TeqP
Contributor
Date: 07/08/06
Dive Location: Casino Point
Buddies: scubainspired & subzero (Dives 2-3)
Time: 8:28AM, 10:55AM, 1:29PM, 3:53PM
Bottom Time: 49, 49, 43, 61 minutes
Max Depth: 97’, 74’, 79’, 50’
Vis: 20-30’
Surface Temp: 68F, 68F, 68F, 70F
Temp at depth: 58F, 58F, 58F, 64F
Tide: high tide
I headed to Catalina for the Wrinkles dive. I met up with scubainpired, mccabejc, neophyte at Long Beach. We wanted to dive the Valiant, so I went to the Harbor Master to ask for permission and was quickly denied. So I headed to the dive park to meet up with everyone.
Dive 1
Thomas and I were on a mission to dive, so we geared up quickly while watching HBDiveGirl and radinator (I believe?) testing the harbor patrol by swimming towards the Valiant:shakehead . They had a nice dance going…head out of the park then back in, then out again. The harbor patrol stopped them on the second try.
Thomas and I went to the Sue-Jac. A sharp thermo cline was felt at 58’. You could see the water shimmering, very cool. We explored the wreck for a while looking for a leopard shark in the rocks, but none to be found this time. As we were getting ready to leave the wreck, two missiles closed in on the Sue-Jac. Two divers came swimming fast, legs never stopped kicking, Their fins were mucking up the waters, so we headed off, leaving them to their dust clouds. We saw some bugs, treefish, blacksmiths, kelp bass as we headed towards the stairs. About 20’ to the right of us, here come the missiles again, motoring past us. I don’t think they had much time to see anything as they never stopped kicking. Once they went past us, Thomas and I continued to explore the rock structure at a nice slow pace.
Dive 2
subzero was in need of a buddy, so he joined Thomas and me. The plan was to head to the swim platform. We dropped down, but my navigation skills need some work
. We were off the buoy so we missed the platform. I didn’t want to head back towards the buoy and not find the platform, so I headed to the 2 small boats. We found the boats and explored. Then we continued on swimming through the kelp. We saw some more treefish, blacksmiths, senoritas, kelp bass, scorpion fish, giant kelpfish, flatfish, garibaldis.
Dive 3
DIVE #200 for me! Yeah! Instead of the original plan of heading back to the swim platform, Thomas suggested heading back to the Sue-Jac since subzero had never been to the dive park before. What a great idea this turned out to be. We swam out past the classes and snorkelers to the far buoy. Dropped down and ran into the wreck. Subzero had his camera and was snapping away (hope you got some good shots). We explored for a while then took a heading towards the stairs around 40-50’ deep. As we were cruising along, I felt a tug on the leg. subzero was grabbing me to get my attention, glad he did because as I turned around I was greeted by two massive Giant Sea Bass. They were just relaxing in the kelp. As soon as I see them, I start smiling in my reg so much that my mask started to flood . What a way for the 200th dive, I was just having a great time! The biggest one of the two was close to 6’ in length and had to weigh 300-400lbs. The other giant was about 5’ in length around 300lbs. This was sooo freakin’ sweet. We enjoyed their company just watching them as subzero took some photos. I’m sure we saw a lot of other things, but the two leviathans were emblazed on my mind for the rest of the dive! We head back to our gear and we had to tell out story to anyone who would listen, well even if they didn’t listen, we still told the story. Sorry mccabejc, but we were so excited. Next time, I won’t tell you.
Oh yeah, did I mention this was my 200th DIVE!
Dive 4
All the classes were done for the day, so the park was less crowded and the viz showed improvement. The plan was to keep this dive less than 50’ and just explore the rock structure. This was a nice relaxing dive. We spotted an octopus hiding in a crack, treefish, blacksmiths, senoritas, kelp bass, small scorpion fish, flatfish, garibaldis, very cool little yellow snail/slug?, red cleaner shrimp deep in some cracks, pretty big eel. After 61 minutes, Thomas signaled that it was time to surface. We closed up shop and headed back to the Cat Express to board an earlier boat. We enjoyed the Commodore’s Lounge sipping a cold brew, thinking of ways to earn a living from doing what we both enjoy so much, DIVING.
Oh yeah, did I mention I had my 200th DIVE on this trip! Thanks to all those that have helped me along the way to reach this milestone in my diving career. This sport is so freakin’ sweet, I can’t believe I didn’t start doing until 2 years ago.
Now, if I could only change my dive info!
