Posted by seahunt on August 07, 2001 at 13:29:35:
here is no doubt that it is more fun to dive the North Coast with
buddies. I've just usually never had one available. I was really glad
that you guys could make it. Eric, you were up for anything. Maybe
next time we'll be silly enough to swim all the way around the
point.
I can't believe how much I enjoy that kind of diving. I'm still wound
up from it. My energy level rises up to match the energy of the water
I'm swimming in and obviously there was a fair amount of energy out
there. Remember, stay to the north!
I really hope my pics come out too. In a little while I'll have write
ups for the trip completed.
One of the coolest things ever for me when diving was when Joe swam up
and said 'thanks, that's my first 9 incher'.
I had abalone sauted, with macadamea nuts, sashimi and in eggs with
swiss cheese and champagne. I did some of the best cooking I've
done.
Ya know Karl, I'd say you have a bit of a taste for rough water, but
that'd be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
I have to be grateful for the nice things you guys said about my skills.
I've learned from watching the ocean and from swimming in it, but my
skills really are all based on my love for the ocean, so at the risk of
being crude I'll post something from my site and I think you'll know
just what I mean.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt
***********************************************************************
I love the ocean. I guess I have some salt water in my veins.
But I like the cool waters of the northern rocky reefs the
most. They are so lush, primeval and enervating. There is
life on every surface and in every crack. Colors include
the rich golds of luminareas, the red orange pastels of
starfish and the brilliant greens of giant anemones.
What brings me there the most though are the sea mists. Not
fog, but the wispy, ghost like mists that rise near the
meetings of the water and the shore. They don't exist when
there is wind. They are there only in the
stillness.
These are not the mists of warm Southern California.
These are the mists of the cold northern waters.
You might see them above the beaches of Malibu on
a cool winter morning or at Point Conception and along
the Central Coast. You can see them at San Miguel
Island along the weathered shore of sandy coves or near
Prince Island. You might see them at Monterey, but really,
the real sea mists start on the north side of Monterey
Bay where the waters never warm and thick damp seaweeds
cover the rocks. This is where fog is more common than
sun.
Mists are there at dawn when you climb down the rocks above
the glassy, kelp filled waters.
You really get to see the mists when you have the time to relax in
a silent cove and stop to enjoy the beauty of tide pools exposed
by the low tides.
Best of all are the mists of your breath as you quietly
swim through thick seaweeds in the near shore rocks and
channels after a long dive in the cool, lush northern
waters.