{"id":1417,"date":"2008-09-20T23:21:27","date_gmt":"2008-09-21T06:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/?p=1417"},"modified":"2008-09-21T08:55:49","modified_gmt":"2008-09-21T15:55:49","slug":"logged-scuba-dive-303-heal-the-bay-redondo-beach-pier-clean-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/?p=1417","title":{"rendered":"Logged SCUBA Dive #303 – “Heal The Bay” Redondo Beach Pier Clean Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Redondo Pier, Redondo Beach, California<\/p>\n

Dove With TwinDuct<\/p>\n

In With: 2900 psi
\nOut With: 600 psi
\nMax depth: 60 feet
\nWaves: Six feet surge and swells at the shoreline
\nVisibility: Three feet under Redondo Pier, 15+\u00a0 feet at depth in the canyon.
\nWater Temperature: About 64 degrees
\nTotal Bottom Time: 35 minutes<\/p>\n

\"Heal<\/p>\n

This is the annual “Heal The Bay” beach clean up; the pier was closed to fishermen so divers could pick up trash underneath.<\/p>\n

\"Tony,<\/p>\n

Tony, DM for Dive N Surf,\u00a0 gives the pre-dive briefing; everyone listens carefully…<\/p>\n

“The waves are up… if you can’t lift the “trash” don’t try and bring it ashore and only wave your hand if you need help…”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The waves posed a problem for inexperienced and non-macho divers.<\/p>\n

\"You<\/p>\n

You had to time your entry and exit just right.<\/p>\n

At the shoreline, I waited for my buddy TwinDuct to gear up as I watched the other divers enter…<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Divemasters were kept busy…<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

I did something that I hadn’t done on a beach entry for quite a while – breathe off my regulator as I was entering the water and swimming through the surf zone.<\/p>\n

TwinDuct and I made it out with no problems – experience and machismo pays off.<\/p>\n

Also, I had my newly purchased “spring loaded” fin straps – they really paid off on this beach entry!<\/p>\n

I did not have to fumble at all to put my fins on, and once on, they stayed on.<\/p>\n

\"Me<\/p>\n

Me off of Redondo Pier, TwinDuct is in the background.<\/p>\n

We descended in 20 feet of water at headed 330 degrees to the pier; I sort of got off course and had to peak – I missed it, we were West of the pier, heading into the Harbor.<\/p>\n

I corrected course and we swam under the pier…<\/p>\n

\"Visibility<\/p>\n

Visibility under the pier sucked!<\/p>\n

I found a knife and a few fishing weights, but the “good stuff” I thought was already picked up.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An old pier piling underneath the current pier?<\/p>\n

We headed South and down the canyon.<\/p>\n

There were so many rotting fish, shark and bat ray corpses off the canyon…<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A rotting shark corpse… all that’s left is the head.<\/p>\n

I think these creatures got hooked by fishermen off the pier, escaped injured and swam down the shelf to die; their corpses rot and become fish (and lobster!) food.<\/p>\n

I almost got my testicles pinched off by a spider crab; thankfully I defended myself using my cage fighting abilities.<\/p>\n

At 800 psi we headed in and surfaced in 15 feet of water.<\/p>\n

We made a skillful exit in the increasingly pounding waves.<\/p>\n

\"Me<\/p>\n

Me and TwinDuct pose with our stash of trash.<\/p>\n

I found socks, a knife, beer bottles, plastic bags, coffee cup lids and an assortment of other plastic and paper crap.<\/p>\n

TwinDuct found pretty much the same, plus a bucket.<\/p>\n

We went back down to shore and watched the show…<\/p>\n

\"Dan<\/p>\n

Dan from Divevets DMed the divers body surfing back to shore.<\/p>\n

\"WAVE!<\/p>\n

WAVE! WAVE! WAVE! Watch your back!.<\/p>\n

\"Surf's<\/p>\n

Surf’s up dude!<\/p>\n

\"Why<\/p>\n

Why did they schedule an event like this when the surf was going to be so rough?<\/p>\n

\"Rough<\/p>\n

After watching the show, I saw many mistakes made by novice or inexperienced divers entering and exiting the surf.<\/p>\n

My advise for entering rough water:<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, don’t do it if you think you can’t make it!<\/p>\n

Never turn your back on the ocean!<\/p>\n

I saw many divers turn their back on the ocean when they thought they were safe, only to get slammed by a huge wave when their back was turned.<\/p>\n

Also, don’t put air in your BCD!<\/p>\n

You will float like a cork and get nailed riding a wave.<\/p>\n

When a big wave approaches, dive underneath it – don’t jump up thinking it will pass underneath you.<\/p>\n

I’ve had bad experiences myself in the “surf zone” – read about it here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Non<\/p>\n

Red shirted non-divers cleaned the beach and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The underwater trash is sorted and logged; found on this clean-up – a crutch, a fishing hoop net, fishing reels, a dildo, a lot of knives, bottles, tons of plastic garbage, a used condom and an assortment of fishing weights, to name a few.<\/p>\n

So now here comes the debriefing…<\/p>\n

\"Partying<\/p>\n

Partying in the parking lot is the Divevets’ forte.<\/p>\n

\"Party<\/p>\n

We exchanged diving stories and corrupted newly indoctrinated divers as Cyber The Attack Dog puts his ear to the ground, listening for approaching police cars.<\/p>\n

Another great day of diving for public service!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Redondo Pier, Redondo Beach, California Dove With TwinDuct In With: 2900 psi Out With: 600 psi Max depth: 60 feet Waves: Six feet surge and swells at the shoreline Visibility: Three feet under Redondo Pier, 15+\u00a0 feet at depth in the canyon. Water Temperature: About 64 degrees Total Bottom Time: 35 minutes This is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9,3,27],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}