Crazy Animal Antics at Breakwater Cove

For the first time in over a long, trying year, I finally had the energy to put on a drysuit and do some cold water diving. Mark and I got together with our friend Valerie, and we decided to dive into an oldie, but goodie: the Breakwater. We had a great time, and saw some Discovery Channel-worthy animal antics.

Enjoying the 30'+ viz and the sun illuminating the kelp forest

Showing off an Abalone shell

Here is some video we shot of a juvenile Mola Mola on the Wall. This was my first time seeing this bizarre fish. It was probably good that we scared it away. The sea lions that frequent this area would have probably torn off its fins, play with it like a Frisbee, and then leave it to die.

We saw this octopus near the end of our dive at the Metridium Fields. First, I noticed the gross white appendage, which I later learned to my disgust was a Fat Innkeeper Worm. Then I saw that the end of it was attached to an octopus. If you play the video, you will first notice the octopus trying to blend in with a patch of algae, then it squirts some ink in our faces, then it tries to camouflage itself against the sand.

Before we could observe the octopus further, and the Fat Innkeeper worm it was ensconcing with, we saw a bizarre creature swimming towards us. It was a Rainbow Nudibranch, which is usually found crawling around on the sand. It only swims when evading predators. It was a bizarre sight to see.

Metridium

Octopus grabbing weird, white appendage

We got all up in this Cabezon's face. We even put a decorator crab on his head, and he didn't budge.

Shrimp feeding on a dead Mola Mola at Metridium Fields.

We saw two dead or dying Mola Mola at Metridium Fields. They had had their fins torn off by sea lions. Mark felt sorry for one and tried to right it and send it on its way. However, without fins, it could not get very far and ended up flat on the sand once again. However sad this scene was, I'm glad I have such an empathetic, compassionate husband!

Metridium Fields

I've never managed to swim to the Metridium Fields from shore before. Valerie showed us how:

1. Line up with the pump house at Breakwater cove.
2. Swim out perpendicular to shore past the kelp beds.
3. Descend and head towards the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
4. You should encounter a pipe about 2 feet in diameter. Follow it to its end.
5. Once the pipe ends, head due north for the Metridium Fields.

For more pics, go here:

Dive Details:
Dive #207: The Wall, Breakwater Cove, Monterey, CA (Dive Buddies: Mark, Valerie)
Depth/Time: 45'/0:48 minutes
Visibility: 30'
Temperature: 54 deg F
Weight, Undergarment, Tanks:

Mina: Weight-15 lbs (10 lbs on weight belt, 1 lb on ankles, 4 lbs in BCD), Undergarment-BARE undergarment without fleece top, Tank-PST HP-80.

Mark: Weight-26 lbs (10 in BCD, 14 on weight belt, 2 lbs on ankles), Undergarment-BARE undergarment with fleece top and bottom, Tank: PST HP-80.

Dive #208: Metridium Fields, Breakwater Cove, Monterey, CA (Dive Buddies: Mark, Valerie)
Depth/Time: 47'/0:50 minutes
Visibility: 7'
Temperature: 52 deg F
Weight, Undergarment, Tanks: 
Mina: Weight-13 lbs (10 lbs on weight belt, 1 lb on ankles, 2 lbs in BCD), Undergarment-BARE undergarment without fleece top, Tank-PST HP-80.
Mark: Weight-26 lbs (10 in BCD, 14 on weight belt, 2 lbs on ankles), Undergarment-BARE undergarment with fleece top and bottom, Tank: PST HP-80.

Diving with Mark, and Kurt

Mark and I dove together for the first time in over 7 months. It was great. We managed to stay together on both dives, very different from the past when we would get separated all the time. Also, my friend Kurt came diving with us. This was our first time diving with him since our underwater wedding a few years ago. Also, it was his first dive in 14 months. Hopefully, we can all go diving more often.

I also got to try out our underwater camera in cold water for the first time.  I have been afraid to use it, because diving is so much more challenging in California, and I didn't want too much task-loading. But since the ocean swell was down, and since I have been diving a lot lately, I gave it a try. 


I don't know if I was narc'd, or what, but I could not figure out how to use the camera.  At one point, I was in video mode.  At another point, I turned the LCD display off.  My strategy? Press enough buttons until I could get out of either mode. Better luck next time.  For more pictures, check out this photo gallery.


Dive #192: Great Pinnacle, Point Lobos (Dive Buddy: Mark)
Depth/Time: 74'/0:44 minutes
Visibility: 15'
Temperature: 51 deg F
Weights: Mina - 13 lbs (10 lbs on weight belt, 1 lb on ankles, 2 lbs in BCD. Mark - 24 lbs (10 in BCD, 14 on weight belt)
Observations: nudibranch's (see above).

Dive #193: Granite Point Pinnacles (Dive Buddy: Mark)
Depth/Time: 76'/0:40 minutes
Visibility: 20'
Temperature: 51 deg F
Weights: see above
Observations: Saw a large egg yolk jelly.  Mark tried posing behind it.  Also saw a 100+ strong school of blue rockfish.

Jellies, Jellies Everywhere

Diving today was not terribly distinctive, other than that I dove Ballbuster's  for the first time.  Also there was a barrage of sea jellies swimming towards us in the 20' depth range.  At one point, a sea jelly attached itself to Kevin's head.  While I was watching him removing the sea jelly, a sea jelly was about to collide into my face.  I screamed pretty loudly in disgust as I tore its tendrils off my regulator.

On the second dive, we searched for a tank that got thrown off a few weeks back.  Kevin got a reel and we did circle searches, with me keeping a 10'-15' distance on the outer perimeter.  It was exhausting, kicking for 45 minutes straight.  It was also a little eery, because the visibility was poor. Also, the lift bag obscured my view, and messed up my access to my dive computer and dive light.  I kept losing my buddy, and I found floating 15' above the sandy bottom, barely visible, to be disorienting.  We didn't end up finding the tank, unfortunately.  On the plus side, it was fun to perform a search and recovery for the first time, and giving myself vertigo hovering over the sand so high up.

Dive #190: Ballbusters (Dive Buddy: Kevin Donovan)
Depth/Time: 100'/0:30 minutes (had 4 minutes of NDL left)
Visibility: 15' (hard to tell, because it was as dark as night)
Temperature: 50 deg F
Weights: 15 lbs (same as before except weights set to horizontal in BCD instead of vertical)

Dive #191: Buoy outside of Hopkins Marine Station (Dive Buddy: Kevin Donovan)
Depth/Time: 60'/0:50 minutes
Visibility: 10-15'
Temperature: 50 deg F
Weights: see above

Smooth Diving with Blue Water Aquatics

(Photo by Doug Swalen)

When my friend, Kurt told me he was planning on going diving with Blue Water Aquatics Sunday, I decided I had to risk potential death and dismemberment, and go diving with my friend (hyperbole inserted for entertainment value). Every time I go diving with Blue Water Aquatics, it seems, there has been some sort of  boat malfunction, diver malfunction, or both.

Well, there were no malfunctions this time around. The ocean was was as flat as a pancake. Also, Kevin and Randy had made some changes. There were no newbie divers allowed on their dive boats any more. This was a good change. Everyone on Kevin's boat this time, it seemed, was a divemaster-in-training and up. Everyone was as cool as a cucumber, even while gearing up. The dives proceeded like clockwork.

