CopyRight @ 1997
Off the West end of San Nicolas Island is miles of divable reef.
Looking at an underwater map of the area, shows perhaps 30 square miles
of rocky reefs in less than 100 feet of water. Some of this area is
boulders and rock piles, but a large part of it is flat undulating
rock. In the 70's, I heard it called "The Flats" and "The Freeway".
Back then, it was lightly visited, because most of it is around 70 or
80 feet... plus.
In the 80's, the equipment and boats were better. Many shallower,
more protected areas, were heavily dove. In the 80's, a few of the
bigger boats (say 65 feet plus), from LA, Ventura and even Santa
Barbara, started making regular visits to San Nic. It is pretty
much the same distance from LA or Ventura, say 60 miles, and it is
not all that much farther for the Truth Aquatics boats out of Santa
Barbara. They were all going for the big bugs and the best place for
that was the west end of the island at what they then called the
"Badlands".
The Peace anchored at dawn, but many divers were already awake and
suited. Some people were in lines at the gate with tank on. This was
a mid-week open boat Animals trip. It was going to be some serious
lobster hunting. There was a beautiful sunrise over the island as the
skipper, Mike Roach, slowed to meter the bottom for a likely spot. By
now, everyone was scurrying. The gate time is short and the faster you
get in the water, the more chance of getting to some good terrain
before someone else has been there. As soon as there is no one under
you, do a giant stride with your feet together. Turn over and get
down. When you hit the bottom, glance at your gauges and compass. Then
run. This is a sprint. You are likely to have more air than bottom
time. You have to cover ground to find where the bugs are going to be
for the day. Chances are that, in this area, they will not have deep
holes to hide in. Some places, there is so little cover, that any rock
you find is likely to have a bug. Big bugs are not as worried about
hiding. Especially not at this depth.
The bottom is flat rock that undulates like waves on the ocean.
These waves would be about 10 feet from crest to trough and 80 feet
from crest to crest. In many places here are fields of broken rock or
isolated boulders. There are occasional sand channels. The area is
huge, so there is lots of variation, but mostly it is just flat rock.
The rock is pinkish from the coralline algaes growing on them, but
have a golden color from a distance, from the small brown algae growing
above the rocks.
My gear at this time was assembled especially for diving this
area. That means that I had the old double aluminum 90's that I had
found, used, at ScubaDuba Dive. They were incredibly buoyant and had
11 pounds of lead bolted between them. My belt had about 35. When I
stepped off the boat, I weighed near 400 pounds. Makes for a neeto
giant stride. With these tanks on it is like swimming with a VW
strapped to your back. Do not bother to use them in shallow water.
The surge will turn you every which way. By the way, I was in
excellent shape at this time.
I was wearing leather gloves and heading from the boat as fast as
I could. I both swim and pull my way along the bottom with my hands.
The plan is to go where there isn't another diver, so move away from
the boat as fast as possible. The vis was about 60 feet and I could
see another diver heading for the same low area that I was going for.
I sprinted with both hands and feet. It's a bit like cutting someone
off on the freeway. Don't catch their eye and get there first. Well,
I got where I wanted to be, but I was fully winded. Not good at 85
feet, even with my monster tanks. I grabbed a Laminarea stalk and
relaxed long enough to force my breathing and heart to calm, as well
as letting heat dissipate. This may sound odd, but really, a dive here
is a sprint until the end of your air. With doubles, I can afford to
breathe hard. Over heating can get to be a problem.
I came to an area of broken rock, but I could see that there were
no holes large enough to have a big bug. That of course did not stop
me from scanning for smaller ones. I followed the edge of the contour
of broken rock for about a hundred feet until it turned. It didn't
look promising, so I headed out across the flat rock again. All the
time you have to look off in the haze at the end of visibility, to
find the rock pile.
