With not very many bugs deep, we decided to try a shallower spot.

If there’s no bugs, we can at least look at some nice reef structure.

After quickly warming my wet suit up at waist level with some 98.7 degree liquid, Chipper and I went down the anchor line.

Logged SCUBA Dive #367

Secret Location: 4f 66 66 20 74 68 65 20 67 61 74 65 73 20 6f 66 20 6d 61 72 20 61 6c 6d 6f 73 74 20 74 6f 20 74 68 65 20 64 6f 6d 69 6e 61 74 69 6e 67 20 77 72 65 63 6b 2e, Palos Verdes

SoCal Buddy Diving With Chipper

In With: 2900 psi
Out With: 400 psi
Max depth: 62 feet
Waves: Choppy, and getting choppier
Visibility: Maybe 20 feet
Water Temperature: About 54 degrees
Total Bottom Time: About 30 minutes

I had changed the batteries in my primary light – Wow! I could see!

I spotted a few shorts as we were heading deeper, but no bugs after passing 50 feet.

We turned around after reaching 60 feet.

It was a nice kelp and reef dive – a lot more to look at than the previous dive’s construction junk.

We came across a section of reef that was full of lobster; Chipper and I worked different sections.

I pulled out two huge ones, but upon measuring, they were short.

Chipper swam over with a lobster in each hand; I took one and measured it – short!

Chipper’s was short, too.

Low on air, I slowly surfaced.

There was one hell of a current, pushing me away from the boat.

Being super macho, and not wearing split fins, I swam against the current and made it back in about 15 minutes; Chipper followed.

Again, diver’s slowly returned, most with empty bags.

Mike C. managed to find one…

Mike C. likes the taste of freshly caught lobster.

Seven divers made it back, Jester was still in the water somewhere; we all cracked open the decompression bottles – Budweiser and…let me think?

Chipper brought some kind of tasty beer, imported from Hesperia… White Shark beer, I think?

Jester surfaced way down current; the swells were getting rougher, to the point of developing white caps.

By the time Jester made it back, he was a little pissed that we didn’t pick him up.

After a struggle to climb aboard in the tossing boat, Dan greeted him with, “So, did you have a nice swim?”

“I knew you guys were all sitting here drinking beer… I was going to signal the boat, so Divemaster Mike could practice his tired diver tow, but I didn’t want to live down the ensuing internet posts,” Jester said.

Jester came aboard with two lobsters, both caught in 50 feet.

He remeasured one, just to be sure it was OK, and it was.

Good thing, as bringing shorts on board the boat is not tolerated at all.

We started the cold, bumpy and wet ride back to King Harbor.

The enthusiasm to go out again before the season ends has really diminished.

The lobsters are out, but they’re sparse and mostly short.

Someone complained that their bug cost them $80.

I said, “It’s better than paying $80 for two night dives.”

Debriefing continued for a while in the parking lot.

Some jokes were told that would make an old church lady have a heart attack.

For some reason, the chicks gravitate towards Divemaster Mike.

Two dives, eight divers, brought in a total of six bugs – I think I’m done for this season.

With about three months of solidly horrid diving conditions and a canceled boat due to a broken prop, The Divevets were back in the water again, to hopefully liberate more lobsters before the end of the season.

The thing is, where are the lobsters?

Usually, as the storms calm down, lobsters go shallower towards the end of the season – but the weather has sucked, up until just recently.

I was loading my gear onto the boat, and as I was stepping off, the boat slightly moved and someone was standing in my crash landing spot on the dock.

I fell, one leg missed the dock, the other one hit the dock and my ass landed right on the boat’s mooring post.

I’ve been told diving is dangerous, but I didn’t know all the hazards until now.

We decided to try a secret location – a place where there’s a bunch of submerged concrete pipes.

I guess the secret is out, as there were hoop netters and a fishing boat in the immediate area.

Eight seasoned lobster liberators hit the water – Dan, Donna The Hot Biker Chick, Mike C., Jester, Mary, Chipper, Reverend Al and myself.

Logged SCUBA Dive #366

Secret Location: 54 68 65 20 66 61 72 6d 20 77 68 65 72 65 20 70 69 70 65 73 20 61 72 65 20 67 72 6f 77 6e 20 6f 66 66 20 74 68 65 20 53 70 61 6e 69 73 68 20 52 65 64 20 62 65 61 63 68 2e, Redondo Beach

SoCal Buddy Diving With Chipper

In With: 2900 psi
Out With: 200 psi
Max depth: 85 feet
Waves: Choppy
Visibility: Maybe 15 feet
Water Temperature: About 54 degrees
Total Bottom Time: About 20 minutes

We went down the anchor line and immediately hit some structure.

I checked the pipes – a few shorts and a potentially large one out of reach.

We went South; either visibility sucked, or I needed to change my light batteries.

I turned on my auxiliary light – yeah, I needed new batteries.

At 1500 psi, I motioned to Chipper that we should turn around and I swam ahead – that’s when we got separated.

Sticking to the game plan, we continued separately.

I spotted about ten shorts, no keepers.

After a short surface swim, I was the first back to the boat.

Chipper made it back after a long surface swim with one bug; he mistook my signal to turn back for pointing out a bug, which has apparently caught.

Chipper with his huge lobster – it barely fits in the picture’s frame.

The Captain pointed out, “Listen to the people on that fishing boat about 20 yards away; they sound like Cheech and Chong…”

A minute later, I saw one of their fishing poles bend down.

“Odelay homes! You got a big one!”

As he went to reel it in, the line tension dropped.

I was hoping he didn’t catch a diver.

Dan and Donna The Hot Biker Chick got skunked.

Donna practices measuring Reverend Al’s catch.

Mike C. brought up, I believe, two – the boat total for this dive as I remember was three.

Mike C. said that he ran across someone’s baited line and started pulling on it, before letting go.

Ah, ha!

That explains the vatos’ excitement.

After a discussion with the Captain, him and I believe that the lobsters have been pushed even deeper.

They’re probably at 200 to 300 feet – impossible to reach for a recreational diver, unless it’s a one way trip.

We headed towards Palos Verdes to check a spot in 50 feet.