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2010-07-30
2010 july 16
woke up early and dad and uncle jack dropped me off at SFO.
United Airlines. meh. middle seat. short enough flight tho and uneventful which is always good.
Landed at SAN and the weather was great! F showed up about 30 minutes later and from there we took a cab to the Ramada at Point Loma where the other divers were all meeting up. Departure time for Ensenada wasn't for a few hours so we took a walk over to Point Loma Seafoods for a bit of late lunch. YUM! Good karma came into play too! As we were walking to toss away our rubbish, I took a hesitant step, looked down at my phone, and avoided some avian bombs that fell just a foot in front of me! yippee!
We still had plenty of time so took a walk towards Shelter Island along the waterfront and enjoyed the view.
Eventually headed back and then decided to have early dinner at a great resto called Old Venice. YUM! (again).
Again, walked back to the Ramada where a few of the divers were upstairs at the bar.
Eventually the coach arrived and we all loaded up for the drive to the US/Mexico border.
There we were stopped and were selected to go through the process so all the bags were unloaded and checked as well as our passports. A little less than 2 hours later we were en route to Ensenada. A few people slept while I watched Top Gear with some divers from New York :-)
Finally, we arrived. Everyone boarded the boat while the crew loaded up our luggage. Jumped into the shower and then climbed into bed while the boat rocked me to sleep.
woke up early and dad and uncle jack dropped me off at SFO.
United Airlines. meh. middle seat. short enough flight tho and uneventful which is always good.
Landed at SAN and the weather was great! F showed up about 30 minutes later and from there we took a cab to the Ramada at Point Loma where the other divers were all meeting up. Departure time for Ensenada wasn't for a few hours so we took a walk over to Point Loma Seafoods for a bit of late lunch. YUM! Good karma came into play too! As we were walking to toss away our rubbish, I took a hesitant step, looked down at my phone, and avoided some avian bombs that fell just a foot in front of me! yippee!
We still had plenty of time so took a walk towards Shelter Island along the waterfront and enjoyed the view.
Eventually headed back and then decided to have early dinner at a great resto called Old Venice. YUM! (again).
Again, walked back to the Ramada where a few of the divers were upstairs at the bar.
Eventually the coach arrived and we all loaded up for the drive to the US/Mexico border.
There we were stopped and were selected to go through the process so all the bags were unloaded and checked as well as our passports. A little less than 2 hours later we were en route to Ensenada. A few people slept while I watched Top Gear with some divers from New York :-)
Finally, we arrived. Everyone boarded the boat while the crew loaded up our luggage. Jumped into the shower and then climbed into bed while the boat rocked me to sleep.
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2010 july 17
Woke up with the waves hitting the porthole and eventually stopped near the Coronado Islands.
At North Coronado island, we all had breakfast and then geared up for the first dives of the trip and day after the meeting. The water temp was a little warmer than expected.
My diving suit is a new one. It's a ScubaPro 6.5mm semi-dry suit with hoodie and gloves. The boots I'm wearing are Aqualung and don't actually go with the suit but they worked out fine. Steel tank full at 3400 - nitrox. Unfortunately I was weighted down with an additional 14 pounds. First dive of the day felt comfortable enough. Suit works great although there's some leaking at the wrist - the interior of the suit gets wet up to my forearms. At the legs, my ankles and lower calves get wet but the middle part and back are fine as the neck and hood create a pretty nice seal. Initially the water seemed cold but it wasn't really - or else the suit is doing its job quite well! I'd be curious to know how it'd work with the proper boots.
This first dive was pretty awesome, saw a smattering of fish, but also quite a few sea lions that decided to come out to play. One swam around me quite a bit and then at one point when I was near the bottom, one swam up under me and stopped. Then while I looked at it, it started to do some barrel rolls while keeping eye contact! Fun! It seems like if you react to play with them they stick around. If you do nothing they get bored and swim away to find someone more engaging that will play with them. :-)
Second dive was pretty much the same but saw a few other things. This time though, I was having problems equalizing with my right ear. Eventually it got sorted out. Saw some sea hares and other large slugy things. Again, then sea lions came out to play.
Both dives went well enough during, but near the end I was having problems popping up too quickly around 20-25 feet. Seems the issue might be the BC - need to try and completely dump the air out of that thing, also, i'm sinking too quickly. Need to drop some weight.
For the 3rd dive of the day, the ship cruised over to some kelp beds. I skipped this dive.
Then we headed into the USA and into Shelter Island in San Diego to go through customs. After that, back to sea!
Woke up with the waves hitting the porthole and eventually stopped near the Coronado Islands.
At North Coronado island, we all had breakfast and then geared up for the first dives of the trip and day after the meeting. The water temp was a little warmer than expected.
