August '05 Dive Reports

[headhunter]

Date:
Dive Location:
Time:
Bottom Time:
Max Depth:
Vis:
Wave height:
Temp at depth:
Surface Temp:
Tide information:
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments:

 

[divinman]

Hey I am first this month.....coooool!

La Jolla Shores/ The Cliffs
Dive start time: 8:00p
Bottom Time: 1 hour 28 minutes
Max Depth 122ft
Avg Depth 51ft
Vis shallow was 3-5ft Deep was 20-25ft where the bat rays haven't been yet
Gas: 150 cu ft of 30% EANx
Temp on the Surface 71F
Temp at Depth 50F
No surge, no current
Incoming tide with light surf at best.
Baby bat rays in the shallows......many many

Images are here: http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/terry/album10/LJS080205/

Tyler and I made a night dive. It was awesome. Lots out including a new nudibranch for me. Cuthona Divae. Also in abundance were red octopus, California sea slugs, speckled cusk eels, purple globe crabs, a very curious bat rat the nearly touched noses with me before turning and swimming off, Jellyfish of the purple striped and fried egg variety as well as saucer sized thornback rays and even a leopard shark in knee deep water on the walk in. It was a fabulous dive. Big props to Tyler for leading me there and back.

Terry S.
Yellow Crab

Cuthona Divae

Thornback Ray

Speckeled Cusk Eel

 

[ICY ICE]

Hey I'm the second to post

Veteran's Park, Redondo Beach
Dive start time: 7:50p
Bottom Time: 55 minutes
Max Depth 80ft
Avg Depth 55ft
Vis 3-10ft, better below the TC
Gas:21%
Temp on the Surface 67F
Temp at Depth very warm bout 60-65F

Very easy entry and exit, we headed in search of the Topaz piles with very limited vis. The water was very warm till he passed the TC, dropped at least 10 degrees. Saw the usual suspect, with tons of small octopi, and a very nice 24-30" halibut. After the dive a small group of us (www.divevets.com) had a BBQ at Vet's park. We had a very nice turnout 35 divers and family members to join in on the fun. Not a bad event granted it was put together in less than 5 days. Oh didn't find the piles but had a very nice dive.

 

[MissyP]

Date: 4Aug05
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores/Vallecitos
Time: 7:05pm
Bottom Time: 52min
Max Depth: 123 ft
Vis: 6"- 20 ft (shallows & canyon, respectively)
Wave height: 1 ft or less
Temp at depth: 48
Surface Temp: 70
Gas mix: Air (21%)

Comments:After having to turn around halfway through our 1st surface swim (my O-ring blew out), we finally made it out towards the canyon. A trio of dolphins swam between us and the shore and seemed to be playing around, so we enjoyed the show during the swim out. Descended in 33 ft (pea soupish), dropped down to 123 ft (vis was 15-20 ft)... It was pitch black; there were 3 dozen or so sheepcrabs in the immediate area, 2 baby octopus, & a bat ray (not to mention a little chilly!), not much to see, so we made our way back towards the wall. Somehow we missed the main wall, but found a smaller one that just died out after 20- 30 ft. There was very little life on it so we didn't spend much time there... moved on to the shallows to watch all of the little rays scooting around, but we couldn't see anything due to the red tide. The water was thick and milky and if we got more than 6"- 2 ft away from each other, we'd lose sight completely even with our lights on depending how thick the red tide was.. Not worth a 2nd dive.

 

[ICY ICE]

Date: Aug_06_05
Dive Location: Casino Point, 3 dives
Time: 8:30/11:00/1:15
Bottom Time: 31/51/40
Max Depth: 101ft/71ft/72ft
Vis: 10"- 30 ft
Wave height: 1 ft or less
Temp at depth: 55 +/-
Surface Temp: 70 +/_
Gas mix: Air (21%)


Dive 1, surface swim to the bouy and decent on the line, took a 240 degree heading to the Sue Jack, vis was very nice at depth. We could see the boat from 30ft, we swam around the boat and took note of other wrecks in the area as well as compass headings from the SJ. Completed the dive by following the wall to the stairs, water was very warm above 40ft, with vis declining closer to surface. Spotted the usual suspects including a 12"+ kelp fish.