Also, due to the calm weather, we had a chance to dive Granite Point Pinnacles at Point Lobos. I have never dove here before because conditions never allowed it. This area is usually overrun with high swells and white water. Now that I've dove here, the underwater topography, I can say, is full of interesting channels and canyons at 40' deep and more. Also, this area is dominated by tall bull kelp, instead of the usual, more slender giant kelp populating other areas of Point Lobos. (This is perhaps due to bull kelp's greater resilience to storm conditions.)

(Photo by Doug Swalen)

After the dives, we had a good meal with Kevin and 5 divers at Rio Grill in Carmel. We chatted about old times, and gossiped about people not present. Kevin, being Kevin, spoke at length about all the cool scuba courses he has on offer. I was so tempted to take his wreck diving course, and go wreck diving on the Yukon in September with his crew (unfortunately I will be out of town at that time). If I was smart, I would suspect him of selling me classes. Kevin, can you enjoy a meal without having to sell stuff?

Dive #188: Great Pinnacle, Point Lobos State Park

• Depth: 71' 
• Time: 35 minutes
• Temperature: 49 deg F
• Visibility: 15' at the top, opening up to 25' visibility at depths below 70' 
• Dive Buddy: Doug Swalen 
• Weight worn: 15 lbs total (1 lb on ankles, 10 on weight belt, 4 in BCD). I adjusted my weight belt weights to the front, but this did not prevent me from turtleing whenever I tried to stay vertical. Next time, I may try redistributing my weight to 12 on weight belt, and 4 in BCD. 
• Observations: Lots of egg yolk jellies floating in dark green pea soup. I saw an egg yolk jelly with a still struggling fish entrapped in its tentacles. I saw kelp greenlings, olive rockfish, gopher rockfish, orange sea cucumbers, and a large decorator crab. 

Dive #189: Granite Point Pinnacles, Point Lobos State Park

• Depth: 61'
• Time: 46 minutes
• Temperature: 49 deg F
• Visibility: 25', but water was greenish 
• Dive Buddy: Doug Swalen 
• Weight worn: 15 lbs total (1 lb on ankles, 10 on weight belt, 4 in BCD). I adjusted my weight belt weights to the front, but this did not prevent me from turtling whenever I tried to stay vertical. Next time, I may try redistributing my weight to 12 on weight belt, and 4 in BCD. 
• Observations: We saw a 2' large cabezon, whose head was as big as a watermelon. Gorgeous strawberry anemones and blue rockfish. Lots of painted greenlings. 

Me, on the Great Pinnacle (photo by Doug Swalen)

General comment: Diving without my husband, Mark, can be so freeing! I didn't have to wait for Mr. Slow Poke to get ready. Also, I didn't have to move a mountain of scuba gear. I was literally ready to go in 15 minutes, and I enjoyed myself more and was more at ease. I can't wait to go diving again.

Butterfly House

Valerie and Mark wanted to brush the cobwebs off their dive gear, and I was interested in trying a new dive site, so we collectively decided to dive Butterfly House a couple of Saturdays ago. According to CA Diving News, Butterfly House is an intermediate to advanced dive site. What makes it so challenging is its exposed position along the Carmel coastline, making it prone to surge, and crashing waves. More importantly, the entry can be quite challenging: the way down to the beach is winding and steep. Weighted down with 40 extra lbs of dive gear, this can make it quite challenging just to make it into the water. But Butterfly House is also known as one of the best shore dives in Monterey due its pristine wildlife, and untouched kelp forest. So we thought it worth risking, despite the less than ideal conditions.

Swells were averaging 6-8 feet that day (not good), but the cove looked deceptively quiet. Contrary to what we had read, there was plenty of close proximity parking along the beach to gear up nearby. And when we saw two divers coming out of the water, and exclaiming that the diving was great, we had to give it a try.

The beach was covered a foot deep in rubbery, decomposing kelp. Walking on it was like walking on a bouncy castle and I must have fallen over a couple of times. The cove itself was filled with hidden rocks to trip you up for the first few steps. The water itself like miso soup, literally -it was cloudy with fragments of decomposing kelp in the water. The surge pushed us around 3 feet in either direction, which made it even harder to swim through.

We decided to descend as soon as we reached the mouth of the cove due to the presence of dense kelp floating on the surface and found ourselves in approximately 15 feet of water. We were told that the best scenery was between 50-90 feet of water, so we booked it at a 240 degree heading. It took us probably another good 15 minutes before we got to the promised land. In the meantime, we saw some of the largest fish I had ever seen in Monterey on average. The perch everywhere else in Monterey are less than 1 foot long, but the perch at Butterfly House were around 2 feet long.

• Dive #187: Butterfly HouseDepth: ??? (I wasn't wearing a computer, but I was told it was 50 feet)
• Time: ??? (wasn't wearing a computer)
• Visibility: 20+'Dive Buddies: Mark, Valerie
• Weight worn: 17 lbs total (1 lb on ankles, 10 on weight belt, 6 in BCD). I definitely felt overweighted, and I also wanted to turtle when I did my safety stop. Need to adjust my weight belt positioning.
• School of narrow fish (pipe fish?)
• 3' Ling Cod
• 2' Cabezon
• White dorid nudibranch the size of my face
• Courting perch pairs almost 2 feet across in size

Diving Singles Annual Dive

Sculpin

Photo by Deenie Clinton

Two weekends ago was the annual Diving Singles dive outing at Point Lobos State Reserve, organized by Chuck and Linda. I'm so glad I went this year. I hadn't enjoyed my previous dives very much due to stormy conditions and mechanical boat issues (as usual). But I had a great time this time, for reasons I will explain. In fact, I might have the diving bug again.

The day before the event, I was pinged by my friend, Gary that the "old Salts" were going diving again, and that there was a last minute opening. So I got my dive gear together Friday night. At first, it seemed as though the Dive gods were conspiring against me. First of all, I couldn't find my weight belt. Secondly my dive computer was dead, again. Flustered and hot, I somehow managed to jerry-rig a weight belt together, borrowed Mark's computer and I finally decided I was ready to go.

I was glad I went. Riding on Chuck's boat is as relaxing as it can get. Think of the most anal engineer you know, and this was his boat. The anchor line was perfectly wound in it's bucket. There was a spare radio and emergency instructions should Linda and Chuck be incapacitated. It was a very different experience from diving off some Zodiacs I know.

I was paired with Deenie, who seemed to know loads about fish and other marine life, and was really fun to dive with.

Dive #185: Great Pinnacle, Point Lobos State Reserve

Depth: 86'
Time: 0:44 min
Visibility: 15 feet of visibility , pea soup, felt like a night dive

-I thought I spotted a Hermissenda nudibranch, but it was too pale. After consulting my nudibranch book, I think it might have been a Sakuraeolis enosimensis, which would be the first I had ever seen.
-Orange sea cucumbers
-Fields of Strawberry anemones
-Schools of Blue rockfish with occasional Olive rockfish?
-Victor, the 3 foot long Sheephead fish swam in front of me and completely blocked my mask-limited range of vision. Chuck had indicated how large Victor is by spreading his arms, I thought he was exaggerating. But he really is that huge. And I almost never see sheephead this far North, either, due to the colder water temperatures. So that in itself was a surprise.

