OP
CatalinaScubaLuver
Registered
Glad your back Dr. Bill, BBQ at your house to watch the footage!!!
The annual Avalon underwater cleanup on February 23, 2012
- Thread starter CatalinaScubaLuver
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Although I'm glad to be back home, I wasn't glad to leave all those sharks behind in the Bahamas! I'm just about halfway through the editing of the footage so I'll let the local crew know when I'm ready to show the footage up here.
My little sister Nancy and a friend will be here that weekend and I'll be filming topside for the Conservancy so it looks like I won't be diving during the weekend.
My little sister Nancy and a friend will be here that weekend and I'll be filming topside for the Conservancy so it looks like I won't be diving during the weekend.
OP
CatalinaScubaLuver
Registered
[h=2]Sunday. Feb. 24th, the day after the Clean Up Dive. King Neptune $121.50[/h]
In appreciation for you coming out to clean the Harbor, Catalina Scuba Luv, is offering you, a 3 tank dive aboard the King Neptune at a reduced rate of $121.50. This includes... Tanks, air, weights, continental breakfast, and lunch. Call to reserve your spot. 310-510-2350
www.scubaluv.com/boat-scuba-diving.html King Neptune imformation.
Catalina Scuba Luv - Avalon, CA - Scuba Diving | Facebook
www.scubaluv.com/boat-scuba-diving.html King Neptune imformation.
Catalina Scuba Luv - Avalon, CA - Scuba Diving | Facebook
OP
CatalinaScubaLuver
Registered
Weather forecast I've seen looks good for the weekend. Hurray!
One more day! I'll be working the pier, checking divers in and out of the water. Make sure you come by and say hi.
What a gorgeous day we had! The cleanup went so smooth and painless; it was just an outstanding event! Catalina ScubaLuv & Ron Moore of Dive Catalina rocked this event – Sorry, I don’t know who was at the other dive areas.
My plan for a 3-day weekend changed a bit when a friend needed a way to move furniture from ~Pasadena back to SE AZ. Instead of a 3-day lazy weekend, I could make Saturday only. Therefore, my day started with a 4:30 launch from ~Pasadena down to the Downtown Long Beach Catalina Express Terminal. I concluded that there are no expressways in that area – simply a series of on-ramps and off-ramps of various lengths. Nice folk unloading at the terminal confirmed that I was in the right place, so I parked and brought my stuff over – stairs not fun but quicker than going down to the elevator.
Once in line for ticket pickup, I chatted with friendly strangers that told me what to expect when we loaded, so I was prepared to put my dive gear outside on the rear deck. Stepping up to the window, I gave my name and reached for my wallet . . . empty pocket! It fell out in the truck, I believed. I left my gear bag to run back to the truck, and there it was. I retrieved my tickets and parked my load to get some snacks from the rather well-stocked terminal eatery. Nothing fancy, but like what you find in an airport.
Once on the boat, we enjoyed a rather spectacular sunrise – pics to follow, I hope! -- and some more friendly strangers told me about unloading and that we could take our gear to the gear storage, where they would tag it, and take it to the location where we were diving. What a splendid service!
Avalon is a pretty little town, and is a striking blend of “island time” and bustling efficiency. After ~1/4 mile walk to ScubaLuv, I met my dive buddy JM. He’d already picked up my “steel 100” tank and loaded it in a wonderful little 4-wheel wagon. ScubaLuv was bustling with people, and the shop had a wide range of items, for all the people that forgot things, broke things, or just wanted a T-shirt. Though crowded, the staff worked efficiently and effectively to provide excellent support to the crowd.
JM and I did a push-pull on the cart, making it very easy to run it over to the Lovers’ Cove. Everyone was setting up on the sidewalk, and once again friendly strangers shared their experience. Everyone also exclaimed over the very, very clear water. My first clue that all was not quite kosher was when I took the tank out of the cart. Dang it, it was heavy! I thought I was perhaps feeling the moving of furniture that I’d done the day before. It was also an 8” diameter . . . something was niggling in the back of my brain, but I just couldn’t recall.
After checking in and receiving our diver number, JM & I set up our gear, taking our time since we had plenty before the 9am site briefing. All the equipment checked out beautifully, and I started climbing into my drysuit. JM was going to try a DUI in a couple of weeks, so was very interested in how all of it worked. He liked the XS Scuba shorts, especially that they could go on my 7mm or on the drysuit so one didn’t need pockets. JM hadn’t had any tech training, so explaining all my cutting device, Nautilus Lifeline, SMB, spare mask, etc. surprised him. I also had my favorite pony bottle. Tank gear setup, dive suits on, we went over to the briefing. Ron Moore of Dive Catalina was running the show here, and they gave a quite thorough, quick brief. They had a nice lady at the bottom of the stairs to provide safety as people came down to enter the water. Just awesome forethought on the organizers’ part!
