Went out to the island on the Psalty V (sweet guys, cool hang, top drawer DVD selection!) Saturday afternoon. This was a trip set up by my LDS, SSA in Montclair (good guys, cool hang, excellent taste in hand-rolled cigars...) and was my first time on this boat.
Several students on board, so we went to the Quarry. This is a semi-protected cove with some interesting geography, as there is flat sand on one end, moving to tumbling hewn boulders, to a rock slide then a steep wall. There are a couple of cool pinnacles rising from the depths, and some other interesting stuff. Its a really calm site - or it was on this day and every other time I've been there.
It was one of those mellow dive days, you know? We went over mid-day (left San Pedro 2:45 PM) so its not the typical up-at-dawn affiar, haul a$$ down to the landing, etc... very, well, mellow. After the crazy month that July was, and August is becoming, it was nice to be one six-pack and just chill. Got back at about 11:00 PM.
It was HOT. No breeze to speak of, so the air was HOT. Surface temp was 70! 20 fsw was 66, 30 fsw was 64...and then BOOM. There was a thermocline sitting right at 30 feet. From 31 - 60 it was in the mid-50's. It was there all day for the 2 day dives, and even into the night dive. It was dirty and muthah-cold from 31 - 60 fsw, and then you hit 30, and it was clear and warm.
I've heard about these hard horizontal 'clines, but this is the first time I hit one that was more than a few degrees warmer. The shimmer was so distinct, you could see it from 5 or 6 feet away. This was, in some places, a full 10 degree shift. That's pretty bone jarring on the way down, but on the way up. its almost hot-tub esque.
It was easy to hold depth... keep my folded hands in the freezer, and my face in the jacuzzi and I was at 30 fsw with no issues!
LOTS of big lobster on the night dive... they're taunting us. Saw a Sheephead that had to go 15 - 20 lbs...just hanging in a cave. Its the biggest one I've ever seen - tail like a broom. Lots of angle fish...just a mellow day.
I need some of these mellow days sometimes. I get too intense, and sometimes forget to just have fun down there. We did the same dive three times (at 3 different depths) and saw different stuff everytime.
Good boat, good hosts, good friends, good diving. Great way to start the weekend. Monday's suck.
K
Several students on board, so we went to the Quarry. This is a semi-protected cove with some interesting geography, as there is flat sand on one end, moving to tumbling hewn boulders, to a rock slide then a steep wall. There are a couple of cool pinnacles rising from the depths, and some other interesting stuff. Its a really calm site - or it was on this day and every other time I've been there.
It was one of those mellow dive days, you know? We went over mid-day (left San Pedro 2:45 PM) so its not the typical up-at-dawn affiar, haul a$$ down to the landing, etc... very, well, mellow. After the crazy month that July was, and August is becoming, it was nice to be one six-pack and just chill. Got back at about 11:00 PM.
It was HOT. No breeze to speak of, so the air was HOT. Surface temp was 70! 20 fsw was 66, 30 fsw was 64...and then BOOM. There was a thermocline sitting right at 30 feet. From 31 - 60 it was in the mid-50's. It was there all day for the 2 day dives, and even into the night dive. It was dirty and muthah-cold from 31 - 60 fsw, and then you hit 30, and it was clear and warm.
I've heard about these hard horizontal 'clines, but this is the first time I hit one that was more than a few degrees warmer. The shimmer was so distinct, you could see it from 5 or 6 feet away. This was, in some places, a full 10 degree shift. That's pretty bone jarring on the way down, but on the way up. its almost hot-tub esque.
It was easy to hold depth... keep my folded hands in the freezer, and my face in the jacuzzi and I was at 30 fsw with no issues!
LOTS of big lobster on the night dive... they're taunting us. Saw a Sheephead that had to go 15 - 20 lbs...just hanging in a cave. Its the biggest one I've ever seen - tail like a broom. Lots of angle fish...just a mellow day.
I need some of these mellow days sometimes. I get too intense, and sometimes forget to just have fun down there. We did the same dive three times (at 3 different depths) and saw different stuff everytime.
Good boat, good hosts, good friends, good diving. Great way to start the weekend. Monday's suck.
K