If not this one, the next one. The bugs are social and so tend
to be found in groups. You might find lots of good holes, but they
are completely empty. Sometimes though, it seems that bugs choose
their daytime holes, by committee. You may find a dozen holes that
could hide a hundred bugs, but then you find the bugs crowded into
a small hole that cannot really protect them.
Continuing over the rock, above a small crack, I came to some
legs. Damn, another diver has been here already and from the looks of
it, they found 2 bugs in the open. One of which was about a 7 pounder.
Turn 90 degrees and look for the next terrain. It's a dead cinch
that there is nothing left down here. Almost always you are moving
away from the boat. Then, cool, there is an isolated flat rock the
size of a table, sticking 2 feet off the bottom and antennas are
visible. Big antennas. You don't want to slow down any. That is your
best advantage. Before the lobster can react to seeing movement, you
swat at their back, behind the antennas. The first one was easily a 4
pounder and so I knew to get a tight hold on the carapace. They can
really fight by flapping their tail.
I wanted to make this fight quick and quiet, because I could see
another 2 pounder and some shorts in the hole to the side. I grabbed
at the 2 pounder and actually got it before it moved back in the hole.
It really had nowhere to go that I couldn't get to, even with my tanks
on.
I just continued moving quickly, looking for more victims. No
matter how fast and hard you are moving, it is all fascinating because
you never know what you will see appear out of the haze or what will
be in some small hole in the rock.
Well, 2 nice bugs in the bag and a definite shortage of air, even
with the doubles. I figured that I had perhaps 3 minutes to stretch my
luck. At this point, I moved off the bottom about 10 feet, to optimize
my bottom time. This is the dangerous time. As you run out of air, you
gradually move up perhaps 25 or 35 feet in the water, until you cannot
see anything on the bottom, then go vertical to the surface. If you
see anything that you want to get, you had better make a fast judgment
about safety and air. If you do see something worth grabbing, you are
going to be out of safe air by the time you get back to the bottom.
There is no time to fight a bug wedged in a hole. At perhaps 15 feet, I
made a bit of a safety stop. That was an 85 foot dive. Well before
starting my ascent, I had looked for a fairly large rock and took it
with me. Those aluminum 90's lose about 10 pounds of air when emptied.
If I plan to stop at 15 feet without making like a cork, I had better
take something heavy from the bottom. Being out in the current, I knew
that I was unlikely to be anywhere near the boat, but I kept looking up
for a reflection that might show its direction if I'm near.
No such luck. I came up way out from the boat and I could tell
that I was way down current. This is going to be a long tough swim. I
could wait for all the divers to get back on the boat and get a
pickup, but I usually just swam back. I turned around to look for
anyone else that might be able to share the embarrassment and there
was the current line float not 70 feet away. Good and bad. It was
near enough, but I was moving fast in the current and it was cross
current from me. I sprinted one last time and just grabbed it. This
is about a 1000 foot current line, just meant for the currents
on the west end of Nic. It is then time to relax before pulling my way
back up current to the boat. Well, at least I didn't seem to have
blistered my toes in my fins. The moleskin was hanging in there, but
it was only the first dive of the day.
After getting on the boat, I got my tank in line for a fill as
fast as possible. With about 30 divers using doubles and big tanks, it
is possible for a fill not to be completed until just before the next
open gate, even on the Peace. They always give good fills though and
both James and Woody were hustling to get the tanks full. Most of the
divers came back to the boat. Three had waited to be picked up. We got
them and went to find another spot. The anchor dropped. The Skipper
said that the gate was open.
Again, I was one of the first in and moving fast. The area had
more broken rock and some nice vis. The badlands are not like most
rocky reefs in California. Usually, life is thicker on any rocky reef.
Here, there are very few holes for critters to hide in. For some
reason, perhaps rough conditions, the algae is also very sparse. It's
just lots of rock.
