My apologies to my four loyal readers – I had been sick with congestion and some kind of weird lung infection for about a month; obviously, I’ve had to stay out of the water.

But, with my recovery and the first day of Summer, I had decided to get back in the water at Terranea with a barbecue afterwards.

I posted on Divevets that I would be bringing the ghetto grill and some tube steaks – yeah, times are hard for me right now.

I pulled in to the public lot at Terranea Resort to find the lot packed with cars – I have never seen anything like it.

I was lucky enough to have scored a spot – other divers had to park on the street near the old public access lot.

I geared up and started the walk to the Point with Mean Bob and the other Dennis.

An ultralight aircraft buzzed by the coast on our way down to the shore.

I don’t know what it is – I always get nervous when entering off the Point.

There’s big boulders that you have to climb over and you have to time it right so you ride a swell out; any mistake means you could get beached on a rock, or slammed against the boulders by an incoming wave.

Luckily, the swells were gentile, and I entered without issues.

However, once I swam out, I was with Reverend Al and his group – Mean Bob was nowhere to be found.

The kelp was leaning in the opposite direction of the Cove – our exit point.

I told Al that I would follow his group, but I would leave early to fight the current back, and not to worry.

We descended.

Logged SCUBA Dive #467

Dove with: Reverend Al, Chipper and others, solo the second half

Terranea Resort (a.k.a. Old Marineland)
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA

In With: 2800 psi
Out With: 500 psi
Max depth: 61 feet
Waves: Pretty calm, gentle, rolling swells
Visibility: 10 feet
Water Temperature: 72 degrees
Air Temperature: 81 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 43 minutes

Visibility sort of sucked.

A Cabezon, I think?

At 1500 psi I cut from the group and headed towards the Cove.

The highlight of my dive…

A Bat Ray!

Either this Bat Ray made the rounds, or there were many in the water at the time, but over debriefing, most divers saw at least one Bat Ray.

The light and visibility got better once I got shallower.

Something must have really been hungry to take a bite out of a Starfish!

I surfaced at 500 psi, about 150 yards from my exit.

I surface swam to the Cove.

I passed over a Sheep Crab.

Paddle Boarders

I made an easy exit to the watchful eyes of the Pacific Wilderness Dive Club.

Perfect conditions to exit!

Traditional debriefing started – announce that you are bringing a grill…

…and food starts showing up from all over the place.

Today’s group.

Tube steaks.

The buffet – Tube steaks, mustard, buns, potato chips, fruit salad, macaroni salad, pie and chocolate brownies.

Nothing like burning 800 calories beach diving to consume 1000 calories at the debriefing!

An excellent day back in the water – I am hoping this Summer will be full of diving!

I’ve been taking a mini-vacation since Wednesday.

I might as well because unless I can come up with $10,000 fast, I won’t be able to afford an out of country diving trip this year.

I fired my accountant and headed up to Leo Carrillo State Beach to camp the night with an old female friend of 20 years.

No, I didn’t do her and literally, it was a trip; we both realized how strange this world really is.

Friday, I went out to lunch with my original SCUBA Diving Instructor, Ed; I haven’t seen him since 2012, at least.

At 65, he’s taken up long distance hiking and is now planning on getting back in to SCUBA diving.

We spotted the Mr. C at Berth 55.

Saturday, I rode my bike to Lona’s City Limits Cantina for breakfast – which killed the rest of the day, since my breakfast consisted mostly of beer.

The good thing is, I woke up Sunday morning at 5 AM and told myself, “Self, you need to go diving today, you’ve been mighty lazy lately.”

I actually arrived a little before 8 AM to a pretty empty parking lot.

After checking the conditions, a total of five divers had shown up – Reverend Al, Nice Bob, Randy, Ben and another Mike.

Conditions were doable, but the visibility question remained.

My plan was to dive 120 reef; that way if visibility sucked, I could head back anytime, instead of being trapped swimming to the cove from an entry off the Point.

It was low tide, and we made an easy entry off the sandy portion of the Cove.

The cave at the beach.

We swam out and submerged.

Logged SCUBA Dive #466

Dove with Reverend Al, Nice Bob and Another Mike

Terranea Resort (a.k.a. Old Marineland)
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA

In With: 2800 psi
Out With: 700 psi
Max depth: 42 feet
Waves: A few annoying waves, good if timed right
Visibility: 10-12 feet
Water Temperature: 62 degrees, 54 degrees at depth
Air Temperature: 74 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 55 minutes

Visibility initially didn’t look that great.

Reverend Al scored a golf ball!

Visibility was spotty, better at 20 feet where there was more light…

We made an easy exit at the sandy part of the Cove.

I was surprised to see Instructor Ed at the beach, waiting for our arrival.

We saw a couple getting married…

I yelled, “Sober up and think about what you’re doing man! Don’t ruin your life!”

Someone gave me the finger; I continued walking.

Looking down at the Cove.

Today’s group of divers.

Instructor Ed and I.

We debriefed with a few beers and talked about diving, only to be interrupted occasionally by the passing motorist asking, “Are you leaving?”

We must plan a Summer diving event… ideas?