Clinton's Dive Log |
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Current Reports Aged Reports Older Reports More Older Reports Even More Older Reports Yet More Older Reports 10/7/01 9/25/01 Clinton 9/24/01 9/15/01 Pause for effect. OK, hopefully the smelling salts have taken effect by now. My friend Kristen doesn't like boats much (or perhaps they don't like her). Anyway in an effort to avoid seasickness problems we did our diving today without a boat. We got off to a late start and got to South Monestary at around 6:00 PM. It was still light out and conditions looked great with knee high waves and reports of good vis. Some equipment problems prevented us from enjoying the dive as much as we might have liked but I can confirm the reports of good vis. I'd say maybe 30 feet. Our second dive was a night dive at the breakwater and proved excellent. Vis was between 15 and 20 feet and it was flat calm. Among other things we saw an Octopus, 2 small Monkeyfaced Eels, a large Sailfin Scuplin and lots of Rainbow Nudibranchs. Somewhere during the dive the neck seal started to delaminate from my drysuit. As a result I got quite wet and cranky though it could have been much worse. Dave Chamberlin and I were supposed to have done a deep dive this morning but called it off as we felt we weren't up to it in light of last Tuesday's events. I can sure tell you I'm glad I didn't have a drysuit failure with a large deco obligation. Brrrr... 9/8/01 First dive was at PTP. Vis here was downright reasonable at around 25-30 feet. This spot was it's usual pretty self though the little white barnacles that seem to be everywhere these days were really in abundance here. I saw several entire heads of hydrocoral that had been completely overwhelmed by them. I sure hope they're a natural phenomenon and not some evil invading species come to kill off all of our local critters. Our second dive was at Outer Butterfly House. Vis was a bit reduced here to maybe 20 feet but oh boy, what a dive! Sami was trying out his new Tetra housing. He doesn't have his wide angle port yet so we were looking for macro subjects. Right away I found the most difficult macro subject there is: a Mosshead Warbonnet. These pretty little fish are about as shy as it gets. I suspect if Sami had been using a Nik V he would have gotten the shot but it took him a bit to get organized and by then the fish had darted into a hole. Oh well, lots of other macro stuff was at hand including lots of Crevice Kelpfish, a juvenile China Rockfish and lots of encrusting life. Right before we called the dive I found what I think was a Giant Kelpfish in a tangle of Macrocystis. Sami and I tried to get pictures of it but there was enough surge to make it difficult and not enough time to complete the job. Still, a great dive. The third dive was at Mono Lobo Wall and Sami and I devoted it to practice. We got lots of S-Drills, valve drills and other work in. We also took a few moments to admire the cloud of Sea Nettles and a large school of Yellowtail Rockfish. 9/1/01 We moved south for the second dive. We looked at PTP but there was a strong current there so we tucked into Yankee Doodle. Vis here was better. It was still really soupy on the surface but it opened up to around 20 feet at 100 feet. I don't recall seeing anything amazing but at least I could see. Our third dive was at Grey Zone. Vis here was more like 15 feet but that beats the heck out of 8. I spent the dive exploring some of the narrow canyons back towards the wash rocks. I saw several of the rarer kinds of rockfish including lots of Black and Yellow rockfish, a Treefish and a China Rockfish. I love how the kelp here tends to grow on small rocks which are then lifted off of the bottom by the bouyant kelp. 8/25/01 8/17/01 8/10/01 through 8/12/01 Saturday found me on the Cypress Sea for Captain Dave's charter. It was flat calm but the water looked really ugly. We headed south. We passed Phil at the Outer Pinnacles. He reported 5 foot vis there. Ick. We kept going and did our first dive at Flintstone Rocks. Vis here was maybe 10 feet. I tried to get a shot of a Simnia Snail on a Gorgonian but my lights were giving me trouble. I suspect a bad pair of batteries as the lights had worked fine with other batteries on the night dive. They worked better on the second and third dives too using my good set and a set from Jussi. Our second dive was at Soberanes Point. Vis here was almost OK. I'd call it 20 feet, maybe 25 if you squinted. I tried getting some pan shots of the metridiums fading into Corynactis but didn't get anything really worth entering. We kept going south for the third dive and ended up at Diablo Pinnacles. Vis here was around 15-20 feet but it was sunny and there was lots of nice kelp with several really nice jellies in the water. I got a decent shot of some Butterfish in a Fried Egg Jelly. I tried several artistic reveals in an effort to impress the judges with my camerawork but probably ruined