The Pasley "Hurry Home" January '07 Dive Report Thread

[alaity47]

Date: Jan 27, 2007
Time: 7:30pm
Tide: highish
Location: Vets Park
Max Depth: 85'
Bottom Time: :35
Buddy: The Husband
Waves: 1-2 ft
Vis: 5-15'
Temp: 56

We hit Redondo Saturday night in hopes of catching some squid action. When we got there, there was still one squid boat cruising around near the pier, and tons of birds swarming the water straight out from the stairs.

This was only the second time I've carried my video camera in on a surf entry, and last time it was Lake Redondo. The waves Saturday night were pretty small, but enough to knock me down in ankle-deep water on my first attempt trying to juggle the camera. Embarrassing. I got tumbled by a couple of 2-footers crashing over my head while I flailed around on the sand (sigh), then got back up on my feet, chose a different camera grip, and made it in without further incident (though a little out of breath from the adrenaline rush!)

We headed straight down the canyon in search of squid, and weren't disappointed! Once we reached 70fsw, we started to see patches of squid eggs, with egg-carrying squid flitting around nearby. Every now and then we'd see a small group of squid, and mating action would ensue. I had a blast - I just wish I could have stayed down longer, but our NDLs and air consumption had different ideas. Alas.

I've got enough footage for a decent video, but for now I've just collected 3 or 4 of my favorite clips, including some mating, color changing, and one squid that took a particular liking to Jeff:

http://www.thelaitys.com/uwvideos/20070127_squid.mov

 

[divinman]

Location: La Jolla V Street
Time: 6:15am descent
Temp: 59
Vis: 25-30
Max Depth: 64 feet
Bottom Time: 71 mins
Eanx: 32%

My images from this mornings dive. Anyone want to go out to the point to take pictures of the Dota kaya with me?

Album: http://www.scubapost.net/forums/Scorpionfish/012907/

Blurry picture of the Dota kaya at the point.

 

[Mo2vation]

Date: 1/27/07
Dive Location: Anacapa in the rain!
Buddy(ies): BunnyJaye, HBDiveGirl, Glycerin
Time: All day - 5 dives (dive 1 split into two shories)
Bottom Time: TONS - like 4+ hours.
Max Depth: 48 FSW
Vis: Variable - from nice 25 - 30 to a very respectable 20 feet
Wave height: Boat - who cares!
Temp at depth: 55 on every dive
Surface Temp: Whatever - Drysuit.
Tide information: Whatever - boat Dive
Gas mix: Yokohama, Bridgestone, Pirelli, Goodyear & Firestone
Top reason Pasley should hurry home: Good times with good friends. Even diving in the sog is all good. HURRY HOME!


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You all know I love the Peace, so it was good to be on one of my fav boats with lots of good friends. It was Jaye's first time on the Peace. She was digging it too.

And because of the weather, most everyone was jammed into the galley - so there was considerably more on-water socializing on this trip than there usually is. She loved meeting a bunch of new friends. It was good to finally speak with some of you I've met several times, but we're usually in different circles.

Thanks for the tour of pics, Jen and Scott.

Here are some of mine from the trip. Nothing really to shoot with the W/A, so I was shooting Macro all day with the 105.

I ended up with 5 dives - as on dive 1 at minute 35 my inflator hose started significantly leaking at my first stage. After several tries to seek an in-water fix, Jake and I just thumbed it and let the current take us back to the boat. Steve and I fixed it toot-sweet while Jaye held onto the anchor line. Like a NASCAR pit stop, I re-entered the water (after about 12 - 15 minutes out with the kicks and fix) and we made another 47 minute dive!

Dive 2(3) with Jaye. No drama this one. Nice dive. Found a huge Horn Shark egg case that I put out for some others to see.... guess nobody else found it. Turned a corner and then found a FOUR FOOT (OK Deb... maybe 3') Horn Shark.

