<\/p>\nFinally, I was able to get Brother Paul (aka Professional Debriefer Paul) into the water for more of a snorkel voyage than a free dive.<\/p>\n
I offered to provide a weight belt, but he declined.<\/p>\n
“You’re going to float like a cork,” I advised him.<\/p>\n
“That’s fine by me,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Paul could barely fit into my old wet suit, and wasn’t able to put on an old pair of gloves.<\/p>\n
Terranea Resort, Palos Verdes, CA<\/p>\n
Free diving (more like snorkeling) With Brother Paul<\/p>\n
Max depth: About 15 feet
\nWaves: Lots of surface chop, tricky swells crashing on shore
\nVisibility: 10-15 feet, pretty good
\nWater Temperature: Maybe about 60 degrees
\nTotal Ocean Time: 35 minutes or so.<\/p>\n
I briefed him on the way to get out and reminded him, “Spend the least amount if time in the surf zone.”<\/p>\n
Paul made it out with no problems, but he started coughing, or gagging once outside of the surf zone.<\/p>\n
“Man, it’s really hard to breathe,” he complained.<\/p>\n
He later told me that he had the same problem at Baja Reef, 20 years ago when we worked at Marineland.<\/p>\n
The wind chop made the waves crash against us as we bobbed up and down on the surface like a couple of corks; Paul kept getting mouthfuls of water.<\/p>\n
“Don’t do that, breathe air, not water,” I advised.<\/p>\n
We swam out to 120 reef, but couldn’t see the bottom; we went shallower, towards the other side of Pigeon Shit Cave.<\/p>\n
We could see the bottom reef structures in 20 feet of water; I practiced some breath holding dives – I am out of practice and couldn’t stay down very long.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Having hung out here for years, but only on shore, this was a view of the property that he had never seen before.<\/p>\n
Coming in, I said, “You can either take your fins off and walk ashore, or crawl ashore and behind a rock – but don’t spend too much time in the surf zone.”<\/p>\n
Paul rushed his exit, hanging on to a boulder as a swell was trying to suck him back out.<\/p>\n
Another swell came in and slammed him hard against a rock; he’s probably going to have a big bruise on his chest tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Making the mistake of leaving our beer locked in Reverend Al’s cooler, Dive Bum Don gave us some Rolling Rock while we waited for Al’s crew to return.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was a typical debriefing Sunday – quiet, low key, beer drinking and grilling in the parking lot.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cyber The Attack Dog blocked part of the parking lot so nobody would run over the grill or equipment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was going to happen eventually…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Hey guys, you can’t do the barbecue thing… we don’t let our guests grill, so you can’t either,” an undercover Terranea security guard said.<\/p>\n
Someone must have complained; he also told us not to park in the hotel parking lot, but up in the public area.<\/p>\n
He didn’t act like he wanted to tell us that.<\/p>\n
Of course, Brother Paul has documented the day on Youtube:<\/p>\n