I had found a couple of nice bugs, nothing special though. I was
traveling along a geologic contour of rock that was about a 10 foot
rise above a sand channel. The side of the contour was large broken
rocks that led up to flat unbroken rock at the top. I had gone perhaps
50 yards when I saw that the bottom contour on the other side of the
sand channel, very like the one I was following, approached to about
20 feet at the bottom, from the curve of the contour that I was
following. There were a couple of divers moving along even with the
top of the contour, inspecting the rocks below for bugs. They were
just getting to where this other contour stuck out some towards me.
What they couldn't see from their angle was that there were bugs, and
some big ones at that, in the rocks at the base of the furthest extent
of the contour they were above.
I just blasted across the distance and hit the rocks. I do mean
hit the rocks. Later I pulled barnacle pieces out of the very top of
my head, under the hood. I had moved fast, but only just got my
hand on the biggest lobster. It was pinned though. I reached my other
arm in a smaller hole from the top and forced the lobster to where
that hand could get a good grip on its back. It was going no where
now... more than I knew. The hole between the rocks at the top, was
too small to pull the bug through. I had a good grip, but he was far
from in the bag. By now the other divers were there and quite
interested as well as probably a bit annoyed. I held up the lobster
in the entrance of the hole and tried to get the lead diver to take
it from me. He looked disgusted and waited about 30 seconds to take
it. I dare say that he hated to hand it back. Because he was disgusted,
they left quickly, something they probably shouldn't have done. I hung
out and was not at all surprised a minute later when a 4 pounder walked
out. He didn't like all the excitement and had decided to leave the
party. It seemed like time for me to go as well. Nothing else was in
reach and I didn't think that I would get another volunteer like him.
I had more then half the dive to go and I just kept following
contours or moving over the reef to look for boulders. I found a
washtub sized hole with some legs in it. Later I was told that there
were four 7 pounders in it that one diver was able to grab. With these
doubles, you just go and go and go. My computer said that I was still
doing ok, but I did not really expect to do the next dive. When I came
up, it had become a beautiful sunny day after the morning overcast.
The water was a bit rough, but there was no current. I was way out
from the boat, but again the current line was just a bit towards the
boat from me. I swam towards it. Hmmm. I just wasn't covering the 50
yards to the float. It seemed to be moving away. I kept swimming. In
rough water with these tanks and a bag of bugs, that is no minor
thing. I quickly figured out that the deckhands, were reeling in the
float ahead of me as I swam for it. Huh? This is a long rough swim
that would be almost impossible if there was much of a current. I got
on the boat, a bit done, and asked what that was all about. They said
"well, we just wanted to see how good you swim". Thanks guys.
We did the same routine and picked up the stragglers in the
water. I was busy filling my wetsuit by holding the sleeve up against
the jet in the hot tub. I like hot tubs on a dive boat. I was in no
hurry as I knew that I could not make the third dive without
decompression. I would be ready for the fourth jump though.
It's great seeing what the other divers are bringing up. Wayno
had done really well and gotten near a limit of bugs up to 10 pounds.
Freddy and Jim had gotten good bags as well.
By the last dive, even I slow down a bit. I was still traveling
as far as I could, but I knew that I was going to be a bit limited on
bottom time. Also the crew gets testy if you stay down too long at the
end and make them get home too late. It is beautiful, wide open
diving. There is not to much in the way of fish to see. I found a bug
that seemed just short, but I wanted to take it to the boat to make
sure. You're not supposed to, but, well. I then found a huge abalone.
Abalone are very uncommon in this area, but when you find one it is
likely to be huge. My scratch mark said that this was a 10 incher
easy.