Back over to our tanks, we prepared to go. Now, I was wearing the 18lbs with the steel plate that I normally wear with my steel HP100. I noticed the fill was only 2250 . . . . that made it an LP . . . the niggling became more intense. I sat down, and put my gear on, and prepared to roll over and stand up. I could not budge. Was something hanging up? After struggling a bit, my buddy gave me a hand up . . . and something was still not right. Holy <blank> was that stuff heavy! I dropped my weight belt, since I KNEW it was too much weight. The 'niggle' crystallized into remembering that the LP was around 45lbs, and the whole rig was at least 55lbs! Guess who hasn't squatted 55lbs in ten years. JM and I made our way carefully to the stairs. Extreme care was the prescription for this!
Thank goodness for the safety gal at the bottom of the stairs. It made the final step way easy. However, what they don’t tell you – besides to use caution - is that the cove is lined with a whole bunch of marbles camouflaged like smooth rocks. About six steps out, my feet flew out from under me and I went down in a sit. “Well, this looks like a fine place to put on my fins and hood.” Safety gal asked about the weight belt I dropped on shore; I explained I needed to do a weight check. I gear up – so sorry, JM, for being so slow. My tank held me down but the rest of me was at the mercy of the surge. JM and I moved out to about 10 feet, where I found that I could go down but figured there would be problems with the tank at lower pressure. I went back to shore and once again, the shore marbles flipped me like I was on ice. Bless the Safety Gal, she pulled two weights of the four in the pocket-belt and brought them to me. I put them in my pocket.
I sure hope those of you on the shore were laughing, because it all must’ve looked like slap-stick comedy! :lol:
Underwater was gorgeous, clear, the sun flickering through the kelp, at a Sol 57F degrees. :cold: At first, I was to lead, but since JM had the camera, I signaled that he should lead so he would not have to worry about me while he found fascinating things to photograph. The rig trimmed out well, but the heavy tank did want to ‘turtle’ me, so it took about ten minutes to get comfortable with it. There were loads of fish, flitting about in the kelp stand, and I am guessing on 30-40 feet of visibility. As more and more divers came, the bottom stirred up but it still never got less than about 20’. JM found a lobster, then I found two – do you have black lobster there? They were small, and very dark. Quite pretty.
Side Note: The Shearwater Petrel is not as easy to see in bright, sunlit waters as is the Shearwater Predator.
I saw a foursome in the sand, photographing something. A nudibranch, perhaps? JM was working on his first lobster with his new camera strobe, so I drifted over . . . could not find whatever it was. Someone found a coffee-can sized jar, and shook all the mud out . . . vis rapidly dropped in that area. JM was finished, and I signaled a turnaround. I found and pointed out the pair of lobsters, then backed out of the way. While hanging, some pretty divers (trimmed and under good control) went by and one of the waved at me – such friendly people. What I didn’t know at that time was that it was Merxlin, and he had recognized my pink gear!
We had got to the point to the south, and navigated our way back up the reef area. I was well chilled by now! I do not know how all you wetsuit divers could do it. :worship: My fingers were pretty numb, which made unhooking a bit interesting. JM was such a wonderful buddy, offering assistance and such. Of course, I approached the marbled shore and immediately went down with the help of the surge. What is it about California with that water and shore that moves?? I had at least three people try to help me up, but the marbles rolled and it just didn’t work. I asked them please to take my pony and fins, and I crawled through the marbles to the step. Safety Gal helped me up, and ignominiously I made my way up the steps. It was SOooo good to drop that load in the wagon.
There were so many kind people that asked, “Are you okay?” and commiserated with me over the tank. I got all my gear together and was packing when “Is there a Jax around here?” It depends, what did I do!? It was Merxlin coming by to say, “hi”. I found out that TeamCasa and His Lovely Bride were there, so I accompanied Merxlin to say hello. It seems everyone had a splendid dive, and JM had actually picked up some trash – car trim from when a car had missed the turn and tumbled into the cove.
Everyone had lunch plans, and JM would go home to eat with his family, so I went to the highly recommended Lobster Trap. Mmmmmm . . . mahi perfectly done in a macadamia nut ‘dusting’. The Trap also had something called a Peachjioto. . . That was delish!
