So here’s the game:

A few dozen hard boiled eggs are placed underwater within 50 yards of a buoy.

Divers dive for the eggs, which are each marked with a card suit and number; once on shore, two flop cards are drawn and the diver with the best hand wins the grand prize.

Additional prizes follow for the top five hands.

Not wanting to wait until the 10 AM start of the event, Not So New Chris and I decided to do an early dive so we could participate in the debriefing as soon as possible.

We geared up and were walking down the hill when the biggest bird shit that I have ever seen landed a few feet in front of me.

Then another one landed… I looked up and it was the Divevets throwing eggs at me from the gazebo at the top of the hill – they are always so excited to see me at one of their events.

Logged SCUBA Dive #340

Malaga Cove, Palos Verdes Estates, CA

Dove With Not So New Chris

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 1500 psi
Max depth: 18 feet
Waves: Pretty flat on the surface with a few rollers
Visibility: 5 to 10 feet in some spots but silty
Temperature: 64 degrees
Total Bottom Time: About 45 minutes

We made an uneventful beach entrance and descended…

Visibility really sucked at first.

I followed Chris.

A deadly Horn Shark waits to attack.

We ran across some of the eggs; most of them were cracked, but you could still see the card value.

Vis wasn’t too bad in some areas.

The elusive bearded clam… or maybe it is just a scallop?

Lobsters will let you pet them, knowing it’s no longer lobster season.

A starfish jiu-jitsus a rock.

We surfaced off of Malaga cove to get our bearings and plan our rocky exit.

The best visibility was in eight feet of water.

We made the rocky exit fairly safely, walking over the slippery rocks in knee deep water for a few dozen yards.

The divers participating in the event slowly appear at the debriefing area.

The outdoor stove turned out some tasty Korean ribs, hamburgers and sausages.

Instructor Ed showed up to supervise the cooking of the Korean food; he also brought beer and a Korean dish called 아주 뜨거운 고기.

Dan from Divevets tallies the poker hands and awards the prizes – SCUBA gift cards, gear and a certificate for a therapeutic massage.

Now it was time for the egg toss!

My original partner was going to be Montana’s dog; I was hoping the dog’s ability to play fetch was going to be an advantage.

However, the dog was deemed an unfair advantage, so Charlie and I paired up.

We threw the egg back and forth, taking a step back each time – the last pair standing with an unbroken egg would be the winners!

The trick with the egg toss – ignore the dog, make sure you don’t hit the Harleys parked nearby and don’t be afraid to catch the egg with your face.

Charlie and I emerge victorious!

Diving and activities done, the debriefing continues.

To acknowledge the country moving towards communism, everyone drank out of red cups.

I had to pack up early, but the debriefing continued.

Another great day of cheating death and world class debriefing has come to an end!

Logged SCUBA Dive #339

Malaga Cove, Palos Verdes Estates, CA

Dove With Reverend Al

In With: 2900 psi
Out With: 1500 psi
Max depth: 21 feet
Waves: Slight rolling waves, but pretty flat on the surface
Visibility: 5 to 10 feet in some spots but silty
Temperature: 56 degrees
Total Bottom Time: About 40 minutes

I checked out Honeymoon Cove expecting the displaced Old Marineland divers to be there, but the only one who showed up was Reverend Al.

Conditions apparently sucked all along the hill yesterday, so maybe word had gotten out?

Al and I checked Christmas Tree Cove; both Honeymoon and Christmas Tree looked descent and diveable, but the question was posed, “How much work do you want to do today?”

Both coves have long goat trails leading to the water.

Considering the trails down and the fact that Malaga Cove has more sea life, we headed over there.

Malaga Cove was pretty flat and you could see the submerged rocks in the shallows – it was a no brainer, “Let’s do the dive.”

After an uneventful entrance and surface swim, Reverend Al and I submerged in 15 feet of water.

We headed towards Flat Rock before turning around to head back for a beach exit.

A deadly horn shark off of Malaga Cove.

Reverend Al collected a perfect rock for his aquarium.

The specimen is bagged and tagged.

There were some patches of decent visibility today.

A horn shark patrols Malaga Cove.

The sunlight and the shallow depths made for an OK dive, despite the silt in the water.

As we got closer to the sandy beach, the visibility went down to only a few feet and the surge was tremendously annoying.

We ascended right by a fishing boat and made a surface swim to the beach to avoid the underwater surge.

We finally met FrankPro1 and SPKelpDiver from the Divevets’ board; they were heading in, as we were coming out.

Not So New Chris had finished his dive and was in the parking lot; he remarked, “Those horn sharks must have an awfully good night life because all of them were sleeping.”

Low key debriefing ensued for a bit.

I have my diving fill in for the next few days.