The Pasley October '06 Dive Report Thread

[divinman]

Date: 10/07/2006
Dive Location: Sand Slope between the north wall and Main wall
Buddy: ummmm....yeah. Joanne on surface surport
Time: 9:25am
Bottom Time: 46 min.
Max Depth: 107 ft.
Vis: 15 to 20 ft.
Bottom conditions: RIPPING current running North
Temp at depth: 52 minimum 56 average
Surface Temp: 59
Gas mix: 30%

Album: http://www.scubapost.net/forums/Scorpionfish/100706/

Joanne and I took the kayaks out this morning for a paddle and a dive. Joanne did most of the paddling while I handled the dive part. Too dang hot to paddle in a drysuit so I opted reluctantly to dive wet. After getting everything strapped in good and tight we paddled out to roughly the lineups for the north wall and I zipped up the suit and pulled on the fins. Pulled the BP on in the water, Joanne handed me the camera and off I went.

(As an aside, it's a really weird feeling diving wet after sooo many dry dives.)

Dropped down and down and down and....well you get the idea. At 105 the bottom came into view. Ooops, guess I must have been a bit off with the line-ups today. So there I was....at the bottom with no idea where I am and no compass. I was expecting a north running current and it was there so using that I determined which direction east was and headed out. Soon enough I found the slope going UP and ascended to about 55ft for the dive. Found a little bit of a wall but not much. Mostly just sand. Sand was fine with me. Let me note here that the computer says 53 but I am not blue lipped and shivering nor are my feet numb. The current was really moving requiring me to fin constantly to stay on my photo subjects. I was REALLy glad I wasnt going to have to swim all the way back to the beach against that flow.

The things seen today included a largish frindgehead, lots and lots of Hermisendas, a spanish shawl, lobster and various crabs and baby fishes. Diving the LP80 with the Liz fill limited my bottom time and all to soon it was time to ascend. Floating upward I watched the bottom grow dimmer and the light from the sun grow stronger. The visibility between 20ft and the surface is beautiful and I enjoyed my 3 minute stop at 15ft and then slowly back to the surface I went. Joanne was nearby and paddled over to get me.

Getting in to the kayak proved just as easy as getting out...though not nearly as graceful and at least twice as funny to watch I am sure. Gear in, strapped down we paddled back to the boat launch, loaded the truck and headed out for some FOOD.

Good times.

T. :Banane26:

 

[Jake]

Date: 2006-10-07
Dive Location: Marine Land
Time: 11:37
Bottom Time: 72 minutes
Max Depth: 43 feet
Vis: A respectable 20ish most of the dive
Wave height: 1-2' at Long Point, 0-6" at Cobble Beach
Temp at depth: 64ish F
Tide information: High
Comments:

Gorgeous day at Marine Land. About as perfect topside conditions as I've seen there. Even though the surf at the point was pretty small, it just wouldn't stop. Wave after wave kept coming through. Even though it was only about 1' most of the time (sets were about 2'), the consistency made it a difficult entry. I got beat up a little bit, but made it out without too much trouble. Having a slung pony made it a little tougher than it probably would have been normally.

I hadn't been underwater at ML in a couple of months, so I was excited to get wet on what was--surprisingly--only going to be my fifth dive at the site. My plan was to try and hit some of the deeper features that maxbottomtime had been kind enough to point out on this map:

In particular, I wanted to look for Ted's Rock and the "nice wall". However, in order to avoid some of the bigger waves coming through, I had to enter a little further east than planned, and decided not to head back over.

So, plan changed. Headed to 40ish feet for a bit and headed slowly toward the cobble beach. Conditions were quite pleasant underwater: sunny, calm, and pretty warm. Visibility was a bit soupy towards the point, but still in the 15' range. After a few minutes and some kicking to the east, it cleared up a bit and was probably around 20' or so. It was this way for most of the dive until I got close to the end where there was substantial kelp growth. Here it was probably closer to 10'.

Speaking of kelp, this was a welcome surprise from last time I was there; there were some nice areas of coverage. In particular, the old pier pilings near the cobble beach were quite well covered, making it look almost as though the pilings themselves once again extended to the surface.

All the usual suspects were out today, and were quite abundant. In particular, there were thick clouds of what I think were small surf perch in the help growth around the pilings. Hundreds of them in thick density. It was neat to see.

Surfaced in about 5' of water in nearly dead flat conditions. I was kind of surprised, because the surge in this area was the strongest of the whole dive, probably in the 2-4' range. I was expecting to have to fight some waves on exit. It was boringly uneventful, however. Surfaced, took off fins, and walked out. Nice!

Upon return to my truck, we spotted an enormous and quite freakish looking spider on my tailgate. He probably prefered the shiny glint of quality American steel to the noise and disorder of the nearby construction site. I wasn't able to scare it off my truck, so now he's probably in the garage, waiting quietly until one of my neighbors walks by to unfurl his nefarious plans. In which case, the curse of Old Marine Land will have struck once again. Poor neighbor person....