Sadly, my door prize number wasn’t called. :depressed: However, I had to be back at my friends so we could load the truck and trailer, and with my dead phone, I couldn’t ‘find’ anyone. I took the 2pm boat back to reality . . . So sad to leave that lovely island.
I have to say, that was the most efficient-ran operation I have ever seen. Kudos to all the people and places that donated prizes, to the organizations and people that ran each dive site, and to the divers that were laughing and patient with the lines and crowd. Not an ill word to be heard. I highly recommend this to anyone that hasn’t done it before.
---------- Post added February 25th, 2013 at 05:57 PM ----------
Any reports from the other dive sites?
My plan for a 3-day weekend changed a bit when a friend needed a way to move furniture from ~Pasadena back to SE AZ. Instead of a 3-day lazy weekend, I could make Saturday only. Therefore, my day started with a 4:30 launch from ~Pasadena down to the Downtown Long Beach Catalina Express Terminal. I concluded that there are no expressways in that area – simply a series of on-ramps and off-ramps of various lengths.
Nice folk unloading at the terminal confirmed that I was in the right place, so I parked and brought my stuff over – stairs not fun but quicker than going down to the elevator.Once in line for ticket pickup, I chatted with friendly strangers that told me what to expect when we loaded, so I was prepared to put my dive gear outside on the rear deck. Stepping up to the window, I gave my name and reached for my wallet . . . empty pocket! It fell out in the truck, I believed. I left my gear bag to run back to the truck, and there it was. I retrieved my tickets and parked my load to get some snacks from the rather well-stocked terminal eatery. Nothing fancy, but like what you find in an airport.
Once on the boat, we enjoyed a rather spectacular sunrise – pics to follow, I hope! -- and some more friendly strangers told me about unloading and that we could take our gear to the gear storage, where they would tag it, and take it to the location where we were diving. What a splendid service!
Avalon is a pretty little town, and is a striking blend of “island time” and bustling efficiency. After ~1/4 mile walk to ScubaLuv, I met my dive buddy JM. He’d already picked up my “steel 100” tank and loaded it in a wonderful little 4-wheel wagon. ScubaLuv was bustling with people, and the shop had a wide range of items, for all the people that forgot things, broke things, or just wanted a T-shirt. Though crowded, the staff worked efficiently and effectively to provide excellent support to the crowd.
JM and I did a push-pull on the cart, making it very easy to run it over to the Lovers’ Cove. Everyone was setting up on the sidewalk, and once again friendly strangers shared their experience. Everyone also exclaimed over the very, very clear water. My first clue that all was not quite kosher was when I took the tank out of the cart. Dang it, it was heavy! I thought I was perhaps feeling the moving of furniture that I’d done the day before. It was also an 8” diameter . . . something was niggling in the back of my brain, but I just couldn’t recall.
After checking in and receiving our diver number, JM & I set up our gear, taking our time since we had plenty before the 9am site briefing. All the equipment checked out beautifully, and I started climbing into my drysuit. JM was going to try a DUI in a couple of weeks, so was very interested in how all of it worked. He liked the XS Scuba shorts, especially that they could go on my 7mm or on the drysuit so one didn’t need pockets. JM hadn’t had any tech training, so explaining all my cutting device, Nautilus Lifeline, SMB, spare mask, etc. surprised him. I also had my favorite pony bottle. Tank gear setup, dive suits on, we went over to the briefing. Ron Moore of Dive Catalina was running the show here, and they gave a quite thorough, quick brief. They had a nice lady at the bottom of the stairs to provide safety as people came down to enter the water. Just awesome forethought on the organizers’ part!
Back over to our tanks, we prepared to go. Now, I was wearing the 18lbs with the steel plate that I normally wear with my steel HP100. I noticed the fill was only 2250 . . . . that made it an LP . . . the niggling became more intense. I sat down, and put my gear on, and prepared to roll over and stand up. I could not budge. Was something hanging up? After struggling a bit, my buddy gave me a hand up . . . and something was still not right. Holy <blank> was that stuff heavy! I dropped my weight belt, since I KNEW it was too much weight. The 'niggle' crystallized into remembering that the LP was around 45lbs, and the whole rig was at least 55lbs! Guess who hasn't squatted 55lbs in ten years. JM and I made our way carefully to the stairs. Extreme care was the prescription for this!
Thank goodness for the safety gal at the bottom of the stairs. It made the final step way easy. However, what they don’t tell you – besides to use caution - is that the cove is lined with a whole bunch of marbles camouflaged like smooth rocks. About six steps out, my feet flew out from under me and I went down in a sit. “Well, this looks like a fine place to put on my fins and hood.”
