It’s once again time for underwater pumpkin carving and world class debriefing!

The Divevets have to, once again, defend their title against ECO Dive Center as the best underwater pumpkin carvers.

This whole event sort of reminds me of Roller Derby from the 1970s.

Roller Derby came on after wrestling and featured the Los Angeles Thunderbirds; they would play other teams from around the country, but if you looked closely, you would notice the only thing that changed was the color of the opposing teams uniform – the opposing players were the same every week.

And guess what?

The Los Angeles Thunderbirds would win every single time; seriously, they NEVER lost!

Well, I sort of felt sorry for anyone on ECO’s dive team as they never had a chance to win the grand prize which was billed as “a trip to Belize or a beach towel, I forget which.”

It had rained for a bit the night before and earlier there was a question whether it would be too rough to enter as the waves were up.

Someone had the brilliant idea that if we couldn’t dive, we could carve our pumpkins under the running water of the beach showers.

Luckily, conditions calmed down enough to dive.

I dove with Donna The Hot Biker Chick, as she just wouldn’t feel safe diving with anyone else.

Logged Dive #374

Veterans’ Park, Redondo Beach, CA
Dove with Donna The Hot Biker Chick

In With: 2800 psi
Out With: 1500 psi
Max depth: 30 feet
Waves: Some annoying chop in the surf zone, a few big waves
Visibility: 4-10 feet
Water Temperature: 64 degrees
Total Bottom Time: About 30 minutes

It was an easy entry through the surf.

I had a small pumpkin and my camera.

Donna and I ascended and started to carve our pumpkins in 15 feet of water – We should have gone deeper as I had buoyancy problems at that depth.

I basically just cut my pumpkin in half so I could fill it with candy and money to bribe the judges.

I waited for Donna to finish her masterpiece; I even had to rescue it once, when it started to float away.

After that, we surfaced to look for bubbles of other carvers; I was trying to get video for PDP’s spectacular epic.

We found a couple more groups and I did my best to document the action – visibility sort of sucked.

Donna and I exited the water with no problems.

Debriefing followed with hamburgers, hotdogs and – since this is a public park – “apple juice in blue cups.”

I had no idea that Anheuser Busch made “apple juice.”

My scheme paid off – I won third prize for my “pumpkin candy bowl.”

The prize was a DAN first Aide kit.

Anyway, enough of the narrative because Professional Debriefer Paul has once again done an excellent job of documenting the event…

To view this video on YouTube, click here.

Staying away from psycho chick, I drank too much last night after I got back from rafting; I also had to wake up really early to go in to work for a bit.

Not feeling all that well, and having really no other place to go, I stopped by Terranea Resort for Sunday services around 7:30 AM.

We checked the conditions – the Point was really surgy and it looked like low tide with all the slimy rocks exposed.

I went to the cove where conditions looked good.

I laid down on a lounge chair at the sandy beach.

Divers made an easy entrance into the water.

The ocean makes such a relaxing sound – much more peaceful than a bat-shit crazy psycho woman.

I fell asleep.

I must have slept for almost two hours and then came to find out from Dive Bum Don that the hotel charges $25 an hour to use the lounge chairs.

I guess they will send me a bill?

Divers reported visibility was from eight to 10 feet, so things are improving.

It was Father’s Day and Dive Bum Don threw one hell of a party for both fathers and divers who can’t get laid.

It was just like the old days of debriefing, but we had to be as low key as possible.

We still got some mean looks from passersby, though.

Don had a few pictures of his father in the back of his vehicle.

Chips, dip, barbecued sausage and chicken made an excellent feast.

To my surprise, Wrinkles made an appearance.

I am going to keep extra clothes in my car so I don’t have to wear the same shirt two days in a row; yesterday’s river water kept it clean though.

Apparently, she is no longer with her boyfriend so she can start hanging out more often.

I will put her on my list of “women to hit on when I get my home back.”

A few faces that I haven’t seen for a while from Pacific Wilderness were here.

I needed to get closer to home; I left around 1 PM with the debriefing still in session.