Wrinkles November '05 Dive Planning Thread - Catalina Island

[undrwater]

Is anyone hanging around till Sunday? I won't be able to make it Saturday (I know, I know, I keep saying that), but some friends are possibly interested in heading there Sunday.

If that's the case, I'd love to dive with one or more of you good folks!

Russell

 

[headhunter]

Is anyone hanging around till Sunday? I won't be able to make it Saturday (I know, I know, I keep saying that), but some friends are possibly interested in heading there Sunday.

If that's the case, I'd love to dive with one or more of you good folks!

Russell

Hey Russell,

A bunch of us will be there on Sunday.

Some will be going on the King Neptune and others will be hanging out at Casino Point. I'll be one of those at Casino Point. We're easy to spot. Just look for an 8-foot by 3-foot banner with the ScubaBoard logo on it.

Christian

 

[headhunter]

I've gone back through the thread and updated the list of people that are going to be on Catalina Island this weekend.

We're going to have quite a crowd!

I'm close to packed and ready to go. I'm working until 10 am and then the dive party starts! arty2:

I look forward to seeing you all there. :14:

Christian

 

[kelpmermaid]

Unfortunately, I am out... or rather, my back is. Looks like I am not going anywhere this weekend! Oh, well, I WILL catch up with you all at some point. Sigh!

 

[headhunter]

Unfortunately, I am out... or rather, my back is. Looks like I am not going anywhere this weekend! Oh, well, I WILL catch up with you all at some point. Sigh!

I'm sorry to hear that. Take care of your back and I'm sure well see you soon.

Christian

 

[Ann Marie]

I for one had a great time under and above water. Can't wait to get a little more dialed in with my new toy. (I have this really cute hickey in the middle of my neck. I'm going to work today and just will smile when people ask me what it is!!! Besides it would take too long to explain what a dry suit squeeze is!)

Can't wait for the next dive that I can attend!

You all rock!

 

[mccabejc]

Yeah, it was an incredible weekend. It was great to see everyone. And thanks to Christian for all his work in putting it together. Myrna and I spent all three days there, and had a blast. Ended up doing 5 dives, including two night dives at the Casino. First time I've dove there at night, and it was very cool. We even found "Lobster City". Tons of lobsters all over the place. And I dropped 4lbs off my weight belt. Now I know what heaven feels like.

By the way, some recommendations:

If you like seafood, try Armstrongs (a few doors down from Olaf's). Good stuff. Very reasonable prices, and you can sit on back patio and watch the moonlight ripples on the water. And it's right next to Olaf's.

Also, if you're thinking of diving nitrox at the Casino, you might want to think twice. You'll probably want to bring one or two nitrox tanks on the ferry (hassle #1), and then cart tanks back and forth between the Casino and Scuba Luv (hassle #2). Also the cost is around $14 per fill (hassle #3).

The cottages at the Hermosa are pretty nice. They have their own bathroom, and a mini-kitchen. Small, but a good deal for the price (we paid $75 per night). We had one that was only a couple of steps up from street level, which is nice for lugging dive gear.

 

[headhunter]

It was great to see you all there this weekend!

We had fabulous dinners at both Steve's Steakhouse and Ristorante Villa Portofino.

Thanks to the incredibly thoughtful and generous Mo2vation Fun Monster, each night we were treated to some fine Port and on Saturday night we converted the lobby of the Hermosa into a very social game of Dominos while we enjoyed our Port!

Every dive was fantastic, but there were a couple that I thought was especially amusing.

A Valiant Attempt!

TeqP, Captain Marvel, stoddu, radinator and myself dropped between the 2nd and 3rd buoys from the corner of the dive park to find the Valiant.

We figured we were on the far side of the Valiant when we dropped and headed back toward the park to run into it. We did not run into the Valiant, but instead ran into what we thought was the second buoy. So we turned around until we ran into what we thought was the third buoy. We managed to go back and forth between these two buoys at various depths a couple of times and then headed back toward the park.

We thought that the whole thing was pretty bizarre and that someone had played a practical joke on us by moving the wreck!

What I figure happened is that we dropped down on the dive park side of the Valiant, passed the 2nd buoy and did not turn around until we hit the 1st buoy. We mistakenly thought it was the 2nd. So, instead of going back between buoys 2 and 3 we were going back and forth between buoys 1 and 2.

