AUG 04 Dive Reports, Please post if you dive.

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Sean and I made the decision that with visibility at record levels and not likely to last, we needed to make at least one more dive this week. We met at La Jolla Shores at 530a and were kicking out by 615. The seas were calm with only the occasional 1 footer to step over on the way out. Tide was REALLY low. We went out just south of the tower and kicked out to even with Scripps Pier, It's tough to line up landmarks in the early dim light and we were hoping to make Fringehead City today.

On the kick out we discussed how most shark attacks happen in early morning or at dusk. Coincidentally the same times we are usually diving. Hmmmmm.

At the drop in point we could clearly see the sand ripples 25 ft below and off we went. As I have to get to work, I will give ya the Readers Digest version.

We saw 3 juvenile horn sharks, 5 octopus, a frindgehead, tons of moon snails and pear crabs. A large school of barracuda at the canyon edge and of course, sand dollars.

On the way in we had a lovely bat ray glide past us and then at 8ft we say a 2.5 ft halibut swim by. At 5ft we were just getting ready to stand up when a large school of top smelt swam through followed by yet another bat ray. This one was smaller and in much more of a hurry this morning.

Exited the non-existent surf and change at the truck while we grinned and traded sightings.

Oh yeah, no dive stats from me cause I haven't downloaded the computer.
Vis was 15-25 and there is a thermocline at 45ft that is sharp and brisk.
Dive time: Long enough to start the day right!!

Pictures from this morning can be found here: http://photobucket.com/albums/v109/divinman/LJShores08272004/

Dive safe, dive often.

Terry
 
Date: 08/27/2004
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores
Time: 6:24am
Bottom Time: 45:40
Max Depth: 119 feet
Vis: 15-20
Wave height: no waves
Temp at depth: 54 degrees
Surface Temp: 68 degrees
Tide information: low tide
Comments: Met in the dark at the shores 5:30 am. Kicked out to the end of the pier and with the white boxy house on the 3rd palm tree. Dropped down and swam down into the canyon to a 1/2 bowl-like area. After swimming to the right we swam over the bowl to the left side and saw the Gorgonia and rocky area. We continued on until or bottom time was low and headed up the canyon. We came upon a ledge area were there were several octopus and a fringehead. We shot most our pictures there and then headed homeward. On the way we saw 2 bat rays, a few sting rays, a halibut, and a school of top smelt.


Sean

Here are my pictures:

http://www.scubapost.net/gallery/shores08272004

Sean
 
You got some nice shots Sean. The Octo in the round hole and the horned shark are well done! Great diving with you this morning.

TS
 
Nice pics dewds, that horn shark looks great. Dropping down to 120ft hey, going deep these days..............
 
Yeah getting deeper. Maybe Wednesday we could hit the Cabazon cruiser; or maybe not :) If was a fun dive, Terry brought Troy along so at least he was safe! At this depth maybe an extra cylinder would be wise. Thanks for the dive Terry!

Sean
 
Nice pictures Sean .... wish I was there. I should be up and running next week. I built a tray for my lights so I'm itching to try them out. And I can't believe I'm going to miss on the scooter dive this weekend!!!!

Paul
 
Dive#1
Date: 08/28/2004
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores Vallecitos Point
Time: 7:28am
Bottom Time: 37:40
Max Depth: 78 feet
Vis: 15-25 feet
Wave height: no waves
Temp at depth: 57 degrees
End of Dive Temp: 64 degrees
Tide information: lower tide
Comments:

Roy, John, Ryan, Cheryl, and myself met at the La Jolla Shores at 6:30am with 4 SeaDoo scooters we rented from 2 local dive shops. We all geared up and headed down to Vallecitos Street and entered the water. We scooted to the bouy, and realized 1 of our buddies wasn’t with us. I headed back for him. His starter switch fell off, so his dive was over. We said farewells and discussed out dive plan. We decided to hit the canyon south of the point. We agreed that 60 feet would be our “max” depth. We scooted around the point enjoying the amazing sites of fish and topography. Towards the end of the dive the canyon dropped below 60 feet. We had to ride above the canyon then to ascend due to low air. We did our safety stop in open water, everyone waiting for the last one to finsh. We spilt up and rode into the shores near the surface, eventually riding more like a boat than a submarine.

