Sea Divers Trip

Palawan, the Star of Scotland,

and the Wreck of the Avalon

July 30,2005

Story and Photos © Elaine Jobin, may not be reproduced in part or in whole without advanced written permission.

I left early Saturday morning for the Sea Diver trip on the Sea Bass out of the 22nd Street Landing in San Pedro. We were going to the Palawan, the Star of Scotland, and the Avalon. One day, three wrecks, great itinerary.

It was good to see everybody again.

On the way out of the harbor the crew gave us our boat and dive briefing. We needed to have whistles and safety sausages. The Sea Bass is the only Southern California dive boat that will provide you with loaners if you don't have your own. This was also the time that our tanks were filled with Nitrox if we wanted to dive on enriched air. You don't need special Nitrox tanks because of the type of fill system that the Sea Bass uses.

We anchored at our first wreck, The Palawan, off of Redondo Beach. The anchor line was placed at the mid section of the ship. As I lined up for my giant stride, the strap to my mask broke. It was an old mask. I've carried a replacement with me for a while because I knew sooner or later this was going to happen. I grabbed the new mask, added a little defogger, and went about my dive. The mask fogged so badly I could barely see anything. I could see the camera settings and controls but nothing distant. The only reason any of these photos are here is because the camera has autofocus. These are my semi blind shots of the Palawan. I shot for shapes and forms, and, they actually turned out OK. I didn't go very far from the anchor line since I could barely see.

We enjoyed the California sunshine on the way to our next dive site, The Star of Scotland in Santa Monica Bay. En route we had a brief dolphin escort and close up views of a passing cargo ship. I spent this time scrubbing my mask with toothpaste.

I opted to shoot macro and close-up at the wreck of the Star of Scotland. During the dive, my mask was still fogging badly - so much for toothpaste. Visibility was only about 10 feet so no one else could see very good either. I found many nudibranchs . Some saw the resident Giant Black Sea Bass.

Next, we were off for the Wreck of the Avalon near Palos Verdes. We had a really good hamburger lunch along the way.

At the Avalon, visibility was at least 20 feet. Kathryn let me borrow her mask, that is how I know. For the first time all day I could see. We were anchored near the wreck, but not on it. I had no clue what direction to go to get to the wreck. I stayed in the area near the boat and found some very friendly stripedfin ronquils that kept me entertained. I had the Nikonos V with a framer. I put the camera down and these fish would hop through the hoop to look at their reflection in the lens. It isn't very often that happens. On this dive, some people found the wreck and others didn't. I never got around to looking for it.

After our three great dives, we headed back to San Pedro.

The crew passed out cookies and chocolates on the way home. They gave us the royal treatment all day and we appreciated it.

When I got home, I scrubbed the new mask lenses with Ajax. It didn't scratch them and on my dives the following day, I didn't have the fogging problem.

Until next time..........