This time Rick would show us around from Fishermans and back around, or I think thats what I recall. We dropped in early due to spotting a big Bat Ray in the sand on our swim out, I think Terry said he got some video, I barely got a pic from long distance before it swam away. You know, I can't recall much of anything else other than the Garibaldi were just ridiculously annoying, Allison saw her first Horn Shark, Rick thought Allison and I needed to share air when Allison made the motion that the Halibut that just swam away was good enough to eat, he also though we needed to share air when she excitely showed me her computer that we had past the 91 min mark and a new record.

I tryed my hardest to stay on the bottom in 4 feet of water to hit the 100 min mark but my computer hit 3 feet and ended my dive for me. I was pretty chilly on this dive seeing as it was so friggin long and we were really taking our time around the reefs. Thanks Rick for putting up with us, hope we didn't stress you too much Sweetie.

No worries, Kim. I wasn't quite aware of how good your SAC rates were. Not too many people can do a 100 minute dive on a 80 cuft tank.

BTW, the dive that we did was a cross country trip from Diver's Cove to Fisherman's Cove. We dropped really early (well before reaching the main reef) in order to check out the big Bat Ray that was in the shallow sandy flats. My bottom timer shows that the dive was exactly 100 minutes long.

The route that we took looked like this:

 

[divekim]

Thanks Rick, I guess we did travel pretty far didn't we....it's pretty cool you can enter in one cove and come out in another.

Kim

 

[divekim]

Top Reason Pasley should hurry home: underwater sports

Date: 2/12/07
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores
Buddy (ies): ChickoftheSea, Divinman, VetDiver
Time: 5:43am descent
Bottom Time: 62 min
Max Depth: 76 feet
Vis: 10ish feet
Wave height: 1-2 with some chop
Temp at depth: 59F but we all know my computer is high

So we met up a little earlier this morning, someone had a meeting and had to be presentable for it. There was a little surf, 1-2 feet, nothing big, but quite a choppy surface and southerly current which made the swim out more interesting.

Dropped in about 20 feet of water and soon came up on the new ledges and walls that run to the south wall, dropped over and started to explore in the southerly direction, sort of like a light drift dive this morning. There is definitely more erosion, big chunks of the sand wall keep breaking off and tumbling down the canyon. The best part is it makes this dive different each time you do it. The bad part is it doesn't really allow as much life to take hold here.

I was staying about 15 feet below the group taking in the boulders and all the Bass and Rockfish that were hiding in the cracks and crevices. Exploring the ledges that would drop to the abyss and or a sandy plain. Found lots of little Red Octopus this morning as well as a couple of small 2 spot Octopus. Scorpionfish, Hermissendas, Nudi eggs with no nudi's around. Terry wildly flashed his light while I was taking a pic of a Scorpionfish, when I got done I made my way over, whatever it was he no longer was excited about it, but there was a really pretty Black Dorid. This must have been what he was excited about. It was the biggest one I've seen so far and only the second one with the black body.

We hit the eastern edge of the ledges where it turns straight south and soon Terry found a little Horn Shark, very cute sitting at the bottom of one of the walls. There was also a very big school of Surf Perch just in the distance hanging above the abyss. I kept trying to take a picture of one but they move more than the baby Rockfish. The baby Scorpionfish are also getting quite leary of having their pictures taken. I think they used to just sit there for me cause I wasn't pointing a camera in their faces. Beautiful Tube Anenomes were flowing in the current as well as just about everything else at this point. We had gone pretty far south and just as Terry flashed the circle to me to turn around I found another baby Horn Shark, so friggin cute these guys are and 2 in one dive is definitely a treat.

Finally got everyone together to make our way back, needed to go very north easterly in order to end up where we started. Again not much in the sand on the swim in except for the cutest little Decorator Crab, I just had to pick him up and show him to Jen. Jen found a perfect softball sized clump of grass all balled up real tight and we played a little badmitton until Terry swam over thinking something was wrong asking if we were okay, yeah, just playing.

We hit some pretty good current in 15 feet of water and from here we all pretty much lost each other, Terry and I headed north, Jen east and Allison for the surface she had enough. Terry and I ended up right in front of the bathrooms where we had started standing up in 5 feet of water, timing the waves and current to get out.

Beautiful dive despite the lower vis and southerly current. Here's a couple of pics.

