LG Diver
Guest
Dive Report: Pt Lobos - Wed May 9
Dive Location: Pt Lobos, Whaler's Cove
Buddy(ies): Andrew, Chris
Bottom Time: 75
Max Depth: 71
Avg Depth: 38
Vis: 50 (at least)
Wave height: what waves?!
Temp at depth:50
Surface Temp: 55
Tide information: Low
Gas mix: 32%
Tanks: Double FX-100's
(I apologize upfront for not having pics. The digital camera died an ugly death and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet)
Andy and I carpooled down together and showed up at the gate around 8:35, and Chris arrived a few minutes later. We checked in and got to the parking lot. There were only 5-6 groups of divers- gotta love weekday diving! Ted and Dionna showed up a few minutes later. Depite the overcast sky, conditions looked amazing. The surface in the cove was flat as glass and the rangers were giving reports of 50-70 ft visibility from the prior day. From our initial walk around the hiking path, it looked like it might be that good again today. We quickly geared up, hit the water, and surface swam out as far as we could before we hit the really thick kelp. We then dropped down into the sand channel and headed north along cannery point. We turned west and soon hit Cannery Point wall, where we were greeted by a large Sheephead. We checked out the wall and continued to head west through the gap and around the point, until we saw the lone Metridium. We turned around here and headed back along the wall, where we ran into Ted and Dionna on their way out to Beto's Reef. We jumped the sand channel over to Middle reef, and after briefly exploring the northern tip of middle reef we headed back up the sand channel toward the boat ramp. Once back in the cove the vis got a bit cloudier above 40 ft. We worked our way back to about 15 ft depth, and surfaced right next to the boat ramp.
I asked Chris if I could try a valve drill (first ever), so we descended again. Trying to do my best imitation of the FifthD-x video, I checked my backup reg, shut down the right post, breathed down the primary, switched to the backup reg, and then tried to clip off the primary. After fumbling with the clip for what seemed like forever, I decided it wasn't that important and decided to continue with the drill. I switched back to the primary and, oh oh, I didn't turn the right post back on! After discovering that no air was coming out of the primary I quickly switched back to the backup and looked up to catch a truly perplexed look from Chris. Unfazed, I continued on- turned on the right post, switched back to the primary, and continued the rest of the drill. All in all a very ugly first-ever attempt. I was very pleased, however, that I could reach all my valves pretty easily, and that I was able to stay calm, recover from my misstep, and finish the drill. Chris pointed out afterwards that I was kicking around during the whole drill vs staying still, so I need to work on that.
All in all, an incredible dive. I can't wait to dive with Andy and Chris again.
Dive Location: Pt Lobos, Whaler's Cove
Buddy(ies): Andrew, Chris
Bottom Time: 75
Max Depth: 71
Avg Depth: 38
Vis: 50 (at least)
Wave height: what waves?!
Temp at depth:50
Surface Temp: 55
Tide information: Low
Gas mix: 32%
Tanks: Double FX-100's
(I apologize upfront for not having pics. The digital camera died an ugly death and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet)
Andy and I carpooled down together and showed up at the gate around 8:35, and Chris arrived a few minutes later. We checked in and got to the parking lot. There were only 5-6 groups of divers- gotta love weekday diving! Ted and Dionna showed up a few minutes later. Depite the overcast sky, conditions looked amazing. The surface in the cove was flat as glass and the rangers were giving reports of 50-70 ft visibility from the prior day. From our initial walk around the hiking path, it looked like it might be that good again today. We quickly geared up, hit the water, and surface swam out as far as we could before we hit the really thick kelp. We then dropped down into the sand channel and headed north along cannery point. We turned west and soon hit Cannery Point wall, where we were greeted by a large Sheephead. We checked out the wall and continued to head west through the gap and around the point, until we saw the lone Metridium. We turned around here and headed back along the wall, where we ran into Ted and Dionna on their way out to Beto's Reef. We jumped the sand channel over to Middle reef, and after briefly exploring the northern tip of middle reef we headed back up the sand channel toward the boat ramp. Once back in the cove the vis got a bit cloudier above 40 ft. We worked our way back to about 15 ft depth, and surfaced right next to the boat ramp.
I asked Chris if I could try a valve drill (first ever), so we descended again. Trying to do my best imitation of the FifthD-x video, I checked my backup reg, shut down the right post, breathed down the primary, switched to the backup reg, and then tried to clip off the primary. After fumbling with the clip for what seemed like forever, I decided it wasn't that important and decided to continue with the drill. I switched back to the primary and, oh oh, I didn't turn the right post back on! After discovering that no air was coming out of the primary I quickly switched back to the backup and looked up to catch a truly perplexed look from Chris. Unfazed, I continued on- turned on the right post, switched back to the primary, and continued the rest of the drill. All in all a very ugly first-ever attempt. I was very pleased, however, that I could reach all my valves pretty easily, and that I was able to stay calm, recover from my misstep, and finish the drill. Chris pointed out afterwards that I was kicking around during the whole drill vs staying still, so I need to work on that.
All in all, an incredible dive. I can't wait to dive with Andy and Chris again.
