With news that lobsters are being caught shallow, in about 50 feet, Instructor John and I set out on the faithful zodiac to liberate more bugs from their watery hell that they call life.

Before heading to King Harbor, I stopped by the Red Cross to donate enough blood to buy this year’s fishing license, ocean enhancement stamp and lobster report card – $58!

The weather was clear and the ocean was fairly calm with only very minor chop.

We anchored in 40 feet of water off of a secret location (near the end of Hawthorne Blvd.) in Palos Verdes when strange anomalies started taking place.

It was around 8 PM and it was dark, only one other boat was spotted in the distance – probably another group of lobster divers.

The running and signal lights in the zodiac suddenly shut off without explanation.

“It’s probably just some corrosion on the battery cables,” John said.

We worked for 20 minutes trying to get the lights on; there is no way we were going to leave the zodiac blacked out while we dove.

John finally said, “Go ahead and dive; if I can’t get the lights to turn on by the time you get back, it will be my turn and you can wait here with a flashlight.”

I geared up and turned my air on…

BANG! Psssssssssst!

My main high pressure regulator hose blew up!

My reserve regulator was on shore in my car to save space, but I had already checked my gear before loading it in to the boat.

I had my main regulator in for annual service three years ago and I know that hose was replaced – there’s no reason that that hose should have burst.

Luckily, it blew above water.

When a high pressure hose bursts, your tank empties very quickly and an emergency swimming ascent, alone, at night in thick kelp is something that nobody really should look forward to.

By the way, I ALWAYS dive with spare air as an emergency backup.

Was this a warning?

I said, “John go for it, I’ll DM your dive.”

“That’s OK, we’ll call the dive for tonight; I need to check these lights out,” John said.

The lights in the zodiac flickered back on!

John started the engine and pulled anchor.

We were off…

… for about 20 yards before the engine died.

We drifted around trying to get the engine to start… we had spark, we smelled gas, but the engine wouldn’t turn over.

It didn’t feel like the gas was pumping to the engine, so John removed the fuel line…

A good hard squeeze and out shot what looked like a piece of a lobster leg!

“This place is fucking haunted by some evil dead lobster spirit!” I yelled.

The engine started and we made a thankfully safe return to King Harbor.

Sometimes, nothing seems to go right on a SCUBA dive out of sheer coincidence; this is the first time I have felt as though something was telling us, “Hey assholes, leave us the fuck alone tonight!”

Still getting over a cold, I again stayed dry today.

Conditions at Old Marineland (aka Terranea Resort, Long Point) looked a little less desirable than New Year’s Day, but still decent.

Reverend Al and most of the hard core regulars were in attendance.

The divers had an easy entrance, with only minor swell chop at the shore.

Somehow, it’s more exciting to be under the water, and not standing on shore.

After about an hour, the divers headed in – all to a safe exit.

Reports were, “Not as good as New Year’s Day, but still 10 to 15 feet and pretty clear; temperature was about 54 degrees.”

Interesting to note, Terranea Resort has hired the Lomita Sheriffs to patrol the perimeter and keep the divers and fishermen exclusively on the public access spots.

So, if you’re thinking about taking the short cut to The Point, you may be dealing with the actual Sheriffs, and not Barney Fife Security.

Debriefing looked like it had the potential to be promising, but I had to leave early to try and get some things accomplished.

I believe I’m good to get back in the water and hopefully, I can start stocking up on the bugs again before the season ends.