Dive 3(4) I joined up with Josh and 'Dette as Jaye was chillin' in the galley. Mellow dive. As the Nudi count increased with every foot we moved East, I turned to 'dette to blow off the turn pressure another 500# so we could press on another few minutes, hoping we'd see something extraordinary. A moment later she found that beautiful Janolus in the shots below. BTW - Sorry about the pounce at the safety stop, Jen... but it was a cool little Mola!

On dive 4(5) I did a shorty with Claudette just as the boat was preparing to leave. We went West instead of east this time. Some octos, more nudis (Fed Ex and Hermissenda) and FINALLY a Gilly Suit Crab that I could shoot. Jaye spotted a couple throughout the day, but they are so skittish I couldn't shoot one. Dette solved the issue with this teeny tiny one... just grab the whole rock and bring it over to me. That's her thumb on the right.

Here are some pics. Enjoy.


Beautiful Janolis. Just over an inch long. Cool Full size here.

Same Guy, just motoring along. Check the "brain" in the full size... what's that about?

Loch Nax Monster

Life is good in a preserve. In a deep cave, this was Lobzilla

Dette fed an Ab some salad

Amber Waves. I have no idea what these are, but they are about 1/4" tall, and beautiful.

Valentines Eggs. No clue who laid these, but I'm digging the heart shapes.

Gilly Crab. Check the thumb. This guy was tiny. Check out his eyelashes in the tight full size found here.

Fed Ex were everywhere on this trip.

Anyone with a camera was shooting Island Kelp Fish!!! Here's mine! Full size here.

Four Foot Horn Shark. Check the skin texture in the full size, here.

Brand New Horn Shark Egg Case. Love the textures in the full size here.

On Dive two, right after Jaye found the big (4') Horn Shark, I stumbled on King Ling. I couldn't get even his head in the frame... so I creeped up close and got his eye. Full size is right here, and worth a look.

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If you get the Red X of Death, right click and select "Show Pictures". Full gallery is here.
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[scottfiji]

great shots Ken, especially the first one, one of the best Janolis shot's I've seen. Everyone should really check out the full-size photo.

the 6th photo is a colony of phoronids, they are a type of invertebrate, in their own phylum. I've found them at marineland a couple times.

 

[Codyjp]

Ken, those are top notch, everything from you is good, but those are spectacular!

 

[divekim]

Top reason Pasley should hurry home: Marianne left me a camera while she is in Iraq and I need subjects that don't move around underwater too much.

Location: La Jolla V Street
Time: 6:15am descent
Temp: 59
Vis: 25-30
Max Depth: 91 feet
Bottom Time: 71 mins
Buddies: ChickoftheSea and Divinman of course

Another Monday dawn patrol and again the conditions are just incredible out there. 1 foot surf on a high tide, glassy surface, no wind, mostly clear skies with a ton of stars out and the vis has held at a nice 25-30 feet. The only thing that could have made this morning's dive better would have been a fourth for dawn patrol, I will not name names you know who you are.

I brought Marianne's camera with me for its first outing, I will try to post the 1 photo that came out later. I turned the camera off and clipped it to the D ring in my pocket and stowed it away just 15 minutes into the dive. I found trying to take pictures and not getting focus were deterring me from enjoying myself. We all know how grumpy and cranky I get when I'm not enjoying myself.

We hit the 50 foot contour just north of Vallectios point right where the old engine block or whatever it is, is sitting on the very edge of the ledge there. There was a nice size Sheep Crab, who is my only photo subject that turned out, as well as the cutest little almost black in color Blenny. He was not bigger than 1.5 inches in length. Red Octopus were also out this morning as well as a few baby Rockfish. We went north for a bit and then turned around and went south for the point. As we gradually made our way south I did my trek to deeper water and the large crevice/canyon that is now below the northern section of the point is different than 2 weeks ago. Some of the walls are being carved back further and instead of the smooth bowl like feature it had before all kinds of cracks and crevices are beginning to appear making it much more interesting.

