I needed a dive – it keeps my blood pressure under control, until the debriefing of course.

It rained a bit a couple of days ago, and the swell maps made the conditions look like it was going to suck; I decided to go and at least look.

It was a very small diving crew consisting of Reverend Al, Ben, Randy, Alex and myself.

I was told the Point was doable, if you timed it right; that usually means I’m going to get smashed against the rocks.

Reverend Al gave me one of his old wetsuits that didn’t have any holes in it and had never been peed in – and it actually fit!

We geared up and walked to the Point where the swells were crashing against the low tide rocks in predictable sets.

We took our time in getting out – and everyone made it without any problems.

We swam a little ways out and submerged.

Logged SCUBA Dive #491

Dove with Reverend Al, Randy, Ben and Alex

The Point, Terranea Resort, Palos Verdes, CA

In With: 2900 psi
Out With: 500 psi
Max depth: 58 feet
Waves: Some swells at the point, other surge.
Visibility: 10 feet or so
Water Temperature: 52 degrees
Air Temperature: 75 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 39 minutes

It was dark, but the 10 feet of visibility that we did have was clear.

However, for whatever reason, this is the only underwater picture that came out…

I took a lot of pictures, but only ended up with a few.

Maybe the camera wasn’t on?

I don’t think the pictures would have been spectacular anyway.

The statue at the pinnacle has a lot of growth on it now – I almost passed it, thinking it was a reef.

My new-to-me wetsuit was more buoyant than my last one, so I put some rocks in the pockets of my BCD jacket for extra weight.

It was cold; I should have worn my core warmer, too.

I followed the group until I got down to 500 psi and surfaced.

I was a hundred yards from the exit at the Cove, but the surface swim was easy.

It was low tide; coming in, I had to swim back out to take my fins off and walk in.

The rest soon followed, and all made perfect exits.

I apologized the Reverend Al for peeing in his wetsuit.

He was so disgusted that he let me keep it.

I like the sandy part of the beach now.

Debriefing was rather quick, and wrapped up by 11 AM.

Today’s crew – Randy, Ben, Alex, Reverend Al and Me.

Next week, I go on a secret non-diving two week mission.

I have been stressing out on my taxes for the last four months, and was working on the last draft of my tax return up until last Wednesday.

Somehow, my employer changed my deductions from nine plus $217 to just nine.

Also, if you send an inmate pen pal money, she does not qualify to be claimed as your dependent.

To make a long story short, I think this blog will all be about beach diving for the next year.

And, the IRS works fast!

I mailed in my return Wednesday and got a call on Saturday from someone claiming to be from the IRS.

He said that if I didn’t wire him $1,200 immediately an agent would be over to arrest me.

I asked, “Great! How much time should I ask off from work?”

His threats grew stronger before I just hung up on him.

I needed my Sunday dive.

The swell maps made the diving look iffy, but not only did I show up, I showed up 15 minutes early.

I met Reverend Al, Nice Bob, Mike and new diver to the group, Rob.

Rob has been certified since the 1980s, but hasn’t done a lot of diving recently; this was his first dive here at Terranea.

The Point looked a little rough, so we opted for the Cove.

We made an easy entrance and swam to the rocky finger for our descent.

Logged SCUBA Dive #490

Dove with Reverend Al Rob

120 Reef, Terranea Resort, Palos Verdes, CA

In With: 2900 psi
Out With: 800 psi
Max depth: 42 feet
Waves: Manageable if you timed it right.
Visibility: 10-20 feet
Water Temperature: 58 degrees
Air Temperature: 76 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 30 minutes

We spotted some kind of a strange blob.

Al collects sea shells.

Visibility was up to 20 feet in some places.

Rob had an interested habit of going through the kelp.

When we reached 1,000 psi, we signaled to Reverend Al; he started to lead us back, but Rob was very slow…

I discovered Rob’s handicap… he was trying to take some kelp back with him.

I broke him free.

We surface right on spot.

After timing the swells, we made a fairly easy exit.

Reverend Al hands out shells.

Debriefing was fairly quick today; Al was headed to the Long Beach Grand Prix and others had stuff to accomplish.