For Christmas, my Father gave me 68 episodes of Sea Hunt, which I have so far gotten through six episodes.

This was one of the best Christmas gifts ever, in my entire 35 years of existence!*

It has been a weird December; it has been hit and miss, as far as the conditions have been concerned.

The weather has been warm, stormy, rainy, sunny and back again in random order.

I had looked at the online swell maps and have called dives, only to find out that conditions were divable.

I have shown up, and called it because conditions in person sucked.

Thank you Max Bottomtime for the Saturday dive report!

Conditions were reported as excellent, and that matched with the swell maps Sunday morning.

I was finally going to be back in the water again!

I arrived at Terranea Resort at 8:01 AM and met the regular dive crew as they checked out the conditions.

It was flat as a lake, and we could see the rocks on the sea floor from the cliff.

We checked the Cove and Point, and spent a lot of wasted time socializing as we discussed our dive plan.

It didn’t matter where we went, or where we exited – it was flat and clear!

We walked back to the parking lot and geared up.

Even the most non-macho diver could have made an entry from the Point.

Flat as a lake – no stress, no worry, just take your time and swim out.

Visibility was spectacular!

I made an easy entrance, and we all waited about 20 feet from the boulders for the rest.

We swam out to above Ted’s Pinnacle.

Logged SCUBA Dive #480

SoCal Buddy Diving with Blue Steel Dennis, Ben, Mike, Reverend Al, Chipper, Randy, Nice Bob and Libertarain Ted

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

In With: 2750 psi
Out With: 300 psi
Max depth: 62 feet
Waves: FLAT!
Visibility: 25-40+ feet
Water Temperature: 58 degrees
Air Temperature: 65 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 32 minutes

The Vis was great!

Chipper with his pet leopard shark.

View through the kelp.

Checking for bugs.

A Ling Cod?

It was such a wonderful dive, I was starting to get concerned that I would run out of air.

At 700 psi I surfaced to figure out where I was.

I was still very close to the Point.

Should I just surface swim to the Cove and make my traditional exit, or do a macho exit at the Point?

I AM MACHO!

I turned around, and submerged to make an exit at the Point.

Everyone else headed to the Cove.

Someone broke open some sea urchins to feed the fish.

An Uni bunch.

A lobster taunted me.

Black Opals.

I made an easy exit at the Point – I swam up, climbed on a boulder, and thought to myself, “Fuck, climbing over these boulders to get to the trail is going to suck.”

I didn’t quite exit where I wanted to, but I am macho, so it didn’t bother me.

Everyone was so relieved that I made it back.

Kingfish Beer?

Debriefing again!

Chipper said, “You know when diving is great when we only talk about diving during the debrief, instead of stupid politics and religion.”

That we did… that we did.

Group shot from left to right – Blue Steel Dennis, Ben, Mike, Reverend Al, Chipper, Randy, Nice Bob, Libertarain Ted and your truly.

More to come, stay tuned!

*Give or take 11 years.

The swell model made conditions look questionable, but there was a solid sliver of dark blue near Terranea Resort.

I picked up Instructor Ed and headed to our favorite Sunday diving location for “Sunday Services.”

We checked the Cove and Point; both were pretty flat with manageable swells.

I am tired of my camera case leaking, so I bought a cheap $56 “SnapSights!” underwater digital camera.

It’s only good to 100 feet, but I was told, “There’s no light deeper than that anyway.”

When I had complained about losing my camera to a flood, the guy at the dive shop told me, “At least you aren’t the guy that was diving the oil rigs and dropped his $8,000 camera in 700 feet of water.”

I thought to myself, “Who the hell would spend $8,000 on a camera?”

Ed went free diving at the Cove; Me, Chipper, John, Reverend Al, Dash and Eric all made an entry off the Point.

I was asked to help inflate a buddy’s BCD upon entry, but couldn’t figure it out immediately – it was a weird lever type inflator with no manual inflation option.

Again, Diving 101, make sure you know how your buddy’s equipment works.

Swimming out, we could see the rocks on the bottom – it was going to be a good dive.

There was a hell of a current going the opposite way; I teamed up with Chipper who had 2,000 psi in a 100 cubic foot tank and John who had a leaking BCD.

“If we get separated, you’re on your own,” Chipper said.

We submerged as the current pulled us away from above the pinnacle.

Logged SCUBA Dive #479

SoCal Buddy Diving with Chipper, John, Reverend Al, Dash and Eric.

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

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 500 psi
Max depth: 60 feet
Waves: Pretty flat, if you have patience.
Visibility: 10-25 feet
Water Temperature: 70 degrees
Air Temperature: 75 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 35 minutes

The kelp laid down, showing a strong current.

Chipper just took off to race to the Cove and avoid a surface swim; we followed.

Just follow the guy with the leaking BCD.

An interesting reef structure.

A lobster knows he is in sanctuary and gives us the finger.

I lost my dive buddies when I took too long to take that picture.

An anvil shaped reef.

A wedged reef.

An opal eye and a star fish.

Garibaldi photo bomb.

Fish – this cheap camera takes pretty good pictures!

I came across the pier piling in 20 feet of water – I knew I was at the Cove.

I surfaced right on target!

I was greeted at the shore by my sister Kate and her dog Mabel, who are in town from Nevada.

Traditional debriefing ensued.

It was suggested by Chipper that I should post more non-diving related posts.

I was told, “I used to like reading about your rafting and Gold prospecting, but now it’s just two or three posts a month about diving.”

Well, the rafting has been non-existent due to the water level and I have never found enough Gold to even justify the gasoline for the trip.

However, that should change soon, I hope.

But, I might start including my cage fighting and other macho things I do.

Instructor Ed, Professional Debriefer Paul, Me, Mike, Chipper, Eric, Reverend Al and Dash.

Great debriefing lasted until about noon.

I then ventured to the poor part of Palos Verdes for a family birthday celebration.

What makes this day weird?

When you grow up perceiving certain things, and then find out that what you have believed all your life is not true.

That’s what made it strange, and I am not talking about Santa Claus not being real.

There’s a storm coming in from Alaska, but I’m going to try and get on a lobster boat before Thanksgiving.

Until next time, signing off for now!