kelpmermaid
Contributor
I was checking just to see if you'd post...thanks for the positive vibes. We'll see what happens...
Farnsworth Bank?
- Thread starter alaity47
- Start date
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Sure that was a leopard seal??
Dr. Bill
Dr. Bill
RichLockyer
Guest
That is one of the advantages of going on a buddy's private boat... it's always possible to go somewhere else to fish and return for a dive in a few hours.alaity47:Well, we didn't get to dive Farnsworth.The boat made it out there, but there was already a little boat with 4 freedivers anchored at the pinnacle, who didn't look like they were going anywhere soon. Bummer.
There are actually four different pinnacles that you can tie into... the 55-60ft pinnacle is a double, and probably not a good idea to have two boats on them, but a bit further out to sea there are two more that'll have you hit bottom at around 80ft and 100ft with some beautiful purple hydrocoral decorations. The 80ft peak is covered with fishing net. Both are a safe enough distance away from the primary peak and each other to be able to handle 3 boats and the divers will never see each other.
There is MUCH more to see on Farnsworth than just the 60ft peak, but getting away from that peak moves it from being an "Intermediate-Advanced" dive to a solid "Advanced", or even "Advanced-beginning tech".
OP
drbill:
Actually, I'm now sure it was NOT. My husband insisted at the dive site that it was a leopard seal (I thought it was a harbor seal), but after checking out a couple of pics I'm pretty sure I was right.
(And your skepticism just confirms it!)At any rate, it was cute.
Rich, our boat actually cruised around looking for the second-highest pinnacle for about half and hour - I guess they couldn't find it, and gave up. Oh well - turns out the flash card in our camera was hosed, so none of our pics came out for the day. I think it would have been an even bigger bummer if we'd had a bunch of Farnsworth pics on there. <g>
Did I also mention that I forgot to pack my swimsuit and wound up driving back to Glendale late Friday night? Between that, no Farnsworth, only doing 2 dives, and the camera issue, it was just NOT our weekend. But I think the amazing visibility at the two sites we DID get to dive made up for it!
Whew! Although I've never encountered them (and certainly not here), leopard seals can be quite aggressive and even dangerous. Harbor seal is much more likely.
High and dry today- no diving since I'm leaving for the mainland in 22 minutes. Sniff- the first Sunday out of the water in ages.
Dr. Bill
High and dry today- no diving since I'm leaving for the mainland in 22 minutes. Sniff- the first Sunday out of the water in ages.
Dr. Bill
rickyd
Contributor
Capt'n Tim gave me a little more info. We could have anchored at the 100' pinicle, but the DM's decided that was too deep to start the dive. Spend a few minutes there, and have to ascend in blue water up the chain. And, there were a numbers of fairly new divers in board ( that probably shouldn't have been thinking about Farnsworth anyway ).
As we were approaching the site, the private boat, all freedivers, basically spread out in front of us, and dropped a number of dive flags/floats, preventing us from getting close enough either the 60 or the 80' site. Guess they really wanted to keep us bubble makers away. There was a fishing boat that was also at the site, and they pulled anchor to give us room, but that didn't help. The real decision was how long to wait. Not much Tim could do about it ( I guess the "rules" are first come first to stay, for a long as they want). The bad part, as Tim said, was, he's just trying to earn a living; the private boat could have dropped back and let us drop anchor, and came back in, or, left and come back in an hour.
Either way, the remaining dive were nice, great weather, seas, crew and divers.
As we were approaching the site, the private boat, all freedivers, basically spread out in front of us, and dropped a number of dive flags/floats, preventing us from getting close enough either the 60 or the 80' site. Guess they really wanted to keep us bubble makers away. There was a fishing boat that was also at the site, and they pulled anchor to give us room, but that didn't help. The real decision was how long to wait. Not much Tim could do about it ( I guess the "rules" are first come first to stay, for a long as they want). The bad part, as Tim said, was, he's just trying to earn a living; the private boat could have dropped back and let us drop anchor, and came back in, or, left and come back in an hour.
Either way, the remaining dive were nice, great weather, seas, crew and divers.
RichLockyer
Guest
Tim's a good guy.
OP
Thanks for the details, Rick - and it was nice to meet you in person!
At any rate, I certainly can't fault their pick of dive sites after Farnsworth was a bust; I particularly enjoyed Pinnacle Rock. And we've always enjoyed our trips on the Great Escape.
At any rate, I certainly can't fault their pick of dive sites after Farnsworth was a bust; I particularly enjoyed Pinnacle Rock. And we've always enjoyed our trips on the Great Escape.
kelpmermaid
Contributor
I didn't end up at Farnsworth, either... but it was not a total loss. We ended up at a site I've never visited...Whale Rock. Nice! Lots of gorgonians, lots of fish...beautiful. Also had a seal and leopard shark sightings on subsequent dives...
OP
Sorry you didn't make Farnsworth, Kelpmermaid. What went wrong for you guys?
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