Hopkins Rose Nudibranch (Hopkinsia Rosacea)

Photo by Deenie Clinton

Dive #186: Middle Reef, Point Lobos State Reserve

Deenie and I decided to do our second dive exploring the Middle reef. I saw things that I had never noticed before due to a lack of carrying a dive light, so now I vow to carry one from now on.

Depth: 40'
Time: 1:03 minutes
Via: 15-20 feet, a little bit brighter

-Deenie pointed out a bright pink frilly thing in a cave, and I though they were eggs or something. Later on I spotted the same thing out in the open, and pointed it out to Deenie. Apparently the pink things are special, because it was here that my buddy and I got separated. While Deenie took pictures and more pictures, I made my way back to shore thinking she was behind me. After looking around for my missing buddy, and surfaced one time, I shrugged my shoulders and made my way home, only to see her climbing the ramp before I did. Turns out the pink things were Hopkinsia Rosacea nudibranchs, which are rare, and which were the first that either she or I had ever seen.
-A couple of 6 armed starfish
-Snub nose sculpin
-long fin sculpin
-Largest Hermissenda nudibranchs I have ever seen
-Deenie spotted a Tritonia Festiva nudibranch which I had never seen before either.
-Buzzed by a harbor seal as I headed in for the ramp

Gear Notes:
-10 lbs on weight belt, all weight worn centered over the small of my back.
-6 lbs integrated weights in BCD
-1 lb on feet
-I could have lost a pound or two and I think I would have needed less buoyancy adjustments.

Later on, we hung out at Linda's house in Seaside for the annual get together afterwards. It was fun to talk scuba diving with a bunch of divers, drink wine and nibble on snacks. While we were at the party, however, I later found out that a diver had been found unconscious, was taken to shore at Point Lobos, and was rumored to have died at the hospital.

-- Post From My iPhone

Menace to the Otters

After more than a year off, I decided to take the plunge and go diving, and it was great! It makes me wonder what took me so long. Oh yeah, I remember -- bad storm conditions, new and stressful job, home repair and refinancing...

It turns out, these dives were especially useful for shaking out equipment issues. These were my first dives with my brand new Dive Rite BCD instead of my usual Zeagle Ranger. This change would cause all sorts of panic for for me. But more on that later.

I also got reaquainted with the people from Blue Water Dive Club. There were the usual suspects: Randy, the Blue Water Aquatics shop owner, Kevin, the instructor, and some club members whose faces I also recognized. Despite a year away from these guys, there were some things that never change.

Kevin's boat was much improved from the ramshackle boat we dove with him last. However, true to Kevin, he still got in trouble anyhow. First of all, the Point Lobos State Park ranger pulled over to ask how the diving was going. One of the divers naively responded that he and Kevin had "played catch with a sea slug". First of all, Poing Lobos is a marine sanctuary, and you are not supposed to harass the wild life. The ranger let them off, but not before warning them not to bother the marine life again.

The second thing happened while we were trying to get the boats out of the water. That day, there were a lot of hikers, and they were all oohing and aahing over the harbor seals, and otters that were hanging out in the cove. Also, there is a rule against boats going faster than 5 mph while in Whaler's cove. Well, Kevin was doing donuts at ~15 mph in the cove, while anxiously waiting for his chance to get out of the water. The hikers were anxious and frightened that the otters would be harmed. One of them even told me that they "wished I stayed underwater". When the ranger drove by again, and saw Kevin ripping the kelp life up with his boat, he was infuriated. He screamed with fury at Kevin to stop. Everyone was silent and embarrassed.

This is why I enjoy diving with Blue Water Aquatics so much. Everytime I go out with Kevin and the gang, there is always something stimulating, even provocative, to remember the diving by.

Dive Notes

Dive #167: Blue Fin Cove, Point Lobos State Reserve, Carmel, CA
Date: Sunday, Mar. 14th, 2010
Max Depth: 50 feet
Time: ~40 minutes
Buddies: Ignati (Blue Water Aquatics Dive Club)
Temperature: 50 deg F
Visibility: 20+ feet
Weight worn: 23 lbs (20lbs on weight belt, 1 lb on feet, 2 lbs in BCD)

Gear notes:
I was totally unacquainted with my new BCD, which has a lot less air capacity than my old BCD. As a result, I was extremely overweighted. What was worse, I had no integrated weight pockets in my new BCD, so I had to wear all the weight on my weight belt. This almost made me panic. While donning my BCD in the water off of Randy's zodiac, I began to struggle. I could barely keep my face above water with so much weight on my weight belt. And having my snorkel dipping into the choppy water didn't help. Lastly, I was completely unfamiliar with the straps on the BCD. Randy had to grab me from the boat and pull me above the water surface and help with my gear donning. Lesson learned: I need to wear less weight, say 18 lbs total (2 lb on feet, 10 on weight belt, 6 in BCD) instead of the 24 lbs I was wearing.

Dive Observations:
-Mature sea lion
-Large live abalone in a crack, which I have never seen in the Monterey area
-Large vermilion rock fish that had no fear. It kept trying to nibble my buddy's octopus, which interfered with my buddy's attempts to take a picture of the vermilion rockfish. The situation made me.

Dive #168: Mouth of Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos State Reserve, Carmel, CA
Date: Sunday, Mar. 14th, 2010
Max Depth: 50 feet
Time: ~40 minutes
Buddies: Ignati (Blue Water Aquatics Dive Club)
Temperature: 50 deg F
Visibility: 20+ feet
Weight worn: 21 lbs (20lbs on weight belt, 1 lb on feet)

Dive observations:
-Olive rockfish
-2-3 foot ling cod
-painted greenlings
-kelp greenlings
-juvenile blue rockfish

Thanksgiving 2009 Time Capsule

This Thanksgiving has been good. I suspect it will look better in retrospect. Vacations always look rosier when viewed back with nostalgia. Despite things not going as planned this past Thanksgiving, we nonetheless had a good time.

This year, we decided to go scuba diving in Monterey. We hadn't gone diving in a year, and so it was time consuming and laborious as we packed our musty scuba gear. Once we got to Monterey, however, there was a storm advisory. We decided it wasn't smart to go diving, particularly when surfers were actually surfing where we were supposed to dive.

Disappointed, we decided to explore. We discovered things we wouldn't normally see had we gone diving . We discovered the scenic walk between downtown Carmel, and Carmel River State Beach. I highly recommend this stroll along Scenic Rd, Carmel. It is here that you will find gorgeous gingerbread houses overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Less pretentious than 17 mile Drive, the natural scenery along Scenic Road is more memorable, and you don't have to pay to enter to boot. Along this path, we found the famous, Butterfly House (see above). This iconic house went on sale for $20 Million in 2007. It is also the site of a very good, and pristine shore dive, when the conditions are right. At one point, Bay Area scuba divers mused over pooling our money and buying it for ourselves. But a Washington Real Estate developer eventually bought the gem for $10 Million. I hope he doesn't mind seeing scuba divers prance around in front of his panoramic views of the ocean on occasion.

