Merry and I planned to dive on the five-mile outfall (Big Pipe) off El Segundo, then make a second dive on Hermosa Reef to visit the Giant Sea Bass. We arrived at the marina to find that someone had absconded with our bird ball. No problem, I thought to myself. We have spares. We stopped at the pumpout station and emptied the head. I forgot the cap on top of the pump. No problem. I'll get it when we come back in. We headed north, passing the cable-laying ship off Hermosa Beach. It is 8/10 of a mile north of Hermosa Artificial Reef, so the GSBs are safe.

At the Big Pipe, a slight current on the bottom swept sand between our lenses and subjects. No problem. That's what Photoshop is for. The pipe and surrounding rocks were covered with Acanthodoris lutea. These little bunnies were under rocks, on top of rocks, in the sand, and on the concrete pipe. It was difficult to find other subjects with all the orange spots everywhere.

Back onboard, Merry tore a wrist seal getting out of her suit. No problem, we have a couple of spares. I got out of my suit to find that my right calf was wet. No problem, I have a backup suit. I'll try to find the leak tomorrow.

We skipped the second dive due to the visibility and the wind waves that had come up. No problem. We can try again tomorrow. After retrieving the cap from the pumpout station we pulled back into our slip and began cleaning the boat. After turning on the shore power we had a short that fried our shore power cable. No problem. West Marine is nearby and I love spending money there. :(

I replaced the cable while Merry made a dock dive. We still had no electricity. No problem. Our local electrician lives on his boat just a few yards away from our slip. He wasn't home so I left a message for him. He hasn't returned my call yet.

For a day with no problems, I sure feel discouraged.