 

[Bruce3]

what kind of set up are you using to take those pictures? they're amazing!

Top Reason Pasley should hurry home: underwater sports

Date: 2/12/07
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores
Buddy (ies): ChickoftheSea, Divinman, VetDiver
Time: 5:43am descent
Bottom Time: 62 min
Max Depth: 76 feet
Vis: 10ish feet
Wave height: 1-2 with some chop
Temp at depth: 59F but we all know my computer is high

So we met up a little earlier this morning, someone had a meeting and had to be presentable for it. There was a little surf, 1-2 feet, nothing big, but quite a choppy surface and southerly current which made the swim out more interesting.

Dropped in about 20 feet of water and soon came up on the new ledges and walls that run to the south wall, dropped over and started to explore in the southerly direction, sort of like a light drift dive this morning. There is definitely more erosion, big chunks of the sand wall keep breaking off and tumbling down the canyon. The best part is it makes this dive different each time you do it. The bad part is it doesn't really allow as much life to take hold here.

I was staying about 15 feet below the group taking in the boulders and all the Bass and Rockfish that were hiding in the cracks and crevices. Exploring the ledges that would drop to the abyss and or a sandy plain. Found lots of little Red Octopus this morning as well as a couple of small 2 spot Octopus. Scorpionfish, Hermissendas, Nudi eggs with no nudi's around. Terry wildly flashed his light while I was taking a pic of a Scorpionfish, when I got done I made my way over, whatever it was he no longer was excited about it, but there was a really pretty Black Dorid. This must have been what he was excited about. It was the biggest one I've seen so far and only the second one with the black body.

We hit the eastern edge of the ledges where it turns straight south and soon Terry found a little Horn Shark, very cute sitting at the bottom of one of the walls. There was also a very big school of Surf Perch just in the distance hanging above the abyss. I kept trying to take a picture of one but they move more than the baby Rockfish. The baby Scorpionfish are also getting quite leary of having their pictures taken. I think they used to just sit there for me cause I wasn't pointing a camera in their faces. Beautiful Tube Anenomes were flowing in the current as well as just about everything else at this point. We had gone pretty far south and just as Terry flashed the circle to me to turn around I found another baby Horn Shark, so friggin cute these guys are and 2 in one dive is definitely a treat.

Finally got everyone together to make our way back, needed to go very north easterly in order to end up where we started. Again not much in the sand on the swim in except for the cutest little Decorator Crab, I just had to pick him up and show him to Jen. Jen found a perfect softball sized clump of grass all balled up real tight and we played a little badmitton until Terry swam over thinking something was wrong asking if we were okay, yeah, just playing.

We hit some pretty good current in 15 feet of water and from here we all pretty much lost each other, Terry and I headed north, Jen east and Allison for the surface she had enough. Terry and I ended up right in front of the bathrooms where we had started standing up in 5 feet of water, timing the waves and current to get out.

Beautiful dive despite the lower vis and southerly current. Here's a couple of pics.

 

[scottfiji]

what kind of set up are you using to take those pictures? they're amazing!

great shots Kim!

Kim got a new setup a couple of weeks ago. Nikon D390, Light and motion housing, wireless controller add-on, dual Ikelite DS-299 strobes, Ultralight titanium ball & joint retractable arms, dual focus lights, red/orange UV filter, 15mm-205mm tempered glass fish lens.

 

[divinman]

Yeah! A real dream set up.....

Scott, you crack me up brother. I am sure Kim will pipe in with her setup soon. I beleive she is using a Canon Powershot S410

Terry

 

[divekim]

great shots Kim!

Kim got a new setup a couple of weeks ago. Nikon D390, Light and motion housing, wireless controller add-on, dual Ikelite DS-299 strobes, Ultralight titanium ball & joint retractable arms, dual focus lights, red/orange UV filter, 15mm-205mm tempered glass fish lens.

Dang, now that would have been sweet if Marianne had left me that while she's in Iraq. You are too funny Scott, I'm guessing you just wanted to make sure Penny knew what was on your wish list for the next opportunity to buy you a gift.

Terry is correct, Canon Powershot S410, in the appropriate underwater housing so I don't have to replace it before Marianne gets home

Thanks you guys,
Kim

 

[Bruce3]

no strobe?