My diving suit is a new one. It's a ScubaPro 6.5mm semi-dry suit with hoodie and gloves. The boots I'm wearing are Aqualung and don't actually go with the suit but they worked out fine. Steel tank full at 3400 - nitrox. Unfortunately I was weighted down with an additional 14 pounds. First dive of the day felt comfortable enough. Suit works great although there's some leaking at the wrist - the interior of the suit gets wet up to my forearms. At the legs, my ankles and lower calves get wet but the middle part and back are fine as the neck and hood create a pretty nice seal. Initially the water seemed cold but it wasn't really - or else the suit is doing its job quite well! I'd be curious to know how it'd work with the proper boots.
This first dive was pretty awesome, saw a smattering of fish, but also quite a few sea lions that decided to come out to play. One swam around me quite a bit and then at one point when I was near the bottom, one swam up under me and stopped. Then while I looked at it, it started to do some barrel rolls while keeping eye contact! Fun! It seems like if you react to play with them they stick around. If you do nothing they get bored and swim away to find someone more engaging that will play with them. :-)
Second dive was pretty much the same but saw a few other things. This time though, I was having problems equalizing with my right ear. Eventually it got sorted out. Saw some sea hares and other large slugy things. Again, then sea lions came out to play.
Both dives went well enough during, but near the end I was having problems popping up too quickly around 20-25 feet. Seems the issue might be the BC - need to try and completely dump the air out of that thing, also, i'm sinking too quickly. Need to drop some weight.
For the 3rd dive of the day, the ship cruised over to some kelp beds. I skipped this dive.
Then we headed into the USA and into Shelter Island in San Diego to go through customs. After that, back to sea!
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2010 july 18
Awoke this morning with internet service on my phone. Got a quick update on the MotoGP Germany results and headed up to breakfast.
Catalina Island was to our left and we cruised past Avalon and stopped by Long Point which ended up being our first dive site of the day.
I jumped back into my suit and decided to test out Sten's recommendations of last nite. He has the same semi-dry suit. He told me to jump in without any weight which I did. I was unable to even make a short descent. Meanwhile, Frank's drysuit ended up with a hole so he jumped out to fix it. I added 6 pounds to my waist and then tried again. It seemed to work better but I went down a little too quickly. Unfortunately too much current to really dial it in. Oh well, next time. Breakfast! Yum! Eggs benedict!
Right now at Goat Harbor for the 2nd dive of the day. I almost fell asleep but bell rang for dive meeting. I'm thinking about skipping this one although I should go and make another attempt at the weight issue. Feeling too lazy though. Grr. Broke a nail on my left middle finger. Craptastic. Fuck it. I go get dressed.
Almost seem to have gotten weight sorted out. 6 lbs around waist and 1000 in the tank. 4 more lbs added to the tank. then 2 more. so back at 12. originally started with 14 on the first day. maybe try again but around the waist. Third dive coming up in 30 minutes. same location. maybe i'll skip this one. we'll see. want a siesta!
Had a siesta and then went down for the 4th dive of the day near Seal Rock. Everything went much better. Saw a raw and a huge pile of spaghetti which i found out was a bunch of eggs for the California Sea Hare. Kelp forests diving is nice. Especially when the sun shines through :)
Grilled salmon for dinner tonight. YUM. Bed @ 9pm. Tomorrow headed for San Miguel.
Awoke this morning with internet service on my phone. Got a quick update on the MotoGP Germany results and headed up to breakfast.
Catalina Island was to our left and we cruised past Avalon and stopped by Long Point which ended up being our first dive site of the day.
I jumped back into my suit and decided to test out Sten's recommendations of last nite. He has the same semi-dry suit. He told me to jump in without any weight which I did. I was unable to even make a short descent. Meanwhile, Frank's drysuit ended up with a hole so he jumped out to fix it. I added 6 pounds to my waist and then tried again. It seemed to work better but I went down a little too quickly. Unfortunately too much current to really dial it in. Oh well, next time. Breakfast! Yum! Eggs benedict!
Right now at Goat Harbor for the 2nd dive of the day. I almost fell asleep but bell rang for dive meeting. I'm thinking about skipping this one although I should go and make another attempt at the weight issue. Feeling too lazy though. Grr. Broke a nail on my left middle finger. Craptastic. Fuck it. I go get dressed.
Almost seem to have gotten weight sorted out. 6 lbs around waist and 1000 in the tank. 4 more lbs added to the tank. then 2 more. so back at 12. originally started with 14 on the first day. maybe try again but around the waist. Third dive coming up in 30 minutes. same location. maybe i'll skip this one. we'll see. want a siesta!