Safety gal asked about the weight belt I dropped on shore; I explained I needed to do a weight check. I gear up – so sorry, JM, for being so slow. My tank held me down but the rest of me was at the mercy of the surge. JM and I moved out to about 10 feet, where I found that I could go down but figured there would be problems with the tank at lower pressure. I went back to shore and once again, the shore marbles flipped me like I was on ice. Bless the Safety Gal, she pulled two weights of the four in the pocket-belt and brought them to me. I put them in my pocket. I sure hope those of you on the shore were laughing, because it all must’ve looked like slap-stick comedy! :lol:
Underwater was gorgeous, clear, the sun flickering through the kelp, at a Sol 57F degrees. :cold: At first, I was to lead, but since JM had the camera, I signaled that he should lead so he would not have to worry about me while he found fascinating things to photograph. The rig trimmed out well, but the heavy tank did want to ‘turtle’ me, so it took about ten minutes to get comfortable with it. There were loads of fish, flitting about in the kelp stand, and I am guessing on 30-40 feet of visibility. As more and more divers came, the bottom stirred up but it still never got less than about 20’. JM found a lobster, then I found two – do you have black lobster there? They were small, and very dark. Quite pretty.
Side Note: The Shearwater Petrel is not as easy to see in bright, sunlit waters as is the Shearwater Predator.
I saw a foursome in the sand, photographing something. A nudibranch, perhaps? JM was working on his first lobster with his new camera strobe, so I drifted over . . . could not find whatever it was. Someone found a coffee-can sized jar, and shook all the mud out . . . vis rapidly dropped in that area. JM was finished, and I signaled a turnaround. I found and pointed out the pair of lobsters, then backed out of the way. While hanging, some pretty divers (trimmed and under good control) went by and one of the waved at me – such friendly people. What I didn’t know at that time was that it was Merxlin, and he had recognized my pink gear!
We had got to the point to the south, and navigated our way back up the reef area. I was well chilled by now! I do not know how all you wetsuit divers could do it. :worship: My fingers were pretty numb, which made unhooking a bit interesting. JM was such a wonderful buddy, offering assistance and such. Of course, I approached the marbled shore and immediately went down with the help of the surge. What is it about California with that water and shore that moves?? I had at least three people try to help me up, but the marbles rolled and it just didn’t work. I asked them please to take my pony and fins, and I crawled through the marbles to the step. Safety Gal helped me up, and ignominiously I made my way up the steps. It was SOooo good to drop that load in the wagon.
There were so many kind people that asked, “Are you okay?” and commiserated with me over the tank. I got all my gear together and was packing when “Is there a Jax around here?” It depends, what did I do!? It was Merxlin coming by to say, “hi”. I found out that TeamCasa and His Lovely Bride were there, so I accompanied Merxlin to say hello. It seems everyone had a splendid dive, and JM had actually picked up some trash – car trim from when a car had missed the turn and tumbled into the cove.
Everyone had lunch plans, and JM would go home to eat with his family, so I went to the highly recommended Lobster Trap. Mmmmmm . . . mahi perfectly done in a macadamia nut ‘dusting’. The Trap also had something called a Peachjioto. . . That was delish!
Sadly, my door prize number wasn’t called. :depressed: However, I had to be back at my friends so we could load the truck and trailer, and with my dead phone, I couldn’t ‘find’ anyone. I took the 2pm boat back to reality . . . So sad to leave that lovely island.
I have to say, that was the most efficient-ran operation I have ever seen. Kudos to all the people and places that donated prizes, to the organizations and people that ran each dive site, and to the divers that were laughing and patient with the lines and crowd. Not an ill word to be heard. I highly recommend this to anyone that hasn’t done it before.
---------- Post added February 25th, 2013 at 05:57 PM ----------
Any reports from the other dive sites?
Last edited:
Nice report Jax and it was nice to meet you IRL. But it wasn't the pink gear that gave you away, it was "JAX" in big letters on your slung pony. It was a great day and glad you could join us. I couldn't help but wonder how nice that area would be to dive again, with about 80 less divers
blue steal
Contributor
- Messages
- 2,777
- Reaction score
- 386
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
Thanks for the report JAX. wish you could have stayed longer to enjoy the cool waters.
Sorry I missed you, Jax. I was at Lover's Cove for a short time to film the event and then filming the awards ceremony from the front of the audience.
Similar threads
