Posted by Max Bottomtime on October 21, 2011 at 18:29:21:
We've been diving the Redondo Barge a lot lately. Between finding new nudibranchs, octopus nests and sea lion encounters it's been an exciting run. Sometimes, even fun can get boring. There are several artificial reefs near the barge made up of boulders, pier pilings and concrete blocks. One reef is within swimming distance to the barge. I decided to lay some line between the barge and the nearby reef so that we could dive the barge, but also visit the reef on the same dive. This would increase our chances at interesting animal encounters. The ocean was pretty flat today so we headed out to the barge, where we dropped a marker. We then anchored near the reef and planned to lay line between the two sites. After hoisting the colors (dive flag) we were gearing up when two private fishing boats arrived and began fishing right next to us. One even circled our float. We pulled anchor, grabbed our float and after explaining nicely to the fishermen what a dive flag was, we left for the Landing Craft instead. Conditions here were nice, with more than twenty feet visibility on the wreck. I didn't zip my drysuit all the way, so I was not only still upset about the fishermen, I was now soaked. I managed only three photos during the dive. I was looking for small, interesting subjects while Merry shot video. The only nudibranch I found was a single Spanish Shawl. Merry had encounters with five Giant Sea Bass. Two of them came right up to her face. I got back on the boat, took a hot shower and brought my drysuit home to dry inside and out. It is now cooling in the evening breeze. I guess I need to do the same.