I ascended back to my buddies as they merrily took photos, lots of Blue Banded Gobys out and I saw 5 count them 5 Zebra Goby's this morning, 1 of them being very small, just a youngster. Black Eyed Goby's, Ronquils, Sea Stars, Brittle Stars, Rockfish, baby Ocean Whitefish, a whole school of baby Rockfish on top of the point swimming with a school of baby Senoritas. After looking down a bit I noticed the slope where the Point turns had changed a bit, I descended to check it out, hit 91 feet where the structure petered out and looked up. This crevis has nice 2 foot walls all the way down and about 3 feet in width, just enough room to frog kick back up in between the walls without hitting. As I reached the 60 foot again Terry and Jen were floating on the point snapping away, damn, gotta take the camera out and get a picture of this, sorry, but all I got was sand particled water.

Jen called me over to see that the Frondosis are still in abundance on the kelp frond but these were the only Nudi's I saw this morning. I saw a lot of Nudi eggs though. More Lobsters and Barred Sand Bass and a little Fringehead in a hole. Hit our turn around point and gradually made it back to shore. I did happen upon quite a few Bubble Snails, a large Moon Snail and a 1 foot Halibut in the sand. Stood up in 4 feet of water happy to have started the week with another beautiful dawn patrol.

Thanks for the dive this morning guys, oh yeah, I promised a photo didn't I....

Kim

 

[divinman]

Date: Jan 30, 2007
Time: 06:20
Tide: highish
Location: La Jolla Shores
Max Depth: 92'
Bottom Time: :75 minus
Buddy: Martha and Dwayne or Dwight(?) and Jen
Waves: none ....no really none
Vis: 25-60ft
Temp: 57
Top reason Pasley should hurry home: Good vis doesn't last a long as good friendships.


Well Monday on whetted my appetite for a new species (for me) of nudibranchs. I put the call out for buddies to come hunt Doto's.

When I arrived early at the shores I did not find my expected dive buddy Kim. Seems she and I had a missed communication on this dive. She missed the email I had sent her and I missed the fact that she doesn't check her email after 5pm usually. I went a head and put my gear together and was just reaching for the pony when Jen showed up. Didn't even know she was coming.

Glad to have a buddy we started pulling on the dry suits when a couple walked up to us. As they were wearing wet suits, I assumed they were divers. And I was right....for a change.

Martha and Dwayne (Dwight?) were in town all week from Scottsdale AZ and had been out on the local charters but were hoping to sneak in one more dive and still have 12 hours before their flt back to Phx. I promptly invited them and they quickly geared up and joined the march down the beach and across the 3ft or so of sand to the high tide mark. Surf was non-existent and there was no wind. Perfect conditions and our new buddies didn't even whine about the surface swim. I gave them a brief briefing about the site and what they could expect to see and before long we were dropping in and swimming to the edge of the canyon.

We headed south and explored along the walls and cracks. Octopus, fringeheads, blennies and more were found. My quest to FIND Doto's was successful but quest to PHOTOGRAPH them was not. Ahhh well, I know where they sleep.

Much time was spent on the walls and all too soon it was time to swing northeast and head back in. The swim back was dead calm with no surge. All the snail tracks and other trails left by passing life were undisturbed and criss-crossed the bottom in ever changing patterns. I rolled over on to my back and took some pictures of the bubbles rising to flat surface 35ft above.

Awesome dive. 75 minutes of bliss to be sure.

Ohhh... and Zonie buddies that rent Steel 100s ROCK!!!

Terry

 

[divekim]

Top reason Pasley should hurry home: I need someone to hold me still while I attempt to take photos

Location: La Jolla V Street
Time: 5:56pm descent
Temp: 59
Vis: as far as the lights would shine
Max Depth: 60 feet can you believe that
Bottom Time: 76 mins
Buddies: ChickoftheSea and the spirit of Marianne

Now I have to say I was totally taken aback when we arrived at the beach at 5 pmish and found completely glass surface, no wind, and 6 inch waves!! After all the rain and wind at my house all day, I did not expect to have such incredible conditions.

The swim out was very easy, I again tryed my hand at taking pics of the moon and sunset but the flash is killing me. Gotta figure out all the buttons on this camera. We descended in about 40 feet of water and headed west as we were going to turn south and do Vallecitos Point. We turned at the 50 foot contour and immediately started to find Octopus out hunting, Lobster, and Rockfish.

