Catalina had nice warm temps – 58 degrees and good vis 20+ feet yesterday by Emerald Bay. We had a great trip aboard the Sundiver. My first trip on their boat and since I had to get up at 3:30 to take care of the dog and husband (in that order) I didn’t go with high hopes. Anything that gets me up that early on the weekend already opens with one strike.

I got a major attitude adjustment when I got to the boat. They already had food out and we were early (5:30 – not the 6:00 boarding time). I hit a nice clean bunk in a nice clean bunk room – smelled and looked as fresh as a daisy. I got up for breakfast a while later – eggs, bacon hash browns and anything else you could think of – chicken curry for lunch chocolate cake and chocolate dipped huge strawberries- the food was out of this world. The boat was very clean and well maintained – the heads were pristine.

I was worried about the ‘wing’ that overhung the decks to put my gear on – but I had a box and stored it up front. I later realized why the deck was so empty and spacious looking- all the gear was in peoples’ bags since they didn’t have to bend over and pull their bags out to get to it. They say they have never lost one bag even in the worst of weather (I asked). A big platform in the middle is good for gearing up and even though it’s a small boat I never felt that crowded feeling I thought I would – not on deck or the galley. We were only a few short of what I thought a full load would be (we had 18).

The attention was good- they said they don’t call people numbers- they talk to you and sign you in and out by name. There was a face to face head check between dives and a couple more times throughout the day (even though we didn’t move- our choice). And though we went to only one spot and came home early (it was a training day for LA County UICC and the weather was starting to turn) the site had something different in both directions.

I forgot how nice it is to just relax and dive – no leopard sharks they had been seeing no black sea bass a diver in the group had seen there a couple weeks ago- just lots of juveniles of every species (blacksmith, sea bass, white bass, garibaldi, catalina gobi, etc,etc.)

I had an awesome trip and would do it again. Myself, Walt and a Ben (a buddy we took along) spent the trip home complaining about how living in Santa Clarita makes diving such a chore distance wise and Ben even talked about moving closer to the ocean- that’s how good the day was. Sometimes you need a day like that to restore your faith in diving- even all the way from Santa Clarita.

• Agree Walt 14:12:46 03/23/09 (0)
• Re: Nice Day At Catalina Duck 19:16:08 03/22/09 (2)
  • Reply to Duck dave 20:19:29 03/22/09 (1)
    • Re: Reply to Duck Duck 20:32:38 03/22/09 (0)
• Danced With Any Seals Lately (nt) dawhale 18:30:28 03/22/09 (1)
  • Re: Danced With Any Seals Lately (nt) Walt 14:18:37 03/23/09 (0)