A Valiant Success!

After a nice long SI and a little remedial navigation school, HBDiveGirl, radinator and myself made another trip to find the Valiant.

This time we practically dropped right on it! We had a leisurely look around and then headed back to the dive park underwater. At the edge of the park in about 20 feet of water we surfaced and were pressed into service by the Harbor Patrol to re-tie the boundary line to the chain in the shallows.

The Harbor Patrol looked at us and asked for a specific knot to be used. Ray and I looked at each other and then looked at Claudette and said said to the Harbor Master in unison, "She'll do it!" While Claudette listened to the instructions on how to tie the knot, I dropped below the surface to fix a minor gear issue that we had discovered on her kit which involved undoing her harness. We laughed about what this must have looked like from the perspective of the Harbor Master standing on a boat trying to explain the knot in terms of a rabbit running around a tree and down into a hole.

After a jovial Cal Trans moment, Ray and Claudette had managed to re-attach the boundary line while I watched and tried to stay out of the way.

I'll let others tell stories of any of our other dives.

I look forward to the next one, which will be a camping and diving weekend at Leo Carrillo.

Christian

 

[HBDiveGirl]

We had fabulous dinners at both Steve's Steakhouse and Ristorante Villa Portofino.

Thanks, Christian, for making inspired reservations and adjusting them around our dive plans. It WAS wonderful!

Thanks to the incredibly thoughtful and generous Mo2vation Fun Monster, each night we were treated to some fine Port and on Saturday night we converted the lobby of the Hermosa into a very social game of Dominos while we enjoyed our Port!

Exactly true! Unforgettably sweet and wonderful.... and the Port wasn't bad either...

A Valiant Success!
...At the edge of the park in about 20 feet of water we surfaced and were pressed into service by the Harbor Patrol to re-tie the boundary line to the chain in the shallows.

The Harbor Patrol looked at us and asked for a specific knot to be used. Ray and I looked at each other and then looked at Claudette and said said to the Harbor Master in unison, "She'll do it!" While Claudette listened to the instructions on how to tie the knot, I dropped below the surface to fix a minor gear issue that we had discovered on her kit which involved undoing her harness. We laughed about what this must have looked like from the perspective of the Harbor Master standing on a boat trying to explain the knot in terms of a rabbit running around a tree and down into a hole.

After a jovial Cal Trans moment, Ray and Claudette had managed to re-attach the boundary line while I watched and tried to stay out of the way.

ROTSLOL = Rolling On the Surface, Laughing Out Loud!!!!
Let's paint in all the parts of this picture:
1) floating on the surface tying a vaguely familiar knot with cold gloved hands,

2) under instruction from the Harbor Master (who was on the edge of chastising us for diving the Valiant without a valid permit,) while realizing that she needed us to save her from having to go into the water to re-tie the damn boundry line,

3) trying to act nonchalant about having clustered my rig and needing my teammate to fix it,

4) looking down into VERY WEIRD fluorescent green water, wondering what in the heck that was all about,

5) tying said knot three times: boundry line end, carrier line to boundry line, and carrier line to heavy shore-chain being held at the surface by hard-working Rad'possom-man, Ray, and hearing a sweetly ironic voice saying, "Geez, did you guys used to work for CalTrans????"

5) all under the joyful influence of enhanced nitrogen following a 100fsw dive!!

Talk about multiple active variables!!!! (Was this a pre-training exercise for Fundies?????????)


My laugh index was max'ed on this dive... no recent memories even come close.
Thanks for letting me re-live it all, Christian. Tale well told!!

P.S. Note complete absence of smilies... I can control it... barely... ;-)

 

[TeqP]

First time I've dove there at night, and it was very cool. We even found "Lobster City". Tons of lobsters all over the place.

I totally agree, it was a great dive. Seeing the bugs taking off like missiles was fun to witness as everyone practiced their bug catching skills.

A Valiant Success!...This time we practically dropped right on it!

Well, I guess I’m glad that someone found it. Even though after our (Cap’n Marvel, stoddu & I) second failed attempt :11: to locate the Valiant, I was hoping that you wouldn’t find it either. Oh well, I guess that just means that I have to go back and find it.
Thanks Christian for organizing, I had a great time.