my shot by doing so (see below). By now we were way south and running late. We barely made it back in time to enter our shots in the contest. While choosing whether to enter the nudibranch or the jelly I noticed that someone else had a good shot of a Rainbow Nudibranch. His didn't miss so I decided to go with the jelly shot. From there we headed to the film festival which featured lots of interesting stuff. After rather short night of sleep Sami, Kati, Jussi and I wandered back to the Monterey Penninsula College where the contest was being run to choose slides. Sami, Kati and Jussi had all managed to get some pretty decent shots considering the conditions. We all figure we've got at least a shot at winning something. My heart sinks a bit when the video entries are shown at the awards ceremony. Two are clearly better than mine and two others at least as good. I like my jellyfish shot quite a bit less now that I've had time to sleep on it. After a close shot of the butterfish I dropped away from the jelly straight down which now looks like I was trying too hard. The wacky reveal does 3 things for me, none of them good. First it apparently made the judges dizzy. Second it pulled the lights away from the jelly and eliminated the nice color. Third, the auto-exposure mode on the camera totally screwed up the change from artificial to natural light. Bad videographer! Anwyay, first place goes to an amazing shot of a Harbor Seal, second goes to a Sea Lion over/under shot and third to the other nudibranch clip. I get an honorable mention and only barely deserve that. Oh well. Kati, meanwhile wins the novice Mystery Category and places second in Wide Angle. Sami gets a second in Advanced Mystery Category and third in Advanced Wide Angle. Jussi doesn't place to my great surprise as I thought he had some good shots too. Oh well, a fun time was had by all despite the conditions and we'll be back at it next year. 8/4/01 The first dive was at Soberanes Point. My friend was still hoping to dive despite being very sick. Seasickness can make getting geared up a pain and it took her a bit longer than it otherwise might have. We were to be the last to jump in when the anchor slipped and we had to re-set. Several divers had been descending on the line at the time and we had to retrieve them too. By the time we were done with all of that it was clear that Kristen was done for the day. Ouch. The boat was also rather behind schedule by now too. I jumped in for a quick dive. It only lasted 10 minutes but it was quite memorable nonetheless. While coming back up a school of California Barracuda swam past. Naturally I didn't have my camera but it was a magnificent sight and something I'd never seen before in these waters. Vis was maybe 25 to 30 feet and it was surprisingly surgy given the surface conditions. The second dive was at the East Pinnacle. New buddy Andrew and I had a dive that was as close to perfect as you can get. I can only hope we have the same conditions next week for the shootout. Vis was around 50 feet, the water was blue and filled with jellies and schools of rockfish and the surge was mild. Wow. We saw several large Lings, a nice Cabezon and, of course, lots of pretty encrusting life. Absolutely phenomenal. On the way home we got a good look at 2 Humpback whales just south of Cypress Point. Of course the frustrating thing is that Kristen didn't get to enjoy any of it - which is probably a major understatement. Sigh. Next time maybe a shore dive... 7/28/01 and 7/29/01 As for the conditions, well let's just say they were good for training but maybe not so good for diving. Doing skills with a 3 man team in 7 foot vis is good training. OTOH I hope things clear up for next weekend when I'll be out with my camera again. 7/22/01 Our first dive was at Honeymoon Rocks. I went looking for the wolf eel I saw last week but couldn't find him. Oh well, it was a nice dive anyway. Vis was maybe 35-40 feet and surge pretty mild. The second dive was at Waterfall. The topography here features lots of big rocks and pinnacles with numerous cracks and crevices. There are a LOT of Red Abalone here which is nice to see. I also found another Irish Lord. Conditions were similar to Honeymoon with a touch more surge as this spot is less protected. Our third dive was at Malpaso Creek. This is a very similar site to Waterfall and, predictably, I found a lot of Abalone here too. I also found one big crack with two huge Lingcod, a very large Vermilion Rockfish and the biggest concentration of Black and Yellow rockfish I've ever see. Very cool. Near the end of the dive I got a visit from a Harbor Seal but he didn't stick around to have his portrait taken. 