On another day, we rode a tandem bike along 17 Mile Drive. The rain pounded us at times, but Mark and I had a wonderful time synchronizing our pedal strokes as we hammered up some hills and glid past enormous chateaux. Beating the rain as we raced back to the bike shop was my favorite moment on this bike trip. Mark professed not to feel taxed at all, but both of us were covered in sweat when we were done.
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Being that it is Thanksgiving, and not just a time to go on trips, it is also time to be grateful. I recently saw a PBS special on the Dust Bowl. Thank goodness I did not go through the hardship that broke so many farmers during this era. It is not always easy to feel grateful, but I am grateful that I do not have to worry about where I am getting my next meal, the shame of accepting government aid, or the fate of my land without rain.

Here is a short list of other things I am grateful for:

(1) Our house

I am grateful that our house hasn't severely depreciated in this recession. I am grateful that we can enjoy our little fireplace, relax in front of the TV and feel contented in the cozy and stylish little nest we have created for ourselves. All those weeks and months of painting and stressing has paid off. We recently refinanced, and were able to get rid of our second loan, as well as lowering our mortgage payments. Our house is small, but it is perfect for our needs.

(2) My husband

I am grateful that I found someone who always has a bright smiling face to light up my day, and who can always make me laugh out loud every day. My husband is also realistic and responsible, qualities which I don't always demonstrate. If it weren't for him, I wonder if we would still be in the process of refinancing our house, instead of being done already.

(3) My job

My job is challenging, and creative. That is all that I ever ask for. When I first started, I thought I was going to do some more hand-held plastic enclosure design. Right away, however, I started design on some battery contacts, which for the type of batteries I am working with, is not a trivial task. Lately, I have expanded into the crucial interface areas. The project I work on is practically Space-Shuttle-esque in its complexity. It has countless parts, 3 tiny motors, and three complex subsystems with their own multi-person teams. I am working on the mechanical interfaces between these subsystems, and I am so grateful to have this opportunity.

Eyvind Earle-An Artist of California

Art galleries these days are full of paintings that repeat the same tired old themes. Perusing the art galleries in downtown Carmel, CA over Thanksgiving weekend, we saw the same old still lifes with wine glasses and bottles, the same old kitschy whale paintings by Wyland. This time, however, I had a chance to discover a significant artist whose works took my breath away. I have never seen paintings that capture Californian scenery as masterfully as those by Eyvind Earle.

Eyvind Earle is a contemporary artist, who recently died in 2000. A former landscape artist at Disney, he worked on such films as "Lady and the Tramp", and "Peter Pan". Earle's style is most clearly evident in "Sleeping Beauty", for which he was responsible for art direction. With its medieval styling, Sleeping Beauty can now be considered an noticeable departure in style from previous Disney films. During the film's development, other Disney animators protested against Earle's art direction, but Walt Disney himself interceded. For the first time, the voice of a single animator, Eyvind Earle, set the tone for a Disney film.

After leaving Disney, Eyvind Earle spent a few years as head of his own animation company. He animated commercials, and even created the trailer for the movie, "West Side Story". But in his final years, Eyvind Earle spent his time painting professionally in Carmel, CA. His mature paintings are fantastical and magical, much like his illustrations while at Disney. But they are also evocative of the beautiful Californian landscape. They are infused with feeling and emotion. In many of his landscapes, there is a sense of aching solitude.

When looking at "Sounding of Surf ", or "Swirl of Fog", I am reminded of waves crashing on the Big Sur coastline. Notice also these paintings' resemblance to Japanese block prints. A "Touch of Magic" brings me out of myself, and gives me the sensation of hiking through the Santa Cruz Mountains on a lazy afternoon.

My favorite Eyvind Earle, however, is "Quiet Solitude". The original painting is currently on sale after being part of a private collection for many years. This painting, whose price is unlisted, but will probably sell for ~$100,000+ currently resides in the Gallery Fine Art in Carmel, CA. This work almost reduced me to tears. There was the masterly technique, and colorful beauty, but there was also a strong sensation of silence and loneliness. If you are looking to collect significant, important works of beauty, as an investment and to enrich your life, I highly recommend that you look for the original works of Eyvind Earle.

Great Pinnacle - Blue Fish Cove

Great Pinnacle, Point Lobos

(Notice nearby Marcos' Pinnacle named after the diver who was attacked by a Great White Shark 10 years ago)

Today was Chuck's annual "Diving Singles Point Lobos Dive", an event which we've attended for the past 3 years.

This dive day was remarkable in that our dive buddies were Chuck Tribolet, himself, along with his partner, Linda.

Everyone in the dive community knows Chuck for his erudition, as well as his strong opinions on diving. He and Linda both have 1000+ dives under their belt. So I felt a little self-conscious diving with him and Linda due to my relative lack of experience. Paul and Gary rounded up our group.

This was also our first time diving the Great Pinnacle in Blue Fish Cove, too. Blue Fish Cove is one of the best dive areas in Monterey County, but is almost impossible to access without a boat. Furthermore, boats are forbidden from accessing it, unless armed with a reservation with the Point Lobos State Park. Therefore, diving Blue Fish Cove is a rarity. We once tried to swim to Blue Fish Cove, but ended up doing some white water diving between the wash rocks. This event had left me traumatized enough to stop diving for 9 months.

Despite the good luck of diving with Chuck, and diving the Great Pinnacle, what proceeded was one of the more miserable dives I've had in a long time. Immediately upon descent, Mark's weight pouch fell out of his BCD. While the both of us hung out in midwater at 90 feet (the bottom was at 150), without any bottom in sight, I pushed his integrated weight pouch back together.

I recognized my first Olive Rockfish (Yay Fish Count!)

What's more, I had absolutely no control over my buoyancy. My depth ranged from 40 feet to 70 feet throughout the dive. Thank goodness Chuck and Linda didn't notice, they were too busy shooting pictures of nudibranchs and fish at their favorite dive site. Later on, I found out that my BCD had a significant volume of air in it, and that this had exacerbated my buoyancy control issues. (When diving with a drysuit, you are only supposed to use your drysuit when controlling your buoyancy. The excess air in my BCD caused wild fluctuations with depth changes, due to the air's compression and expansion. This is what makes cold water diving soooo interesting and so challenging.)

Regardless of the problems at the onset of this dive, I recognized the site as being one of the most gorgeous I had ever seen. There was 40-50 ft visibility, which is common for this area. The place reminded me of Cozumel's Devil's Throat in topography, except scarier. This underwater mountain range was covered with garish colors, and the harsh steepness of the pinnacles struck me as cruel-looking. In summary, this place gave me the heebie-jeebies, and I struggled between wanting to maximize my dive time, with my instinct to "RETURN TO THE BOAT".

After I finished my safety stop, I popped my head out to find we were far far away from the boat, as I had feared. I signaled "up" to Mark, but he indicated that he was still finishing his safety stop. My fear went on override, and I honked like crazy at him and gave him more "up" signs. I soon lost sight of Mark, and I feared he had drowned, such was my state of mind.

