The Pasley Sept '06 Dive Report Thread

[riguerin]

Date: 9/30/2006
Dive Location: Super Secret Bug Spot - N. Crescent Bay, Laguna Beach
Buddy(ies): Sorry, that's classified info - glycerin, im_a_piranah
Time: Ummm sorry ... I don't remember. - 7:23 am
Bottom Time: Uhhh .... like what do you mean exactly ? 92 min
Max Depth: I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you ! - 37 fsw
Vis: What vis ? 10-15+ ft
Wave height: Too big for you ! - 2-3+ ft
Temp at depth: Wouldn't you like to know ? - 62F
Surface Temp: Surface Temp this ! - - 64F
Tide information: Yeah, like I'm gonna tell you ! - Pushing ; High Tide @ 3:11 PM PDT, +4.69 ft
Gas mix: Special bug mix. - 21%

Comments: Hooked up with a crew of hunters looking for some fresh lobster flesh. We hit the secret lobster hole and cleaned up. The poor bugs never knew what hit em. Fresh tails are on the menu again. The end !

Actually, I met Josh for an early AM dive in Laguna. Today, we were joined by Ang, a recently certified OW diver. This was her first mainland shore dive. We opted for N. Crescent Bay, as it presented a few options depending on conditions. Site check at Crescent Bay revealed some lingering southern-hemi ground swell energy, in the 2-3 ft range, with occasional chest high sets closing out in the middle of the bay. Conditions looked a diveable, albeit slightly marginal. We decided to suit up and check it out.

After an uneventful entrance, we finned out and dropped near the splash rock. UW conditions were surgy (2-3 ft) and consequently vis was patchy due to the churning bottom. Once we squared away a few minor issues at the beginning, we went about our leisurely dive. Along the way, we checked out the cracks and holes in the reef for hidden creatures ... in particular, our favorite crustacean, Panulirus interruptus. We managed to nab a few, but most measured just short. We also found some other cool reef critters, such as octopi and morays. Of course, while actively hunting, we set very bad examples for the noob. Let's just say that things like trim, buoyancy, and minimizing reef contact are not always high on the priority list. Afterall, it's hunting ... it's not always pretty. Hey, but at least she was warned ahead of time We eventually hit our turn pressure and reversed our tracks. We finished our dive with a nice relaxed swim across the sand, while holding a nice tight formation (this is part where we attempted to redem ourselves by trying to demonstrate some actual diving skill). We ascended just outside the surf line and timed the exit perfectly. Afterwards, we hooked up for a nice breakfast at the Cottage.

While not the typical season opening bug slaughter, it was still a nice long fun dive ... and there is some fresh lobster in the fridge It was a pleasure to accompany Ang on her first Laguna Beach dive. The conditions today were pretty challenging due to the surf, surge, and sometime marginal vis resulting from some lingering SW energy ... but she did great, once she got relaxed and settled in. In fact, she was looking pretty solid toward the end of the dive. Congrats on the first beach dive ! Thanks to both for an awesome time.

 

[Jake]

Boy, what a terrible day at Casino Point. First, the gear truck temporarily loses our stuff and delays us about an hour. Next, the compressor was broken, so no fills are happening at the point. Third, when we get done with our first dive, the compressor is apparently working again. However, the <insert derogatory noun>s wouldn't fill our personal tanks, so we had to hoof it all the way to Scuba Luv. Great service guys.

Fortunately, the diving was pretty good, though the nearly complete absence of kelp made it an almost alien dive site. It was really quite strange and almost sad. An angry lumberjack named El Niño apparently rolled through before we got there....

First dive (11:55) started around 90 feet where temp was 61F (Aeris). Most of the dive, however, was much shallower and was in the 66F range. Viz was excellent on this one, probably in the 30-50 foot range.

After our long and tiring surface interval/hike to SL, we splashed in for a tragically late second dive around 15:15. Stayed much shallower for the duration of this one and lasted about an hour before we got cold (though the temperature registered at 68/69 for the whole dive, even at our max of 42fsw). Viz had deteriorated to about 20-30.

We could have made a third dive, but they still wouldn't fill our tanks, and we didn't want to make the hike again. Oh well; you can't win 'em all. At least we had high tide on the steps!

 

[Mo2vation]

Date: 9/30/06
Dive Locations: OML (AM) then off to the Secret Lobstah Spot (PM)
Buddy: HBDiveChica
Time: 9:00 AM-ish (OML) 7:00 PM-ish (SLS)
Bottom Time: OML 82 Minutes, SLS 104 Minutes
Max Depth: 55 FSW
Vis: OML 5 – 8 feet. SLS 10 – 15 (surge reducing it to zip in the shallows)
Wave height: 2 feet maybe
Temp at depth: OML 58 degrees SLS 61 degrees
Surface Temp: whatever….
Tide info: Rising tide AM at OML, falling tide PM at SLS
Surge: Weird.. came up, then would go away…
Gas mix: Yokohama

Old MarineLand

The National ‘dette and I were gonna take another shot at OML on Sat AM, before waiting for sundown and heading out to the super secret top secret Lobster spot.

I pick her up and we roll over to OML in the AM. We walk to the point, and its pretty brutal, so we plan to go in through Cobble beach again. We see Phil and Jeff’s trucks in the lot this time – so we’re not the only ones here this week.

We get down to cobble beach right as a couple of neoprene heads pop up! Phil and Jeff are just coming out. Phil said to us, “I saw the blue gloves, and I knew it had to be the Smurfettes!” I’m still diving the Nikon rig with only one strobe, so its much lighter and easier to get in and out. We walk in without incident and start the long kick to the point.

Unlike last week, as we peeked into the water and could see the bottom 30’ below us, we could see nothing this week. We “kick until its no longer fun” (thank you, Divinman) and we drop into soup. I mean, thick blue green yuck. Maybe 5 – 8 feet of viz. The good news the constant surge isn’t there like last week – but the water is very dark, and the occasional surge is huge… Pinballing Chica and I a number of times off of big rocks.

The shooting was challenging – dark, some surge, and because we were shallow for most of the dive, it was just lemonade. We saw some fun stuff, however – the star of the show was a white finger sponge getting chewed by a couple of San Diego Dorids… way cool. HBNudiMagnet found a Monterey Dorid... We call these the PigPen or Dirty Dorids... stuff just sticks to them. This one was exceptionally dusty. There were a couple of Fed Ex - one all standing on a clam shell, looking all proud. She also found a teeny tiny pair of Hopkins Rosey's for us. Pretty cute.

What a spotter!

It was an 82 minute dive, with over 100 minutes in the water.

We go grab lunch, get fills, and agree to meet in several hours for a night dive at the Lobstah lair. I call HBgrab-a-bug and remind her to bring a bucket. She reminds me to bring a towel. Buddies that got each other’s backs… just rocks.


Secret Lobster Spot

We meet up and make the drive to Lobstah country. All I can think about is how its been 6 months since I’ve been in a wetsuit, and how I’m gonna squeal like a little girl when I get there.

We pull up and conditions are perfect – in as much as nobody is here and the tide is mellow. We gear up, walk in.

I squeal like a baby – but not too bad. How do you people dive in a wetsuit year round?

This dive is about 104 minutes. We’re at like minute 30 before we even SEE a lobster. We’re at minute 50 before I bag a lobster… I’m thinking its gonna be grim. We see octopus, we see leopard sharks, we see horn sharks, we see a nice Angel Shark, we see a Bat Ray… we just saw very few bugs. I think she grabbed and measured 9 – all shorts.

We pop up when I have about 100# in the tank at about 100 minutes. I have 4 keepers in the bag. ‘Chica gots none. Sadness. We agree to drop again at about 8 feet and root around a bit more until I need to do an ESA from 9 feet!

After about a minute, I lose her. I do the light house spin for a bit, but I can’t find her. The viz here is maybe a foot. I pop up, and look over and see her light, so I drop and kick over to her. I see her bag is deployed… no whay!!!!!

At minute 102 of a 104 minute dive, she grabs bugzilla. Well, bugzilla for this place. I lost her because she was grabbing chubbers. It’s a fatty – freshly molted, all soft and ripe. This thing dwarfs my 4 keepers, but isn’t one of those put-them-back grand daddy lobsters. It was a great ending to a great day.