7/14/01 I was on the Cypress Point today for an advanced trip. Reports from Thursday and Friday were very encouraging but it was clear from the forecast that the swells and wind were picking up. We had a WNW swell of around 6 feet with quite a bit of chop on top of that. It was windy (from the NW) but not the 25 knot kind of wind that was in the forecast. We pulled into Outer Pinnacles for the first dive. The water here was very, very clean. I'd call the vis at least 50 feet and if someone called it 70 I wouldn't object. It was a tad surgy but not too bad. I spent much of the dive filming Jellies and their resident Medusafish. We tucked into Honeymoon for our second dive. This was a really good idea as Point Lobos knocked down most of the swell and the water was really clear. I found a nice Wolf Eel right next to the anchor. Oddly the only two other people who saw it were the folks I showed it to. The third dive was at Reverse Cove near Soberanes Point. Vis here wasn't nearly as good as it had been in the other two spots but was still in excess of 25 feet. This spot doesn't offer quite the density of colorful sessile animals that occur at the Pinnacles or Honeymoon but the variety and density of the marine algaes was really amazing. There were lots of rockfish here as well. Overall a nice day of diving. 7/7/01 The second dive was at The Needle which is just outside of Point Lobos State Reserve. No problem finding jellies to shoot here. The first 30 feet of water were filled with Sea Nettles. Below that was a very dense layer of Doliolids extending down to around 60 feet. Below that it was thick with Egg Yolk Jellies. A stiff current made it a bit hard to get video but there was a lot to see. Oh yeah, the pinnacle was awful nice too with dense Corynactis, a smattering of hydrocoral and lots of nice Toxidocia sponges. Vis was a bit lower than at Soberanes, especially if you were in the Doliolid layer. 7/4/01 First dive was at Lobos Rocks. There was a ripping south current but the water was very clear and blue and the sea lions were practically jumping into the boat to get their pictures taken. I'd estimate the vis at 35 to 40 feet but several other divers reported better than that so maybe my "vis-o-meter" is out of adjustment. YMMV but suffice to say we had nice vis. Anyway I spent the dive hanging onto the kelp and flapping in the breeze while squads of sea lions bombarded me from all sides. There were also lots of very nice jellies in the water but they were moving even faster than the sea lions which made them hard to take pictures of. The water was about 52F and if there was any surge I couldn't tell due to the current. The second dive was a the south end of Soberanes Point. Conditions here were similar to Lobos Rocks except for the current part. Here is was calm. Clear water, lots of jellies and blue rockfish in the kelp made for good wide-angle shooting. The reef was also interesting with lots of vertical topology and huge cracks with interesting things living in them. Abalone, for instance. I literally saw dozens of them on this dive. I also saw two large wolf eels. The first one was out and about but unfortunately I didn't see it until I came around a corner and it was literally less than a foot from my mask. A bit of surge pushed me closer and the wolf eel decided to bail. I eventually found it again back in a hole with a second wolf eel (presumably its mate) but neither fish wanted to come out and play. Oh well. Interestingly the vis which was so great at the beginning of the dive (say 40 feet) closed down to maybe 20 feet by the end of the dive. Hopefully that was just a local (and temporary) thing. 6/30/01 The second dive was out on Lingcod Reef somewhere. Vis here was also quite good. Here we didn't have as much surface murk but it wasn't quite as clear at depth either. I'd call it 30 feet. The reef on this particular spot was a tad dull but I did see lots of rockfish of various kinds. Coming back up in the kelp I found a Penpoint Gunnel. Overall a very pleasant kelp forest dive. The wind started coming up after lunch so we headed back to Monterey for the third dive and dropped the hook at Eric's Pinnacle. I quickly found a juvenile wolf eel on one of the sister rocks. I also took some time to practice skills. Vis here was around 25 feet and the water was warm - maybe 55F. 6/23/01 The first dive was at Honeymoon Rocks. Vis was murky at the surface and maybe 15 feet at depth. Maybe. The reef here is very pretty but I dont' recall seeing anything remarkable. The effect was much like a night dive. The second dive was at Pescadero Pinnacles. Vis here was even murkier at the surface but sligthly better at depth. In places it may have reached 20 feet but as with Honeymoon it was really dark. I didn't see much in the way of interesting marine life but I did find a large 4 bladded propeller. I had a lift bag and thought about recovering it but then common sense took over. It wasn't worth that much and lifting it, especially in really lame vi,s may have been dangerous. Reports from Monterey indicated the vis was better there than in Carmel so we headed back for the third dive and parked the boat at Eric's Pinnacle. Vis was somewhat better there. I'd call it 20 feet though