Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I went out Sunday morning to a couple of dive spots on the California North Coast (my backyard).
The buoy reports looked fantastic with only 2 ft swell and 1.2 kt winds.
When I got out there the ocean was glass flat, not even an ankle slapper and hardly any movement on the rocks, which is extrememly rare for our coastline.
My first spot was a cove called Stillwater Cove. It's a heavily dove cove especially with ab divers. It's an OK dive if you get out far enough. There are some mini walls that are pretty cool.
My gear consisted of a 7mm wetsuit with hooded vest, a steel 72 with J valve & rod (over filled to 2800 psi), a 1960 DA Aquamaster (totally stock), a strap harness on the tank (not even a plate), a 12 lb weight belt with a knife and one d-ring for my game hook, an oval mask with straight J snorkel, jet fins, a big Aqualung Sea Hawk knife on my leg, and a spear gun.
No BC.
First dive lasted 45 minutes, never pulled the J. Came back with one blue rockfish. I was looking for big lings but didn't see any.
The kelp was annoying, tons of that stringy crap everywhere. Thank god I was minimalist.
Water was 52 degrees.
Second dive I decided to drive up the coast a ways to see if I could get into some better ling territory. I decided on a spot called South Fisk Mill Cove. The state has cut back financing on many of it's parks so the parking lot was closed, but people park on the road and hike in so that's what I did.
The hike was maybe 1/4 mile or less through the pine trees, across a grassy field and down an angled cliff slab to a secluded rocky cove.
There were several ab divers there on the rocks gearing up.
It was a very pleasant snorkel out to my drop spot. I use a snorkel because for me it's easier to navigate a path through the kelp and push it out of the way as I cruise along. I can see where I'm going and my tank valve doesn't get hung up on the kelp and feather boa weed.
This dive I managed to shoot 4 more nice fat fish, 2 blues, a black rockfish and a gopher rockfish.
Didn't see any lings, but at least I have some good eats for several dinners.
Both dives were in the 35 to 40 foot range. I was a tad light, next time I need to add 2 lbs and it should be perfect - new suit.
At 25 feet I had to wrap my leg around a kelp holdfast while I strung one fish up to avoid rising to the surface. Usually I can grab a rock when I'm light but in this case I already had too much going on.
The terrain was really rocky, lots of very large rocks some the size of pick up trucks and some as big as a bus with lots of cracks and sheer face walls.
I noticed one thing, with a double hose it's easier to get close to fish because of no bubbles in your face.
I also am much more comfortable using a double hose. At some points when I was dispatching fish and putting them on the stringer I forgot that I was even using a DH, it seemed very natural. I'm noticing too that my breathing is becoming more fluid and I'm not getting that 'starving for air' feeling when decending or in a head down position. I just pull my diaphragm down and let the air flow in with deep smooth breaths.
After about 25 minutes I turned around and headed in. As I was heading in I noticed a slight freeflow. When I got almost to my exit point the freeflow got worse but still just a hiss with a stream of bubbles coming out the mouthpiece. Later when I checked it all it was was the LP seat must have sunk in during the dives probably because I haven't had it out in some time. So a quick adjustment to the second stage nut and it's all set for next time.
The best part was seeing the faces and looks from the ab divers, who probably scuba dove also, but seeing me they thought they were in a time warp. One guy came up and said he couldn't help but notice the gear and wondered if I was for real! He thought he was seeing things.
I explained about the stuff.
I'm finding out that most people who are into diving have seen vintage gear in movies and on Sea Hunt and stuff but never have seen the actual gear in person. So for them to finally see this stuff in person and actually being used must be quite a spectacle.
It sure is a hell of a lot of fun.
For me to get to use my double hose on a hunt was quite a thrill. Maybe next time I'll find that monster ling.
E
The buoy reports looked fantastic with only 2 ft swell and 1.2 kt winds.
When I got out there the ocean was glass flat, not even an ankle slapper and hardly any movement on the rocks, which is extrememly rare for our coastline.
My first spot was a cove called Stillwater Cove. It's a heavily dove cove especially with ab divers. It's an OK dive if you get out far enough. There are some mini walls that are pretty cool.
My gear consisted of a 7mm wetsuit with hooded vest, a steel 72 with J valve & rod (over filled to 2800 psi), a 1960 DA Aquamaster (totally stock), a strap harness on the tank (not even a plate), a 12 lb weight belt with a knife and one d-ring for my game hook, an oval mask with straight J snorkel, jet fins, a big Aqualung Sea Hawk knife on my leg, and a spear gun.
No BC.
First dive lasted 45 minutes, never pulled the J. Came back with one blue rockfish. I was looking for big lings but didn't see any.
The kelp was annoying, tons of that stringy crap everywhere. Thank god I was minimalist.
Water was 52 degrees.
Second dive I decided to drive up the coast a ways to see if I could get into some better ling territory. I decided on a spot called South Fisk Mill Cove. The state has cut back financing on many of it's parks so the parking lot was closed, but people park on the road and hike in so that's what I did.
The hike was maybe 1/4 mile or less through the pine trees, across a grassy field and down an angled cliff slab to a secluded rocky cove.
There were several ab divers there on the rocks gearing up.
It was a very pleasant snorkel out to my drop spot. I use a snorkel because for me it's easier to navigate a path through the kelp and push it out of the way as I cruise along. I can see where I'm going and my tank valve doesn't get hung up on the kelp and feather boa weed.
This dive I managed to shoot 4 more nice fat fish, 2 blues, a black rockfish and a gopher rockfish.
Didn't see any lings, but at least I have some good eats for several dinners.
Both dives were in the 35 to 40 foot range. I was a tad light, next time I need to add 2 lbs and it should be perfect - new suit.
At 25 feet I had to wrap my leg around a kelp holdfast while I strung one fish up to avoid rising to the surface. Usually I can grab a rock when I'm light but in this case I already had too much going on.
The terrain was really rocky, lots of very large rocks some the size of pick up trucks and some as big as a bus with lots of cracks and sheer face walls.
I noticed one thing, with a double hose it's easier to get close to fish because of no bubbles in your face.
I also am much more comfortable using a double hose. At some points when I was dispatching fish and putting them on the stringer I forgot that I was even using a DH, it seemed very natural. I'm noticing too that my breathing is becoming more fluid and I'm not getting that 'starving for air' feeling when decending or in a head down position. I just pull my diaphragm down and let the air flow in with deep smooth breaths.
After about 25 minutes I turned around and headed in. As I was heading in I noticed a slight freeflow. When I got almost to my exit point the freeflow got worse but still just a hiss with a stream of bubbles coming out the mouthpiece. Later when I checked it all it was was the LP seat must have sunk in during the dives probably because I haven't had it out in some time. So a quick adjustment to the second stage nut and it's all set for next time.
The best part was seeing the faces and looks from the ab divers, who probably scuba dove also, but seeing me they thought they were in a time warp. One guy came up and said he couldn't help but notice the gear and wondered if I was for real! He thought he was seeing things.
I explained about the stuff.
I'm finding out that most people who are into diving have seen vintage gear in movies and on Sea Hunt and stuff but never have seen the actual gear in person. So for them to finally see this stuff in person and actually being used must be quite a spectacle.
It sure is a hell of a lot of fun.
For me to get to use my double hose on a hunt was quite a thrill. Maybe next time I'll find that monster ling.
E
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