Video: Epic dive to Breakwater Barge

[Guy Alcala]

Kenn,

That's very helpful. I should have looked at the BAUE map before my last visit to BK. Just having good compass headings can make all the difference.

Once I was told to kick out to marker 13, then descend and look for the line. At least, I think it was marker 13; it was too long ago.

Based on my experience visiting the Metridium Field, I think a single-tank dive should be OK. (On that profile I'd have about an hour.) But, I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time searching for the line.

This has been helpful, but maybe someone else can chime in with more details on how best to find the line. Maybe Kristina knows. She dives BK all the time now.

Eric, without knowing if your SAC falls at one of the extremes, a single will work, but something larger than an 80 is preferable; with an 80 you tend to be limited to a single quick circuit and return (unless you're like one guy I know, who seemingly only breathes once in a while to convince the rest of us he's human). I do the barge on a 100 all the time, and generally can go from the wall out and back, spend 5-20 minutes there and return to the beach, for 45 minutes to an hour's dive.

Guy

 

[pacificgal]

I came across a spiny star on the breakwater wall Sunday, I picked up this old champagne bottle that was amongst the rocks and on the underside was a spiny star, don't know if it was "giant" or not, it was about 5" across. First time I had seen one at Breakwater. Neat to see something new.

 

[pacificgal]

But Eric, it can be done in 45 mins to an hour if you're intimately familiar with where it is. That's what I am reading out of this

 

[Guy Alcala]

I came across a spiny star on the breakwater wall Sunday, I picked up this old champagne bottle that was amongst the rocks and on the underside was a spiny star, don't know if it was "giant" or not, it was about 5" across. First time I had seen one at Breakwater. Neat to see something new.

Check out the photos on Clinton's website:

The Metridium Fields

Thinking about it now, I don't remember if it was a Giant Spined (not spiny, my bad) Star, Pisaster giganteus, or an Ochre Star, Pisaster ochraceus (think I spelled that right). I think the color of the Giant Star in Clinton's pic is kind of unusual; most that I see are closer to the color of the ochre star. Either that or maybe I'\ve been mis-identfying them. Clinton?

Guy

 

[Guy Alcala]

But Eric, it can be done in 45 mins to an hour if you're intimately familiar with where it is. That's what I am reading out of this

From the base of the wall at the point I usually take off from, I've made it out to the barge in as little as five minutes although it usually takes me about seven (note: I tend to swim faster than most people, and use a flutter kick for such a leg), and fourteen minutes once when I was with a guy who was swimming with a big video camera with lights and we were taking our time. Once there your SAC/RMV rate will probably drop way down to almost resting rate; on the way out I may be in the .6 -.9 RMV range depending on how much of a hurry I'm in, whether I'm solo or not, the vis etc., but I've seen .32 to .45 at the barge. I've seen depths at the barge between 58-68 feet, so planning using 3 ata works nicely.

Guy

 

[pacificgal]

Oh, that's not what I was thinking. Let me see if I can find what I saw...
Found it, it was a spiny brittle star. Haven't seen them at BW and this one was hiding

 

[Guy Alcala]

Oh, that's not what I was thinking. Let me see if I can find what I saw...
Found it, it was a spiny brittle star. Haven't seen them at BW and this one was hiding

I think I tend to see those more around Shale Island.

Guy

 

[pacificgal]

I don't even know where that is, either
But I figure if I keep going out to Monterey every weekend, I have to learn it more, right?
Some of you may remember when I was going out to try and find that round thing out in the kelp beds again. I did find it last weekend, now I think it is maybe more like an engine or a winch.
It was around something that looked like it could be an anchor, big cement block with a loop on the top?
It could quite possibly take me 20 years to figure out what exactly is out there, but I'll have fun trying
I just took a Google/BAUE trip to the Shale Islands. Pretty cool site. Neat stuff, I think I like that BAUE site.

 

[Guy Alcala]

I don't even know where that is, either
But I figure if I keep going out to Monterey every weekend, I have to learn it more, right?
Some of you may remember when I was going out to try and find that round thing out in the kelp beds again. I did find it last weekend, now I think it is maybe more like an engine or a winch.
It was around something that looked like it could be an anchor, big cement block with a loop on the top?
It could quite possibly take me 20 years to figure out what exactly is out there, but I'll have fun trying
I just took a Google/BAUE trip to the Shale Islands. Pretty cool site. Neat stuff, I think I like that BAUE site.

Kristina, there's a whole lot of concrete anchor blocks scattered around Breakwater, also some off McAbee. The map and other files in this folder will help you find most of the ones at BW:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ba_diving/files/San%20Carlos%20Beach%20%28Breakwater%29/

Could you be a bit more specific about the depth you found "that round thing in the kelp beds", and from what part of the beach you started? There is a concrete block with a piece of pipe embedded vertically in it at about 17 feet, if you enter from the corner stairs and swim diagonally left towards the first patch of kelp you see. Not sure if that's what you're talking about (and it's not on the map, as its shallower than I wanted to go).

Guy

 

[pacificgal]

It's about the size of a tire, not sure of depth- 30-34' and when I tried to find it I couldn't but I happened across it twice. I thought it was about 30 degrees off the center of the beach from the center stairs, but I think it was more to the right than that because I didn't find it when I took a 30 degree heading. Need underwater GPS, lol.
I can't believe that no one else has come across it and can tell me what it is. It's something man-made, I think it's metal because I poked it and it didn't give at all and it's covered in a brown moss. It doesn't have a pipe coming out of it, I'm going to have to start trying photography! Next time I find it I'm just going to surface and see where I am.
I'll encourage my buddy to start bringing his camera, and I actually like breakwater, I've done 38 of my 81 dives there and there's always something new to see.