small sandstorms locally reduced it to less than 5. The highlight for me was seeing a Zebra Goby. Monterey is the extreme north end of their range and I'd never seen one here before. After the morning trip I swapped boats over to the Cypress Sea for Captain Dave's BBQ nightdive shindig. We joked about just eating BBQ and bailing on the diving but decided to get wet anyway. First (fourth) dive was at 3 Kings. Conditions were similar to Eric's with about 20 foot vis. Nothing remarkable to report but it was pleasant at least. Following a long surface interval featuring fish tacos, BBQ chicken, corn on the cob and other goodies we anchored at Whitewall (more or less) for the night dive. While we weren't quite on Whitewall I did have a good dive. I found a Slimy Snailfish which was a new species for me and also finally saw a Sea Hare again after an absence of 2 years or so. Susan and Beto found a Longfin Sculpin and the bioluminescense was amazing. I guess there are some advantages to a plankton bloom. Dave Chamberlin swam by at one point and his fin kicks made more light than did his dive light. (For those paying attention who know Dave his normally super-bright HID light had run out of batteries and he was using his backup light). 6/16/01 We tucked into Honeymoon for the second dive. The south wind by this point was starting to blow off the cloud cover but it didn't help the vis. I'd call it 15-20 feet at depth and maybe 5 feet at the surface. I don't recall seeing anything remarkable on this dive, though - as always, the scenery was very pretty. At least what little scenery I could actually see was pretty. Our third dive was at Yankee Breakers. Vis here was probably even worse than the other two spots. I did see two interesting fish though. Back in a crack along a wall I saw a Red Irish Lord and while coming back up in the kelp I saw a Penpoint Gunnel. The gunnel proved difficult to photograph as it blended in very nicely with the kelp and there was just enough wave action to make it impossible to keep the camera on the fish. Oh well, I tried anyway. 6/10/01 The second dive was at Honeymoon Rocks. There was a distinct change in the water at about Point Lobos. South of there it was clear blue. North of there it was murky on top. Naturally Honeymoon had great vis. I'll call it 60 feet and it was good from the surface on down. I don't recall seeing anything that specifically stood out but I love the scenery here. Our third dive was back up at Fire Rock. As expected the vis wasn't quite as nice but below the murk it was probably 35 feet. I swam over to the small pinnacle I found last week to see if the baby Wolf Eel was still there. I didn't find it but I did see a Brown Irish Lord. Maybe I'll come back next week when I expect to have my camera back from its annual maintenence. 6/2/01 First dive was at Fire Rock. Dave C. and I wandered off to the deep edges of the pinnacle and found some good diving. The water was murky on the surface but got progressively clearer as we got deeper. It was close to 30 feet at a depth of 100 feet. Off on a small sister reef I found a nice patch of Metridiums and a baby Wolf Eel. Surge was mild due to the short wave period. Pretty nice dive. By now the wind was picking up and Xcott was getting nervous so we headed back north while the gettin was good. The second dive was at Hopkin's Deep Reef or therabouts. A small boat was anchored right in the middle of the reef so we went for the outside. Unfortunately the anchor dragged and by the time I got to the bottom it was more like Hopkin's Deep Sand. The good news was that the bottom was covered in Squid Eggs. In turn, many of the Squid Eggs were covered in juvenile Dendronotus iris nudibranchs. I don't know whether they were feeding on the eggs or what but there were lots of them. I also found several interesting and rather large metal objects with metridiums growing on them. Vis was around 10 feet and surge mild. The third dive was at Sammet's Spike. I spent the dive amusing myself by watching Dendronotus iris nudibranchs munch on Tube Anemones. Vis was maybe 15 feet and surge mild. 5/27/01 First dive was at Lobos Rocks. You know the weather is nice if the captain is scared by the divers on the boat and we still get to dive here! Vis on the west side of the outer rock was nearly 40 feet getting progressively murkier to around 20 feet inside of the inner rock. Lots of jellies in the water; mostly Siphonophores and Ctenophores. There were a LOT of fish here too. Huge schools of Blue Rockfish, quite a few Vermilions, Coppers, Gophers, China, etc. Lots of Kelp Greenlings as well. The outside of the west rock features an amazing expanse of Aggregated Nipple Sponges. Oh, and I did see a couple of Sea Lions! :-) Water was about 50F with almost no surge (at least by local standards). The second dive was at Kasler Cracks which was a new spot for me. The bottom was at around 70 feet with lots of craggy rocks and crevices. Vis here was