We had over three hours of BT in these two dives… Unreal. Its rare to bookend my Saturday with dives… but when the lobstah’s are calling, you gotta answer.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another excellent day. Another excellent month. We had what, 30-some dives together in September? You rock.

Thanks a ton, Chica. Your keen eye, excellent conditioning, exceptional skills and "bring your own fun" attitude is a divers-hunters-photographers dream. You are the best. You make this stuff look easy.
Some pics from OML.

Enjoy.

Ken

 

[wetrat]

Gorgeous shots Ken. The detail in the Yellow Dorid is awesome! Great report too. I always enjoy 'em!

John L.

 

[Jake]

Date: 2006-10-01
Dive Location: Shaw's cove
Buddy: Instabuddy Larry
Time: 16:41
Bottom Time: 45 minutes
Max Depth: 43
Vis: 10-20 shallow, soupy 10-12 past the crevice
Wave height: 2-3ft
Temp at depth: 62F
Comments:

My plan was to do some practice deployment with my little yellow buddy before heading over to Fisherman's, but randomly, there was a lifeguard out. Fortunately, another diver by the name of Larry happened to walk up and ask if I needed a more human buddy to make it past the Lagunazi in the tower. He suited up quickly, and we headed out, narrowly avoiding an inquisition over Larry's lack of snorkel.

Viz pre-crevice was great. Maybe 15-20 feet. We tried to make it through the crevice over to Crescent, but it was too crazy, so we turned and headed out. But not before I saw dozens of lobster laughing at me under the arch and 2 eels in their homes near the bottom.

There was quite a lot of life out, though it was difficult to see them at times in the greenish 10-12 foot viz. The dive was mostly uneventful until turnaround rock. Almost immediately on the way back in we were surrounded by a huge school of a silvery fish with yellow tails in the 12" long range. Topsmelt maybe? My fish ID skills suck.... They kinda resembled barracuda, but weren't.

In any event, it was pretty cool. The wall o' fish was probably 10-15 feet high and hundreds of them just kept coming from somewhere. Larry was videotaping, and I think this will make for a great clip. They were so thick I couldn't see the sand behind them and had to keep looking down to prevent vertigo. Awesome!

On our return to the shallows, a juvenile bat ray took flight and swam gingerly right in front of us, as if to say "I'm ready for my closeup...." Larry followed it for a while and hopefully got another magical little piece of tape.

This was my first time with an instabuddy, and it was really good. Larry was a nice guy and a great diver. Thanks!

 

[wetrat]

La Jolla Shores, 9/30/06

Dive Location: Secret Gardens
Buddy: John A. (RoughWaterJohn)
Time: 7:20 am
Bottom Time: 48 mins.
Max Depth: 113 ft.
Vis: 25 to 30 ft.
Wave height: 2 to 3 ft.
Temp at depth: 56F
Surface Temp: 58F
Tide information: 3.2 ft. high
Gas mix: 21%

Had the good fortune to do a couple dives with John A. yesterday. Joined some other San Diego local divers on the first dive including divebuddysean and divekim. We did the usual invigorating surface swim out past the red buoy in front of the lifeguard station and John started pinging the bottom with his depth finder until we found the edge of the canyon at 38 ft. We dropped down and by the time we saw the sand a few minutes later, the offshore current had carried us out to 87 ft. and just about right on top of the Gardens. We poked around for awhile, checking out the gorgonians, a White Spotted Porostome, a few Sarcastic Fringeheads, a tiny red octopus about the size of my thumbnail and a tiny Hemphill's Kelp Crab that hitched a ride into the shallows on the back of my glove. As we worked our way back and forth up the canyon slope and into the shallows, the surge picked up considerably, but we rode it out until we hit about 4 ft. of water and stood up with big grins on our faces.

