The Pasley October '06 Dive Report Thread

[cruisegirl]

John,
I need to take you up on that.... lol..... Need to work on my courage.....

LeeAnne,
I leave on my cruise December 9..... It's for 1 week in the Caribbean.. Your going to love the South Pacific I hear......Would love to take you up on the night dive but I work Friday morning.... At 4am

 

[LLKZ16]

Date: 10/27/06
Dive Location: OML Platform
Buddy(ies): Angelique, Jimmy and David
Time: 9:54 am
Bottom Time: 46 min
Max Depth: 83 feet
Vis: 10-15 @ 120 Reef / 5-10 @ Platform
Wave height: 1-2 ft
Temp at depth: 62F
Surface Temp: 68F
Tide information: Pushing High
Comments:

After all the hard work that Phil did laying the line from the platform to 120 reef and also putting out a buoy, we all decided to check out the platform. Our plan was to fin out and SCUBA back but after all 4 of us looked REAL hard, we could not see the buoy from the shore. Either the sun was blocking it or something else; we all tried our best to locate it.

Since it made no sense kicking out to something that we could not see, we opted to find the line and make our way out. According the map that was graciously provided from Phil (Mayor Of Marineland) the line should be straight out from the point at the beach. We dropped down and went straight out to locate it. Basically, we did not find it at that point however as we moved out to the 120 reef we easily came upon it.

This was a LONG hike out. It was cool to see the field of sea pens after you pass the end of 120 reef as you make your way out. The visibility was not that great and I was glad I brought my primary light. I would totally recommend bringing a primary when you go out there. The platform looked bigger then last time I saw it. As Phil said, the wood is gone but there is a ton of life out there. The fish hanging out on the platform are huge. The net looked totally cool (in an eerie way) as it lazily swayed back and forth with the current. It’s easy to work your way in and out of the structure however, since it is at around 80 feet, time is limited.

Below are some pictures (not my best work) of what we saw.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Very cool. My first customers.
If you enter from the right side of the cove facing Catalina the buoy is exactly at a 120 heading. I swam on my back and lined up the single bush on top of the hill with a boulder just to the left of the block house on the trail. The first time I did it I stopped to see how far I had to go and the buoy was two feet away. Yesterday a surface current pushed me about fifty feet West of the buoy. I'll try it underwater next time. I may have to set up my double 120s again!

 

[LLKZ16]

Very cool. My first customers.
If you enter from the right side of the cove facing Catalina the buoy is exactly at a 120 heading. I swam on my back and lined up the single bush on top of the hill with a boulder just to the left of the block house on the trail. The first time I did it I stopped to see how far I had to go and the buoy was two feet away. Yesterday a surface current pushed me about fifty feet West of the buoy. I'll try it underwater next time. I may have to set up my double 120s again!

Next time we will try the surface swim with your great directions above. The kick out underwater limits the non deco time at the platform to around 18-20 min and I would like to stay longer next time.

Thanks again for putting everything out there and making it a great dive.

 

[headhunter]

Next time we will try the surface swim <snip>.

Did someone say "surface swim"?

Christian

 

[Jake]

Date: 10/28/06
Dive Location: Elly Oil Platform
Buddy(ies): Rocket
Time: 08:04
Bottom Time: 37 min
Max Depth: 90 feet
Vis: 50 feet lateral, 100+ vertical
Wave height: Flat as can be
Temp at depth: 61F
Surface Temp: 64F
Comments:

This was our first time on the oil platforms, so we waited until a friend of ours was heading out with a PADI deep class and tagged along on the boat. The topside conditions were bloody perfect. Warm weather, earlier sunlight, and nearly flat as glass water. Our 6:30 departure boat actually departed after 7, and the 8:04 splash in was met with great enthusiasm.

For those of you who might read this but have been on the platforms, I'll relate a little bit of how the diving works (my understanding is that what we did was fairly typical). Basically, we show up and check with the platform on what kind of activity they'll be having for the day. Ours, as is turns out, is going to be quite busy with boat traffic, so we were confined to the south sides of the twin platforms. This probably didn't matter, since I imagine that the type of life on each platform and support column is representative of the next.

The boat obviously can't anchor in 600-800 feet of water, so they back in near the platform quickly and let whomever's ready jump out. They then head out and return. Your goal, depending on the platform you're on, is to spend your dive next to or inside the platform structure. On some platforms, you surface inside the structure; on ours, they asked that we surface on the outside near one specific corner. The pickup is done "hot" or "live" just like the drop. They swing in, grab whomever's on the surface, and swing back out away from dive activity. If you ever hit one of these when a current's running, I suggest having an easily accessible surface marker of some sort in case the primary or a chase boat needs to come out for you.