around 25 feet. I saw several interesting things on this dive including what I think was an Irish Lord back in a crack and a Rostanga pulchra nudibranch which was a new one for me. The third dive was at Local's Ledge. It had been a while since I'd done this spot and I had forgotten how good it was. Love the Hydrocoral here. Simply amazing. I also saw a Mosshead Warbonnet. Vis was around 30 feet or more. Overall an excellent day on the water. I love to see conditions like this with newbies on the boat. Nothing like seeing Monterey at it's best early on to get hooked for life. 5/19/01 The water was pretty brown but to my surprise the vis wasn't all that bad. I'd call it 25 feet. Surge was moderate to mild. No big excitement on this dive though we did see an octopus. According to my watch the water was very cold (about 46F) but it didn't seem that bad for some reason. Perhaps my cold has dulled my senses. The second dive was inside Stillwater Cove. Vis here was a bit reduced but still nearly 20 feet. I got a quick glance at a passing Harbor Seal and I saw a nudibranch I'd never seen before (Ancula pacifica). We also saw a nice sized Cabezon. After the dive we noticed what looked like a Minke Whale swimming in circles in front of the Cypress Point which was also in Stillwater. Looks like they got a close view. There were also several Risso's Dolphins in the same area. One the way home we got a pretty good look at two Humpback Whales in Monterey just off of Hopkins. Overall a nice day on the water.5/12/01 We had a strong group so we headed for Flintstone Rocks. Jumping in I quickly confirmed that the water was indeed very green and that the vis was about 10 feet and was murky throughout the water column. Surge was mild as expected. When I arrived at 100 feet or so I stopped to de-fog my mask. When I partially flooded it the mask filled with blood instead of water. Doh! Guess the cold was worse then I thought. I hadn't felt any unusual pressure on my sinuses or ears but clearly something didn't equalize right. I moved back up a bit and the nosebleed stopped so I decided to continue the dive. I didn't see anything particularly memorable but it was pleasant nonetheless. Back on the boat I decided to sit out the second dive which was at Lobos Rocks. Conditions there were reported to be similar to Flintstone. 5/9/01 4/15/01 Clinton 4/14/01 We spent our surface interval tucked in at stillwater. While we waited things seemed to calm down a bit. We ran out to Pescadero Pinnacles for the second dive. Vis was slightly better than the first dive and it was less surgy. I found a Chromodoris macfarlandi nudibranch and had fun watching Sami use his 1:1 macro setup to take pictures of the eyball of a very cooperative (or perhaps just stupid) Cabezon. The third dive was at Outer Pinnacles and by now things were really looking up. The sun was out and the waves were way down. Vis was improved from the first two spots. I'd call it at least 35 feet at depth though we still had a murky layer at the surface. I found another Chromodoris macfarlandi and later a Juvenile Wolf Eel. Overall a very nice dive. 4/7/01 Day on Cypress Sea. We got everything: clouds, rain showers, sun, wind, swell, chop, even frolicking gray whales near Cypress Point (the landform, not the boat). We motored on to the south side of Point Lobos. First dive: Honeymoon. Wind was lower, but seas were confused. 10' vis, green near surface, very dark below, near night dive. Bottom temp 44 Oceanic degrees, quite cold. Spot was nice as always. Very challenging exit back onto the boat, rough and confused seas made the swimstep do fast, weird and violent moves. Slept the whole interval and transit back to Monterey Bay. Second dive: Ballbuster (out from Aumentos). Wind had really picked up and was now driving hard. We parked using waypoints, and hit rocky reef with tops at 85'-95' and sand at 100'. I swam around with Clinton, sure that this low rocky area is not the Ballbuster we know, until we saw familiar landmarks, swam further and hit pay dirt. The Ballbuster proper is a 30' tall wall from 100' to 70' plateau, tons of metridiums on the walls and dense coverings of corynactis. Area even has a couple of gorgonians and some hydrocoral, not bad for inside the Bay. Had a great dive despite very chunky and low vis around 8' to 12'. Even managed to navigate the 100' or so distance back to the anchor in the soup. Tough surface conditions (I fed the fish once, again, despite Bonine), bad vis, but managed to get a very positive dive day regardless. You never know. Sami 4/6/01 We found a spot with lots of kelp in about 40 feet of water and dropped the hook. It was flat calm with a slight breeze from the south. The water, however, was about the color and consistency of Miso soup. Oh well, we found a large concentration of the Melibe nudibranchs right after jumping in. After filming them a bit we moved on. The ledges on the bottom here house all sorts of interesting