Thanks for the Birthday wishes guys!!
Here is the dive report- warning- it's kinda long for one of my posts and KLJ is the one who passed english in school, so it might not be the most eloquant
We went out on the Silver Prince, leaving K- dock at little after 9. There was a little mix-up regarding tanks, so we stopped off round at Aquarius to pick up a couple HP100’s and a couple Al80’s. HP100s were kinda horrible, to be honest, long, ass heavy asahi tanks with angled valves. I like my PST 100 a lot more. Once done at aquarius, we had to head back to K-dock to grab a forgotten mask and snorkel, but were then on our way. Things got a little sporty once we turned left to go down to Carmel but my seasickness was well under control- id been taking Dramamine since 2pm the previous day, so was well dosed up. A short stop to watch a pod of Risso’s dolphins got everyone excited, so we did the ‘Scenic Route’ to Aumentos reef- via Stillwater Cove. The waves just werent co-operating but we had hoped to find shelter in the cove but it was just too sporty.
By the time we arrived back up at Aumentos, people were eager to get in the water. Myself and Katie were among the first to jump in, really excited about the dive. We got to 58 feet for 6-7 mins before turning round to go check stuff out nearer the anchor- but a stiff current had crept up on us and try as we might, we couldnt get back to the line. We got back up to around 35 feet, over some reef before making a a free ascent after 17 mins run time- not wanting to shoot a bag in what i guessed was maybe a 2 knot current and risk entangling ourselves- and popped up maybe a half mile from the boat. The seas were co-operating enough that we were immediately spotted and in constant visual contact, so I wasn’t alarmed at being so far. Ill admit to getting frustrated at kicking towards the boat only to make no distance since I didnt want to blow all my energy on one aborted dive and be exhausted for the others later. Two other teams popped up between us and the boat, so I blow the bag and waited patiently for them to be retrieved before the boat came to rescue us. Im not sure KLJ quite believed me when I said the best plan of action would be to sit tight, make sure we were still in contact and come let them pick us up. Before long though, the last team was on board, they lifted the ladder and came get us. Once back on board, we had some light-hearted fun at my navigational skills and me thinking the boat was some birthday Limo service. I defended myself by saying I was doing an exploratory dive to the west, because I got ‘a feeling’. They didn’t buy it, but we did find a huge Plumose anemone covered rock that they werent sure if they knew about or not. It was later clarified that the current was 2.5 knots, came up pretty suddenly and they had to trail 600 feet of line out the the second team to haul them back in.
Dive number 2- Erics Pinnacle. We hung around a little on the boat to let other teams in the water first (kitting up the first time round was a bit of a dance) then descended down a 45 degree anchor line to be met by 40 foot of visibility right on top of the main pinnacle at 30 feet. We dropped round the side, a little bit deeper to 50 and curved round the pinnacle, intending on circling a few times back up to the top before ascending. We meandered a little more than we should have maybe, having a lot of fun checking nooks and crannies with our Dorcy back-ups (awesome lights by the way- so impressed. Frankly, worth every penny). We came to the smaller of the two pinnacles, maybe 150 feet off the first one towards the shore and spiraled our way up that one to break the surface maybe 200 feet from the boat. No current this time, easy swim back, get on board to find they had all been taking bets on where we would ascend. Couple jokers had pointed towards Ballbuster, since we had talked about visiting the GPO if conditions were good earlier. Highlight, for me, was seeing a decorator crab with a big barnacle on its back, poking out and waving in the breeze. Hard to say if it was a barnacle with a crab on its ass or a crab with a weird growth. 42 minutes bottom time, water was 53oF and vis was an awesome 40-ish feet. Last on the boat.
Third and favourite dive was Hopkins Deep. Man, that’s a gorgeous site. We stuck with the jump last plan, giving ourselves plenty of room to kit up with. We dropped down, passing through a small cloud of moon jellies before the rocks covered in metridiums just opened up beneath us. Was beautiful. 40-50- foot visibility, no current, warmish water 54oF. We kept doing figure eights around the anchor, exploring little areas before returning and heading out in a new direction. Every time we saw the anchor, we’d give ourselves a little cheer- lame, but we were determined to make it up the line and ruin everyones bets. Were joined, not so briefly, by a cormorant at 60 feet- he hung out for a good 2 minutes on one breathe. Didn’t know they could hold it that long. Plus he made it seem so effortless. A brief sea-lion encounter was another highlight. 55 feet max, 35 foot average, 46 minute run time.
All in all, was a fantastic day. The Silver Prince is just a fantastic boat- nice people, really helpful and talkative Skipper and Crew with a brilliant ‘laid- back’ attitude- not rushing back for a second load of divers with a really leisurely pace during SI. It looks a little small for 14 on deck, but by spacing out the divers properly and occupying the cabin while others are kitting up, its not crowded at all. Good site briefings compared to other boats ive been on. Only complaint- not enough tortilla’s for the crockpot surprise pork carnitas. Will definitly be returning for more dives in future.
Finished the day chatting to a couple people while we dried off and broke down our kit, then walked about 12 feet to the London Bridge Pub for fish and chips (me) and hotwings and chips (KLJ). Spent an hour or so there debriefing, going over the dives, remarking that this was my best birthday present ever before driving for 90 minutes, quick shower, then bed by 9pm. Perfect day!
Only problem is, with surprise birthday presents like this, how on earth do I top it when it comes to KLJ’s graduation gift in June?
Hope you have fun in the South Pacific. Just be careful not to go in winter, you might need your cold water gear. As one that was born in region, you can understand my bias toward the region.