Had a siesta and then went down for the 4th dive of the day near Seal Rock. Everything went much better. Saw a raw and a huge pile of spaghetti which i found out was a bunch of eggs for the California Sea Hare. Kelp forests diving is nice. Especially when the sun shines through :)
Grilled salmon for dinner tonight. YUM. Bed @ 9pm. Tomorrow headed for San Miguel.
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2010 july 19
Early AM rise - 06h00. Showered and then got dressed for the first breakfast and first dive briefing. Lots of sea lions on the surface got me excited to jump in regardless of the much colder temps. Off near the small beach on the island were larger seals. This time used my 1mm suit under the semi-dry. Lots of sea hares and some kelp. Star fish, urchin and a crab. Didn't run into any sea lions among the kelp though. Short dive. Got a bit cold but bearable with the suit. The double layer did end up compressing against my arms though which slowed down circulation so it was constantly in the back of my mind. Oh, and low vis. Not the best dive of the trip so far.
About to hit dive spot number two now. I think I'll take a siesta. The sun is still not shining yet. There are still sea lions popping up out of the water. It'd be great to play with them but I can't see jumping in right now.
Second dive underway. Still seem to be the same conditions only even more sea lions popping up above the surface. They seem like they are ready to play and as much as i'd like to play with them it's just too cold and i'm a bit tired. There is the option to lower the kayaks but one of the crew says it's a bit too foggy and difficult to see us if we end up going out too far so they suggested we wait until the next stop. Which is fine.
cuyler harbor. (north) to prince island. 2 dives
Ended up passing out for the 3rd and 4th dives as well. so only one dive for me today in the cold water!
Early AM rise - 06h00. Showered and then got dressed for the first breakfast and first dive briefing. Lots of sea lions on the surface got me excited to jump in regardless of the much colder temps. Off near the small beach on the island were larger seals. This time used my 1mm suit under the semi-dry. Lots of sea hares and some kelp. Star fish, urchin and a crab. Didn't run into any sea lions among the kelp though. Short dive. Got a bit cold but bearable with the suit. The double layer did end up compressing against my arms though which slowed down circulation so it was constantly in the back of my mind. Oh, and low vis. Not the best dive of the trip so far.
About to hit dive spot number two now. I think I'll take a siesta. The sun is still not shining yet. There are still sea lions popping up out of the water. It'd be great to play with them but I can't see jumping in right now.
Second dive underway. Still seem to be the same conditions only even more sea lions popping up above the surface. They seem like they are ready to play and as much as i'd like to play with them it's just too cold and i'm a bit tired. There is the option to lower the kayaks but one of the crew says it's a bit too foggy and difficult to see us if we end up going out too far so they suggested we wait until the next stop. Which is fine.
cuyler harbor. (north) to prince island. 2 dives
Ended up passing out for the 3rd and 4th dives as well. so only one dive for me today in the cold water!
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2010 july 20
Woke up early again today as we pulled into Ventura Harbor. Got to check emails but still no real internet access as far as posting things n what not. Posted a few images to the moblog but kind of halted with the video postings. Cant figure out my password for google mail dammit. Anyway, got to run ashore to chase down cigarettes at the local shop. Nice.
Now back to sea and headed to Anacapa. Hopefully the weather clears up for some better diving today!
Cathedral Bay. went down with 3300 up wit 1100. supposed to have giant bass below but didnt see any. sea hare, nudies and cucumbers. lobster shells too. sea lions were swimming along side the boat but didnt see any underwater either. temp was warmer too even tho no sun. around 65 at the surface and 61 at the bottom. only about 40 ft at most. nice enough dive. kelp is always awesome. bit of a current but not so bad near the bottom. around the kelp was more surge tho.
2nd dive a couple hundred metres away. got dressed but enormous cramping started happening so i'm skipping this one. back in bed to sit it out. grrr.
Woke up early again today as we pulled into Ventura Harbor. Got to check emails but still no real internet access as far as posting things n what not. Posted a few images to the moblog but kind of halted with the video postings. Cant figure out my password for google mail dammit. Anyway, got to run ashore to chase down cigarettes at the local shop. Nice.
Now back to sea and headed to Anacapa. Hopefully the weather clears up for some better diving today!
Cathedral Bay. went down with 3300 up wit 1100. supposed to have giant bass below but didnt see any. sea hare, nudies and cucumbers. lobster shells too. sea lions were swimming along side the boat but didnt see any underwater either. temp was warmer too even tho no sun. around 65 at the surface and 61 at the bottom. only about 40 ft at most. nice enough dive. kelp is always awesome. bit of a current but not so bad near the bottom. around the kelp was more surge tho.
2nd dive a couple hundred metres away. got dressed but enormous cramping started happening so i'm skipping this one. back in bed to sit it out. grrr.
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