We were quite fortunate today. The perfect topside conditions were well met underwater. Visibility was absolutely fantastic, the water was nice and toasty, and there was little to no current. We dropped near our friends who were on their way to 130'; we stopped around 90' or so and watched them disappear into the darkness below us.

The structure is quite literally covered on nearly every inch. There is such a tussle for space that life just stacks itself on top of other life. We were most taken by the tens (perhaps hundreds) of thousands of small spiny stars just dripping off the structure. They were tucked into every nook and cranny, on top of every nook and cranny, and were often seen raining from the structure as they moved too far from a good hold and disappeared into the void.

Those of you who have been on the Ruby E will find the rest of the invertebrate life fairly familiar, with strawberry and other anemones everywhere. I didnt' see any metridians today, however.

The fish were quite plentiful with some very large sheep head. I was surprised to find garibaldi nurseries across the structure tucked in wherever they could be. At one point a large school of adult garibaldi swirled up and around a column, as if there were a reverse whirlpool drawing them higher. It was quite a curious sight.

I'll admit; we grew kind of bored with the structure and its small life. You can only examine so many spiny stars and sheep head before you need something else. Fortunately, the 40 or so seals were more than excited by our presence. 12 of us divers sat out in the water, and these animals would soar amongst us quickly, even if we were 50 feet apart. Myself and Rocket got a lot of barks and bubbles right in the face, which was really funny. I would say that the better part of the dive was spent enjoying these gorgeous animals.

Dive 2 was basically the same, but I'll post its vitals anyways.

Date: 10/28/06
Dive Location: Elly Oil Platform
Buddy(ies): Rocket
Time: 10:11
Bottom Time: 37 mins and 30 seconds
Max Depth: 66 feet
Vis: 50 feet lateral, 100+ vertical
Wave height: Flat as can be
Temp at depth: 64F
Surface Temp: warm!
Comments:

Everyone was itching to get back into the water. But, since a lot of the divers did some fairly deep dives, the boat held to a long SI. When we splashed in this time, the underwater scene was even more beautiful than the first dive because of the higher sun. There are a few moments in life where you look around and realize how blessed you are to be alive, and how even more blessed you are to be experiencing something trully magical; this was one of those moments. It couldn't have been more perfect underwater.

We almost didn't make it in, however. Rocket's mask broke between dives, so I gave her my primary and switched to my backup. As I put the mask on my head, however, the strap broke. Yikes! Fortunately, we were able to canibalize her mask strap for my backup, and the dive proceeded. I should note that after diving with a black-skirted mask for so long now, I hate clear skirts. The glare is ridiculous in comparison.

More of this dive was spent playing with the seals, and we explored a little more than the first time since we were more comfortable. I thought that it would be weird being in an 800-foot water column. I barely noticed it. The large structure keeps your perception in place, and it feels like any ol' wreck before long.

One other final note: the divemasters and the crew of the Island Time were tremendous. Funny and kind, I would dive with them all again.

 

[riguerin]

Date: 10/28/2006
Dive Location: N.Crescent Bay, Laguna Beach
Buddy(ies): B-Boy
Time: 10:17 AM
Bottom Time: 85 MIN
Max Depth: 39 FSW
Vis: 20-30 FT
Wave height: 1-2+ FT
Temp at depth: 63 F
Surface Temp: 66 F
Tide information:
Gas mix: 21%

Comments: Early Fall is one of favorite times of year. The summer crowds are dwindling fast. The ocean and land are undergoing transition. The Southern hemisphere is still cranking out late season cyclonic activity, while the North Pacific starts to ramp up, adding perfection to the ground swell combo mix. The seasonal inland high delivers the divine Santa Ana winds ... or is it Santana winds (Spanish for "satanic " winds) ? Regardless, they truly are both a blessing and a curse at the same time. They can groom the ground swell energy into overhead perfection, fill the skies with suffocating smoke and soot, flatten the surface bump and clear the skies to allow the sun's rays to penetrate to the ocean floor. Wow, what an incredible week !

The kid and I slept in this morning (Man, I needed it too after a week of dawn patrol surf sessions.) We eventually rolled up to N. Crescent only to be greeted by copious amounts close free parking A quick check of the conditions confirmed that the SW swell event from earlier this week was history ... small scale, knee+ shore pound cracked along the bay. The skies were bright and clear, and a light offshore breeze put a soft texture on the surface of the ocean. We suited up, B-Boy dry ... me wet, and finned out to the drop area. The surface temps were toasty warm, viz was top-bottom the entire way out. We eventually dropped in ~23 FSW and started making our toward the shallow reef top. Viz was excellent ... in the 20-30 FT range and surge was a tolerable 2-3 ft.

