Posted by Blitch on December 23, 2000 at 16:33:42:
Whew. I am only gone for a week and when I get back I have 80 personal
e-mails, 2900 rec.scuba posts and 500 other e-mails to go through. You
folks sure do yap a lot when you aren't diving.
And another thing, I am gone for only a week and apparently several
regulars come in to my niche in the woods to do dives/classes.
(Dennis, Kevin, you all know who you are.)
I arrive in San Jose, CA, Wednesday night to visit a friend. Called
MHK whom with the help of Terry May was going to set up everything for
me. I brought over my own (leaky) drysuit, insulation, BP, and single
tank reg. My buddy (an ex-student OW of mine) and I drive down to
Riverside area of LA to drop off a computer. We went over to MHK's
side of the city and stayed in a hotel. After a full day of traveling
(after the previous full day of traveling even) we were both
exhausted. I wasn't feeling extremely well (not surprising with the
lack of sleep and constant Southwest airline food). We woke up late
morning and hung around the Santa Monica pier for a few hours as we
waited for MHK to get off of work. For simplicity, we decided to just
have me dive doubles and use a set of single tank stuff for my buddy.
MHK has even more dive stuff in his garage than I do, and it is all
neat too!! It took very little time to fine two old first stages I
could use to set up my double system. Once ready, we headed over to
SCUBAToys to get fills and then drove to the boat. MHK was called to
work the Great Escape that weekend so we got there in plenty of time
to secure prime spots, eat dinner, and get some rest. The dive boat
has an incredible set up. We had 31 divers on the trip and I never
once felt crowded when suiting up, sleeping, or getting in/out in the
least. The boat wa very stable and the cook made breakfast, lunch, and
snacks between all the dives and ride back. I would say that this boat
definitely beats any other boat I have ever been on, including the
Miss Lindsey in Va. Beach and the Ultimate Getaway in Naples, Fl.
After we just finished (lugging every tank, reg, bag, and suitcase to
the boat (the tide was very low and it was quite a bit of work) Terry
called and said that he was just a short distance away. (Great timing
Terry!)
We headed up to the restaurant where MHK got the winks and salutations
from every waitress in the place (methinks he goes there often). Terry
shows up soon after and we immediately trade stories (Crash?),
information, and exaggerations. MHK's dive buddy Troy and his
girlfriend/wife? appear after a while. Now the odds change and I am
able to hear man of MHK's dive exploits and experiences. After a
hilarious and excellent dinner, we retire to the boat to get some well
needed rest. During the whole day, however, I had felt very run down
and slightly congested. I was determined not to let it keep me from
diving and drank copious amounts of water and juice hoping it was a
passing phase.
I woke up in the morning half way to Catalina Island feeling somewhat
better and decided to do the dives. Since MHK and I planned to go
deep, my buddy stayed up for the first dive. MHK and I were tapped to
check the anchor so after suiting up and checking gear, we hit the
water and headed down the bow line. I didn't have any problems
clearing so once we hit bottom and checked gear, we headed down the
bottom. The first thing I saw was a (told later) a Torpedo Ray. The
animal was almost comatose and didn't even move as we swam buy. I was
later told that seeing them is somewhat rare. We headed down to a max
depth of 146 (using 25/25) feet and were looking around for a while.
MHK saw and quickly grabbed a lobster and spent the rest of the dive
carrying it around like a prized toy. We meandered around the dive
site checking on other divers and their catches and pretty much
looking around. A quick 5 minute deco on 100% while hanging around the
safety stopping divers and we exited the water with about 45 minutes
of dive time. The second dive again had MHK as a guide. He took use
through kelp beds and was able to turn up sites like lemon sharks,
abalone, and conchs. We had plenty of time to play around and micro
dive (drift very slowly looking at the fine detail). We had a max
depth of 36 feet and had a total run time of about 50 minutes. Gas
used was 25/25. On the third dive Terry volunteered to chaperon/guide
my dive team. We again were the first to hit the water and took off as
Terry seemed to know immediately where he was going. We ended up in a
huge underwater rock pile that seemed to be the perfect place for
hiding lobster (my Floridian lobster instincts were taking over).
After finding numerous hiding spots of small lobster, I ended up
helping Terry in his hunt by lighting the way for him and spotting
those that tried to break for it. The vis and stalks of kelp were
incredible. It was like liking flying through the forest moon of Endor
on a speeder among Redwood size trees. Very pretty. Terry expertly
lead us to boat where we did out safety stop as we waited for the
other divers that were already on the surface to board the boat. Dive
ended up with 62 feet max and run time of 40 minutes. I was using
25/25 again while dive buddy was on 37%. Using the double 104s, I
didn't not have to refill my tanks between any of the dives and was
able to take advantage of the known oxygen and helium content each
time instead of just planning it as air.
