Date: 7/20/06
Dive Location: Vets Park - Redondo/Hermosa Beach area
Buddy(ies): HBcantwejustdiveChica
Time: 7:30-something PM
Bottom Time: 62 minutes
Max Depth: 110 FSW
Vis: Excellent. At least 15 on top, and 20+ in canyon
Wave height: Knee
Temp at depth: whatever... Drysuit
Surface Temp: Mellow summer
Tide information: 6:30 PM high, receeding on entry
Gas mix: Pneumatic
Comments: This is not Saturday
We dived here Wed with some SoCal DIR types - doing the bi-weekly CK Drill Down. So tonight we were back to just dive. Just dive. No drills, all play.
As I get out and go to the back of the truck, it hits me: I forgot my DS undies.
I call 'Dette, and she assembles an assortment of colorful fleecy tops and bottoms for me to wear under my suit for this dive. Moron boy here is getting to the point in his life where he needs to work from a list. That sucks.
As we were gearing up, there is this rumble of a couple of motorcycles going all fast and furious... I mean revving so loud you could hardly speak. I'm getting a little hacked off and turn to see what these goobers are doing. Turns out they're escorting a Mountain Dew Code Red crew... picture this: In a very small, and very crowded Vets parking lot you now add two street bikes, a full sized custom painted Code Red van with about 7 people in it (van has lights all around it, flashing - speakers bumping some urgent beat), a bobtail reefer truck, also custom painted (to keep the stock cool, no doubt.) and a couple of blond hotties on hoof with insulated bags, going to everyone in the lot, cooing "wanna Code Red?" - passing out cold soda.
OK. Not a great thing for a guy in a drysuit, to be tanking down come MDCR right before the dive. So I take the can from hottie number one and stash it in the truck for an after dive sip.
So we head to the beach... this is NOT last Saturday. None of the Hawaii 5-oh wacky curl action... just the same knee slappers we had the night before on Wed, but with much, MUCH better viz.
Claudette and I have been diving to about 105 - 110 here, recently. Vets is a whole other place below 90. It just changes. We're going to start doing some better planning and start pushing a little deeper... its an amazing place. The last three times we've been below 100 we've seen Red Tipped Dorids. So tonight that was the quest, as this time I was bringing the cam.
It was Octo night... OMG. Everywhere. Last Sat is was Polycera day. Its always something different there... its like there is a theme that carries through the dive.
It was an excellent dive. HBthriftstorechica's undie ensemble was perfect. We got in, got out, life is good.
In the SoCal DIR forum we'll be posting more about the bi-weekly CK Drill Downs.
Here are a few pics. Enjoy.
---
Ken
Red Tipped Dorid at 100 FSW. I miss my Woody's Diopter. This guy was about 1/2"
Polycera Atra - they are everywhere at Vets right now. This poor guys is missing a rhinophore.
Octo in some kind of Prop or Toy Coconut at 90FSW. 'Dette saw this and I'm all, "HUH??"
There's also a flatties invasion going on. We saw two 'buts over 24" on this dive, one had to be about 3 feet. TONS of these guys down there right now.
Below about 85 or 90 these guys start showing up. These wacky windmill wormy things. They're all over down there. About 3/4" to 1" tall. Love 'em!
Thornback Rays by the zillions in the shallows.
This was the most amazing thing. On the way back up, at about 80-ish, there were these two crabs. The one on the right was sort of supervising. The one on the left was rolled over and there was a huge swarm of fry sort of coming off and out of her. I don't know how crab birth their babies - but I've seen them carry around the eggs. Do they carry them around until its time for them all to hatch enmasse? Are the baby crabs swimmers? There are a couple of fry you can see in the pic. It was like a cloud. I watched it until 'dette came over and reminded me we had to get back into reasonable depths. It was amazing.