I was invited to check out the Cee Ray by Captain Mike and Mikey, the Cook – friends of a common friend.

I was told, “If you’re a regular diver, come and check out our boat for free as our guest, but don’t be afraid to tip accordingly.”

How could I refuse an offer like that?

The boat was chartered by Sports Chalet, the company that I’ve written a lot of shit about – like refusing to fill my Luxfer Aluminum tanks from 1980.

It was explained to me, as I was signing in with their Divemasters, that “They know you’re our guest, they won’t bother you and you won’t bother them…”

That’s cool, but I begged them, “Please, at least, make sure that I’m back on the boat before you pull anchor…”

The two Sports Chalet Divemasters were cool, I believe their names were Tim and Frank.

One looked like Darrell Sheets from the TV show Storage Wars; the other looked like Sheriff Frank Hammer from the movie Bonnie and Clyde.

I was given a bunk and a number; I slept, or tried to sleep, most of the way there.

There were some pretty good looking chicks on the boat; I was lucky to catch a nipple slip when one of them was getting into her wet suit.

We stopped at one place where I thought we would anchor, but then the boat pulled away and sped off to drop anchor elsewhere…

I was the first off the boat.

Logged SCUBA Dive #410

Solo Diving

Scotsman’s Reef, Catalina, CA

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 600 psi
Max depth: 58 feet
Waves: Slight chop
Visibility: Up to 30 feet
Water Temperature: 65 degrees, colder at depth
Air Temperature: 80 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 45 minutes or so

I jumped off the side, and gave the “I’m OK sign.”

I followed the reef down to 58 feet, were the sand started.

It was clear, but visibility varied.

I spotted a Giant Sea slug.

I made it back with no issues, after having found a diving pouch someone dropped.

The technical divers were coming back to the boat as Joe and I were jumping off for our second dive.

Logged SCUBA Dive #409

Notable Event: Went into mandatory decompression

Dove with Joe R.

The Palawan Wreck, Redondo Beach, CA

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 900 psi
Max depth: 126 feet
Waves: Slightly choppy
Visibility: Up to 40 feet
Water Temperature: 65 degrees, colder at depth
Air Temperature: 75 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 25 minutes or so, including deco

Joe descended, and so did I.

The technical divers were still on their deco stop coming up on the anchor chain.

I descended and sort of got twisted around; I saw divers, but not the anchor chain.

I actually surfaced to find the chain and tried again – I think Joe came up to make sure everything was OK, and all was good.

We spent about 10 minutes at the wreck; again Joe had to remind me to get back.

I would have been a lot more careful if I had been solo diving, but I relied on Joe to tell me when to leave.

By the time I got back to the anchor line, my computer was screaming that I had gone into deco – not very smart on my part.

If I needed to make an emergency swimming ascent to the surface, I might be really fucked up by the time I got to the surface.

I stopped at 50 feet for five minutes, hanging on to the anchor line, watching my Nitrogen levels decrease.

I slowly went up, stopping every 15 feet or so for a few minutes; at fifteen feet I stopped until Joe gave the thumbs up.

Joe told me on the surface, “Don’t get used to going into deco.”

Traditional debriefing on the boat, spilled over into the parking lot of King Harbor.

One of the divers is a famous video editor named Neno; I had given Professional Debriefer Paul his contact info, but Paul never called, potentially missing out on a very good video editing gig.

We also talked about someone’s brother who gets laid more than anyone else.

His secret?

He doesn’t drink, has a good job and plays the numbers game, not concentrating on any chick who gives him any resistance.

“He doesn’t drink, so he looks very healthy and doesn’t act like an asshole,” I was told.

Oh yeah, and his good job?

He’s a sperm and egg broker.

Also, another thing that was brought up was when Neno mentioned to me, the first time that I met him several months ago, he said that he was a big fan of my blog.

Well, apparently I did not show very much appreciation to him initially, but I do have one thing to explain…

I have met a lot of people personally through this blog, and all of them have been cool; however, about once every two months I do get some kind of a correspondence that could be considered a “death threat” – usually from psychos that think lobster hunting is cruel or nut jobs that.. just don’t like me.

Well, “If everyone likes you,” you are doing something wrong in life.

So, fuck the the haters.

But thanks for reading my blog!

If you ever meet me and I seem sort of unappreciative for you reading my blog, I don’t mean to be – I just want to make sure you aren’t the guy that emailed me last week, telling me he wants to cut my nuts off.

I made another lame ass video that condenses today’s events:

To view this video on YouTube, click here.