Veteran’s Park, Redondo Beach, CA

Solo Diving

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 600 psi
Max depth: 85 feet
Waves: Small surge with some waves to pay attention to.
Visibility: About 5-10 feet or so
Water Temperature: 53 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 40 minutes

It was a gloomy morning; but, I hadn’t been under the water since the end of lobster season several weeks ago.

Diving conditions over the last couple weeks have been reported as “cold with crappy visibility.”

Plus, I was suppose to dive the Palawan with the Divevets who were accompanying a Daily Breeze reporter – the trip I was suppose to be on was canceled due to conditions and secretly rescheduled without me.

So, I feel cheated by that group, but oh well; I guess I’ll see April 20th when the story comes out as to who they picked to go over me.

The Vet’s parking lot was sparse with divers, but I did recognize a few faces.

I geared up and was in the water around 9:45 AM.

I submerged to 20 feet and headed West, down the shelf.

Vis was 10 above the shelf, but over the shelf it got really dark and really cold.

I tried to find the “monument” or “the blocks” at 65 feet, but I couldn’t.

I still had plenty of air and was determined to find something of interest.

The first thing I did to ensure I would get some interesting pictures is take yet another self portrait …

I trolled for a bit at 85 feet or so and was looking for something besides myself to photograph.

A starfish gives Jiu Jitsu to a conch.

A crab guards the last of the squid egg sacks on the bottom of the canyon.

I fumbled with my camera for a while, trying to figure out how to turn the flash back on.

I made sure I was still paying attention to my air and bottom time; you don’t necessarily have to be hunting to be distracted.

I swam back up the shelf and almost ran in to a gigantic human eating crab that was guarding the edge of the canyon…

I slowly swam in, taking my safety stop on the “stroll.”

I dove with my newly acquired computer, but aside from the depth and temperature (given in the metric system!), it really doesn’t seem to tell me anything that the tables don’t tell me before I hit the water.

I came across a patch of loose kelp and I looked close…

Oh yeah!

Lobsters are really stupid creatures, but they’re smart enough to know when lobster season is over!

Two lobsters were hiding under kelp that was sloshing around in 20 feet of water.

These stupid creatures were smart enough to hide and survive during lobster season, but didn’t have a problem with taking a daytime walk now!

I made an easy, but cautious, exit as the surf was kicking up.

I watched a few newbies, probably students, enter through the surf…

Thankfully, no problems with their entry or my dive.

I debriefed for a little while with Budweiser and Clamato juice – an excellent breakfast beer – while I showed a student my spare air.

It feels good to get in the water again!

With lobster season now officially over, I can now take some time and try and make some money to buy new diving equipment.

Every single glove, wetsuit and boot that I have has holes in it.

So, it’s back up to the East Fork to become wealthy – and with Gold now around $1,000 a Troy ounce, all I would need is a teaspoonful of flakes to make my trip worthwhile.

I arrived in the parking lot at the end of the road at 7 AM.

I figured out how to pack my sluice, shovels, pick, pans, classifiers, cigars, lunch, beer and cleaning kit into one backpack.

I tried to recruit another person to come along, but nobody could make it – or didn’t want to come; I didn’t even consider “Mr. Know It All” from previous trips for today’s run – he’s totally out of shape and needs to rest every 100 yards for a “smoke and beer break.”

So, just like solo SCUBA diving, I went solo prospecting today.

I was fully prepared to use my martial arts abilities should anybody try and take my Gold.

I hiked for about 40 minutes up river and started to sample pan areas where the water slowed.

From what I have heard, the Gold here is very spotty; you can be working an area five feet away from someone who’s pulling out color, but end up with nothing.

I came across a huge rock in the middle of the ice cold river that looked like it had virgin gravel deposits on the down stream side.

I crossed the river in almost waist high water to get a sample.

I panned – and there were Gold flakes.

I went back and crossed with my equipment.

I packed my sandwiches a little too far below the water line – the turkey was still good, but the bread was soggy and ruined; I would have to get my lunch time carbs from my beer.

I set up my sluice box and unpacked the rest of my equipment.

Behind the big boulder is where I started to dig.

People wonder why prospectors dig behind the rock – on the opposite side of the water flow – but Gold is so heavy is collects where water slows.

The sun started to peak into the canyon.

This place is sort of desolate, so I didn’t have to worry about any chicks being offended by potential “plumber’s crack,” but I did look over my shoulder when I had to get rid of some used beer.

There was an abundance of river deposits behind that rock; I moved many buckets of heavy gravel in the four hours I was there.

It would have taken me hours to pan what my sluice box can do in a matter of minutes.

It’s cool to drink a beer, smoke a cigar and watch the heavier gravel (and hopefully Gold) get caught in the rifles as the lighter stuff flies out the end.

I ended up collecting three loads of sluice concentrate before panning it.

The most anyone can ever hope to collect here, from what I had heard, is flake and flour Gold; nuggets are very rare…

…and that’s what I got – a few flakes of Gold for four hours of digging.

Sort of sucks, but as I was hiking back I met two prospectors who had been working this area as a hobby for several years.

The best advice that both of them gave me was, “go to Sheep Mountain – it’s a six hour hike way past the Bridge To Nowhere.

“That place hasn’t been over worked like around here and they’re still finding nuggets.

“Plan on spending at least one night – and it gets cold up here at night.”

They gave me a few more really good pointers on how and where to find Gold here, but I’m getting tired of writing.

As the answer to the question, “Where do you find Gold?”

“Gold is where you find it.”