Lugging all the hire dive gear from the shop to the jetty, while only 3/4 of a mile, felt like ages. Didn't help that I had to carry it all, tank and weights included... I miss my wheeled dive bag :o Took a break mid way to rest my arms. I think I'll take an Uber to return it, will be twice as heavy when wet. Got to the boat a little early and enjoyed just sitting and looking over the beach.
The boat returned from it's trip and after the crew had a chance to clean and reload we all took our gear on, claimed spots and headed off to dinner. At dinner a few people were getting ready for the long drive out with oyster/vodka shots... they seemed to really enjoy them but it looked like a snot shot. I got a pretty lucky draw with the allocated beds, near the back on the lower bead, perfect. Boat sleeps ~35 pax and we had 32 divers on board. Dive deck was a little crowed at times but there was usually plenty of space. Nice sun deck too.
Time to gear up for the first dive. As it was a lobster hunt the vast majority of divers were keen to be first in the water and first to the bugs. This meant that a lot of guys were geared up with tanks and all before the anchor was even dropped. No faffing about on this boat. Hunting is apparently a more solo sport as well so I geared up to jump in alone. After getting over the instant shock of cold water I descended to the floor to start getting use to my hire gear. Sorted buoyancy and got too it. Then started to hit the sand, huh, pretty unusual. So I pumped my BCD with some more air and was good, then hit the sand again... Third time I just sat still and could hear small bubbles between breaths. Found a diver and signalled 'Problem, Bubbles' and pointed behind me to which he responded that I should surface.
Got to the top pretty easily using the anchor chain to do my safety stop without sinking and when on board noticed a decent slit in the BCD. Good way to start a 3 day dive trip... I love hire gear. Luckily Dee had some repair glue so we patched it up. I had to sit out the next 2 dives anyway to let it dry but the boat does 7 day dives and a night (all short) as most people fin and blow through their air looking for lobsters. My dives were short as I was getting cold :o
After the repair goop set I was able to jump in for an actual dive. Swimming through the Kelp forests was great. Weaving amongst 30m tall strains made me feel like I was flying through a forest. Everyone was off looking for the biggest lobster they could find but off I went looking for the small stuff as usual. A few Nudi and Slugs on the rocks but not too much in the way of macro life. Fish life was pretty abundant, including some larger ones like the Black Sea Bass. With all the divers poking their heads under boulders and into any crevasse they could find the bottom did get kicked up a bit, so if I was close to one there was a lot of sediment being kicked up into the water, made it harder for some pictures.
The crew were pretty helpful on deck and food was great with plenty of lollies, snacks and good main meals. No-one donated a lobster for dinner though :o Despite bailing on the first dive and missing the next 2 I was able to fit in 3 actual dives and a night dive on the first day. On the night dive the usual critters were out, including the lobsters everyone else was hunting. Some massive sea hares were crawling along as well. Bio-luminescence is a pretty strong blue here, so after I got far enough away from the boat and other divers it was good to sit there in the dark and have a personal light show.
Sadly with all the repetitive and fast diving Ryan (who organised the group for the trip) developed some minor DCS symptoms. Overnight the skipper drove to Saint Catalina island (which had a chamber) to drop him off. It wasn't until after the first dive that I found out but it certainly made me think a little harder bout my bottom time for the next dive. As I was getting cold pretty easily none of my dives were really long. I think my longest was 45 min. I was often back on the boat with well over 1500 PSI (100 Bar) and a few times at the shallower sites still had 3/4 of my air left.
I managed to jump in for most of the dives on the second day, skipping 3rd and 6th to warm up and then returning to the cold for the night dive. The afternoon dive had some seals swimming around us, but unfortunately I my housing fogged up and all the shots were just white washed. Did manage to snap a few when they were on the surface though. For the night dive the bio-luminescence was out in force again so I spent 65% of the time with my torch off swimming around. It was strong enough that even with other divers with their torches on I could see the specks of light created by their fins. Found a little Octopus doing its thing as well.
After the night dive there was a big Margarita mix made and beer flowing. Some card games played, with varying international rules used and a few dice games to boot. Felt a lot like a URGQ trip. Not everyone new everyone else but the group (excld me) had a common connection with at least a few other people. Everyone was really friendly and happy to share diving stories from the area and other places they've visited across the globe. I was of course happy to do the same and share trail tails from the PCT. Mixed skill levels too, some with many dives under their belt and a few who were only certified recently.
Slept in and missed the first dive on day 3, enjoyed a nice relaxed bacon and egg breakfast before gearing up for the second. The moment I hit the water I felt cold. Was a really scenic site with the kelp looking quite healthy so I stayed down for 45min and was shivering by the end of the dive. I checked the temperature and my computer was on 12.9°c, after near on 800 dives this is the coldest water I have ever been in. Coupled with the not so great fit on a 7mm and I definitely shouldn't have been down as long as I was. Still shivering after surfacing I borrowed a big warm fishing coat from another diver, grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and sat in the sun. Warmed up a bit, but decided to sit out the next dive anyway.
Had to jump in for the final dive and went in with one of the newer divers, actually got my hands on a pretty decent lobster this dive, or so I thought. Gauge said it was too small so back it went into the crevasse of an overhang. Was able to find and point a few more nudis to my buddy including a really small one no more than a centimetre long. Sadly camera had fogged up again so I wasn't able to get any shots taken. After that it was a fairly calm cruise back to Santa Barbara to unload and head off. Got a final group shot with most of the haul before everyone headed off their separate ways. Paul was kind enough to give me a lift to the Backpackers saving me a long walk/Uber trip.
U/W forest looks great.
ReplyDeleteGreat recap on the dive trip, I enjoyed hearing your story on the PCT you did. Walt
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