On the surface, I shed a few tears, which I haven't done after diving since my divemaster candidacy. Both Mark and I were both miserable over our lack of dive planning and lack of communication. It took a lot for me to convince him to do a second dive but I am glad that we did. By the second dive, I had worked out my gear issues, and I was a much better buddy to Mark. Mark still has to work out his drysuit problems and weighting problems, however.

Dive #163: Great Pinnacle, Blue Fish Cove, Point Lobos State Reserve
Max Depth: 91 feet
Time: 0:40 hour
Buddies: Mark, Chuck Tribolet, Linda R., Paul Quinn, Gary Gold
Temperature: 47 deg F Oceanic -- 53 deg F
Visibility: 50 feet
Weight worn: 22 lbs (10 in BCD, 12 on weight belt)

Observations:

• Victor the resident "alpha" sheephead
• male kelp greenling
• Schools of blue rockfish
• Olive rockfish - first that I recognized as one, anyway

Recognized my first Vermilion Rockfish (Yay Fish Count!)

Dive #164: Middle Reef, Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos State Reserve

Max Depth: 30+ feet
Time: 0:40 hour
Buddy: Mark
Temperature: ??
Visibility: 15+ feet
Weight worn: 22 lbs (10 in BCD, 14 on weight belt)

Observations:

• Vermilion rockfish
• Huge Lingcod

Playing with (or was it harrassed by?) a Seal

Mark and I have had harbor seal encounters before on our dives in Monterey, CA. But this past Saturday, was the first time we could characterize our encounter as being "harrassed" by a seal.

Our dives were at McAbee Beach, just off Cannery Row in Monterey. McAbee beach is famous for its playful seals. It is so famous for its seals that after our dives were completed, even our friendly parking lot attendant at McAbee asked us whether we had played with the seals.

Our seal first swam in front of us to get our attention. I wanted to engage the seal, and had read about seals imitating humans after doing barrel rolls. So I attempted to do a barrel roll in the water to entertain the seal. The seal reacted by becoming shy for an instant, and meandered behind a rock to hide. We of course knew where it was hiding and snuck up upon it. Upon being found, it looked up at us slyly before surfacing for air. After this little game of hide and seek, the seal no longer felt any shyness and released an onslaught of harrassment our way.

This juvenile seal not only nipped at our fins, but muzzled our bodies. It came right up to our masks, with its eyes just inches away from ours, much like in the picture above. The seal kept exploring our masks with its claws and nuzzling our hoods with its nose. The seal was particularly interested in clawing at Mark's tank, whereupon Mark would turn around in dismay, and I would chuckle into my regulator. To keep its interest at one point, I offered it my dive slate (mmm, yummy). It quickly went straight for my pencil and nuzzled it a bit. When I reached and rubbed its belly, the seal wasn't fazed. Through my neoprene gloves, its belly felt more jiggly and soft than I had anticipated. At one point, the seal and I were getting so friendly, that we were holding hands as though we were dancing. The video below from another diver at McAbee pretty much characterizes the type of experience we had.



After 15 minutes of this, we had to head to shore, otherwise I would have liked to experiment with playing fetch with the seal, maybe with a piece of kelp. My friend, Dr. Bill from Catalina, said he once conducted an entire dive playing fetch with a seal.

Even without our seal visit, our dives were awesome, characterized by good visibility, and a couple of other unusual marine life sightings (rare orange adult wolf eel sighting, and my first Dirona albolineata nudibranch).


Dive #1 (cumulative dive #161): McAbee Beach
Max Depth: 38 feet
Time: 0:53 hour
Buddy: Mark
Temperature: ?? didn't look
Visibility: 40+ feet past the first kelp bed
Weight worn: 24 lbs (10 in BCD, 14 on weight belt)
Mark's weight: 24 lbs

Observations:

• Mark spotted an adult, orange wolf eel. According to Humann's fish ID book, this coloration is rare.
• Mark spotted a Dirona Albolineata nudibranch (see right). They are as luminescent and glowing in real life as they are in the photos.
• Conducted an official REEF fish count on my own for the first time, and it was a lot of fun.
  

Dive #2 (cumulative dive #162): McAbee Beach

Max Depth: 33 feet
Time: 0:42 hour
Buddy: Mark
Temperature: ??
Visibility: 25+ feet
Weight worn: 24 lbs (10 in BCD, 14 on weight belt)

After our dives, Mark and I had lunch at the Trailside Cafe overlooking McAbee Beach, where we gorged ourselves on clam chowder and fish and chips. I then insisted that we visit the Monterey "World Famous" Wax Museum for the first time. This Wax Museum had scenes from Monterey's past history, and even featured scenes from John Steinbeck's novels. At the Wax Museum, I learned that Monterey had changed hands from the Native Americans, to the Spaniards, to the Mexicans before becoming American land. I also learned that McAbee Beach, the site of our dives, used to be squatted upon by numerous Chinese immigrants back during Cannery Row's hey day.

Great Annual Fish Count -- A Different Perspective

The following dive report was posted by John Wolfe on the BA_diving Yahoo Group chronicling the Great Annual Fish Count dive that occurred last Saturday:

A plucky group of divers showed up at Coral Street for the morning fish survey: entymology professor Bob, Venture Crewmember (used to be called Explorer Scout) Cameron, mechanical engineers Will, Mina & Peter (coincidence, none had met before), and elementary school teacher (and long time fish surveyor) Alan. Peter did the survey as a freediver (he later let on that he was on the US national free diving team in 2004), which was of great interest, to see what anon-bubble-blower could sneak up on (answer: Opaleye). Peter, free diving, went out farther and dove deeper than any of the SCUBA divers. We were impressed (cool carbon fiber fins, too).

Ocean conditions were very pleasant: flat, with nice 20' viz. And the fish were there, showing off. Hoards of JUVENILE ROCKFISH hovering over the reef !!! (very encouraging, after several years of NO juvenile rockfish, essentially a drought since 2001). These are"black-spot-on-the-dorsal-fin" juveniles - my guess is black rockfish, with a smattering of yellowtail, but I'm eager to hear whatTom Laidig says. Peter says they're even more abundant past the outer edge of the kelp. And scores of beautiful rainbow seaperch graced the nearshore end of the sand channel, one of the prettier fish in our area. Our group list was quite respectable for first-time fish counters:

• Kelp Greenling
• Painted Greenling
• Blue Rockfish
• Black Rockfish
• Kelp Rockfish
• Opaleye
• Monkeyface Prickleback Eel
• Cabezon
• Black-Eye Goby
• Black Seaperch
• Kelp Seaperch
• Pile Seaperch
• Rainbow Seaperch
• Striped Seaperch
• Senorita

Went over to the aquarium in the afternoon to meet Gil Falcone forthe fish ID seminar, which the aquarium graciously lets us hold in their upstairs classroom. Gil and I have done this for several years now - this time we decided to try to do it in a Click & Clack Tappit Brothers style of back & forth that made it more fun for us to give. The audience of morning divers were augmented by some curious aquarium volunteers, a couple more ba_divers, and by more Venture Crew young adults from Davis who hadn't yet let learned to SCUBA dive (the Venture Crew in Davis is pretty cool, it has diving as one of their main activities - thanks to Bob's tutelage and Will's help). Folks even grokked the "Blurry Moving Video Fish Quiz" at the end (strictly self-test, I've learned not to ask folks how well theydid on it, I always forget how hard/tricky this fish ID stuff is when you're first starting out). Gil then led us through the kelp tank area of the aquarium - if you haven't seen the new smaller kelp tanks upstairs near the big kelp tank, it's definitely worth checking out. Several Southern California fish species in there too, handy to view for brushing upon your southern species (Sargo, Salema, Halfmoon, etc) before your next trip to the Channel Islands.

