Posted by DaveJ on April 11, 2004 at 20:11:22:
Did the oil rigs on the Sea Bass yesterday. First time for both. The sea bass is a smaller boat, but very well run. Really enjoyed the crew, and the total experience. I will definately dive them again and again. I like a boat where the crew treats you as guest, not an inconvinence. We did 3 dives and were back at the dock by 1:30pm.
The rigs were amazing, I cannot remember seeing so much life at any one location here in california. The furthest rig, Eureka, had the best fish and lots of small stuff, but was definately cooler than the rest at 52-54 degrees. Vis was a bit of a disappointment, maybe 30-35', with lots of particulates in the water. I bet on a sunny day the rigs are amazing. Spent 25 minutes on the last dive playing with sea lions, being bombed over and over again. They would come right up, stare my camera in the face then jet off.
Saw 3 new nudis I've never seen before and several really large alpha male sheepshead. It's really easy to mis-judge your depth on the rigs, often I thought I was around 40, looking at my gauge would show 65. Deep inside the rig you get some strange surges, up and down vs. side to side, had a hell of a time shooting macro with my video camera. Definately not for rookie divers.
Thanks to Hollywood Divers for setting up another great trip. You guys are 3 for 3 this year.
Dave