We meandered southerly very slowly, thus why the spirit of Marianne was on this dive, this was a Marianne dive for sure. Slow, methodical, inspecting every square inch of structure and every centimeter of every kelp frond looking for Doto's!! I think we finally hit the engine block 15 minutes in. At the engine block there was a very cute baby Scorpionfish sitting right on top of it and lots of Coonstripe Shrimp inside. Jen called me over she found a beautiful Hermissenda, this would be my first nudi photo!! Continuing along we found a very nice large One Spot Fringehead sitting completely in the open sand. Did I mention how many Octopus were out tonight, most of them were sitting at attention trying to camouflage themselves for hunting, one had already caught his snail for dinner and was in his hole getting ready for dinner. As we made our way around one of the walls I saw this thing wiggling or swimming or something in the water column, it was a worm. I have no idea what kind but I think Jen got some video of it.

Jen did find Doto's and a Frondosis as well. We never made it to the Point, again proving this was definitely a Marianne dive. Made it maybe halfway there. Hit our turnaround and became to slowly make our way back. A couple of Thornback Rays, Bubble Snails, lots of Sea Pens and Sea Pansies, a couple of Pipefish to gently play with. I found my second nudi shot with a California Armina out in the sand. The best find was the Sheep Crab who had found himself a nice Thornback Ray for dinner. Now, not only was he holding and eating his dinner, he was booking across the sand in just 15 feet of water. Jen was trying to take his photo and he kept charging her. Like he didn't already have enough on his hands he wanted to take her on as well.

We surfaced in 4 feet of water to the same calm conditions we had entered under. Nice moon out, a few clouds and a few stars greeted us. Absolutely awesome dive that needs to be repeated while the conditions are so stellar.

Thanks for coming out Jen. Was nice getting a little earlier start. So, who wants to dive tonight?

Kim

Here are the only photos I'm willing to show, the nudi's are blurry, still working on the focus.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The vis almost matched the surf tonight at Redondo. 4-6' surf and 4-8' vis. Merry and I dropped into 68 feet and found the carpet of squid eggs, along with a few dozen squid and about fifty batrays. There was so much sand in the water that none of the 60 pictures I took came out. Only four other divers went in. The rest decided to hang out in front of the heater in the parking lot. It was a lot warmer in the water than the parking lot.

 

[orangelion03]

Date: 1-31-07
Dive Location: Redondo Beach, Vets Park
Buddy(ies): John Manos (jmdiver)
Time: 8 pm ish
Bottom Time: 30 min
Max Depth: 95
Vis: 10-12
Wave height: 2-3
Temp at depth: 58F
Surface Temp: chilly
Tide information: yes
Gas mix: air
Top reason Pasley should hurry home: Calamari
Comments:

What a delightful experience! After all the talk on the board about the squid eggs, John and I felt compelled to see for ourselves. Drove down from Valencia, grabbed some empanadas and alfajores from Gaucho Market in Manhattan Beach, and ate them on the way to Vets. Good parking spot right at the top of the middle stairs. Kitted up and splashed around 8. Followed Claudette's impecable directions and found the egg masses right were they were supposed to be! Lots of crabs, target shrimp. Many small (12") bat rays swiming about...got surprised by one big one that flew out of the dark right under us! A sea lion checked out a crab I lit up with my light, looked at us (winked?) the took off. This was followed shortly by a loud bang from a seal bomb...yikes! On the way back out, John spotted a litle baby ocotpus. This was my first night dive using my camera/strobe combo and I have to say I was seriously challenged to handle camera, lights, and keep track of depth/time/air. Learned a few lessons. Pics are poor, but I'm happy to have them as a record of our adventure.

Post dive, we went over to HT Grill and dropped in on Claudette's surprise b'day party. and pleasantly socialized with the group that had gathered there.

Egg carpet

Tiny octopus

Target Shrimp

Sculpin

Sarcastic Fringehead??

Comfy Bat Ray

Bat Ray flyby