scubajunkee
Contributor
It was the North Coast Divers monthly Club Dive at Gerstle Cove. We had a total of 14 divers that day--9 of them were new North Coast Divers members and the rest of you: Peter_C, peterthewolf, rpress & Taoh...thanks for coming out and showing the new members a good time!
1st Dive:
Max Depth: 41 ft
Bottom time: 66 min
Viz: 20ft
Temp: 50F
Mix: 32%
Tank: HP120, 3500psi
Tao and I decided to go hunting outside the reserve on our first dive. As soon as we got out of the boundary, we proceeded due east. We saw a lot of life out there, white nudis, plenty of greenlings and juvenile rockfish. I seldom hunt these days but was looking for lingcod & cabezon. Found a few lings but all were very small, saw a few cabs as well, but they too were undersized. Tao on the other hand, shot a gopher & a black and yellow rockfish. I went back empty handed--which is ok. That dive made me wish I had my camera, since I never come back empty handed. On this dive, I was diving with a new set of undergarments that I purchased earlier this summer. It's made by Tilos and is pretty lightweight (and toasty for Monterey waters) and made of spandex, polyester & carbon fiber. I found that this was too cold for temps below 52F and my legs & toes were pretty numb by the time I got out of the water. On the 2nd dive, I'm bundling up.
Dive #2:
Max Depth: 28 ft
Bottom time: 45 min
Viz: 20ft
Temp: 50F
Mix: 32%
Tank: HP120, 3500psi
This dive, Tao & I had our camera and decided to stay in the cove to get pictures & video of marine reserve life. Viz was awesome and I was definitely warmer on this dive--I layered my single 200g fleece and another pair of snowboarding socks. Due to the shallower depth, I was now too warm. We initially dropped in around 16ft but I swam towards deeper water to since I felt too buoyant and that I was too warm. We settled around 28ft and started shooting. I was looking for a white nudibranch that I've only seen on the North Coast and was able to get a few shots, but wished I could have gotten more. The highlight of my dive was finding an octopus where I actually was able to get both video and photos of it. Towards the latter part of the dive, we found a huge lingcod and proceeded to shoot away. It was mostly unfazed to our presence, as long as we kept our distance. While shooting the ling, I noticed a lot of juvenile rockfish swimming around and it almost felt like I was on a reef in Hawaii or the Bahamas. All in all a great day of diving, meeting new divers and watching the SJ Sharks beat the Minnesota Wild live at the Shark Tank!
I'm already looking forward to the next dive.
Ericson
1st Dive:
Max Depth: 41 ft
Bottom time: 66 min
Viz: 20ft
Temp: 50F
Mix: 32%
Tank: HP120, 3500psi
Tao and I decided to go hunting outside the reserve on our first dive. As soon as we got out of the boundary, we proceeded due east. We saw a lot of life out there, white nudis, plenty of greenlings and juvenile rockfish. I seldom hunt these days but was looking for lingcod & cabezon. Found a few lings but all were very small, saw a few cabs as well, but they too were undersized. Tao on the other hand, shot a gopher & a black and yellow rockfish. I went back empty handed--which is ok. That dive made me wish I had my camera, since I never come back empty handed. On this dive, I was diving with a new set of undergarments that I purchased earlier this summer. It's made by Tilos and is pretty lightweight (and toasty for Monterey waters) and made of spandex, polyester & carbon fiber. I found that this was too cold for temps below 52F and my legs & toes were pretty numb by the time I got out of the water. On the 2nd dive, I'm bundling up.
Dive #2:
Max Depth: 28 ft
Bottom time: 45 min
Viz: 20ft
Temp: 50F
Mix: 32%
Tank: HP120, 3500psi
This dive, Tao & I had our camera and decided to stay in the cove to get pictures & video of marine reserve life. Viz was awesome and I was definitely warmer on this dive--I layered my single 200g fleece and another pair of snowboarding socks. Due to the shallower depth, I was now too warm. We initially dropped in around 16ft but I swam towards deeper water to since I felt too buoyant and that I was too warm. We settled around 28ft and started shooting. I was looking for a white nudibranch that I've only seen on the North Coast and was able to get a few shots, but wished I could have gotten more. The highlight of my dive was finding an octopus where I actually was able to get both video and photos of it. Towards the latter part of the dive, we found a huge lingcod and proceeded to shoot away. It was mostly unfazed to our presence, as long as we kept our distance. While shooting the ling, I noticed a lot of juvenile rockfish swimming around and it almost felt like I was on a reef in Hawaii or the Bahamas. All in all a great day of diving, meeting new divers and watching the SJ Sharks beat the Minnesota Wild live at the Shark Tank!
I'm already looking forward to the next dive.
Ericson
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