 

[riguerin]

Date: 10/7/2006
Dive Location: Woods Cove, Laguna
Buddy(ies): B-Boy
Time: 8:30 AM
Bottom Time: 82 MIN
Max Depth: 30 FSW
Vis: 10-15 FT
Wave height: 1-2 FT
Temp at depth: 60 F
Surface Temp: 61 F
Tide information: Pushing; High Tide @ 9:34 AM PDT +6.46 feet
Gas mix: 21%

Comments: Dragged the kid out of bed this AM and headed up to Laguna. Tide and surf forecasts suggested south beaches might be worth a look. We pulled up to Woods Cove and were able to nab a close spot. This morning, we had bright clear skies, a slight offshore breeze, and some small scale SW lines showing. We decided to give it a go.

We made an uneventful entrance at the west end of the cove, finned out a little ways, and dropped in ~18 fsw. Conditions were a bit surgy (2-3 ft) and vis was a respectable 10-15 ft. We headed S and eventually picked up the patchy reef system. We poked around for while before finally heading back in. We surfaced just outside of the large rocks in the middle of the cove. The exit was easy peasy.

During the dive we encountered lots of typical reef fish, including some pretty large sheephead. The terrain is pretty cool here ...like something out of SeaHunt. There's lots of neat little overhangs, arches, and small caves. You'd think this would be pretty target rich area. While we did manage to get some bugs, it was slim pickings. Likely due to all the commercial traps that are scattered across the reef here ... that kind of sucks. Regardless, we got to dive and had a really fun time.

 

[SNOBORDJON]

Date: 10-7-06
Dive Location: Area near Dana Point
Buddy(ies):Roy H
Time: 5:45 am & 7:am
Bottom Time: 30 min and 45 Min
Max Depth: 30ft
Vis: 10-15
Wave height: 1-2
Temp at depth: 62
Surface Temp:63
Tide information: High
Gas mix: N/A
Comments: Dives 51-52
I finally got a chance to dive off my Zodiak! Roy and I headed out at about 4am, and decided to explore the coastline between Dana Point and Laguna. Our hope was to find a spot that you cant get to by beach access. After about 20 minutes of cruising up the coast at about 5 miles an hour (I only have a 4hp Merc Motor) we happened upon a nice reef outcropping that seemed like a decent enough spot. We dropped anchor to a depth of about 25 ft, and began to gear up. This was not an easy task considering the boat is just over 10ft and was packed with all our gear. After successfully pulling off a balancing tank/BC over-the-head maneuver, we dropped in to a beautiful underwater habitat overflowing with bright colorful reef vegetation and sea life. (Very similar to Reef point at crystal cove on a calm high tide day!) There were large Sand bass, 20lb bull Sheephead, opaleye, senioritas, sculpin and dozens of Calico Bass. Even nicer were the fearless lobster finishing up their evening walks. The highlight of both dives was the exploration of a deep dark crevace. Upon slowly shining my light acroos the deep shadows, I saw the reflection of a hundred tiny eyeballs, then antanae (antlers as Roy likes to call them). This was Lobster paydirt, my new-to-diving buddy chugged down 2000PSI in about 4 minutes through sheer excitement. Most of the bugs were short, but we still found keepers.
I love shore diving, but it was truly awesome taking the boat to a place that is protected from the crowds. I wonder how many more places there are like this to explore! I guess I will have to find out!

JB

 

[scottfiji]

Date: 10-7-06
Dive Location: Area near Dana Point
We dropped anchor to a depth of about 25 ft, and began to gear up. This was not an easy task considering the boat is just over 10ft and was packed with all our gear. After successfully pulling off a balancing tank/BC over-the-head maneuver, we dropped in to a beautiful underwater habitat overflowing with bright colorful reef vegetation and sea life.
JB

thanks for the report. btw, I find it much easier to put on my BCD in the water when I'm on small boats. just inflate the BCD a little, drop the BCD/tank/reg combo in the water, and jump in next to it, grabbing onto the BCD before you plummet to the bottom of the ocean.

Scott

 

[SNOBORDJON]

good suggestion, thats how I got back in the boat, but I should have tried that getting in the water.

 

[Robert Phillips]

Date:10/8
Dive Location: Deadmans Reef/Crescent Bay
Buddy(ies):Russ H, Mike
Time: 7:42 AM
Bottom Time: 75 minutes
Max Depth: 68
Ave Depth: 42
Vis: 25'+
Wave height: 0-1'
Temp at depth: 56°
Surface Temp: 62°
Tide information: coming up to high
Gas mix: Goodyear
Comments: Lots of baby Spanish shawls, two Cockerell's dorids, gigantic Cabezon, Cuthona divae, an octo who has apparently made Deadhenge it's home, and a lone Hopkins rose at the near shore reef. Great conditions and warm water.


