Posted by Curt Billings on June 26, 2000 at 22:19:29:
In Reply to: Catalina Chamber benefit dive posted by MHK on June 26, 2000 at 12:25:33:
For anybody that has dived So. California for a while you all know that chartered trips to Osborne do not occur to often or often enough. It is deep, the top is barely at 130' so it is a nice opportunity when a dive like this comes around. In fact, because the spot is located SW of Santa Barbara Island, weather and sea conditions can play a big part in how enjoyable the dive can be or even if you can make it there. Suffice to say, The Sea Divers trip to Osborne on the GE last Saturday was phenomenal! You could have water skied the trip out, it was lake Pacific and the vis was tropical. In fact on our 4th dive later at Santa Barbara you could make out the rocks on the bottom a 50' while standing on the boat. On Osborne Tim anchored on the edge of the high spot. There was a moderate current running, however the anchor line (rode) was near vertical. The vis opened up to 60'+ at about 90'. It is kind of a large bluff, flat on top with crevasses dropping to 180'+, who knows how much deeper, maybe the tek divers do. Purple coral was abundant and there were a few schools of bait fish. Fine tune your skills, and your gear, and make the Chamber benefit dive. It's a excellent reason to do the dive, raising money for the Chamber, a great boat to be on, and a must see spot. I understand it is limited to 30 so make a reservation early to secure a bunk and a spot. Oh by the way, there is a nice size cork in the bottom the GE from its collision with a seldom seen but often hit sea mount at Santa Barbara Island a couple of weeks earlier. The cork is in tight and the boat floats - go check out the cork sometime.