things including a lot of juvenile rockfish. Bill found a Chromodoris macfarlandi nudibranch. Another funny bit was that at one point Bill and Paul were looking at some small thing on the bottom when a whole herd of sea lions showed up. I counted nearly a dozen looking at Paul and Bill who had no idea the pinnipeds were there. Fortunately they eventually looked up and we all got play with the pelagic grizzlies. We surfaced a ways from the boat. I realized I wanted more Melibe footage and that we hadn't seen any since we left the anchor line. I swam back to the anchor and did another dive for about 20 minutes to get more footage. I mostly succeeded but the murky water and the fact that my lights are in the shop didn't help. Oh well. I came back up to find that Paul and Bill had determined that the anchor was stuck. As I was the only one still in his gear it fell to me to free it. Since I had done more up and down than I normally like I decided to play surface support for Paul and Bill on the second dive. They did Hopkins Deep Reef and reported 10-15 foot vis there. Afterwards we headed over to Ed Cooper's place for the post DFG meeting party. 3/31/01 Note to salmon fisherman: No wake zone doesn't mean "keep it under 25 knots"! Jeesh. Also, it was amusing seeing them zip out of the harbor, stop about 500 yards past the breakwater and then scoot right back. One boat did this probably 3 times. Quoth Phil "They probably forgot their beer". First dive was at the Pinnacles. Vis at the surface was murky but it opened up to a legit 35-40 feet below 20 feet. The water was very, very cold. My watch had it at 45F. An Oceanic computer would proably report 42 or 43. Brrr. Surge was pretty mild and I had the usual good dive at this location though I didn't see anything really unusual. Second dive was at Fire Rock. Conditions were similar to the Pinnacles with a touch less surge an slightly reduced vis. I found an Irish Lord hiding in a crack but it wouldn't come out for a portrait. The third dive was inside of Stillwater Cove. Conditions here were nice as well. Highlights including a large treefish hiding back inside of a large cave. Ian was nice enough to light it up with his HID light from a different entrance to the cave which gave me a very nice view of the fish. I also found a dive flag on the bottom which I gave to Phil to help outfit his new boat. 3/24/01 The weather was just as nice as forecast with very little wind (at least to start with) and very flat seas. The water was a bit green though. Sometimes a little sun in Monterey is a bad thing as it leads to plankton blooms. Anyway we motored south to checkout Soberanes Wall for the first dive. Upon arrival, however, it became clear that this was a bad idea as there was a ripping current blowing through the area. Dave estimated it at 2.5 knots so we moved back up to McDonalds (near Yankee Point) for the first dive. Literally within 30 seconds of turning on my light I found a Juvenile Wolf Eel. The eel seemed at least a little curious but wouldn't quite come out of its hole for a portrait. I searched in vain for an urchin or some other treat to lure it out but didn't locate anything. I did find 2 Octopi within 5 feet of the eel, though. Needless to say I didn't move from the spot for the rest of the dive. Vis was around 30 feet at depth though it was murky at the surface. The second dive was at Mono Lobo wall. I had a fun, but uneventful dive - at least until I decided to come up. I was right under the boat when I started my ascent but the vis was only about 15 feet and I hadn't found the anchor line. I knew from the sound of the generator, however, that I was in the basic area. Coming up I didn't notice any movement relative to the bottom but evidently there was a raging surface current. When I finally did poke my head up it was blowing 25 knots and the boat was a long, LONG way away. Doh! Swimming didn't help as I actually being pushed further and further away. Finally the DM Eric Nickisch jumped in and swam a current line to me Deciding that 2 dives weren't enough Dave Chamberlin and I decided that a night dive might be fun. Since it was flat we decided to dive Monestary. In a "don't try this at home kiddies" kind of move we did the dive with doubles and me with my camera. To give you an idea how flat it was we walked in with fins in hand no problem. Getting out was slightly harder - for me at least but no big deal after Dave relieved me of the camera. I sure hope he gives it back! :-) The coolest thing about this dive was the Lobster Glory Hole that we found. How is is possible that nearly a dozen lobsters live in 70 feet of water at North Monestary and nobody has ever seen them before? Wild stuff. I'd have gotten better video but I was laughing so hard that bouyancy control was harder than normal. I'd been in the Channel Islands last week with a bunch of bug-hunters and I saw more lobsters on this one dive than on 7 in two days down there. Dave and I also saw a Sailfin Sculpin and a Thornback Ray. 3/17/01 and 3/18/01 3/11/01 After 45 minutes of air sharing, bouyancy and trim, lift bag and other exercises we decided to do a dive. Vis ranged from 5-15 feet but the swell and wind waves were way down from Saturday. Dave saw a Wolf Eel and I saw a nudibranch I'd never seen before; Acanthodoris lutea. Sadly I didn't have my camera so I can't show you a picture. Other finds included a Kelpfish, 2 Cabezons, lots of Rockfish and lots of nudibranchs. Breakwater may not be the most scenic place to dive but there's lots to see if you pay attention. 