Dive Location: Vallecitos Point
Buddy: John A. (RoughWaterJohn)
Time: 11:10 am
Bottom Time: 54 mins.
Max Depth: 73 ft.
Vis: 25 to 35 ft.
Wave height: 3 to 4 ft.
Temp at depth: 56F
Surface Temp: 58F
Tide information: 3.5 ft. high
Gas mix: EAN 36%

Visibility was even better at the point, given we had more ambient light. The water was a gorgeous blue green and you could see the wall spanning 30 ft. or so in both directions. John and I slowly worked our way south along the wall to the point, and then east, pointing our lights into the nooks and crannies. We saw a few sleepy octos and some rockfish, and not surprisingly ran into divekim and her buddy Beth again. Schools of senorita swam lazily along with us and the local Sheephead couple paced overhead, keeping a watchful eye on us. We spotted a few lobster, a gorgeous San Diego Dorid, another nudi I'm too tired to look up right now, some brittle stars, strawberry anemones, and lots of barred sandbass.

Despite the excellent vis and calm conditions on the point, we experienced significant surge on our way back to the food (er.... make that the beach). We were doin' the superman thing as we surged northeast to shallower water, and then had to kick as hard as we could to maintain our headway between surges. Finally we reached a depth of about five feet and stood up, again smiling in appreciation of our excellent morning of diving.

Thanks for the dives, RoughWaterJohn. You're an all around awesome diver, an eagle-eye critter spotter and a pleasure to be around on the surface and under.

John L.

 

[shoupart]

It seems that nobody's been having much luck with the lobsters so far this year.... I went to Malaga last year and limited out within 20 minutes, and this year I did the same thing and did an 80 minute dive and only found 2 of them. How's everybody else doing?

 

[Mo2vation]

It seems that nobody's been having much luck with the lobsters so far this year.... I went to Malaga last year and limited out within 20 minutes, and this year I did the same thing and did an 80 minute dive and only found 2 of them. How's everybody else doing?

Guess it depends on your definition of luck.

Grabbing four last night, on the evening after the flinty eyed sleepless live-to-hunt types doubtless mowed through my fav spot with reckless, lethal efficiency to dwarf my own was quite better than I expected. We pulled quite a few critters out of here the last half of last season - and I'm glad to see their kids are coming back.

I had what I would consider very good luck. I didn't pay big bucks to go on some cattle boat to bounce off to a far away place with the sole intention and purpose of hunting - with 15 or 20 other hunters splashing their testosterone all over me. I'm way too laid back for that. My hunting is more about getting there near sunset, enjoying the beautiful red sky on entry, loving the dive and coming out with a few keepers.

For me, I'd consider myself quite lucky last night.

---
Ken

 

[HBDiveGirl]

One for Fun...
Saturday Morning, 9/30/06
The Point at Marineland... from Cobble Beach.
9:30 AM
Buddy: KenGetGreatPixInASnowStorm
One hour and 21 minutes of UpClose fun
59F made the Blue Gloves of Bliss my fav gear of the day.
8-15 feet of murky viz
54fsw max, but mostly about 40.

We were out for fun and nothing could stand in our way:

• Not the lack of souffles (Bagel Power prevailed!),
• Not the Maytag at the Point, (we diverted in two calm blinks,)
• Not the forceful Shove&Draw at Cobble Beach (Moving the Cam with teamwork just RULES!! No damage, save the energy for the loooong kick to the Point.)
• Not the soupy viz ("Well, it's a great day for Macro.")
• Not the rough and slappy water as we approached to Point ("Now is the time to drop.")

The dive was a blast as we immediately found nudibranchs and cowries and schools of blacksmith hugging the bottom. Ken wielded the big camera in the surgy gloom as if it were a walk in the sunny park. I was a blowin' leaf around his forearm-braced, precision-drilling focus. The pictures astound me, partly because I remember the crazy pulsing surge and the snow flurry of debris in the darkness. I love finding stuff and then getting to "Re-See" it, beautifully enlarged and perfectly illuminated.
My favorite moments:

