December 14, 2013

I have had a really bad cold for the last couple of weeks; just as I think I’m shaking it, the congestion comes back.

I didn’t want to miss such a unique event as the Dive N Surf Underwater Christmas Tree Dive and Toy Drive, so I had a hearty breakfast of water, coffee and a handful of Sudafeds.

I arrived promptly at 8 AM to a parking lot full of divers – Dive N Surf, Divevets and Pacific Wilderness were all represented, but with seemingly separate agendas.

My donations to charity.

They held the dive briefing a little late; I felt the Sudafed wearing off as I blew snot strands on the pavement.

Me with some of the hot babes of Dive N Surf.

Santa enters the water – I wonder if she knows how heavy that suit is going to be when she gets out?

I made an easy entrance, and swam to 20 feet of water before submerging.

I pinched my nose as the water pressure squeezed my eardrums.

Logged SCUBA Dive #458

Solo Diving/SoCal Buddy Diving

Veterans Park
Redondo Beach, CA, USA

In With: 2800 psi
Out With: 2100 psi
Max depth: 60 feet
Waves: Pretty damn flat
Visibility: 15-20 feet
Water Temperature: 61 degrees
Air Temperature: 64 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 20 minutes, if that

I rested in 20 feet as my ears slowly equalized.

The underwater Christmas tree that was placed earlier in the morning.

Basically, divers decorate the tree with fruit strung with hemp string before they have their picture taken with Santa Claus.

I wanted to make a quick dash down the canyon before they were ready to start taking pictures.

I went to the shelf and down… FUCK MY EARS HURT LIKE HELL!

As I was equalizing, I wondered which was going to pop first – my ears, or my eyes out of the sockets?

After a few minutes I was fine; I looked up the canyon wall and took this picture…

I noticed a drop of water pass by my view finder.

“Wow, I’m getting a lot of condensation for such warm water,” I thought.

I tilted my camera case and noticed about 1/8th of an inch of water in the case.

My camera case is leaking!

FUCK!

I shut the camera off and started up the canyon, to find out that I now got to enjoy the dizzying affects of reverse blockage.

I swam past the Christmas tree – I now had 1/4 inch of water in my case.

I surfaced and swam in, tripping on the sand step as I got out.

I handed my camera to a Divemaster, who opened the case and emptied the water.

“Sorry dude, I think your camera is screwed,” a spectator said.

Jimmy The Bagman was nice enough to run home and get some rubbing alcohol and a bag of rice.

My camera went into Emergency Dry Mode, or more commonly known as E.D.M.

Dominic, a famous ex-Divemaster made a parking lot appearance.

He hasn’t dove in 18 months and has been told to never dive again.

Dominic was run over on the freeway while helping a downed motorcyclist; he went into a comma for six weeks while a section of his skull was removed to let his brain swelling go down.

After hearing all that, I was not going to complain about my camera housing leaking.

After an hour and a half of letting my camera bake in a bag of rice on my truck’s dashboard, I attempted to power it on.

It still works!

Holy crap! My camera, is like the “AK-47” of cameras – it has been dropped several times, got rained on constantly in Poland and has now survived a partial camera housing flood!

The toys pile up.

The Fire Department arrives to pick up the toys.

They scored this year – last year, I heard was pretty lame.

A group shot of basically everyone in the parking lot.

Mirek gets all the chicks.

Oh man, I will dive anywhere this beautiful woman wants me to!

And so comes an end to another Southern California diving event!

September 28, 2013

Everyone agreed, this is a good spot!

I just need two more bugs to limit, and that’s it!

I’d be done diving for the night, and could start enjoying the crisp clean and refreshing taste of American Budweiser.

I waited for over an hour, until my computer said I could go back under.

I had taken my socks, and shoved them in the heals of my booties to make my foot longer; my fins felt secure, they weren’t going to slip off on this dive.

Off the boat and back down the anchor…

Logged SCUBA Dive #450

Solo Diving/SoCAl Buddy Diving

Secret Location: 41 73 6b 20 66 6f 72 20 54 6f 72 67 75 74 20 61 74 20 74 68 65 20 73 70 72 69 6e 67 20 73 74 6f 72 65 2e
Catalina Island, CA, USA

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 150 psi
Max depth: 83 feet
Waves: Flat
Visibility: 20 feet
Water Temperature: 62 degrees
Air Temperature: 71 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 30 minutes or so

I caught my sixth bug within five minutes, at 60 feet, after missing another pin.

I was pissed at myself; how could I miss 40% of the bugs that I grab for?

I’m either getting old, or I’m out of practice.

I went a little deeper that I thought, and after my sixth bug – first bug on this dive – it was slim pickin’s.

I think all the bugs must have been scared back home by now.

At 1000 psi, and at 80 feet, I decided to head back to the boat.

I knew what was going to happen.

It always happens when I have one bug left to limit and I’m low on air.

At 600 psi, I came across a fairly good sized bug at 55 feet, but I knew I couldn’t spend much time fighting it.

I pinned it, dropped my light, gave it a couple of karate-style chops to the carapace, before putting it into a head lock and throwing it into my bag.

OK, I have less than 400 psi now, but I see lights on the anchor line.

I swam toward it, but lost sight of the anchor.

I surfaced slowly and emerged about 20 feet from the anchor line.

My computer was in the yellow, screaming at me, and I have 300 psi left.

I swam to the anchor line, and submerged to 15 feet – I needed to do a safety stop, even if it was half-assed.

Three minutes later, I came back up, practically out of air, but my computer was in the green and I had my lobster limit!

Donna shows off her two bugs.

Me with my catch for the night.

My weigh in – Twenty pounds of lobster!

I pretend to strain, holding my bag up; in actuality, my cage fighting training has made it a simple task.

Rumor has it, in 2015, “Opening Night” is no longer going to start at midnight, but at 5 AM.

“A brilliant woman on the ‘Lobster Committee’ wants to move it to 5 AM, because there are too many problems with people getting hurt and killed when it starts at midnight,” one of the divers said.

“So, everyone will simply start earlier that evening, and you’ll have the same issues,” I said.

Liberalism is just so wonderful.

I actually, for once, got some sleep on the way back to San Pedro.

I took one of the lobsters out to drink, before heating up the boiling water at home.

Donna The Hot Biker Chick reveals one of her lobster catching secrets:

Advanced Lobster Hunting Techniques With Donna The Hot Biker Chick