Dropped by Tabouli's restaurant on Lighthouse Avenue before heading home. Had to "warn" Christophe that Rachid was coming to town (they're friends, Rachid camps at Veterans' campground, dives everyday, and uses Tabouli's as his living room each evening). If you haven't met Rachid yet, know that a few years back he was one the zanier characters in our local diving scene - before moving toLouisiana to care for his ailing mother. GAFC events coming up: Steve Lonhart's marine invertebrate ID presentation on Monday and Mike Davis' basic north central californiafish ID class on Tuesday, both at 7pm, offered by the Dive Club of Silicon Valley (DCOSV) at Diver Dan's in Santa Clara; and then DCOSV's fish count & picnic at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove on Saturday, July 12.

Great Annual Fish Count (Or 'I Love Rockfish')

I joined John Wolfe and his group for their Annual Fish Count dive at Coral Street Beach. I considered this dive day to be a treat. I had heard that John Wolfe was one of the main players involved with zoning the California Marine Protected Areas (he was formerly a stakeholder on the Central Coast Regional Stake Holder Group), so I was looking forward to diving with him. Doubly a treat was the fish ID seminar that was being held at the Monterey Bay Aquarium later that afternoon, followed by an impromptu fish ID dive through the aquarium.

Meeting John Wolfe was great. He is an enthusiastic, trim, 50-something man who looks like he could be in his early 40s. He has bright blue eyes that open wide when he talks about something that he is excited about. I have not met anyone more animated about fish.

The Annual Fish Count is an event sponsored by REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation). It enlists recreational divers to identify and count fish (no more than 1.5 hours of training was necessary to start counting). The data is used by scientists and divers to support the setting aside of marine protected areas. California is the first American state to vigorously set aside marine protected areas as fish nurseries for revitalizing the fish population (here is an excellent broadcast from NPR on the unique California program).


At first, I thought the REEF fish count was a gimmick to sell Paul Humann's fish ID books. The fish identification methodology used by REEF follows Paul Humann's loosey-goosey categorization of fish in terms of body shape instead of genus or family. But as I learned that the data was being used to justify the setting aside of Marine Protected Areas, and when I experienced how FUN it was to count fish in such a simple, laymen's manner, my mind changed.

After the dives themselves, we were treated to a seminar held at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and taught by Gil Falcone, the chief diving safety officer at the museum. We were then allowed to wander the Monterey Bay Aquarium for free, with an impromptu guided tour by Gil Falcone and John Wolfe.

As the group mingled in front of the kelp forest exhibit (see below), I exclaimed to noone in particular: "I love rockfish". Among less enthusiastic people, I would have been a bit embarrassed to exclaim such a statement. But given that John goes around quoting the life spans of rockfish species to other divers (counting in the hundreds of years for a couple of species), I didn't feel so bad.

The Glorious Kelp Forest Exhibit
(courtesy of Monterey Bay Aquarium)

My favorite rockfish species to date is the kelp rockfish (see first pic above), otherwise known as the "dumb bass" by divers and scientists. They seem pretty stupid, which is why I like them so much. They are unperturbed by divers (you can get within inches of them), and they like to hang out vertically in the water column (also see above pic) for some inexplicable reason. On Dive #1 of the day, when I nudged a cluster of eggs with my finger, a kelp rockfish came within a couple of feet of me to investigate what I was looking at. I love it when fish do that. They are not just these automatons in the water, but exhibit what I think of as personality.

Meeting Gil Falcone (the chief diving safety officer) was pretty cool, too. I asked what the Aquarium dive volunteer requirements were, and when we found out that I wasn't qualified (I live too far away), he suggested that I volunteer at the newly opening Steinhard Aquarium in SF. I also found out some insider aquarium information from Gil. For instance, did you know that:

1. Resident Great White Shark #1 was released because it had nose injuries and because it was too difficult to repeatedly swab the area for infection (shark didn't like this too much).
2. Resident Great White Shark #2 was released because it was hunting other sharks.
3. Resident Great White Shark #3 was released because it was jumping full body lengths out of the water!

Anyways, my dives in detail from the day follow. Allen, who has been counting fish for REEF for the past 8 years, was my dive buddy, and helped me to identify the various fish species:

A Face Only A Mother Could Love

Monkeyface Prickleback Eel (photo courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium)

Dive #1: Coral Street (Cumulative Dive #159)
Max Depth: 30? feet
Time: 1:00 hour
Buddy: Allen
Temperature: Oceanic Computer 47 deg. F (53 deg. F)
Visibility: 20+ feet
Weight worn: 24 lbs (20 on weight belt, 4 in BCD)

Observations:
Coral Street Beach was an awesome shore dive where I saw perhaps my most unique fish sighting of the year, a Monkeyface Prickleback Eel (see above). Unfortunately, a predator (a cormorant?) had gouged its eye out, so the fish did not seem at all healthy. This explains why it was all the way out in the open during daytime. Other sightings:

• black and blue rockfish
• black seaperch
• pile perch
• painted greenlings

Dive #2: Coral Street Beach (Cumulative Dive #160)
Max Depth: 39 feet
Time: 1:07 minutes
Buddies: Allen
Temperature: Oceanic Computer 47 deg. F (53 deg. F)
Visibility: 20-40 feet
Weight worn: 24 lbs (14 on weight belt with two 5ers in foremost pockets, 10 lbs in BCD).

Observations:
Awesome dive, and longest dive in Monterey to date (courtesy of my drysuit). We went way past the shallow reef to the deeper reef. Vis varied from 40+ feet at the sandbed between the two reefs, to 20 feet. We saw clouds of juvenile rock fish in the hundreds! Hopefully this bodes well for the rockfish population in years to come. Also, we saw a fat harbor seal that rubber necked us as it continued on its way.

Hitchiking Octopus, Monastery Beach Video, and more

Hitchhiking Octopus

(picture courtesy of Dan B.)

Today was a very good day to go diving (see pic below).

Today's Swell Forecast

Plus, some video taping took place for the "How to Safely Shore Dive Monastery Beach" dive video that Doc Wong is putting together. Dave (the owner of the boat) was taking part in the dive video, so we dropped him off just 50 feet from Monastery beach, so he could do a one-way dive to shore. As we motored off Monastery Beach, we saw Chuck Tribolet on his Boston Whaler, also waiting to take part in the dive video.

When we came back after our first dive to pick Dave up, we discovered he had not met up with the rest of the videotape crew. We learned that the video was taking place on a different part of the beach. Dave swam to shore and waited around for nothing. Despite this miscommunication, it was still a nice, mellow day to go diving.