Highlites: Schools of bass on the plateus, large groups of sheephead, small to large yellowtail swimming around. Small towns of gobies with tube-anenomies trees every few blocks.

Dive#2
Date: 08/28/2004
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores Vallecitos Point
Time: 10:35 am
Bottom Time: 37:40
Max Depth: 101 feet
Vis: 15-25 feet
Wave height: no waves
Temp at depth: 55 degrees
End of Dive Temp: 70 degrees
Tide information: higher tide
Comments:

We geared up again after our surface interval. The 4 of us kicked out without
scooters to the Vallecitos bouy. Remembering Terry’s fringehead who lives in the bouy chain, I decided to take a peek. Instead of a fringehead I found a nice little octopus. Everyone took a look and we swam to the canyon. As we swam along the canyon, my buddy got lost for a few minutes. She found me again and we continued to check out the canyon ledge. We saw more large sheephead and a bat ray swimming on the point kicking up a huge plum of dust. We saw the usual critters. Some rockfish, shrimp, gobies, tube anenomies, fringeheads, White Spotted Porostome Nudibranch (I think), and more. We kicked in and surfaced at 8 feet in front of the lifeguard station.

Dive #3
Date: 08/28/2004
Dive Location: The Shores, straight out from lifeguard station and end of pier.
Time: 1:52 pm
Bottom Time: 37:40
Max Depth: 112 feet
Vis: 15-25 feet
Wave height: no waves
Temp at depth: 55 degrees
End of Dive Temp: 70 degrees
Tide information: higher tide
Comments:

We kicked out for a while and arrived at our two coordinates. We took a breath and dropped down into 27 feet of water. We kicked west and found the edge of the canyon at about 40 feet. We swam down into the canyon, swimming along the edge to the left. We came across the rocky area with the Gorgonian and continued to swim south. We came across an amazing patch of red, orange and purple gorgonian that had a turbot in its midst. This area was full of life and was a stark contrast to the usual shores sandy bottom. We explored this area a while, and began heading up and came across a few horn sharks on the way. We came across a ridge with holes and explored with our lights. We came across a few Fringehead and an octopus and took a few pictures. We continued on and found a juvenile and adult halibut together. As we exited the canyon we found a juvenile pipefish. We did our safety stop and surfaced when we reached our minimum pressure.

pics:

http://www.scubapost.net/gallery/shores08282004

Sean
 
Date: 29 Aug 04
Dive Location: Long Point (Old Marine Land) Palos Verde
Time: 11:39 a.m.
Bottom Time: 54:10 min
Max Depth: 38 FSW
Vis: 5 feet
Wave height: 1 foot maybe.
Temp at depth: 64 SUUNTO degrees
Surface Temp: 70 Suunto degrees
Tide information: High tide was at 10:03a.m. 4.9 feet Low tide: 3:21 p.m. 1.4 feet
Comments:
Scottfiji was my dive partner for this one. His enchanting GF provided security for our cars. Entered off the pebble beach and swam about half way to the point. Dropped down on top of the reef into about 5 feet of visibility and continued on to the point. At the point, visibility deteriorated and a strong current had the kelp laying down pretty good. Also a bit of a surg, 2 maybe 3 feet, but not bad. We turned the dive at the point due to the North bound current and swam back to the pebble beach. Spotted a large octopus, possibly the largest I have seen here in Southern California sitting in a hole. The tentacle he had draped across his front was a good 1.5 to 2 inches wide. So where was divebuddysean with his camera? Off in San Diego no doubt diving. Darn it. Wish I had had a camera.
 
Wow, looks like the viz around here isn't very good. And it doesn't look like it's going to get much better next week. The news says there's a tropical storm (Georgette) down south, heading west, and it should bring some big surf on south facing beaches by Tuesday. Sounds like we're getting a 1-2 punch: swells from the northwest this week, and from the south next week.

Let's see, Catalina for Labor Day weekend??
 

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