After a spectacular lunch of chicken and broccoli, rice and Italian bread, the next dive spot was undetermined.

I went to the top deck of the boat and fell asleep.

The boat never started, but I was awakened by people jumping off the side.

I climbed down on to the main deck and asked one of the deck hands, “I guess this is our next spot, too?”

“Yep.”

I geared up and went over.

Logged SCUBA Dive #412

Solo Diving

“Lula” , Catalina, CA

In With: 2900 psi
Out With: 600 psi
Max depth: 72 feet
Waves: Pretty flat
Visibility: Up to 20 feet, but more like 15 feet
Water Temperature: 65 degrees, colder at depth
Air Temperature: 84 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 40 minutes or so

I went a little more North than before, and ran into the reef that I was suppose to last time.

I came across an anchor that was wedged between two rocks.

Ha! Ha! Money!

There was a chain attached to it, so I decided to see how much of a chain – I followed it, and followed it and the chain went right up to the Cee Ray.

I surfaced and told Jensen, one of the deck hands, “You know that the anchor is wedged between two rocks?”

“Yeah, we’ll get it out, we anchor here all the time.”

I continued my dive, sticking shallower.

I lost my way back to the boat, but as I was surfacing, I saw divers on the surface – more than a couple.

I assumed it was students making their way back to the boat, so I stalked them at depth, making my way back to underneath the swim step, where I waited my turn – hoping to loot any gear that may be dropped in the water upon boarding.

I wasn’t fortunate enough to get any more gear, but did make it back with no issues.

Review of the Cee Ray:

I really like the way the boat is run.

They don’t rush the gate, the boat goes some places that no other boats go to, and the food is really good – breakfast, several snacks and a gourmet lunch.

The Cee Ray’s swim step was a little awkward for me; I am used to just taking my fins off and either walking to shore or climbing up a ladder.

Their swim step rests about a foot or two underwater; so, you sort of have to flail onto the step and then climb up the ladder.

However, it’s good for students who aren’t used to the weight of SCUBA gear.

After a great day of diving, the galley sells Pacifico and New Castle – no Budweiser!

I am partially responsible for drinking their beer supply dry.

Also, I have to say, even though I don’t agree with a lot of Sports Chalet’s business practices, their Divemasters and Instructors have great personalities and are very professional.

Captain Mike runs a great dive boat – I hope to be back soon.

Speaking of coming soon…

Coming Soon!

A great video of today’s dives, plus Rescue at Sea!

The boat moved to Geiger at Catalina.

Most of Crazy Ivan’s students are now certified with that last dive – it’s now time for my reward dive.

One thing, I left my compass at home – that sucks!

I have a wrist mounted compass that I keep forgetting to bring sometimes – I’m just going to tape the damn thing to my console, like I did previously.

I came up with an ingenious way of navigating without using a compass – there was a mildly strong current that made the kelp lean in one direction.

I planned to swim against the current, turn around midway through the dive and go with the current until I reached the depth that the boat was at.

Logged SCUBA Dive #384

Geiger, Catalina, CA
Solo Diving/SoCal Buddy Diving

In With: 2600 psi
Out With:500 psi
Max depth: 40 feet
Waves: Mild chop
Visibility: 15-20 feet
Water Temperature: 65 degrees
Total Bottom Time: About 45 minutes

I grabbed my camera and jumped over – I was the first one over, as usual.

My camera started to fog up – SHIT!

I climbed back onto the swim step of the boat and asked the Dive Master for a rag.

He had no problem catering to my request – I opened the camera casing and carefully dried the inside.

I jumped back into the water, and some sort of haze now covered the inside – it looked like wipe marks…

OK, I should have dried the case out with a paper towel and had some of those “do not eats” to put in the case.

I handed the camera back up to the Dive Master and asked him to just hold it until I returned.

I descended and swam directly against the current.

Of course, I saw a Leopard Shark and was unable to take it’s picture.

I also collected an abalone shell – they make good soap dishes.

So, for 20 minutes I slowly swam up current, enjoying the interesting view of the reef structure, sheep crabs, lobsters and horn sharks.

Coming back was easy and I ascended about 20 feet away from the boat – perfect navigation without a compass!

One of the Diving Instructors brought up a horn shark egg.

It looks like a kelp bubble, but you can see the shark embryo when you hold it up to the Sun.

The egg was returned to the ocean, to hopefully hatch.

This was a nice, uneventful trip and this was the first time that I dove off the Sand Dollar.

The crew was helpful, nice, competent and the Captain has an entertaining personality.

He said during the initial introduction that, “The skiff that we tow behind the boat is for emergencies only, it’s not to pick you up after you see how far down current you can swim.”

He also elaborated on what your foot would look like if a SCUBA tank fell on it from the rack.

They fed us constantly throughout the day, and aside from one course of hotdogs (aka “Death Sticks”), the food was descent – it was standard dive boat food.

Dinner was spaghetti and meatballs.

Since this was a free trip for me, I tipped the crew well.

The only things that I didn’t like about The Sand Dollar was that their air fills only go up to 2400 psi, and their refreshments don’t include beer – but, you can bring your own.

Having been originally scheduled for the Mr. C, I did bring a six pack of Budweiser with me – it would have been a boring ride back if I didn’t at least have my traditional debrief.

I would definitely take a trip on the Sand Dollar again.

Driving home I heard on the radio that a fellow SCUBA diver died – Amy Winehouse was found dead in her apartment.

Amy Winehouse credits SCUBA diving with saving her life.

I wonder how long she had been out of the water?

I guess for a while.

I’m already hearing people speculate that it was a drug overdose – I will wait for the autopsy results.

R.I.P. – Amy Winehouse.