Dives # 324 and 325 - Morays and Mo' Rays

Date: April 28, 2007
Time: 6:00am/8:30am
Location: Diver's/Fisherman's Cove
Depth (feet): 32/32
Dive Time (minutes): 90/53
Surf (feet): 1+/1-2
Surge (feet): 1-2/2-3
Water Temp (fahrenheit): 61/61
Visibility (feet): 10
Visibility Description: murky - but WAY BETTER than last dive
Notes and Highlights: Dove with Kevin Glenn - met up early at Diver's hoping for better than what I saw on Wednesday night...we were rewarded with what in good times would be marginal vis conditions - but right now I was almost crying on the inside of my mask. Vis was a murky 10...but certainly diveable - and the water didn't feel/taste/smell like death...which is always nice.

Saw many large bat rays - but they spooked pretty easy in the murk - so the pics were marginal. A lot of sand from the beach has silted over the shallow reef area - pretty much a wasteland - but the deeper part of the reef is still thriving. Found a small moray eel, a lot of garibaldi, a scorpionfish..etc. Nice, long, relaxing dive in warm (61 degrees) water.

Swapped tanks, and went down the other stairs to Fisherman's. More surge and surface chop on this more exposed beach area...but still easy in - high tide always makes it easier here. Same water conditions - maybe a bit murkier, but still passable. Found an octopus, quite a few lobster, a large moray, and a few black-eyed gobies...another nice, relaxing dive, just under 2 1/2 hours total dive time, and a good time was had by all...

Check out the Photo Album:




Out of focus, badly lit, and un-edited...enjoy!

Dive # 323 - "Dead" Tide - Stay Home

Date: April 25, 2007
Time: 5:30pm
Location: Shaw's Cove
Depth (feet): 24
Dive Time (minutes): 46
Surf (feet): 1+
Surge (feet): 2-5
Water Temp (fahrenheit): 57
Visibility (feet): 1+
Visibility Description: bad - very bad
Notes and Highlights: Dove with Scott and Josh - surf had definitely dropped off since last week - but the surface looked like the bottom was going to have surge - it did. The water was brown and smelled/tasted like death. Not necessarily a red tide - just seemed like everything on the reef was dead. We dropped down and stayed pretty much in the opening of the Arch...surge was bad - tossing the three of us into each other while Josh and I tried, in my case, unsuccessfully to wrestle some macro shots of nudibranch's out of the conditions. It was truly the worst conditions I've been in for some time...even my light cannons couldn't really penetrate the water. There were a couple of Cockerell's Dorids and Hopkin's Roses. If any of Josh's pics come out I'll link to 'em. There was a tiny little crab in a hole that Scott found - I (and the camera) could only make out the little claws...

Dive # 322

Date: April 18, 2007
Time: 5:10pm
Location: Shaw's Cove
Depth (feet): 24
Dive Time (minutes): 35
Surf (feet): 1-2
Surge (feet): 2-5
Water Temp (fahrenheit): 57
Visibility (feet): 1-5
Visibility Description: bad
Notes and Highlights: Dove with Scott and Josh - welcome back Josh! The happy, new father returned to certainly bad conditions...but it's the best diving he's been able to do for quite a while now...

Relatively easy in with the surf not causing any issues...lots of surface chop from the wind, and the conditions below weren't any better. Dropped down pretty early and worked our way on the outside of the reef. Briefly stuck our heads in by the Arch - but that was a no-go for today. Saw some Hopkin's Roses by the Arch, some lobsters, a black-eyed goby and not much of anything else with the surge and bad vis. Low tide dive - surf hadn't really increased on our exit - so no issues. Bad vis and bad surge, but overall a good time had by all!

Dives # 319-321 - Pacific Star - Video

Date: April 14, 2007
Time: 7:30am/10:30am/1:00pm
Location: Eagle Reef/Blue Caverns/Yellowtail Point
Depth (feet): 52/35/68
Dive Time (minutes): 43/47/38
Surf (feet): 0
Surge (feet): 0-2
Water Temp (fahrenheit): 54/57/55
Visibility (feet): 20-30
Visibility Description: Clear at Blue Caverns, murkier at the others
Notes and Highlights: Dove with Scott, Kevin, Gerry and Marshall. Met up at the boat on Friday night. Had dinner Lou-e-Luey's, and more drinks at the bar next door. Got back on the boat and in the bunks around Midnight. Odds were that we were going to not make the planned trip to Santa Barbara Island due to the conditions - but when I heard the engines fire up at 3:30am - I got my hopes up...

...for no reason - at 6:30 I awoke to Ship Rock...yech! I like Catalina - I'm just getting bitter that every time I fall asleep on a boat heading somewhere new - I wake up at Isthmus Reef.

Current was too strong at the Isthmus - so we started the day at Eagle Reef. Dropped down and the first thing I thought was HOLY CRAP I'M COLD! Vis was kinda murky - probably about 20-25 feet. Took some video, but a misbehaving light cannon blew my only good shot for the dive - a black-eye goby close-up shot. Overall a cold dive, and we didn't encounter anything remarkable...the day wasn't off to the best start.

Moved over to Blue Caverns...a new site for me. This was a bit shallower (we stayed high on the wall), and felt a lot warmer. Nicer visibility with a lot of color and normal fish...a much better dive.

Final dive was on Yellowtail Point. We dropped down onto sand...and stayed on sand for the entire dive. Jurassic Park-sized kelp was interesting, and Scott spotted a very juvenile horn shark on the sand...vis was sandy - as is the footage.

Slept all the way back - so I can't comment on the swell conditions. The trip wasn't Santa Barbara Island for sure - but then again, up till this point April had been a dry month - so overall a good time had by all!