Dive report: Gerstle Cove 7/21

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Hinalo

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
597
Reaction score
10
Location
Kona, HI
# of dives
500 - 999
Team 1: Jeff and Dan
Team 2: Andy, Sue, Steve
time in: 2:20 pm
Date: 21 July 07
Dive Location: Gerstle Cove
Wind: around 7-10 kts NW
Bottom Time: 35
Max Depth: 50
Vis: 25
Temp at depth: 48F

Earlier we'd messed around in the cove a little bit but this was our first actual dive. Vis in the cove was mediocre, not better than about 15' and there was an algae bloom due to the bright sunshine. We were with Andy, Sue, and Steve, and two of them wanted to hunt outside the preserve. If you fish outside Gerstle you have to come up outside the boundary and surface swim in with your catch. It was calm, the kelp wasn't too thick, and there was no current so the prospect of a longish surface swim seemed no problem.

We swam to a point outside the boundary almost due south directly out of the cove, then dropped in about 35' and headed south west toward some rock formations off the west point. Dan and I were basically tagging along with the hunters, who knew the site pretty well. It was only my second dive at Gerstle and I was happy to have someone more experienced (Andy) to lead the way. Dan was on his first day of diving since getting his OW, so I was intent on maintaining close contact with him.

The bottom was strewn with large boulders and massive rock dikes running north/south, jutting about 20' off the sand and rock slab bottom. Outside the cove the bottom is a little barren compared to the lush life inside the preserve, but the visibility improved to about 25'. Earlier, in the cove, I spotted a huge Ling Cod sunning itself on the top of a rock and waiting for lunch to swim by. There were also a lot of kelp greenlings. Not a care in the world. By afternoon some clouds had gathered and the sunlight was more subdued as we gradually worked our way down the granite slabs and boulders further out. We stopped at a number of large overhangs where the hunters searched for game, but there was a surprising lack of fish on this dive. There were, however, plenty of abalone, purple urchins, sea cucumbers, bat stars, sunstars, and corynactus all over the rocks and walls of the dikes.

In about 50' and still outbound, Dan signalled that he was down to 1400 PSI so the two of us turned our dive and headed back in without the others. I'd swum up to Steve and let him know we were turning. A highlight of the return trip was picking through a forest of bull kelp stalks. I got tangled up, mostly around a fin strap, but had no trouble getting free. Dan saw me and waited.

We altered our heading on the other side of the kelp and swam due north up through more kelp and invert-encrusted boulder canyons, gradually ascending to about 30'. Dan suddenly had a little trouble having forgotten to vent air as we came up the contour, and did an unplanned ascent to the surface. I had been for just a second preoccupied with a sea cucumber and when I looked up for him he was nowhere. Then I glanced up to see his fins rising just out of reach. I began a slow ascent, not knowing at the time what was going on, but then he came swimming back down. I saw that he was a little concerned about something, so I asked him his tank pressure. He was down to 700 PSI so we began our ascent right there. Again he just kind of slipped right up to the surface, so I blew off my safety stop to follow him at a safe rate of ascent. Fortunately we hadn't been very deep for very long and had been gradually ascending up the contour for a while, so I didn't feel too bad about this.

At the surface he explained that he'd forgotten to dump air from his BC and that was when I found out what had happened. Anyway, some lessons learned, and I've been trying to think of what I might have done differently in this situation if I wasn't so inexperienced myself.

Finally, we turned onto our backs and cruised back into the cove, watching the other divers pop up outside the boundary and begin heading in.
 
i'm jealous... sounds great!
i always keep my eye on my buddy (wife) while ascending a slope, and remind her to dump... just keep it in mind.
 
Great report! It was great to finally dive with you Jeff. I am sure we will be seeing you out there more often. Don't forget the next club dive is 8/4 at Ft. Ross.
 

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