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Posted by Max Bottomtime on July 14, 2011 at 15:13:50:
Chuck Tribolet was correct. The ocean had picked up a bit since yesterday, but it was still manageable. The waves were less than a foot, but the surge was persistant throughout the dive.
We began setting up our gear when Merry asked me where the cameras were. I raced back to the hotel with a feeling of disgust. Back at Monastery we set up gear and noticed another problem. I filled my high pressure 130(3442psi)at Glenn's Aquarius II dive shop at the Monterey breakwater. He looked at the tank and said high pressure. I mentioned the 3442 part. Fifteen minutes and $8 for an airfill later we were on our way. When I hooked up my reg I found that it only had 2700 psi. Grrr! We would not be able to make it all the way to Mono-Lobo Wall. We decided to swim about halfway and make our way back under the kelp.
The visibility was not as nice as it looked yesterday. We could see the sand from twenty feet above, but the horizontal vis was dark and full of broken bits of kelp. The last time I dived here there were rockfish everywhere. I think the darkness and surge kept them away, as we only found one small school of Blues and a few individual fish on the reef.
The rocks had sponges, tunicates and telia anemones that reminded me of the Northern Channel Islands. It's great to make a shore dive and see them. I had trouble getting the camera to focus in the darkness, but managed a few shots.
We're heading for home first thing tomorrow morning with hopes of beating Carmegeddon. If not for that, we would love to make another dive under the Morro Bay T-Pier. Oh well, another trip, another time.
Merry tells the Monster Berries that they can't hurt her!
I wish I had filled my tank in San Luis Obispo.
South Monastery looking very nice.
Lake Pacific yesterday
A gentle reminder of what it can be like here.
Not too bad on the outer edge of the kelp
Sea stars and orange sea cucumbers were everywhere
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