We dropped right on top of a huge two-spot octopi, who was out for a daytime stroll ... trying its best to look like an inconspicuous piece of kelp. We continued West, exploring the nooks and cracks as we went. Along the way, we found a tiny little baby moray (less than 1 FT) ... what a cutie. We were followed by the usual entourage of reef fish ... Senoritas, Garibaldi, Blacksmith, etc. Bugs were scarce on the way out. We started to spot a couple keepers as we picked up the deeper reef line. We managed to bag a couple. After proudly stuffing the 2nd bug into the bag (way out there near Seal Rock), the kid gave me the dreaded "Urgent P" signal. Dude, are you freak'n kidding me ? The dive was cut short, followed by a terse return leg to the beach. At earliest opportunity, I freed the kid from his warm dry coverings and sent him off toward the public restroom ... while I got stuck schlepping all the gear back to the truck.

We wrapped up the morning with a visit to the newly re-opened Wahoo's in So Laguna. Nothing tops off an awesome day of diving like enjoying an ocean view on an outdoor patio while enjoying blackened fish tacos, spicy blancos, and a $1.75 Corona ... or Ice Tea if you're 11.

Life is soo good in the OC

P.S. Check out my latest pic in the Oct issue of California Diving News!

 

[alaity47]

Date: 10/29/06
Dive Location: OML
Buddy(ies): Jeff (aka Mr Laity) and a few friends from ADP and/or Sole Searchers
Time: 10am-ish
Bottom Time: 55 min
Max Depth: 45 feet
Vis: 15-20 ft
Wave height: 0-1, occ. sets w/ 2-footers
Temp at depth: 59
Tide information: high (3.7 ft)

Since the swell was looking pretty friendly, we decided to do a repeat of our last dive at OML and go in off the rocks. I had managed to talk Jeff out of bringing his mondo camera on his first OML dive, so of course the waves were mostly nonexistent and he didn't understand why I advised against it. There were occasional sets that could do some damage, but loooong lulls between, so getting in was no problem.

Well, almost. I discovered I'm still just a smidge overweighted, as I got dragged across some rocks on my way out. Thank goodness for neoprene padding!

Once we were in the water, we discovered a pretty decent current going the wrong direction (ie, out to sea), so we opted to spend the dive mostly swimming towards the cove, instead of just loitering over at the point. Still, we took our time, slowly cruising northward in 40 ft.

We saw several cabezon, a bunch of lemon nudis, and no less than eight octopi. Well, the eighth I didn't so much see as deduce: I saw a pile of rocks that seemed to be moving. When I gently tugged at one of the rocks, something tugged back and I saw a piece of tentacle. Cute!

One of our buddies reported seeing an enormous school of barracuda by the point; sorry I missed that!

Although we'd done our dive as four totally separate buddy pairs, we all wound up reaching the cove within a few minutes of each other and made an uneventful exit. I saw a bunch of folks getting ready for their second dive - I was a little jealous, but one trip down/up that hill in full gear is enough for me in one day!

 

[Mo2vation]

We were booked on the SeaDivers 3 dayer to Cortes banks this weekend, but I had to fly to NYC on a last minute business trip, and I wasn't getting back into LAX until 7:00 PM Thursday (boat was leaving at 9:00 PM from LB...) so if the stars didn't align perfectly, we'd miss the boat.

So instead of stressing about it for a week, we cancelled the trip and decided to take a dive safari up the coast on Friday, then crash on the Spectre and dive our faces off on Saturday, then take a break and have a dry Sunday.


FRIDAY

So Friday AM we take off for MarineLand. We get there and its dead calm flat. And very hot. We gear up, I get the camera together and we head to the point. The original plan was to dive Phil's Platform (the Philform) but it was so flat we decided to go to the point.

Not a great plan.

We get to the point (to the "chica rock" drop in) and we're waiting for a lull. In the midst of timing the lull entry, HBstrokeofbrilliance spots a strand of monofiliment spanning her preferred left-side entry point. She changes her plan and starts her lunge through the narrow corridor on the right, but spots another piece of heavy RED monofilimant in the sun... stretched across the alternate entry.... so she pauses.

That pause was just enough to throw off her rhythm - she got smacked in the grill with a mask-filling baby wave. Almost immediately following, a giant wave literally lifted her and deposited her (seated, mind you) about 10 - 13 feet above where she was an instant ago. She clears her mask and looks down to see far below her the place she was supposed to be... all foamy and filled with water.

I have the camera rig in one hand and my fins in the other - powerless to assist. She signs she's OK and clambors down. We sit for a moment, and realize the tide is rolling in higher and higher to the high tide of 11:57 AM (nice timing... its about 11:40AM - OY!) - so we bag it and schlep up the hill in the heat and flop onto the tailgate. We look at each other, sweat pouring off, breathless and decide today is not an OML day - lets head north.

So after an impromptu parking lot AquaFina shower, we load in and head north.