Dive #1: Moss Cove (Cumulative Dive #157)

Max Depth: 86 feet
Time: 0:30 minutes
Buddies: Mark
Temperature: Oceanic Computer 41 deg. F (47 deg. F)
Visibility: 30 feet
Weight worn: 24 lbs (20 on weight belt)

Observations:
This site sits just outside the Point Lobos Marine Reserve border, and therefore showcases a runoff of fish life from the sanctuary. We weren't disappointed, and saw a school of black rockfish hanging out at the top of this sharp ridgeline. We also saw:

• Acanthadoris hudsoni
• Diaulula sandiegensis
• a small furry and white nudibranch
• a China Rockfish,
• some unusual white sea urchins with red tips
• orange kelp greenling?
• a sea anemone eating a moon jelly

The site was also replete with abundant strawberry anemones, featherduster worms, hydrocorals, orange sea cucumbers and sponges.

Upon surfacing, Gary dumped a beer can he found underwater into a bucket on the boat. We found out, however, that that was not all that he had salvaged. A small octopus had made it's home inside the can, and was attempting to crawl out of the bucket (see first pic above). After taking a few pictures of the octopus, we dropped it back into the ocean, where it bade us farewell with a couple of squirts of ink.

Dive #2: Local's Ledge (Cumulative Dive #158)
Max Depth: 90 feet
Time: 0:33 minutes
Buddies: Mark, Gary, Dave M., Dan B.
Temperature: Oceanic Computer 41 deg. F (47 deg. F)
Visibility: 40 feet
Weight: 20 lbs (all on belt)

Observations:
This site is known for its narrow channel topography, prompting a high flow of nutrients courtesy of the Venturi effect, according to Dave's dive briefing (ah, don't you love engineering speak). The nutrients were in evidence, for every inch of the channels we swam through was plastered with technicolor strawberry anemones, hydrocoral, orange cup coral and sponges. Running into the yellow caution zone on our nitrogen loading meters prompted us to return to the boat, although I wish we could have stayed longer.

Doozy of a Day - Drysuit Certification Dives

I must really love diving. Inspite of it being quite a doozy of a day (boat issues, equipment issues, bad conditions), I had a good time.

First off, we had boat issues. Every time we go out on the water with instructor Kevin, we have problem after problem on the zodiac. This particular day:

• One of two engines wasn't working, so we barely crawled over the water at 7 mph.
• The bow of the boat folded backwards when hit headon by a medium sized wave. Later, we learned that the keel wasn't thoroughly inflated, which explained the lack of ridigity.
• The interior of the boat was a mess with the anchor line entangled with the dive equipment.
• Kevin's GPS and depth gage were precariously balanced and threatened to fall into the leaky boat bottom.
• Kevin's depth gage also ran out of batteries...

Secondly, I had equipment issues. To complete my drysuit certification, I had to don the BCD unit in the water. First of all, I was wearing a drysuit (limitations in flexibility). Layer upon that the pitching waves of the seas. Compound that with my brand new, expensive (and heavy!) weightbelt sliding off my hips, and you have a near panic situation. I am so glad I had to practice the weightbelt ditch and replace exercise in the pool for my Divemaster training because the operation was second nature. Thanks Dan!

To complicate matters, Kevin was teaching several different classes all in the same weekend, and even on the same day. One of the other divers on the boat was completing his AOW Deep Dive. He was wearing a brand new Mares drysuit and couldn't figure out how to use the drysuit inflator and had to sit out the first dive, growing ever more nauseaus on the pitching waves.

Dive #1: Sandflats off of Lover's Point (Cumulative #155)
Max Depth: 109 feet
Time: 0:26 minutes
Buddies: Mark, Kevin D.
Temperature: Oceanic Computer 43 deg. F (49 deg. F)
Visibility: 20-30 feet
Weight: 24 lbs with an HP steel 80 low slung

Observations: This dive is what makes me convinced that I must really love diving. There was nothing to see but sand and clumps of sea stars (I saw an interesting starfish burrowing into the sand). But I was blissfully hovering, frog kicking 3-4 feet above the bottom, revelling in being warm and not kicking up the fine sand.

Also, I noticed Kevin as he geared up on the surface. He looks very comfortable in the water and was steadfast despite the imperfect conditions. He clearly shows the mark of a very experienced and skilled diver.

Dive #2: End of Breakwater (Cumulative #156)
Max Depth: 47 feet
Time: 0:33 minutes
Buddies: Mark, Kevin D.
Temperature: Oceanic Computer 44 deg. F (50 deg. F)
Visibility: 10-15 feet

Observations: Noone felt comfortable to venture far from shore with our myriad of boat problems and with the white capped waves growing in the distance. So we opted to anchor at the end of the Breakwater to see if any sea lions would dive bomb us there (there's a small colony of sea lions that live here). Small shrimp made the water cloudy. I saw a couple of kelp greenlings. The usual nudibranchs, including one that looked like a Aeolidia Papillosa. Mark saw a sea lion posing above a rock, checking him out. I was concerned about Mark's one bare hand, and whether his hand might be freezing, so I decided to end the dive early. I saw a sea lion circling us at our safety stop before it gyrated away into the haze.

Afterthoughts:
This day of diving was the perfect example of trying to accomplish too many things at once. To Kevin's credit, he treated each problem with utmost calm, which is a fine quality for the technical diver that he is. But at the same time, he had too many classes and gear problems to handle, and it all could have easily gone awry.

Drysuit Adventure at Breakwater

Goal of the Dive:
My goal for this dive was to get acquainted with drysuit diving in the ocean before I head down to Catalina next week. Unfortunately, we have not yet completed our ocean drysuit dives with our instructor because he has been on a business trip. So my goal for this dive was to familiarize myself with drysuit diving without any instruction.

We chose the Breakwater as our dive spot, because we know Breakwater well, and because it is shallow enough so that an uncontrolled ascent due to drysuit diving would not be as dangerous. As usual, we dove along the wall.

Details of the Dive:
Dive #: 149
Dive Buddy: Mark
Exposure Suit: Drysuit, Bare Hi-Loft undergarment, with fleece undershirt and yoga pants
Weight: 20lbs, all in weight integrated pockets
Max Depth: 44 feet
Visibility: 20 feet
Temperature: Oceanic 48 deg. F
Time: 50 minutes
Tank: High Pressure Steel 80 cu. ft (PST)

Moon Jelly

Sealife:

Everytime I go to the Breakwater, I see a different story unfolding. This time, there were numerous dead or dying moon jellies in the water, often being consumed by sea stars. This could mean that we are in the midst of the moon jelly breeding season. It is believed that the moon jelly dies after reproducing.

While looking closely at a cabezon, we were briefly inspected by a couple of juvenile sea lions, curious to see what we were looking at.

Later, a harbor seal (similar to the one pictured above) glided by. These are some of my favorite species, because they are so incredibly cute, and fat. This one was quite large, probably about as long as me, but 5 times as big around, of course.

