Vets so rocks.
Flat, Seattle entry. We stood in the zone and put on our fins... its was so mellow.
Low tide, probably a large swing (tide chart down in the car) so there was lots of packed sand. Seriously the easiest entry and exit of the year.
Warm water. Clearing for sure. In the flats the biolume was so thick we put our lights in our chests and just scooted out in the dark. Until we got our night vision and realized the biolume was too thick to see through. The scooter cut a foamy blue swath that looked like a comet. The blue froth kicking off my mask and nose was so thick as it rushed across the glass that I couldn't see through it. Waving our hands in the stuff was just silly -leaving a blue trail.
Its the very best thing about spring diving in SoCal - when the days get long and warm, the bio-luminescence just takes over and the light show down there is unreal.
As we pushed deeper (into cooler, less sun-pounded water) the biolume calmed down so we could see again.
At 70 feet we cam across the largest angel shark I think I've ever seen. This thing was huge - 5+ feet long and easily 3" wide at the shoulders. Chica picked up its tail (as has become our tradition) and he didn't budge.... so she dropped it back onto the sand like the Invisible Swordsman from the Three Amigos - creating a small cloud of dust... and I laughed and laughed.
A moment later on the slope at 65 I saw a super large, super fat Horn shark. So I invented a new sign on the spot. Its a 3-part sign:
* I (me... pointing at self)
* Shark (fin on forehead)
* Whisper (hand to side of mouth...)
I am the Shark Whisperer. The explosion of bubbles from buddy indicated she got it!
We blasted north some more. Gone are the acres and with hundreds of sheep crab in their used car lot of public mate selection. Which is good, as its just a creepy thing to see these guys picking out and carting off their chicks from here to the horizon.
You know I find wacky stuff at Vets. The list grows with almost every dive.
Last night, for the first time, I found an entire scuba rig.
Cylinder, BC (with integrated weights), Reg, Octo, Gauges... the whole 9. It was tangled in a huge (think 3 X 3 foot) ball of monofiliment and two nice fishing rods (Daiwa conventional reels, Cal Star blanks... we're talking the real stuff here.)
A closer look at the BC showed the unmistakable round buckles of a Seaquest. The gauge brick showed no gas in the cylinder. As I started to cut off the mono, chica pulled it up a bit so I could get a better angle on it. I figured I'd inflate the BC and just tow this thing back to shore.
We I looked at it, she pointed out a pretty nice-sized Octo that had taken residence. As I looked closer, I saw the knob was shaved off on the Thermo valve. This wasn't a shore diver that lost their $h1t. This was someone in a boat that had the thing fall over, shave the knob and just chucked it into the sea.
I'll be going back for the weight pockets and maybe the rods. The reg was some old chunky thing and the BC was pretty worked. The cylinder was starting to rust.
Add this to the list (most recently, a dive light that was ON) - a full Scuba rig. Wow. What a place.
We scooted to some of our fav secret places, lots of life. Some squid baskets, a few squid, I saw a big bat ray. The Sea Lions were buzzing us all night. There was a giant school of small fish just below the surface, so we could hear and see pelicans crashing into the water all night long.
The exit was a simple scoot up, stop and take off your fins, and walk out. Seattle exits are pretty nice.
Just a smooth, mellow, funny, clear, warm, wonderful dive.
Thanks, Chica.
Can't wait until Saturday's Little Farnsworth extravaganza!!!
---
Ken
Flat, Seattle entry. We stood in the zone and put on our fins... its was so mellow.
Low tide, probably a large swing (tide chart down in the car) so there was lots of packed sand. Seriously the easiest entry and exit of the year.
Warm water. Clearing for sure. In the flats the biolume was so thick we put our lights in our chests and just scooted out in the dark. Until we got our night vision and realized the biolume was too thick to see through. The scooter cut a foamy blue swath that looked like a comet. The blue froth kicking off my mask and nose was so thick as it rushed across the glass that I couldn't see through it. Waving our hands in the stuff was just silly -leaving a blue trail.
Its the very best thing about spring diving in SoCal - when the days get long and warm, the bio-luminescence just takes over and the light show down there is unreal.
As we pushed deeper (into cooler, less sun-pounded water) the biolume calmed down so we could see again.
At 70 feet we cam across the largest angel shark I think I've ever seen. This thing was huge - 5+ feet long and easily 3" wide at the shoulders. Chica picked up its tail (as has become our tradition) and he didn't budge.... so she dropped it back onto the sand like the Invisible Swordsman from the Three Amigos - creating a small cloud of dust... and I laughed and laughed.
A moment later on the slope at 65 I saw a super large, super fat Horn shark. So I invented a new sign on the spot. Its a 3-part sign:
* I (me... pointing at self)
* Shark (fin on forehead)
* Whisper (hand to side of mouth...)
I am the Shark Whisperer. The explosion of bubbles from buddy indicated she got it!
We blasted north some more. Gone are the acres and with hundreds of sheep crab in their used car lot of public mate selection. Which is good, as its just a creepy thing to see these guys picking out and carting off their chicks from here to the horizon.
You know I find wacky stuff at Vets. The list grows with almost every dive.
Last night, for the first time, I found an entire scuba rig.
Cylinder, BC (with integrated weights), Reg, Octo, Gauges... the whole 9. It was tangled in a huge (think 3 X 3 foot) ball of monofiliment and two nice fishing rods (Daiwa conventional reels, Cal Star blanks... we're talking the real stuff here.)
A closer look at the BC showed the unmistakable round buckles of a Seaquest. The gauge brick showed no gas in the cylinder. As I started to cut off the mono, chica pulled it up a bit so I could get a better angle on it. I figured I'd inflate the BC and just tow this thing back to shore.
We I looked at it, she pointed out a pretty nice-sized Octo that had taken residence. As I looked closer, I saw the knob was shaved off on the Thermo valve. This wasn't a shore diver that lost their $h1t. This was someone in a boat that had the thing fall over, shave the knob and just chucked it into the sea.
I'll be going back for the weight pockets and maybe the rods. The reg was some old chunky thing and the BC was pretty worked. The cylinder was starting to rust.
Add this to the list (most recently, a dive light that was ON) - a full Scuba rig. Wow. What a place.
We scooted to some of our fav secret places, lots of life. Some squid baskets, a few squid, I saw a big bat ray. The Sea Lions were buzzing us all night. There was a giant school of small fish just below the surface, so we could hear and see pelicans crashing into the water all night long.
The exit was a simple scoot up, stop and take off your fins, and walk out. Seattle exits are pretty nice.
Just a smooth, mellow, funny, clear, warm, wonderful dive.
Thanks, Chica.
Can't wait until Saturday's Little Farnsworth extravaganza!!!
---
Ken