Dive 2, we did a 5 point navigation skill using a nav-finder, we had a specific heading and kick cycle to follow and end up at the same location we started.........This was lots of fun, being that we had 10 minutes to complete the drill. After the drill I "solo" headed towards warmer waters and got to absorb my surrounding life, including 3 male Sheepheads digging for food......felt like I was watching the Discovery channel. What was amazing was the amount of fish that would come to me as I layed on the bottom.

Dive 3, we did the "5 point Nav certification drill", slates were set in specific locations and each slate had a new heading and kick cycle. This dive started/ended at "The Crusader" plaque......my first time at this plaque. The drill took us to through the kelp, over the Platform, and around a reef.....quite difficult. After the drill we headed to the J.Cousteau plaque......we acually found it without backtracking and with limited vis. Once there within 30 seconds a GSB came to hang out for about 5 minutes, he was within 5 ft of us........amazing!!! Sorry Dr. Bill you missed this one........you still have us won. On the third drill I sent a sausage (yellow) up to the surface from the J.C.P., 2 divers surfaced and took a compass heading for the J.C.P., all went as planned. I surfaced and completed our dive with a surface swim to the stairs.

Dr. Bill it was nice seeing you again, thank for the info on the G.White. On the next visit to Casino Point I'll check the J.C.P. headings we recorded and post them for navigational reference.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Date: August 6th
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores
Time: 8:52
Bottom Time: 1:06
Max Depth: 127'
Vis: 10-20'
Wave height: 0-1 in the surf zone, flat beyond it
Temp at depth: 55F
Surface Temp: 67F
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments: MissyP and I fought our way through the lake conditions at LJS this morning on our way out to the Cabezon Cruiser. The white buoy was nowhere in sight so we tried to wing it. We missed. We were too far North, but still had a great dive. Dendronotus iris nudibranchs were everywhere, as were California Arminas and Sheepcrabs. I found one crab with two Arminas on its shell. Fried egg jellies drifted above the wall, and a dead Black sea nettle was stuck in the sand. We later found another dead one at the Marine Room. We also found a few pipefish, octopus, sarcastic fringeheads and a batray stirring up the vis along the side of the wall. On our way out for our second dive at Vallecitos Point we discovered that the white buoy had been blocked from our view earlier by kayakers. :-(


Date: August 6th
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores
Time: 12:28
Bottom Time: 1:07
Max Depth: 73'
Vis: 8-10'
Wave height: 0-2
Temp at depth: 55F
Surface Temp: 67F
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments: We headed back out after an extended surface interval to visit the Sheephead family at Vallecitos Point. We found several, but the poor vis and cold water made us head toward the shallows soon. There we played with shells, living and dead. We spotted Halibuts, turbots and a guitarfish on the way in. When we were back nearshore Missy pointed out a massive red wall coming from the south. It actually had a verticle edge to it. Beachgoers even asked us what the red tide was.
After diving, we had lunch and went for a walk around La Jolla, ending up south of Casa Cove to sit on the sandstone cliffs and enjoy the view. A very nice day was had by all.

 

[MissyP]

Date: August 6th
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores
Bottom Time: 1:06
Max Depth: 127'

ahem! My computer says 130' !!