Mina's Observations of Drysuit Diving:
(1) I exerted way too much energy preventing my feet from floating up. I am extremely reluctant to wear ankle weights due to the extra effort this gives to kicking, but this may be my only resort, other than getting an expensive DUI weight harness. Why hasn't someone figured out a better solution for this? Floaty feet seems to afflict everyone moving from wetsuit to drysuit.
(2) I am slightly underweighted at 20 lbs. Adding one pounders on each foot may do it. I will be 8 pounds heavier than what I am used to diving with a wetsuit.
(3) I was toasty warm. Okay, maybe toasty is exaggerating. I did not register temperature either cold or warm even after almost an hour underwater. The temperature at Breakwater is usually 54 deg. F. This means when I do more exposed boat dives at 50 deg. F, I should feel fairly comfortable!
(4) Feeling an urge to pee was not an issue.

Mark's Observations of Drysuit Diving:
Mark had a much less positive experience with his first open water drysuit dive:
(1) He had a severe leak in his wrist seal and felt wetness all the way down to his knees.
(2) He was also underweighted, and his integrated weight pouch was barely hanging on to his BCD by a single rivet.
(3) He was slightly cold in his drysuit. This was most likely due to the fact that his drysuit was leaking, and because he was shrinkwrapped in his suit.

With Mark's equipment issues, we thought it wise not to continue with a second dive.

Outer Pinnacles on Dave's Boat

My goal for this dive was to get wet after 3 months off with no diving. Therefore, when Dave M. said he was diving on his boat on Saturday, I jumped on the opportunity. (I'm trying out my new philosophy of having fun for fun's sake.)

This time I came prepared for the cold, bringing an entire garbage back full of two layering fleeces, hats, ski jacket and ski gloves. I will tell you now that it didn't work. I was still rendered incapacitated by the cold of the 50 degree F Carmel waters, made much much worse by the heaving of the ocean on Dave's boat. I can't wait for my drysuit, which is coming in the middle of December, I can tell you. Also, the next time I go, I will be medicated with Scopalamine, for sure.

Details of the dive:

Dive #148
Depth: 78 ft
Time: 29 minutes
Visibility: 40-50 feet
Surgey: 6 feet

As we descended along the anchor line, my view was initially met by a school of 60 strong blue fish. I lingered in the school for a moment before fighting the current to the anchor line.

The next thing that came to view as we descended was bull kelp being thrashed about by the surge. Imagine three foot long green ribbons on a mound of rock headbanging in the waves. It was kind of amusing to see Dan trying to take pictures with the surge pushing him 3 feet in each direction.

When the bull kelp wasn't being flung into our faces, I was able to see wonderful colors and wildlife. Imagine a myriad of pink, purple and yellow hydrocorals (up north, California Purple Hydrocoral isn't just purple, I was told, but come in a variety of colors). Sculpins, kelp greenlings, strawberry anemones and sponges completed the tableau. A cabezon rested on a sponge. There was a glimpse of an enormous ling cod tail as it flitted into a cavern.

On the safety stop, we encountered a group of gorgeous sea nettles (see pic of sea nettles above). I think Dan took a picture of me getting close to a watermelon sized sea nettle before I finally backed off.

Afterthoughts

1. I am overweighted at 14 lbs. I plummeted like a stone at 60 feet. Also, the safety stop was hard to maintain and I ranged from 12 feet to 30 feet. I guess all that working out is paying off pound for pound in muscle.

2. At London Bridge Pub, where we had lunch and coffee afterwards, a bunch of instructors/old salts gave Dave a hard time about bringing people out on his boat. The subtopic was why had Dave let his dive instructor's insurance lapse. The undercurrent of the conversation, however, was that Dave M. was really running a charter boat rather than bringing "friends" along for a weekend's worth of diving.

For a fee less than the amount that professional charters charge, friends and acquaintances of Dave's can go diving on his boat for the weekend. Not only will he go to the normal Monterey dive sites, but will cross over to the Carmel side for the awesome, more challenging dive sites. The professional charters, on the other hand, will tend to cater to the least common denominator on the boat and stick to the less gas consuming, safer dive sites in the bay.

Apparently, the professional charters have given Dave a hard time regarding this issue, I was told. I do know, however, that the people who do go diving with Dave are not complete newbies, such as the type you might see on Monterey charter boats, and on the most part have quite a bit of experience.

All in all, I chalk it up to PADI professionals' tendency to bash others with less experience than they, and their tendency to be overly paranoid about litigation from newbie divers who get themselves into trouble.

Dive Check List

Because I haven't dove in a while, I thought I would create a universal scuba diving resource and checklist as a reminder of the myriad of things I need to bring, plan, do.

Gear List



Map Directions

Annual "Diving Singles" Point Lobos Club Dive

Sunbeams shining through the kelp forest

On August 11th, Chuck Tribolet had his annual Diving Singles club dive at Point Lobos State Park. Chuck Tribolet is the "Diving Singles" club leader, the Bay Area Diving Yahoo Group moderator, and is well known in the Bay Area for his erudite Northern California scuba diving weather web site: Monterey Bay Sea Conditions at a Glance.

Today's dive was a treat. The Point Lobos State Park is well known as one of the best dives in Northern California. Only 15 dive teams are allowed per day and the park is protected from fishing, or scavenging of any sort. As a result, fish are plentiful and unafraid, and the colors here are vibrant.

Everyone gawked as our Mini Cooper convertible rolled into the Point Lobos parking lot. Almost every other vehicle besides ours was a "dive mobile" -- a truck or an SUV built to contain the plethora of equipment typical of temperate water diving. Our convertible top folded away to reveal both my and my fiance's dive equipment tightly packed into our backseat like a Tetris game.

While setting up for the dives, conversation touched upon the death of local diver and photographer, Kawika Chetron. We discussed how he was diving somewhere on the North Coast, and disappeared retrieving his anchor. The most likely hypotheses are either that he got swept to sea, or gotten eaten by a Great White Shark. There are normally several scuba related deaths in Northern California every year. But in Kawika's case, there was extra attention because: Kawika was young, extremely bright (Harvard and Stanford educated), and a talented photographer. See here for Kawika's favorite photos, which combined with his explanatory captions, are great meditations on diving in Northern California.

We did the first dive with two divers unfamiliar with Point Lobos. They seemed anxious to pair up with people who had dove Point Lobos before, so we agreed we would show them around. This dive was fraught with problems,which began as soon as we were dropped off at the mouth of Whaler's Cove. First off, Dive buddy #4 (I forget his name) had problems clearing his ears, so he cut his dive short and swam to shore. Dive Buddy #3 had a continual free-flowing regulator problem, and hence had a low air supply, which cut our dive short. Dive buddy #2, my fiance, had constant mask leaking issues, caused by his mask being set overly tight. He had to surface to calm his nerves and told me he nearly wanted to quit the dive. When we finally got our dive started, I made a bee-line to shore, with little time to enjoy the 50 foot visibility. I was nervous to get back to shore safely.

Below, Mina posing with a Ling Cod

Our second dive was much more enjoyable. We paired up with Dan, a diver we met on Dave M.'s boat. All photographs in this blog entry were taken by him. Starting at the mouth of Whaler's Cove, we did a slow and leisurely crawl back to the boat ramp. We saw a cormorant underwater (my second time). I also encountered some unusual cabezon behavior: I turned over an abalone shell to investigate, and a cabezon shot out from under a ledge to look at the shell as well. I never knew cabezons were so curious, given their usual behavior of perching on a rock. Below is a photograph of a cabezon taken on the dive.

Cabezon