September 28, 2013

Here is is, once again – the beginning of the California Lobster Season!

“Opening Night” actually begins at midnight, so it’s really “Opening Morning” – I was on a privately chartered 10 pack diving boat, currently named Asante (Previously named The Sea Bass).

The boat is still out of San Pedro.

We left at 9 PM, for the two hour ride over to a secret spot off of Catalina Island.

Donna The Hot Biker Chick was so happy to see I was on this boat.

World famous diver Bill Holzer joined us.

The lights of the harbor got smaller, as the ride got bumpier.

Some people held on for dear life.

At about 11:30 PM, the boat stopped; we were at our secret spot.

The Captain gave the dive briefing, “We are anchored in 40 feet of water, over sand… the lobsters should be in 40 to 70 feet of water either in the sand, or around the kelp…”

We’re over sand?

“Where’s the rocks and reefs?” someone asked.

“They’re way over there…somewhere,” The Captain said.

We’re over sand and kelp?

Crap.

I jumped in, swam to the anchor line and submerged.

Logged SCUBA Dive #449

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: 500 psi
Max depth: 74 feet
Waves: Flat
Visibility: 20 feet
Water Temperature: 62 degrees
Air Temperature: 71 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 35 minutes or so

I had a hard time keeping my fins on – my last few dives were in dry suits, with bigger shoes – my spring straps were way lose, and it felt like I was going to kick them off.

I kept going, carefully… I kept thinking, this dive goes against everything that I’ve been taught for opening night; deeper than 40 feet and over sand and kelp just seemed so wrong.

At 50 feet, I spotted one!

I didn’t want to get skunked, and I thought I was lucky to even see a bug.

I went for the pin, and that fucking bug shot from underneath me, so quick, I just grabbed a hand full of sand.

At 60 feet, I spotted one, no two… wait, three bugs!

Two were legal, the third I wasn’t sure about.

I went for the pin on the largest one; it was like grabbing a Fosters Beer can!

I put the bug in the bag, looked over, and the other two were still there.

BAM!

Second lobster scored!

Within 15 minutes I collected five bugs between 60 and 70 feet – all were munching on squid egg sacks, and they sometimes didn’t give a shit about my light.

I should limited on this dive, but I missed a few good pins either due to my own stupidity, or how the lobster was positioned.

I made it back to the anchor line by following the divers who were coming down the line.

I was the first diver back.

Eric F. and Bill H. made it back shortly after; both had limited…

Man, I was afraid that I would be the only one who didn’t limit on the first dive.

How embarrassing!

As the remaining divers made it back, some were not as lucky.

A couple got skunked, others had two or three bugs.

There was one guy on the boat with a mixed gas rebreather who didn’t get anything on the first dive – I’m guessing he was too busy fucking around with his rebreather to catch any bugs.

Watermelon to wash the salt water taste away.

So, should we stay, or find a “better” place?

80-85% of all new divers quit diving shortly after their Open Water Certification (according to dive shops I frequent), and the number one complaint is, that they can’t find a diving buddy.

Nine years ago today, May 8, 2004, Dan, Roland, Terry A. and others were debriefing in the Veterans Park parking lot and came up with the idea of forming a free local diving organization that would take any diver, regardless of experience, and keep them diving – thus continually making them better divers.

Thus, The Divevets were born.

Over the last nine years, many divers have come and gone – some have moved, some have died, some got pissed off and left.

To this day, their motto still holds true – “You might get hurt, but we won’t let you drown.”

I was to bring the ghetto grill and Budweiser, the King of Beers; others were to bring meat or some kind of side dish or beverage.

I found out today, not only that Sea D Sea Dive Shop will not fill my tanks, but that they are also closing July 1, 2013.

Wow, another era in diving is coming to an end.

As far as my tank being refused a fill?

Dive N Surf sent one old Aluminum tank out for a hydro test; it passed the electro-static test and then blew up under the hydro test.

Now, pretty much all the local dive shops won’t fill any Aluminum tank that was made before 1989, when they changed the metal formulation – with Sea D Sea recently jumping on the band wagon.

So, one tank – out of the millions that were made – blows up, and now all of them are bad?!

I arrived around 6:30 PM, after buying a discount light at Sea D Sea.

The wind was blowing, the sea was choppy, but there weren’t very many big waves.

Some called the dive, some just showed up to debrief.

A diver emerged and gave a good dive report – 10 feet in the shallows, opening to 20 feet at depth.

I decided diving was the best thing to do, instead of immediate debriefing.

Chipper, Me and George geared up for another macho dive.

Carl and Chris from Detroit joined us.

The sun was setting; we all had lights.

Logged SCUBA Dive #435

Dove with Chipper, George, Chris from Detroit and Carl
Veterans Park, Redondo Beach, California, USA

In With: 2500 psi
Out With: 600 psi
Max depth: 60 feet
Waves: Manageable chop
Visibility: 10-20 feet
Water Temperature: 52 degrees
Air Temperature: 63 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 30 minutes or so

We all made it out, and descended in 25 feet of water, as we were tired of fighting the chop.

I believe Carl lead the dive – we went to the new “Monument” which is a collection of stacked cinder blocks.

I did not bring my camera, but trust me, I didn’t miss anything.

We saw crabs, small octopi, sardines, baby electric rays and lots of sand.

We all stayed together, and stopped in 20 feet of water for several minutes.

I thought, “Is this some test to see who floats to the surface first?”

With my tank getting buoyant, I had a hard time staying down at that depth; I found out later that that was our safety stop.

Chipper later said to the leader, “You know, you can still move on a safety stop?”

It was dark when we surfaced; we all made an easy exit – well, of course, we are all macho.

Making it back to my truck, I found that its bed had been converted into a barbecue and buffet table.

Many people joined in the debriefing activities – beverages of their choice, hamburgers, hotdogs, macaroni and potato salad; I ate quite well.

George was brave enough to admit that he reads this blog – I now officially have four readers!

The debriefing and celebration started to wind down around 9:30 PM.

Nobody wanted the last two hotdogs.

Someone said, “I don’t like black weenies.”

Happy anniversary Divevets!

I’m not sure why the stealth bomber is in the logo.