1. The Librarian Neatnik octopus with vertical stack of same-sized clam shells...
   The FratBoy Sloppy 'pus with debris field of all-sized clam shells scattered a meter-wide around his den...
2. FedEx on the BirdBath: (see Ken's cool pic) Seen these guys on a thousand rocks. Never on a clean clam shell, looking like a bird planning to splash in.
3. The Rosie Twins: (Ken's sparkling pic) We covered 100 yards of murk, and found two Hopkins Roses.. each the size of the tip of my pinky... right next to each other. I oscillated 5 feet, while KenYouHoldItRightThere shot Microscopic Macro.
4. Diego Dorids Eat New York!!! (Ken's awesome aerial photog) Who knew San Diego Dorids were perfectly camoflaged on white finger sponges?? And here was one munching the top off one of the Skyscraper-shaped sponges, while its partner crunched the lower storeys!!
5. PigPen Mugs for the Cam: Biggest Dirty Dorid yet, with its head up for the cam. A fast candid. Looks like a studio shot. Nice Rhinophores, PigPen!

Excellent dive. No more than a few bruises, which is kind for SharpPointyToothed Marineland...). Fun all around. Spectacular WeKenDoThis dive buddy :jump013: . Superb pictures . I love Marineland!

One for Grub...
Saturday night, somewhere in SoCal.... Shhhhhh!
Did someone say, "Lobster?"
Well, for the first 1-hour-and-42-freekin' minutes of hunting... it was a great Nature dive!! Bat, thornback, round, and sharp-nosed rays; horn, leopard and angel sharks; FedEx nudis; An Octet of Octopuses; and hordes of little lobster children frolicking around the boulders. Ken navigated us around with eerie precision, (102-minutes-and-2-miles later, we popped up 20 feet from our entry point. Well, it felt like 2 miles :11: .) Mr. YouKenGoInTheBag found 4 absolutely-legals hiding amongst the pediatric set, but I had nuttin. Empty bag. I wan't feeling very graceful about it as our psi drained, my toes went numb, and we shallowed in toward the beach. I wasn't very talkative as we surfaced. Then, magical words bounced over to me: "You've got 400 left? We're in 9 feet of water! Let's keep hunting, and I'll be over your head when I'm empty." Didn't have to ask me twice. "Hungry" doesn't do it justice. I dropped into the 2 foot viz, got surge-pushed into a big rock. I recovered... and found myself staring right into the reflective peepers of A Fat And Lovely Lobbie ...as big as my Biggest bug last year. Wham!! My fingers barely fit around the thorax. He went into the bag, flying past the quite irrelevant gauge, and my winterish night of discontent was made glorious summer by this sumptuous bug.

Ken is a fantastic lobster-hunting buddy, but this night really took the Crustacean Cake. Numbed hands rewarmed on the seat-heaters, and we sailed home reliving all the fun. Yeah!!!! IT'S LOBSTER SEASON AGAIN!!!

...and One for the Sake of Science.
The First ReefCheck Survey of Marineland has begun!
Sunday, October 1, 2006
The 120 Reef, off of Cobble Beach
10 AM
Buddies: Brian Meux and Ted Sharshan
20 to 31 fsw.
1 hour, 9 minutes
60F
5 meters visibility (Woooo-Hooooo!)

Whaaaay better conditions than the day before, and were we ever grateful!
This is kind of demanding work, although it's also lots of fun. Lots of stuff to carry, tasks to do regardless of surge, and So Much To Write Underwater! Brian and Ted supplied the brain power as they ID'd and counted fish, seaweed, and invertebrates along the 30meter transect lines. I was the dopey-numbers-'Chica, recording data describing the bottom at 30 1-meter intervals. Touch the spot... record rugosity, substrate, life-type (if present)... move a meter along... repeat until dizzy. We completed 3 core transect lines, while the two-man team of John and Robert completed 2 transects. I cheated between recordings, and enjoyed the many octopuses, nudis (FedEx and albopunctatas, sunflower stars, painted greenlings, cowries, and fish (all kinds.) We got the data, and I had fun sightseeing.
Pointy-toothed Marineland let us survey in peace, and even walk out easily into sunshine.
We'll complete the remaining survey tasks in the next few weeks, and get this site into the Reefcheck database for biannual re-surveying during the years to come.

This was a blast of a weekend: I love reading everyone's reports, as well as being able to share the favorite parts of my dives.
We all are so very fortunate to be diving this amazing world.

Claudette