We decide its a Point Dume day. We get there, and the entry is knee high. We kick out to the pinnacles. On our way out, its so clear we can easily see to the 40 foot bottom from the surface. Its looking great. Its been many years since I've dived there, and after all of the OML kicks and LJS kicks, the kick to the pinnacles that once seemed so prohibitive was cake. We got there, dropped and had a beautiful dive. Just amazing. Huge ling cod, huge lobster, tons of fish, Malibu's famous FedEx nudis and lots more. What a dive. Simple exit, life is back on track.

We head north to dive another site. HBShoreDivingBookGurl had picked out a few sites in North Malibu and Oxnard. We call Rickster on the way to Oxnard, and he gives us the 411 on La Jennelle dive site. Rick reinforced what the shore dive site and books say - its essentially a bigazz ship (like 400 feet) that grounded, and so they filled it with cement and rocks and made an insta jetty. It was very neat. One side sand and rocks, on the seaward side, basically a rusting boat. Kinda weird, but very cool. On the restricted side of the cove there is a kelp bed with OTTERS. Otters in Oxnard??!!! YES! Very cool. But it was getting close to sunset and the surge was pretty strong, so we decided to not dive and headed north to dinner, Game 5 and to the Spectre.

After a nice dinner and watching the hapless Tigers perish in flames, we head to the boat. We load on, and as we are, we learn there are TWO groups on this boat: An SC trip (meaning students... oh goodie) and a Hunter Club (meaning Open Circuit macho fish killer types... oh goodie.) We board, set up, bunk in and crash.

SATURDAY

Promptly at 6:30 AM, the Spectre comes to life. Everyone is boarding, signing in and talking story. We roll out, bleary eyed to see the boat has 40 divers (oh goodie...) so we're expecting the worst.

My fears were completely unrealized. We couldn't have had a better trip.

First: SC Divemaster, rocked up Brian was simply the kindest, most patient, professional and sweetest DM EVER! Dude rocked. He immediately took command of the entire boat, gave very specific directions and ran a tight, safe operation. And get this: At the end of the trip, dude was there to help people down the steps with their heavy dive bags and tanks. Every DM needs to aspire to be this guy. I'm serious. I'm confident this whole boat trip ruled in great part to his gentle hand.

The Spectre has a new Galley Wench since I was there last. The slothful, tramp-stamped, smoking, pierced, muffin top has been replaced with a sharp, funny, witty Cal Poly SLO co-ed who, while the boat is motoring to the site, breaks out a drafting board, T-square and pencils and works on her aircraft design project (!)

The SC class and SC types were mostly from Cucamonga (909 for those of you keeping score at home.... oh goodie.) The hottie Instructor had a great command of the class, and all of the non-class divers were competent, polite, chatty and friendly. They got off the boat without drama, and got back on very quickly (like 30 - 40 minute dives...)

The Hunting club was another surprise. Probably 6 - 8 of these guys with pole spears, multi-banded guns, game bags, scallop bars, etc... These guys were all loaded up and ready for carnage. But here's the thing - the entire crew of the hunting club, after three hunting dives (our 4th dive was in a preserve) managed only 2 small lobsters and a half a bag of scallops! These people were sweet, polite and inept - three things I believe all UW hunters should be.

Lunch rocked. The dive sites rocked. In all 40 divers, not a certifiable Adam Henry in the bunch. Everyone was inviting someone else to go ahead in front of them to the gate. I couldn't believe what I was seeing...

I was having an excellent day of diving on the Spectre. I had Claudette pinch me.

Over the years, I have pounded that boat as graceless and that operation as a joke. I've labeled them the "Sphincter" - But after what I experienced on Saturday, and the changes they're making there, I will never call it that again. I was so impressed, I really can't wait to return.

We did 4 dives - 2 on Cruz and 2 on 'capa. Great viz, lots to see, quiet, mellow, no drama. Sweet, polite divers. The Hunt Club that couldn't shoot straight. A DM who ruled and just oozed confidence. Great BBQ lunch. Perfect anchorages... Great Weekend.

Some Pics below.

---
Ken


Lemon Head

FedEx Laying Eggs

How did 'Chica spot this Sandy in the trash pile? (click here for full size... Love the skin on this guy!)

Sea Lion Twins...

Sea Lion Hitting the Brakes!!!

Goby in his Cave

Nice Plummage!

Ripping Current...

Bestest Buddy Ever!

 

[divinman]

Feel free to add your report here.

Conditions were as follows.

Big surf 3-4 ft and relentless. Maybe 4 seconds
Surge from the get go and vis was 5-15 but mostly 10
warm? Oh yes. 57 at 60ft

Images? Of course: http://www.scubapost.net/forums/Scorpionfish/103006/
Highlights? Got them too.


Kim Leads the Way