Safe diving!
Dive Location: Casino Point
Buddies: scubainspired & subzero (Dives 2-3)
Time: 8:28AM, 10:55AM, 1:29PM, 3:53PM
Bottom Time: 49, 49, 43, 61 minutes
Max Depth: 97’, 74’, 79’, 50’
Vis: 20-30’
Surface Temp: 68F, 68F, 68F, 70F
Temp at depth: 58F, 58F, 58F, 64F
Tide: high tide
I headed to Catalina for the Wrinkles dive. I met up with scubainpired, mccabejc, neophyte at Long Beach. We wanted to dive the Valiant, so I went to the Harbor Master to ask for permission and was quickly denied. So I headed to the dive park to meet up with everyone.
Dive 1
Thomas and I were on a mission to dive, so we geared up quickly while watching HBDiveGirl and radinator (I believe?) testing the harbor patrol by swimming towards the Valiant:shakehead . They had a nice dance going…head out of the park then back in, then out again. The harbor patrol stopped them on the second try.
Thomas and I went to the Sue-Jac. A sharp thermo cline was felt at 58’. You could see the water shimmering, very cool. We explored the wreck for a while looking for a leopard shark in the rocks, but none to be found this time. As we were getting ready to leave the wreck, two missiles closed in on the Sue-Jac. Two divers came swimming fast, legs never stopped kicking, Their fins were mucking up the waters, so we headed off, leaving them to their dust clouds. We saw some bugs, treefish, blacksmiths, kelp bass as we headed towards the stairs. About 20’ to the right of us, here come the missiles again, motoring past us. I don’t think they had much time to see anything as they never stopped kicking. Once they went past us, Thomas and I continued to explore the rock structure at a nice slow pace.
Dive 2
subzero was in need of a buddy, so he joined Thomas and me. The plan was to head to the swim platform. We dropped down, but my navigation skills need some work
. We were off the buoy so we missed the platform. I didn’t want to head back towards the buoy and not find the platform, so I headed to the 2 small boats. We found the boats and explored. Then we continued on swimming through the kelp. We saw some more treefish, blacksmiths, senoritas, kelp bass, scorpion fish, giant kelpfish, flatfish, garibaldis. Dive 3
DIVE #200 for me! Yeah! Instead of the original plan of heading back to the swim platform, Thomas suggested heading back to the Sue-Jac since subzero had never been to the dive park before. What a great idea this turned out to be. We swam out past the classes and snorkelers to the far buoy. Dropped down and ran into the wreck. Subzero had his camera and was snapping away (hope you got some good shots). We explored for a while then took a heading towards the stairs around 40-50’ deep. As we were cruising along, I felt a tug on the leg. subzero was grabbing me to get my attention, glad he did because as I turned around I was greeted by two massive Giant Sea Bass. They were just relaxing in the kelp. As soon as I see them, I start smiling in my reg so much that my mask started to flood
. What a way for the 200th dive, I was just having a great time! The biggest one of the two was close to 6’ in length and had to weigh 300-400lbs. The other giant was about 5’ in length around 300lbs. This was sooo freakin’ sweet. We enjoyed their company just watching them as subzero took some photos. I’m sure we saw a lot of other things, but the two leviathans were emblazed on my mind for the rest of the dive! We head back to our gear and we had to tell out story to anyone who would listen, well even if they didn’t listen, we still told the story. Sorry mccabejc, but we were so excited. Next time, I won’t tell you. Oh yeah, did I mention this was my 200th DIVE!Dive 4
All the classes were done for the day, so the park was less crowded and the viz showed improvement. The plan was to keep this dive less than 50’ and just explore the rock structure. This was a nice relaxing dive. We spotted an octopus hiding in a crack, treefish, blacksmiths, senoritas, kelp bass, small scorpion fish, flatfish, garibaldis, very cool little yellow snail/slug?, red cleaner shrimp deep in some cracks, pretty big eel. After 61 minutes, Thomas signaled that it was time to surface. We closed up shop and headed back to the Cat Express to board an earlier boat. We enjoyed the Commodore’s Lounge sipping a cold brew, thinking of ways to earn a living from doing what we both enjoy so much, DIVING.
Oh yeah, did I mention I had my 200th DIVE on this trip! Thanks to all those that have helped me along the way to reach this milestone in my diving career. This sport is so freakin’ sweet, I can’t believe I didn’t start doing until 2 years ago.
Now, if I could only change my dive info!
Safe diving!
