Not deterred by the rain six divers and myself headed out on the Giant Stride dive boat skippered by Jim Simmerman. We dove the Olympic II wreck first and found very good conditions on the wreck: vizibility 50+' and no current. Diver Eric brought a lobster back and spearfisher @Lolo_Renteria got a shot off but wasn't able to connect on a nice fish. By the time we surfaced from the wreck the rain had stopped and the sun was starting to poke through. Next we set our sights on the Eureka Oil Rig with a dual agenda of shooting marine life video and harvesting scallops. Conditions on the rigs were good: the upper 50' of the water column was 10' vizibility but below 50'of depth it opened up to 40' A current appeared during the safety stop which was easily managed by parking behind one of the big support legs. Those collecting scallops limited out. I had good success using a dive knife to keep the shell open while inserting a pastry knife inside to sever one side of the scallop from the shell, then remove the shell from the rig and sever the remaining side. I placed the scallop puck in a plastic container and therefore did not have to be weighted down by the shells, or clean the shells on the boat (which avoids the mess that makes.)
Most of the motor back was in sunshine, who'da thought!

• View of the Rigs From The Giant Stride 12-30-16 11:00AM

• Re: Dive Report: Open Boat Friday on the Giant Stride 12-30-16 halibug 16:15:10 01/01/17 (0)