3/10/01 After a close vote we decided to go diving despite the tough boating conditions. Since the swell was more north than west we tucked into Honeymoon for the first dive. Vis was murky for the first 20 feet or so but below that it was absolutely beautiful, if rather surgy. At 120 feet where I spent the dive it was downright pleasant. Highlights included several Vermilions and some nice Gorgonians. After another vote the seasick crowd won the day and we headed back for the dock. Personally I'd have preferred to stay for at least one more dive but I wasn't the one feeding the fishes. Oh well, one good dive is better than not getting wet. 3/03/01 The first dive was at Stillwater Cove which probably tells all that you need to know about the conditions. If the Point's in Stillwater at 9:00 AM it must be the Apocalypse! Vis wasn't bad at around 25 to 30 feet but the surge was fairly strong. The highlight for me was seeing a Calico Bass which is an unusual thing this far north. Too bad it didn't seem to want to have its picture taken. Our second dive was at City Beach Reef. This was actually a nice dive despite some rather wicked surge. There was quite a bit more vertical relief than I expected and lots of very pretty encrusting life. I also saw several big Lingcod and a Cabezon defending a nest of eggs. Vis was around 20-25 feet. The wind was starting to really pick up by now so we headed north and did the third dive at Aumentos in the bay. Ick. Vis was about 5 feet and the surge was insane. Not much to say beyond that. 2/24/01 First dive was at North Monestary. Surface conditions here were quite calm. Descending down the wall it didn't look overly promising at first as the surface water was a bit murky. As I kept descending, however, it just kept getting better and better. At 150 feet vis was at least 50 feet. Common sense prevailed at this point and I started working my way back up the wall. The highlight for me was finding a very young Wolf Eel. Our second dive was at Mono Lobo wall. Like last week the conditions here were really nice. Vis was around 25 to 30 feet and surge was minor. While poking around on the reef I found a nudibranch that I had never seen before. Imagine that! The third dive was also at Mono Lobo wall on a slightly different section of reef. I found a Lincod defending a nest of eggs and managed to get some passable video of it. Later I found an Octopus and a really nice pinnacle with some exceptional hydrocoral and encrusting sponges. On balance a very nice day of diving 2/17/01 Swells were from the SW and not anywhere near as big as was forecast. Mostly there was windchop from the S and SW. Winds were from the SE. We motored to Carmel, and like all the other dive boats, did our first dive at Mono Lobo Wall which was almost completely sheltered from the weather. Conditions were great. Vis was around 35 feet and it was quite calm. Highlights included several large Lingcod sitting on nests, schools of Senorita fish, Blue Rockfish a Yellowtail Rockfish and lots of Pelagia jellies - including some with Medusafish. We liked it so much we did it again. Our second dive was at South Monestary. It was flat there was well though from the boat I didn't get a good read on the entry/exit conditions. Vis was at least 40 feet at depth. I saw a Starry Rockfish which was nice as I didn't have a decent picture of one. I still don't, owing to a lack of cooperation from the fish. Hide and seek is a fun game, but not at 100 feet on the third dive of the day. I also saw a harbor seal. From the surface we saw several Porpoise playing in the surf near the wash rocks at the north end. I don't recall anybody seeing them while we were diving. Overall a very nice day of diving. Excepting the rain it looks OK for tomorrow too. My advice? Go diving. 2/3/01 Carmel was a mess and we had a mixed group so after admiring the waves breaking over the pinnacles we came back to Monterey. About half the group didn't want to go diving at all so we dropped them off at the dock for a rain check. Now with a light load we did 2 dives at Hopkins Deep Reef. Surge here wasn't so bad and the vis better than expected varying from 5 to 20 feet. I found an Octopus on the second dive and several other divers saw a Bat Ray. Not so bad considering... 