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    February 28, 2021

    Promising Conditions & Retro Ocean Defenders

    Sunday Morning's swell map.
    Sunday morning’s conditions.

    February’s weather was mostly crappy, but it looked like it was getting better this morning.

    However, for various reasons I was not able to dive.

    I’m hoping to get back in the water this Friday or Saturday.

    On another note, I have been going through my vast collection of VHS tapes and digitizing the best.

    I found an old SoCal Connected episode that features the Ocean Defenders Alliance.

    Dive Bum Don and Dry Suit Greg appear in this episode.
    Dive Bum Don and Dry Suit Greg appear in this episode.
    SoCal Connected – Ocean Defenders (Circa 2010)

    As important as the Ocean Defender’s work is, it is interesting to note that the producers of this episode are obviously not SCUBA divers.

    In one part the narrator says something like, “The dive is so deep that the tanks are filled with a special mixture of Oxygen and Nitrogen.”

    And of course, for dramatic effect, Don has never been this deep before and is a bit nervous.

    This was an interesting retro-find.

    July 7, 2019

    4th Of July Long Weekend

    July 4, 2019

    I took four days off from my regular job to do a fireworks show and get some diving in.

    This is my 12th year that I helped to set up a fireworks show at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach.

    I decided many years ago to turn my teenage lust for M80’s and pipe bombs into something more productive, and legal.

    This is show business, and anything really could go wrong; in previous shows, we’ve had many ground explosions, the show wasn’t wired correctly and the grand finale went off in the middle of the show, and a couple of years ago, we had started a small brush fire that the fire department quickly put out.

    Now, the Fire Department has a map of all the addresses that surround the canyon, there are high pressure fire hoses marked with glow sticks surrounding the golf course and now they made us move further down range because of an unforgivable incident that happened last year.

    Last year, unbeknownst to us at the time, a cataclysmic incident happened.

    Apparently, a piece of mortar fell onto a homeowner’s imported Italian Marble patio and made a mark.

    The Fire Marshall
    We had a new Fire Marshall this year – if the show didn’t go perfectly, this would be the last show at Big Canyon Country Club.

    We had to move the mortars further down the fairway, more towards the middle of the golf course, where there is more distance between the mortars and the houses.

    We also had to condense the show into three smaller rows and the grand finale; the cake displays were placed closer to the audience, which meant we needed two firing boards.

    The mortars and cake displays.
    The mortars and cake displays.

    The mortar tubes are unloaded and cleaned.
    The mortar tubes are unloaded and cleaned.
    We had to figure out where to put the racks, as down the fairway was very hilly.
    We had to figure out where to put the racks, as down the fairway was very hilly.
    The problem with having the mortars so close together is that one ground explosion could blow the other mortars out of service or aim them towards the audience or houses.
    The problem with having the mortars so close together is that one ground explosion could blow the other mortars out of service or aim them towards the audience or houses.
    We were running three hours behind and had to set everything up and test the connections before the 9 pm show time.
    We were running three hours behind and had to set everything up and test the connections before the 9 pm show time.
    The Illuminati partied while we slaved away at the fireworks show.
    The Illuminati partied while we slaved away at the fireworks show.
    The firing boards sit 100 feet away from the mortars - only an extremely macho person can be trusted to fire, so I was chosen again.
    The firing boards sit 100 feet away from the mortars – only an extremely macho person can be trusted to fire, so I was chosen again.
    The audience sits up there, behind the first tee-off.
    The audience sits up there, behind the first tee-off.
    The Grand Finale.
    The Grand Finale.

    We were checking the wiring right up until 20 minutes before the show; the board has a “test” mode that verifies the connection, but doesn’t put enough juice through to set off the charge.

    I was expecting the worse, considering the new set up, but the show fired almost perfectly.

    The fireworks show as captured on my GoPro.
    The fireworks show as captured on my GoPro.

    Out of 600 plus rounds, we had three mortars that didn’t go off – that is a lot better than we ever expected.

    The new Fire Marshall was happy, too; we may get some complaints of debris due to some shifts in wind, but no fires.

    Here is the Fireworks Show from my GoPro on the firing board.

    July 7, 2019

    Now it was time to get back into the water.

    I woke up early and headed down to Terranea Resort, arriving about 7 am.

    It is Terranea's 10th year anniversary.
    It is Terranea’s 10th year anniversary.

    Terranea Resort is 10 years old now; it hasn’t been easy, but they have embraced the divers over the years, with only a few misunderstandings.

    It was low tide, but the Point looked manageable.
    It was low tide, but the Point looked manageable.
    The cove sucked, and the water looked milky.

    I called the dive, the water pretty much looked like shit.

    Maybe the recent earthquakes stirred up the ocean floor?

    For those who have been confused with where you can fish and can't fish, there is a convenient sign up right below the free parking lot.
    For those who have been confused with where you can fish and can’t fish, there is a convenient sign up right below the free parking lot.
    I ended up back in the Long Beach Ghetto to watch the women's kick ball team win the World's Cup over Holland.
    I ended up back in the Long Beach Ghetto to watch the women’s kick ball team win the World’s Cup over Holland.

    Thanks to President Trump, America just keeps winning.

    More next week, I hope.

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