I met Crazy Ivan and Instructor John for another night of lobster hunting from the Red October.

So, basically the night ended up like this:

– I was still a little congested from my constant cold and I felt a little weak; I was going to call it, but felt better after a nap.

– Instructor John was late due to work issues, then gets a call that he has to go back to work after the dive.

– The boat wouldn’t start due to a dead battery, so we jumped it and took the emergency charger along with us.

– We started arguing about the location code that we need to fill in on our lobster report card.

“We’re going to 58,” I said.

“No they changed it, it’s 57…look,” Crazy Ivan said, as he handed me his lobster card.

“Why is your card a different color?” I asked.

“That’s because you didn’t buy this year’s license,” Instructor John said.

Crap!

If you are planning on fishing or lobster hunting this year, don’t forget to buy your 2010 fishing license, ocean enhancement stamp and lobster report card!

So now, I’m merely going on a night dive.

We started heading for the open water, but noticed a little fog rolling in.

At the breakwater, the fog was thick.

Maybe 20 feet visibility at the most; then, we heard our first blast from a fog horn.

“Well…,” John said.

“I think it’s unanimous… we’re not going,” I said.

Not finding the boat once we surfaced was almost guaranteed, plus the odds of someone hitting our boat or running us over were just as likely.

At the lip of King Harbor, we could not see Redondo Pier; we turned around and enjoyed a nice harbor cruise back.

High surf is expected through Monday, but our plan is to head out Tuesday night.

Since I have to buy this year’s fishing license and lobster card, keep your donations coming!

You can purchase CA fishing licenses online here, along with the ocean enhancement stamp.

I did not see lobster report cards offered online.

Thank you, Secret Agent James for sending me this photo.

And no, that is NOT me in the picture!

For those that are new to boating, here is how not to launch a boat…

Truck first, boat last!

Do not attempt this at home!

Yes, this is a big time FAIL!

For those with no common sense, people tend to back their boat in, or have it hoisted from a crane.

For a higher resolution of the above photo, click here.

We’ve had high surf advisories for the last few days; I haven’t heard of anyone getting in the water over the weekend.

That may be fine by me, as my hearing is just now recovering from diving while slightly congested at the Christmas Scavenger hunt last weekend.

Looking at the swell maps, all of Palos Verdes looked blown out over the weekend.

…HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM PST THIS
AFTERNOON…

A HIGH SURF ADVISORY MEANS THAT HIGH SURF WILL AFFECT BEACHES IN
THE ADVISORY AREA…PRODUCING RIP CURRENTS AND LOCALIZED BEACH
EROSION.

I’m hoping to make a New Year’s day dive on January 1st, or maybe one last 2009 lobster dive before.

However, the uncannily accurate Weather Service is predicting rain this Wednesday.