Date: 10/9
Dive Location: Shaws Cove
Buddy(ies): Milo, and an adios to Glycerin as he made a surface swim back to shore upon my surface swim out to the SMB.
Time: 8:37 AM
Bottom Time: 48 minutes
Max Depth: 44
Ave Depth: 28
Vis: 30'+ Really!!!
Wave height: 1-2'
Temp at depth: 61°
Surface Temp: 63°
Tide information: Didn't check, medium???
Gas mix: Michelin
Comments: Shaws Cove is not as lame as I have always thought it was... What more can I say? :11:

Oh, and DBBBPAA for Chica!

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Gas mix: Michelin
Comments: Shaws Cove is not as lame as I have always thought it was... What more can I say? :11:

Oh, and DBBBPAA for Chica!

...zort!!...narf!!... brain on vapor-lock... can't figger it out.... will hate myself once it's revealed and may collapse in self-acrimony that I was too dumb to see it... I have soooo been to this movie before ....

Could ya write that out for me, as Mo2vation loves to say :11doh:

Strogenic'Dette

ackAckACKKKKK! It's my sig-line sillinym!!! omg, I didn't see it until I posted this goofball response.
Yup. TDTL, but laughing all the way!

 

[Jake]

Date: 2006-10-11
Dive Location: Diver's Cove
Time: 16:35
Bottom Time: 81 minutes
Max Depth: 28ft
Vis: 20-30 initially, 10-15 later
Wave height: Flatsville, man
Temp at depth: 63 Aeris degrees
Tide information: Fading
Gas mix: Jordan
Comments:

This was my first time at Diver's Cove, and included a few other firsts/points of interests:

• This was the longest dive I've done in my short career. 81 minutes on an AL80. Cool! Also, cold! (...after that long in the water)
• I saw the largest bat ray I've ever seen munching away in the shallows. Scared the bloody hell out of me when it decided to freak out.
• I saw the largest octopus I've seen yet, who was rather nonplussed over what to do about the annoying diver who kept shining his light on him.
• I encountered the biggest sea hare I've seen yet. There were scores of them all over the place, all regular size, many engaged in happy hare orgies. Then, out of the briny blue I see one that is easily larger than a basketball. It might have been pushing two....

Diver's is a neat dive. Didn't end up exploring all that much, as most of the time was spent in a little inlet area where hundreds of playful fish were hanging out. Some of them were actually quite aggressive, including 'baldis and wrasses that kept pecking at my wetsuit and mask. Oh! That reminds me: I also saw my biggest lobster yet here as well. Well, it was more like a carcass or an old exoskeleton, but it was huge!!!

Conditions on arrival were perfect, with flat surf, crystal clear water, and warm temps. Initially, the viz was probably 20-30 plus; simply fantastic. By the end of the dive, however, it had moved down into the 10-15 range, which I think was the result of a falling tide and the resulting turbulence over the rocks and kelp. Even so, it was still terrific on exit.

Not a whole lot of remarks other than to say it was one of the most condition-perfect dives I've done. Topside was great, bottomside (?) was even better.

 

[wetrat]

Date: 10/11/06
Dive Location: Deadman's Reef, Laguna Beach
Buddy: Rick (riguerin)
Time: 6:48 pm descent
Bottom Time: 1:47 (A new record for me!! )
Max Depth: 46 ft.
Vis: 30+ (as far as my light could shine)
Wave height: 1-2 ft.
Temp at depth: 59F
Surface Temp: 65F
Gas mix: EAN 28%

Rick and I met at North Crescent about 6:00 pm and conditions looked awesome. We were greeted by flat seas, the silhouette of Catalina behind the dropping sun, and sea lions barking in the distance. Although we carefully timed our surf entry between sets, a wave actually slapped my ankle, but I managed to stay upright. We had an enjoyable surface swim out to Deadman's, did our best to find the lineups in the waning light and dropped down to about 40 ft.

We finned SW and soon hit Deadman's. Visibility was awesome, and right away we saw tons of fish. Aside from the usual Garibaldi and Blacksmith, we saw several large Treefish and Scorpionfish, the biggest Horn Shark I've ever seen, a Leopard Shark, several Thornback Rays, a Sheep Crab, lots of bugs, a couple industrious octopus, a lone Spanish Shawl and plenty of Sea Hares.

We worked our way from Deadman's back into North Crescent Bay. Rick was hunting. At one point we saw a big ol' bug that we both knew was a keeper. Armed with light, gamebag and lobster gauge, Rick wedged himself down into the crack and strained to get him. Despite Rick's highly developed hunting skills, he escaped. We commented after the dive that he probably had quite a bit of experience escaping from divers. Rick did catch one bug that was just a tad short, but I think because I wasn't hunting with him, he just didn't have his game face completely on.

After setting a new record for bottom time for me, we surfaced in about four feet of water and trudged up to our cars. Our fantastic dive was topped off by dinner at a cool 50s diner in San Clemente. I finally got home about 11:00 pm and also set a new record for gear rinsing. Thanks Rick for your flexibility yesterday, sharing your local Laguna knowledge, being an excellent dive buddy, and for leading us on the most important part of the dive - dinner!!!

John L.