DocWong
Contributor
Serenity - Ratfish at Deep E3
Calm, glassy, viz at 70'
Driving down to Point Lobos today, to dive off of Phil Sammet's RIB with buddy Todd started with some good signs. At 8 AM, there was but a gentle soothing breeze, Monastery had a glassy smooth texture to the water and the waves were "ankle-biters." No need to watch a Monastery safety video today! ;-) We knew Lobos would be great today and it was! Driving down into Whaler's Cove was exciting as the cove was as calm as I've ever seen it.
In short order Phil had his RIB in the water, with our gear on the boat, we got in and I piloted the boat out of the cove. After a bit of discussion and the fact that we haven't been to Deep E3 in awhile, Todd and I decided to dive it. Anchoring, the water wasn't blue, but a somewhat clear green as I could see the anchor line down in the water.
The sensations of diving are so varied, but one of my favorites is the feeling of a constant descent down and anchor line. While descending at about 40', Todd signaled and we stopped as he needed more time to clear his ears. A moment later we continued to the first bottom at 175' next to a pinnacle. One of my favorite features of this site is that there are multiple pinnacles separated by sand channels. Got out the video camera and newly repaired dual 21 watt lights blazing. Did some videos of the bottom and some of the Sea Pens there. Then Todd wanted to shot some video so I handed him the camera. Just then I saw a good size Rat Fish, my very first one! He was not spooked at all and just continued to swim slowly as I followed him. He was an awesome sight!
Shortly after that it was time to ascend and we came up the pinnacle to about 150' before drifting away. Doing some deep stops we got to 70 feet where we shot the SMB. Deco was quite calm, the viz marginal and not much floated by for us to be amused at. Each deco is such a different experience, love those hangs! At 20' and 10' we had some time to spend so to keep ourselves amused, I pulled out my Wetnotes and challenged Todd to a game of Hangman. Todd got the 2 words with only 3 misses. The answer was "BAT FISH." Of course what we saw down there was a Rat Fish. After that I thought maybe a game of Rocks, Paper, Scissors, but forgot about that and shared notes on where we'd like to dive next week, dive, depths, profiles, etc.
I've been wanting to see a Ratfish ever since I saw a photo of one. Next I want to see a large ray, something I haven't seen since my very first dive after certification years ago. No kidding, my very first dive after my open water certification, I want to Lover's Cove and descending down into a white sandy area happened upon a buried ray which swam away as I was about to land on it. Unbelievable experience and of course I was hooked!
215' max depth, Visability 70 feet, temps-not cold. ;-)
Calm, glassy, viz at 70'
Driving down to Point Lobos today, to dive off of Phil Sammet's RIB with buddy Todd started with some good signs. At 8 AM, there was but a gentle soothing breeze, Monastery had a glassy smooth texture to the water and the waves were "ankle-biters." No need to watch a Monastery safety video today! ;-) We knew Lobos would be great today and it was! Driving down into Whaler's Cove was exciting as the cove was as calm as I've ever seen it.
In short order Phil had his RIB in the water, with our gear on the boat, we got in and I piloted the boat out of the cove. After a bit of discussion and the fact that we haven't been to Deep E3 in awhile, Todd and I decided to dive it. Anchoring, the water wasn't blue, but a somewhat clear green as I could see the anchor line down in the water.
The sensations of diving are so varied, but one of my favorites is the feeling of a constant descent down and anchor line. While descending at about 40', Todd signaled and we stopped as he needed more time to clear his ears. A moment later we continued to the first bottom at 175' next to a pinnacle. One of my favorite features of this site is that there are multiple pinnacles separated by sand channels. Got out the video camera and newly repaired dual 21 watt lights blazing. Did some videos of the bottom and some of the Sea Pens there. Then Todd wanted to shot some video so I handed him the camera. Just then I saw a good size Rat Fish, my very first one! He was not spooked at all and just continued to swim slowly as I followed him. He was an awesome sight!
Shortly after that it was time to ascend and we came up the pinnacle to about 150' before drifting away. Doing some deep stops we got to 70 feet where we shot the SMB. Deco was quite calm, the viz marginal and not much floated by for us to be amused at. Each deco is such a different experience, love those hangs! At 20' and 10' we had some time to spend so to keep ourselves amused, I pulled out my Wetnotes and challenged Todd to a game of Hangman. Todd got the 2 words with only 3 misses. The answer was "BAT FISH." Of course what we saw down there was a Rat Fish. After that I thought maybe a game of Rocks, Paper, Scissors, but forgot about that and shared notes on where we'd like to dive next week, dive, depths, profiles, etc.
I've been wanting to see a Ratfish ever since I saw a photo of one. Next I want to see a large ray, something I haven't seen since my very first dive after certification years ago. No kidding, my very first dive after my open water certification, I want to Lover's Cove and descending down into a white sandy area happened upon a buried ray which swam away as I was about to land on it. Unbelievable experience and of course I was hooked!
215' max depth, Visability 70 feet, temps-not cold. ;-)
