Posted by So Cal Divin on December 14, 2003 at 13:05:31:
In Reply to: Sun. am beach dive. posted by So Cal Divin on December 12, 2003 at 20:12:47:
Sun 14th Dec. 4am Trancas Market.
640 KFI AM Saddam Hussein captured . Is this a joke. Nope. Awesome way to start a dive day. NOT!!!
Meet dive buddy at Trancas and head to Deer Creek Rd.
So far so good. Until. While gearing up dive buddy locks his keys and gear in his car.
Luckily I have AAA. 45 mins. later we're back in business. First dive with my new UK Lite Cannon and Sherwood Freedom BCD. Love them both, money well spent!
Well I cleared the surf zone no problem only to get called back in by my dive buddy. He lost his brand new mask and snorkel in the surf!
Why was it brand new? Because he lost his last set in the the same spot same time of the
morning same dive location!!
So we climb back up the berm up the stairs to my truck to get his keys.
You didn't think I was going to let him have his key's back did you? While I'm getting his keys he now notices his primary lites not working. Knocked the bulb out of the socket. Probably same time he lost his mask. So I let him use my second primary lite. Bought the Princeton Tec before my first AOW night dive. Then I saw the UK on my AOW dive. Difference is night/day.
So back to the H20.
Would you have given up by now?
No problems this time. Surf was easy, But vis was like pea soup. 0-5'
Abort, Abort.
Next we tried our luck down the road at Nicolas Canyon. Surface looked better than when I was here last time on my AOW dive easy surf.
Only hitch this time was we geared up ready to go and almost forget to feed the parking meter which stole my dollar.
I made it through the surf no problem but my buddy got pounded by 4 good sized waves! DOH!!!
100 yard swim to outside edge of kelp and dropped down. Vis a little better 10-20' Bad surge though hit right when we spotted the only bugs the whole morning. Buddy got a hold of his but wasn't a keeper. My 2 are both missing an antennae. I hate doing that. Will have to try to be more patient next time. Maybe try luring them out with my lite next time?
Some nice kelp bass, a family of big rubber lipped perch, thought I saw 2 white sea bass about the size of a cat scoot out of site. One real nice rock with white anenomes,purple starfish and urchins.
Need to practice navigation better. I'm diving with out a compass right now and was trying to use my buddies dime sized compass to navigate.
Forgot to take a heading at the surface, felt like we were going in circles. Would have been a better dive if we could have gone deeper out in the kelp and had more air.
Almost forgot. We both brought 2 tanks for 2 dives. Well we both had 1 full tank and 1 empty tank.
If I believed in GOD or fate I probably would have given up at Deer Creek. But to me even a bad day diving(no one injured) is still a good day.
I hope you enjoyed my adventure. It may take me a while to look back and laugh. For now next month I'm doing a boat dive damnit!!!
Jeff