The South Shall Rise Again

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

MaxBottomtime

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
10,420
Reaction score
12,461
Location
Torrance, CA
# of dives
2500 - 4999
We sat in the marina for nearly three hours yesterday waiting for the rain to let up so we could go diving. We finally gave up and dragged ourselves back home. This morning was a crisp, clear Winter day, complete with frost on our windows.

We arrived at the marina and turned on our heater before our usual routine of setting up gear.
With the high gas prices of 2012, I've been trying to get as many dives out of a tank full as possible. Being cheap has put a lot of dives in our logbooks from Redondo Beach and the west side of Palos Verdes. I decided to splurge and re-visit the south side today.


Buchanan's Reef look decent. We could see about fifteen feet down the kelp, so we jumped in. Visibility on the reef was a little over ten feet. The vermilion rockfish must have known we were shooting macro because they were constantly in our faces. The usual assortment of nudibranchs were missing. Buchanan's is a spot where we typically find more than a dozen species each dive. Today, only a half dozen or so were out. I did find a Dendrodoris behrensi, only the third one I've found here.


NewYearsEveEve10_zpsea7aa2e9.jpg



NewYearsEveEve16_zpsb1a0b52e.jpg



NewYearsEveEve15_zpsde0de96f.jpg



NewYearsEveEve14_zps8aa9d489.jpg



NewYearsEveEve13_zpsb11b4095.jpg



NewYearsEveEve12_zps64f6cadc.jpg



NewYearsEveEve11_zps52658f21.jpg



NewYearsEveEve7_zpsec25b2f8.jpg



NewYearsEveEve8_zps5e7422fe.jpg



NewYearsEveEve6_zps411bd568.jpg



NewYearsEveEve5_zps01e570f6.jpg



NewYearsEveEve3_zps9778e624.jpg



We pushed our luck by heading back to the west side for our next dive. Although it was flat and the surface water was clear, surge and visibility of about two feet on the reef made me wish we had stayed on the south side.


Rain, rain, go away
NewYearsEveEve18_zps3a93febe.jpg



We reminded a boat full of fisherman at Pt. Vicente that the area has been closed to fishing for 364 days now. They didn't seem too happy to have their picture taken.
Poachers at Pt. Vicente
NewYearsEveEve17_zpsdaeca082.jpg



For years, I've been trying to learn to photograph as well as Kevin Lee. It's been so frustrating that I figured the only way to beat him is to eliminate him.
NewYearsEveEve19_zpscc65fb73.jpg

We hope to have better luck tomorrow...on the south side.
 
Last edited:
Nice Dendrodoris behrensi capture. Dig the Vermillion shots as well. What happened to Morro Bay?
 
Phil, you all should have been out on Catalina. We had partly cloudy skies and sunshine until mid-afternoon, but could see the clouds and rain over there on "the Big Island."
 
Nice Dendrodoris behrensi capture. Dig the Vermillion shots as well. What happened to Morro Bay?
15-18' surf. We figured they wouldn't be pushing clear water into the bay. :(

---------- Post added December 31st, 2012 at 04:34 PM ----------

Phil, you all should have been out on Catalina. We had partly cloudy skies and sunshine until mid-afternoon, but could see the clouds and rain over there on "the Big Island."
We looked at the clouds offshore and thought you were getting dumped on. I guess mid-channel was not the place to be.
 
I don't understand -- what's the problem with diving in the rain again? :)
 
We have several rivers that dump every piece of trash people throw on the ground, feces from their pets and many more wonderful treasures to find. We found an entire thirty gallon trash bag floating once. When we lifted it onto the boat, the bag broke open, spilling its cargo of used diapers and hypodermic syringes. Aside from the bacterial infections, the water gets so murky that you can't see your hand in front of your face.
 
Beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing.
 
Yuck. In that case, I understand your reluctance. Not many of our dives sites are adjacent to storm drains, thank goodness.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom