November 17, 2013

My sister is in town from Reno and I have some birthday celebrations to attend in Palos Verdes, so there’s nothing like a morning dive to combat the upcoming stress.

I arrived at 8:20 AM to find everyone almost geared up.

Apparently, Reverend Al trusted the Pacific Wilderness guys who had already checked out the conditions and went straight to gearing up

“They say it looks great,” Al said.

I hurried and geared up.

Reverend Al, Eric and myself walked to The Point, where it was really high tide with some rollers coming in.

I dawned my fins and waited for a roller to come in so I could ride it out.

I was sitting on a rock, snorkel in my mouth, when a roller swooshed in – I leaped off into the receding water, to land on my stomach, grounded on a boulder.

I looked up to see an even bigger wave coming at me.

“Oh, shit!”

It picked me up, slammed me against another rock and rolled me around until I could ride the water out.

“You picked the worst time to get in the water,” Eric said.

We swam over the pinnacle and dropped.

Logged SCUBA Dive #457

Dove With Reverend Al and Eric

Terranea Resort, Off The Point
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 600 psi
Max depth: 64 feet
Waves: Surface chop, some rollers
Visibility: 15 feet at best
Water Temperature: 61 degrees
Air Temperature: 72 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 59 minutes or so

Visibility has declined since last week, so I’ll keep the underwater photos to a minimum.

We spotted a few lobsters under the rocks – this is now a marine preserve, and I think a lot of the lobsters have moved here seeking sanctuary.

Along certain reefs, there’s an interesting “layered” structure to them.

We also noticed a lot of fish, including male Sheephead, that had disappeared before the fishing ban.

I was diving with an Aluminum 80, Reverend Al had a steal 100 – he handed me his auxiliary regulator when I was down to 600 psi, and I continued my dive, holding onto his BCD and breathing off his tank.

We surfaced just outside the cove; Al had 450 psi left.

I think a big problem is that I need some maintenance on my gear – Eric noticed I had leaks coming out of my first stage and another leak out of my console – I have to take it in for service.

There were some rollers in the cove – by far, it wasn’t the scariest exit that I’ve ever made, but it was not as easy as I was hoping.

Sunday’s Group.

My sister Kate and her friend Tina joined the debriefing.

A group shot with my siblings – Me, Professional Debriefer Paul and Non-Diver Kate.

Ever wonder why your car doesn’t get shit on by pigeons when you’re at Terranea Resort?

It’s because the Falcon Man chases then away…

The Falcon Guy.

…and his falcons.

Debriefing continued until 1 PM, with diving stories and a Pacific Wilderness rant against my Luxfer Aluminum tanks from the 1980s.

“Those things could explode and hurt or kill someone,” I was warned.

Tank replacement is on my list.

November 10, 2013

I haven’t been diving with the Sunday morning Terranea crowd since I got back from diving in Poland.

I have no valid reason for missing so many weekends, and I was thinking of excuses that I could make to not show up today.

But why?

What else would I be doing, if I didn’t go?

I could ride my bike to breakfast and have my traditional Denver Omlette and beer, which never starts out any of my productive weekend days.

I have no excuses, and not diving makes me old, so I headed to good ol’ Terranea Resort for some diving.

Local conditions have been really good these past couple of weeks, and I was surprised when only four other divers showed up – Reverend Al, Eric, Ben and a new-to-the-group diver named Jon P.

Jon has been diving here before and has 150 dives in three years – that was music to our ears, as we were confident we didn’t have to worry too much about him.

He also brought beers for afterwards, and that made him that much more cooler.

We went off the Point, and I must say it was one of the easier, low tide entrances that I could have hoped to make.

I sat on a rock, feet in the water and waited for a gentle swell to pick me up and carry me out.

The water was so clear – in some parts, the visibility must have been 30 feet.

We surface swam 100 yards out to drop on the pinacle.

Everyone had larger tanks than my Aluminum 80, so I told everyone that I would follow someone until I got low, and would take off from the group.

We descended…

Logged SCUBA Dive #456

Followed Reverend Al and Jon P./SoCal Buddy Diving

Terranea Resort, Off The Point
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA

In With: 2800 psi
Out With: 400 psi
Max depth: 62 feet
Waves: Pretty flat
Visibility: 15 to 30 feet in most places
Water Temperature: 63 degrees
Air Temperature: 74 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 35 minutes or so

We toured around the pinnacle for about ten minutes before taking a zero heading to shallower water, and a 30 heading to the cove.

We lost the other two divers, Ben and Eric.

About 25 minutes into the dive, we ran accross the other two, who were also heading back.

When I was down to 1000 psi, I split from the group.

At 500 psi, I ascended and broke the surface – I had about a 150 yard surface swim to reach the cove.

But, that didn’t really bother me, as the visibility was so good, it made for a nice snorkel home.

I made an easy exit and was the first one back; ten minutes later, the rest came ashore with no problems.

The guy who maintains the pools gave us and our equipment a ride back to the parking lot – the suggested tip is $5.

Reverend Al, Eric, Jon P, Ben and me.

Traditional debriefing ensued – beer, potato chips and some interesting conversation.

I need to start making Sunday mornings a habit again.