Secret Location: 41 20 64 65 65 70 20 72 65 65 66 20 6f 66 20 74 6f 69 6c 65 74 20 62 6f 77 6c 73 20 61 74 20 74 68 65 20 65 64 67 65 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 63 61 6e 79 6f 6e 20 6a 75 73 74 20 6f 75 74 73 69 64 65 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 53 70 61 6e 69 73 68 20 52 65 64 20 42 65 61 63 68 2e

Night Diving, Dove with Rafael from the Divevets off of the Island Diver boat

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 900 psi
Max depth: 99 feet
Waves: Sort of Challenging Chop
Visibility: 15 feet
Water Temperature: Getting cold
Total Bottom Time: 20 minutes
Lobsters caught: 1

With Dan out of commission, I took his buddy Rafael.

We did a surface interval that was at least an hour and went over each other’s equipment, hand signals and the dive plan.

I jumped overboard early because I had to take a piss; I waited for Rafael at the anchor line.

We submerged down the anchor line to 99 feet and went East to shallower areas.

Rafael stayed close by; almost too close as we bumped into each other several times.

We ran across a shrimpy lobster that Rafael caught and later threw back as being so small it was an embarrassment.

We then came by another one that Rafael grabbed and bagged – his first legal lobster!

I spotted a lobster shortly thereafter and grabbed for it before Rafael – I have always forewarned people how shitty of a buddy I am when it comes to lobster hunting.

We started heading back half way in to the dive.

I have no idea where the sound was coming from, but during the entire dive I heard a “thump-thump… thump-thump.”

Sort of like a heart beat; maybe it was Rafael’s computer?

Rafael motioned to go up; we were both following his dive profile.

We slowly swam to the surface doing our safety stop for several minutes; he didn’t seem concerned about current, but I would take the long swim if need be.

Back on the boat, the lobsters were more lucrative for the other divers than the last spot.

Bob used his scooter and expensive lights to cover a huge area and come back with a bag stuffed with lobsters.

This trip netted me three legal lobsters.

Rafael shows off his first legal sized lobster!

Bob shows off his monster bug!

What a difference equipment can make!

Secret Location: 4f 66 66 20 74 68 65 20 53 70 61 6e 69 73 68 20 52 65 64 20 42 65 61 63 68 20 74 68 65 72 65 20 6c 69 65 73 20 61 20 64 65 65 70 20 66 69 65 6c 64 20 6f 66 20 70 69 70 65 73 20 6f 66 66 20 6f 66 20 61 20 77 72 65 63 6b 20 63 61 6c 6c 65 64 20 74 68 65 20 50 61 6c 61 77 61 6e 2e

Night Diving, Solo Diving – So Cal Buddy Diving with the Divevets off of the Island Diver boat

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 900 psi
Max depth: 110 feet or so
Waves: Sort of Challenging Chop
Visibility: 20 feet
Water Temperature: Getting cold
Total Bottom Time: 20 minutes
Lobsters caught: 2

This is the last lobster boat this year.

It gets really hard to get in the water in January, so I was really gung ho for this trip.

I even purchased a better light that puts out a lot more wattage and white light.

We left dock a little after 7 PM with a full boat, the new Captain and two deck hands.

Apparently, the deckhands were just on board to observe a lobster diving trip.

I was told that the water temperature is warmer than the air.

I was the first one overboard and regardless of how cold the air was, the water was chilly enough for me to yell out “Holy shit, this water is cold!”

I went down the anchor line and planned about 12 minutes on the bottom at this depth.

I hit bottom at 110 feet and started going East.

The boat was right on a set of pipes and I trolled around the sand looking for bugs.

I was 110 feet down in cold water and I have to admit, this was probably the most narced I’ve ever been in my entire life.

It felt like a strong listless head buzz where I wasn’t exactly sure about navigation.

I kept my composure and ran across my first lobster about four minutes in to the dive; I pinned and bagged it.

I started to feel better as the time went on.

I bagged a second legal lobster and started heading up after 12 minutes.

Including the safety stop, it took me about seven minutes to break the surface.

Back on the boat, I double checked the size of my lobsters.

One of the new deck hands commented, “there is no way you could get me down there, that deep in the middle of the night… you guys are crazy.”

Not crazy, just macho.

Dan came back freezing cold after his drysuit sprung a leak; he was done for the night.

Another diver caught a lobster, everyone else got skunked.