1/27/01 Our first dive was somewhere in the general vicinity of Outer, Outer Pinnacles. Phil decided to call it Lunatic's Ledge. The top of the rock was around 90 feet and it went down quite a bit from there. Surge was strong but most of us were diving at 120 feet so it wasn't too much of a problem. There were lots of Gorgonians, some nice Toxadocia sponges and generally nice scenerey. I got some film of a Painted Greenling eating some kind of large arthropod. Vis was around 10 feet at the surface opening to around 25 feet at depth. Our second dive (but the first for about half of the passengers on the boat who sat out the previous dive) was at the East Pinnacles. Those of us who did the first dive sat this one out. Predictably the report from the other divers was "lots of surge...". For our third dive we motored back up to the bay and did Ballbuster which is offshore of Chase reef somewhere. It's a nice pinnacle in around 110 feet of water coming up to a peak of about 75 feet. Vis on the bottom was terrible at less than 8 feet but there were lots of nice Metridiums, Corynactis and even some Gorgonians. Surge was only moderate as the bay seemed much more protected than Carmel. I got some good footage of a shrimp on a Gorgonian. Coming back up was an interesting experience. Naturally I lost the anchor line in the poor vis and also because the anchor was in the sand next to the pinnacle rather than on top which is where I finished the dive. Ascending from the top of the rock I broke through a halocline and the vis went from 5 feet to something like 30 feet in the space of about a foot. It was like an airplane breaking through the clouds which was a really neat effect. The murky layer looked for all the world like a hard bottom. During my hang I got some good footage of several very large Sea Nettles including one with a Medusa Fish. Overall a fun day despite the tough conditions. 1/20/01 About the only good thing was a light SE wind which kept the wind chop down and thus made boating tolerable. Between dives we went whale watching and we did see a couple of grays. 1/14/01 We had a light load and ddly I hardly knew anyone on the boat today. The good knews, however, was that all were strong divers so we were able to do our normal aggressive dives. First dive was at the Fanshell Beach Pinnacles. The surge was a pain on the bottom but if you got into the shadow of the rock itself there was a sweet spot at around 70 feet where it was fairly calm and quite pretty with lots of encrusting life. As I was coming back up the anchor line I was treated to a quick fly-by from a friendly Sea Lion. Vis was around 20 feet and the water was about 52F. Our second dive was an unknown rock south of Outer Pinnacles. The top was at around 105 and it dropped off rapidly to god-knows-what on all sides. Given the depth and the lack of structure around the pinnacle there was relatively little surge and the vis was nice at around 25 feet (though it was murky at the surface). On a wall just below the top of the rock I found the nicest collection of big Toxadocia sp. sponges I've ever seen. Several formed fans which were over 2 feet across and others featured large branching structures. Very nice. Lots of Corynactis and some Hydrocoral as well. Our third dive was at what Phil and Xcott are calling the West Pinnacle w is quite close to the normal pinnacles but not so close that the wash rock comes into play. As might be expected there is a lot of Hydrocoral here in addition to the usual encrusting life. There was also a pretty good sized school of Blue Rockfish hanging out just above the rock. The wind came up during the dive and I think we got out of Dodge just in time to avoid a rough ride home. All in all, given the forecast we got a pretty good day of diving in. 1/6/01 Our first dive was at Outer Pinnacles. Vis was around 25 feet and the surge very strong. At around 110 feet I happened across a female Painted Greenling who was making the rounds of the local males. As she approached the males (which were very darkly colored which I think is their breeding color) the males would shiver and shake all about in some kind of mating display. The female didn't seem impressed with any of the bachelors she visited as I followed her around. Hopefully she found one she liked. Interesting behavior in any case. The second dive was at East Pinnacles. Vis here was a bit reduced near the bottom due to the surge but was 25 feet nearer the surface. Surge was positively insane. After a while I gave up on trying to watch anything on the bottom and spent most of the dive in the kelp canopy admiring a large mixed school of Blue Rockfish and Blacksmiths. There were lots of jellies of various sorts in the water and the school seemed to making the most of the food source. Overall not the conditions for diving but as always I still managed to see some interesting things. This combined with the whales and dolphins made for a nice day. Current Reports Aged Reports Older Reports More Older Reports Even More Older Reports Yet More Older Reports |