After we refilled out tanks back at the dive shop and switched cars
and gear, Terry, MHK, my buddy and I headed down to San Diego to set
of for Sunday's dives. We dove in the morning and afternoon on the
Blue Escape. We planned for two dives on the Yukon and then a surface
interval on land and then a single dove Yukon in the afternoon and a
kelp single dive to end the trip. Since my buddy was also starting to
feel sour, she decided to stay out the first trip, so MHK took me on a
winding tour through most of the ship and hit the high points of the
bridge, engine room, interior rooms, 'Hall of Honor' (with all it's
misspellings), etc. The wreck was OK for an artificial site, although
the cross current certainly made it for an exciting and interesting
dive. I have never gotten slammed so much INSIDE a wreck before.
Especially not several decks inside. The thing is such swiss cheese
that it is almost a wind tunnel in some spots. Just sticking a head
inside a room can get you sucked in. Once I could anticipate and read
the wreck, the traveling was almost effortless as just a single finger
pull and glide could get me moving (for the most part). On the second
dive MHK donated some of his gear to a another dive on the boat that
had an equipment failure, so I had the honor of diving with Perry
Armor after his wife decided to bow out as well. This time we
traversed the wreck from stern to bow inside with only a brief hop
outside the wreck to get past a bulkhead. We drifted back to the stern
on the outside an paused to look at the cheesy turret (the barrels
were replaced with thin tubing), smoke stack, and
bridge/communications areas.
Dive 1 90 feet 43 minutes (25/25)
Dive 2 95 feet 55 minutes (25/25)
We all had a wonderful breakfast with all the divers along with Johnny
Walker and a few of his students. (BTW, if anyone sees a line arrow on
a piece of line near the stern on the outside, it is mine. I left it
as a joke for Walker, but didn't know that he had to abort the dive
due to a problem with the student).
On the first afternoon dive, Terry, MHK, and myself took my buddy to
the wreck to allow her to check it out. After making sure she was
comfortable at the line, we swam around looking at things like the
radar, turret and bridge. We even make a quick peek inside the bridge
for a little overhead experience. She mentioned that she never felt so
safe before as if she were to spit out a reg, she would have had three
second stages in her face within 5 seconds. After she got low on air
(1000 psi) we headed back to the line and started the ascent. MHK
kindly accompanied her up so Terry and I could get a few more minutes
on the wreck. After winding through the passages for another 15-20
minutes, we headed up for a short deco stop and on to the surface.
After a short ride, we hit the last site. This was a hunt dive, and
all four of us were in search for game. MHK and Terry caught one or
two each, so not to be outdone, I tried for my own prize. Even with
the thick gloves, I could feel the spins and was just praying the
thing would not flick it's tail a few times when I had a poor grip. I
almost had one out and he flinched and took off. I was not about to
let him go and show up empty handed, so I shot out after him.
Fortunately I cornered him in a dead end and was able to finally
secure him. After a check for eggs, I swam the lobster to Terry and
gave it to him to bag. Feel that I contributed (however slightly) I
spent the rest of the time lighting the way for the other tree
hunters. We turned the dive and navigated back to the boat so as to
avoid the kelp crawl (which was soon demonstrated to us by the boat
divemaster when he ran low on air and had to surface swim back to the
boat. All in all, I got about 4.5 hours of dive time in between 7
dives.
The conditions and company just could not have been much better. Terry
and MHK were instrumental in getting everything set up and were
incredibly gracious hosts. Terry even sent me turn by turn directions
from San Jose to LA and the dive boats before I even left Florida. I
truly hope to be able to return the favor when these folks visit next.
I wholeheartedly recommend the operation of the Great Escape. Everyone
was kind, and even though there were a few screwed up gear configs on
the boat, all of us spent a good bit of time answering dozens of
questions concerning our choices in gear and gas. I was even able to
meet another recreational rec.scubian whom was a delight to talk (and
talk, and talk, and...) to. > (Just kidding!!)
I had an absolutely wonderful time and was able to get in other
highlights such as San Francisco, Alcatraz, Route 1, downtown San
Jose, etc.
MHK will be in the cave country during the first of the year, so I
plan to join him (and yes buy dinner at the steak house) for a couple
of the weekends if I can.
P.S. (In case anyone actually got this far) I will be at Ginnie
Springs tomorrow (Dec 23) for a class. If anyone is in the area, drop
buy and say hello. Look for the silver Xterra and black dive trailer.
--
Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord:
192: If I appoint someone as my consort, I will not subsequently inform her that she is being replaced by a younger, more
attractive woman.