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.

Update – October 29, 2013

PDP’s excellent video of this event can be found here:

Underwater Pumpkin Carving Redondo Beach 2013

October 26, 2013

OK, it probably isn’t the 47th time this event has happened, but nobody has kept track – it probably is the seventh or eighth time this event has happened.

Conditions were ideal, even though it was a little overcast.

This year is the first time the Divevets, ECO Dive Center and Pacific Wilderness all competed against each other.

I just was going to be an observer – I’m tired of losing every year – and the contest is pretty much fixed so that Divevets is going to win.

Logged SCUBA Dive #453

Solo Diving/SoCal Buddy Diving

Veterans Park
Redondo Beach, CA, USA

In With: 2900 psi
Out With: 1000 psi
Max depth: 80 feet
Waves: Pretty flat
Visibility: 20 feet
Water Temperature: 64 degrees, colder at depth
Air Temperature: 70 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 25 minutes or so

I entered the water without issue, submerged in 15 feet of water, and trolled for carvers…

After I captured a few shots of pumpkin carving, I decided to head down the canyon.

I made it down to 80 feet and kept going for a bit.

I think the last “Beach Re-nourishment” project screwed up the canyon; it seems to level off for a bit at 80 feet.

I turned around and started singing to myself – the only place I can do this without annoying other people.

Well, I did pass some other divers, and when I noticed, I stopped.

When I made it back to shore, I made an easy exit.

The Punpkins Await Judging

Unlike in years past, the judges were actually adults – with Dan from Divevets as the head judge.

Dan had a big box of prizes to pick from.

I noticed the dive light that I left on the boat on the last lobster trip was in the box – I rescued it before judging began.

As you can expect, the Divevets won, ECO came in second, and Pacific Wilderness came in a distant third.

The Budweiser I brought was gone pretty quickly.

One of the participants remarked, “I was going to bring some beer, but my wife was against it.”

Really?

Here are the winners, in no particular order…

Congratulations to the winners!