The weekend that (almost) was

limeyx · May 31st, 2006, 07:37 PM

Well, we had big plans for Memorial day weekend, but the end result did not reflect the amount of effort we put in (or the amount of annoyance of my girlfriend whom I had apparently promised to spend time --oops sorry honey!)

The plan was pretty simple. Drive up to Monterey from Los Angeles (about 350 miles --remember that number!) on the Saturday.

Then we'd goout on a boat for a tech1 followed by a recreational dive on Sunday, and two tech1 dives on monday, followed by a long drive home. Seemed reasonable.

The Friday before, I spent over an hour at the dive store, collecting and analyzing 7 sets of doubles and 6 50% deco bottles. Even with an SUV, it was a bit of a squeeze. And this was just the gear for two of us. The others had their own gear issues (17 tanks in a BMW sedan?)

The problems started on the drive up. I got a call when I was 2/3 of the way there that the sunday dives were likely to be blown out. The best we might hope for was two recreational dives with cruddy vis. Of course, all the tanks were filled with 21/35 except for one set we were borrowing for the rec dive. "Luckily" our buddies offered to bring some singles for us.

Then things took a turn for the worse when my exit on the freeway came up a bit faster than I expected, and I nipped in behind another car to try to make it, only to be greeted by the flashing lights of a police cruiser behind me. One speeding ticket and I was on my way

We got the call on the sunday that we were indeed blown out, and none of us felt like beach diving in 20 knot winds, so we took a tour down the coastline (17 mile drive) and checked out point lobos (will try to upload some pics later) -- anyone fancy an awesome dive site where you can do dives in the tech2 range from shore (with a scooter). We will be back for this one!

Monday, the wind had died down (supposedly) and we loaded the boat up, eager to salvage something from the weekend.
However, as soon as we got around the headland, the swell and wind picked up and just before the first dive, me and my buddy found ourselves hanging off the boat feeding the fishies

The dive was on a 500 foot long pinaccle, "Forgotten pinnacle" that has (at least on this boat) only been dived a couple of times before and then only at recreational depths. This almost felt like exploration!

Here's a sonar image of the site thanks to Breakthru diving.

Team 1 had a longer bottom time than us, so they went in first, and our plan was to meet them at 50 mins runtime as they started their stops, then we'd continue with our dive.

The plan was 25 mins at 150 feet. We dropped down, not quite knowing what to expect--surface conditions indicated there was a good chance at some current. But when we got down to about 70 feet or so, I was amazed to see "ripples" down below in front of me. It took me a while to realize it was the bottom -- at 160.

The structure on the dive was really cool with awesome vis. We didn't see so much wildlife, but the other team saw a torpdeo ray, ling cod and sea lions. I saw some ling cod, some other rockfish and a small crab as we came up to our gas switch on the way back.

Surface conditions were worse on the way out, the boat rising and falling 6-8 feet in the swell (hey, this is a lot for us!)

Once safely only the boat, my buddy and I decided to skip dive 2 at "ballbuster" -- apparently it was pretty good with multiple sightings of wolf eels.

So a 700 mile round-trip, $170 hotel bill, plenty of gas money (of both kinds) for a single dive!

Let's hope next weekend is a bit more productive!

May 31st, 2006, 07:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
limeyx(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 708	The weekend that (almost) was Well, we had big plans for Memorial day weekend, but the end result did not reflect the amount of effort we put in (or the amount of annoyance of my girlfriend whom I had apparently promised to spend time --oops sorry honey!) The plan was pretty simple. Drive up to Monterey from Los Angeles (about 350 miles --remember that number!) on the Saturday. Then we'd goout on a boat for a tech1 followed by a recreational dive on Sunday, and two tech1 dives on monday, followed by a long drive home. Seemed reasonable. The Friday before, I spent over an hour at the dive store, collecting and analyzing 7 sets of doubles and 6 50% deco bottles. Even with an SUV, it was a bit of a squeeze. And this was just the gear for two of us. The others had their own gear issues (17 tanks in a BMW sedan?) The problems started on the drive up. I got a call when I was 2/3 of the way there that the sunday dives were likely to be blown out. The best we might hope for was two recreational dives with cruddy vis. Of course, all the tanks were filled with 21/35 except for one set we were borrowing for the rec dive. "Luckily" our buddies offered to bring some singles for us. Then things took a turn for the worse when my exit on the freeway came up a bit faster than I expected, and I nipped in behind another car to try to make it, only to be greeted by the flashing lights of a police cruiser behind me. One speeding ticket and I was on my way We got the call on the sunday that we were indeed blown out, and none of us felt like beach diving in 20 knot winds, so we took a tour down the coastline (17 mile drive) and checked out point lobos (will try to upload some pics later) -- anyone fancy an awesome dive site where you can do dives in the tech2 range from shore (with a scooter). We will be back for this one! Monday, the wind had died down (supposedly) and we loaded the boat up, eager to salvage something from the weekend. However, as soon as we got around the headland, the swell and wind picked up and just before the first dive, me and my buddy found ourselves hanging off the boat feeding the fishies The dive was on a 500 foot long pinaccle, "Forgotten pinnacle" that has (at least on this boat) only been dived a couple of times before and then only at recreational depths. This almost felt like exploration! Here's a sonar image of the site thanks to Breakthru diving. Team 1 had a longer bottom time than us, so they went in first, and our plan was to meet them at 50 mins runtime as they started their stops, then we'd continue with our dive. The plan was 25 mins at 150 feet. We dropped down, not quite knowing what to expect--surface conditions indicated there was a good chance at some current. But when we got down to about 70 feet or so, I was amazed to see "ripples" down below in front of me. It took me a while to realize it was the bottom -- at 160. The structure on the dive was really cool with awesome vis. We didn't see so much wildlife, but the other team saw a torpdeo ray, ling cod and sea lions. I saw some ling cod, some other rockfish and a small crab as we came up to our gas switch on the way back. Surface conditions were worse on the way out, the boat rising and falling 6-8 feet in the swell (hey, this is a lot for us!) Once safely only the boat, my buddy and I decided to skip dive 2 at "ballbuster" -- apparently it was pretty good with multiple sightings of wolf eels. So a 700 mile round-trip, $170 hotel bill, plenty of gas money (of both kinds) for a single dive! Let's hope next weekend is a bit more productive!