I went up when my computer display read "That's all there is and
there ain't no more". Watching it as I ascended, I noticed that it did
not quickly read more bottom time as I went up. It increased by about
2 minutes every 10 feet. It was saying "you're saturated". I was
thinking that I hoped it was true and that no statistical factor was
going to make me bend. I have never seemed prone to DCS, but you could
find out otherwise at any time. I made my 15 foot stop and swam to the
boat about 200 yards away. My bag felt funny as I was swimming. I
looked at it and it was open. The ab and my iron was gone. The stupid
little bug (yes, it was a short) was clutching onto the outside of the
bag. I wasn't going to say anything, but on the boat, Wayno asked me
"where's that hubcap". Apparently, we had passed. I replied that I
dropped it. "You idiot". Yah. The ab iron had been one of my high
school metal shop specials. While not my favorite, I didn't like
losing it. It was pretty trick. I could only hope that the ab was
attached to it when it fell so that it would land foot down. It would
have a better chance of survival that way. I think it did.
Pulling hand over hand along the bottom like I do, is great for
speed, but it is not the best way find big bugs. It is better to swim
perhaps 8 feet above the rocks, but I always stay lower. Actually,
from the bottom, you are more likely to see the smaller bugs. The big
bugs are often not as hidden and can be seen from farther, so the
premium for them is to cover the most ground possible, looking from
above. There is one other drawback to using hands to brachiate across
the bottom. They wear out. No matter how careful you are, the rocks
wear through the gloves and fingers. As I set my tanks down on the
deck, I could see some blood running down them. Oh well.
The rest of the divers straggled back, with only one diver
waiting for a pickup. It was Bill Magee, the owner of the boat and he
was way out there in the current, quickly drifting around the backside.
The boat started and headed towards port, away from Bill. after a few
hundred yards, it turned around and got him. Someone said that he was
floating on the surface for 73 minutes. He said that just as he was
going to head back, he had found some really good terrain. Well, I
guess he can figure that they will notice him and pick him up. Who's
going to say anything?
The game was measured and put in the live game wells. Jim had
gotten the biggest bug of the day with an 11 pounder. Gear was stowed
while near the island, before we were exposed to the south swell away
from the island and it got a bit rough. It was time for chips, a
cold cut lunch, a beer, a hottub, a shower and then a bunk for the 6
hour ride home.
It's beautiful in the evening as you pass Anacapa Island. We
passed occasional schools of porpoises and had some following the wake
of the boat. It was warm, for a diver. The sunset was beautiful colors
of red and yellow. The dusk was starry and lights shone from boats,
platforms and the mainland. Diving is the greatest fun, but it is nice
to get to the dock after a day like that.
A final note. Oversized doubles like that are a total hassle.
It's like swimming with a VW on your back. In a surge, you sway back
and forth. Try to dive after a bug down in a hole and you go bump.
You always have to be careful about hitting things. I'm a very strong
swimmer and I was in great shape at the time, but only by pulling and
swimming together, could I really get moving. And the buoyancy. They
require a lot of lead. Then when you use up the air, you better carry
a rock up or as you get near the surface, you will make like a cork,
just when you need a safety stop the most. To top it off, one time off
Nic, I made a particularly long swim back to the boat and the tendons
of my legs started spasming. Ouch!
I made a deal with Mike Roach for them after 2 seasons. They were
just a bit much. That is when I got my steel 104 cubic foot low
pressure tank. It's a real trash can. At this time, Truth Aquatics
Boats still only gave fills to 2500 psi. So only the low pressure tanks
like the 95 and the 104 could take advantage of a full tank. Now they
fill to what your tank is rated for.
A lot of the guys on the Animals trips used doubles, but mostly
double 72's. They have much more reasonable buoyancy and weight.
Later, I saw some pairs of 80 Cubic foot, 3500 psi tanks. Nice setup.
These days there are single high pressure tanks up to 140 cubic
feet an more. Their weight is low and they don't have much buoyancy
problem. I really like my 3500 psi., 100 cubic foot tank. It's a much
better way to go. Maybe I'll take the doubles some day when I want to
make a 200 foot dive. Maybe I'll use a rebreather. Maybe one day, I'll
get to use scuba that carries liquefied air in small canisters. Then I
want to swim from Anacapa Island to Santa Cruz Island, underwater..