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

Site: Crystal Cove State Park: Reef Point
Dive#1
Date: 08/06/2005
Dive Time: 9:09am
Bottom Time: 82 minutes
Max Depth: 42 feet
Temp at depth: 57 degrees
Temp at surface: 63 degrees
Swells: 1 footers
Vis: 20 - 30 feet
Tide: Comming up (High at 11am)

Dive#2
Dive time: 12:31pm
Bottom Time: 62 minutes
Max Depth: 46 feet
Temp at Depth: 57 degrees
Temp on Surface: 68 degrees
Swells: 1 ft.
Vis: 20-25 feet
Tide: going out

More info: I met up with Scott and headed up to Reef Point Saturday morning. After asking a diver about the spot, we geared up
and headed down the many stairs to the beach. We saw a pod of dolphins offshore as we walked down. We entered the rocky
beach and easily kicked out to the dive spot in very clam seas. We had red tide so we didn't know what to expect. We dropped
right on the side of a large reef, leaving the red tide behind us with an easy 20 feet of vis. We had a wide array of fish including
many small male Sheephead, Surfperch, Blacksmith and many Garibalidis all over the reef. We found several Tylodina fungina,
many Rockpool Blennys, lightbulb tunicates, Scorpionfish, a medium-sized octopus out in the open, several adult and juvenile Tree Fish,
an unidentified flat worm, several sponges, gorgonians, and a nice Hedgehog Hydroid. One of the Tylondina fungina had a tiny
nudibranch on top of him hitching a ride. We were happy the red tide was just on the top 10 feet. We had 2 nice dives
and really enjoyed Reef Point!

pictures: http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/seand/2005scubaphotos/reefpoint/

 

[SoCalAngel]

Date: August 7
Dive Location: Oil Rigs (Eureka and Elly) and Elsie -T Wreck
Time: 8:30 am, 10:49 am, 12:46 pm
Bottom Time: 49 min, 43 min, 34 min
Max Depth: 141', 99', 58'
Vis: OMG!!!!!!! 70+', 50-60', 10-15'
Wave height: Ummmmm..on a boat....swell was 2-3 on last dive; flat on first two
Temp at depth: 55F, 53F, 62F
Surface Temp: toasty (in a wetsuit, anyhow)
Tide information: ummm....a very good question!
Gas mix: Air (21%) on first dive, 30% Nitrox on last two
Comments:

We had a fantastic day on the water! Dove Eureka first. Temps about 55F at depth (130ft) 61F at surface. Vis about 70+ feet...yes that is NOT a typo. 70+ feet. It rocked!

Saw the usual critters, copper rockfish, blue rockfish, rubberlip perch, juvenile treefish (quite a few of these bright and bold beauts), and even a few juve Garibaldis (which surprised us, as I haven't seen Garibaldis out here before). The sea lions came to play a bit, chasing the bait balls to and fro. The big white Metridiums were cool, as were the abundance of corynactis in various shades of lilac, pink, orange, and purple.

Second dive was at Elly. More of the above, vis a little poorer at 50-60 feet. Three distinct different baitballs in the water, silvery fluttery anchovies, the blueish lined topsmelt, and small greenish, crosswordy mackerals. Very awesome indeed! In addition to the other life, we were treated with a purple stripe jelly about 8-10 inches in diameter and 2 feet long, if you include all the tentacle.

Third dive - Elsie T wreck. This was a WW2 landing boat. Very awesome. Vis here definately declined, as we were shallower to a mere 10-15ft, 20 without the silt out. (Still, better than the beach). HUGE treat here, a GIANORMOUS electric torpedo ray. And I do mean gianormous. It was at least 6 feet accross. And boy was it upset. It kept trying to turn it's underside towards the divers. It's tail was all a-twicthin', too! Luckily, none of the morone divers (Hey, I still love you all...) that were pinning it in and didn't know what it was, got hurt. It was very cool! Also, HUGE white and barred sand bass abounded in the crevices of this "real" wreck.

All in all, an awesome day of diving and being with friends! :07:

 

[Diver_Jan]

8/06/05

Farnsworth Banks/ Whale Rock

Swell: 0

Viz: 80+ Farnsworth/ 30+ at Whale Rock below the muck~ no red tide, just lots of particulate in the water.

Temp: 64 Suunto WARM!!!

Depth: 78'

DM'd with LDS to Farnsworth Banks/ Whale Rock/ and Eagle Rock on the backside of Catalina. Led two OW divers on a dive tour at Farnsworth Banks. Beautiful dive, lots of purple hydrocoral, and the usual marine suspects. Same for Whale Rock.

Jan