2/8/2006 - When the going gets rough, I still go diving.

I took a day off work and decided to sleep in, then head over to Marineland for a nice mellow dive. I arrived to find I had the entire place to myself.

The surf was up, despite three days of Santana winds. Coming from the Northeast, they usually blow out to sea and flatten the surf. The swells were too strong this time. I decided to give it a try anyway. It was my first beach dive in my new drysuit and I wanted to see if it would leak much. I stayed pretty dry. I also learned to use the rear shoulder zipper by myself. I made the long surface swim against the current toward the point. This time, it really did take forty minutes.

I dropped down into the dirty water hoping to find a clear layer. I hit the sand at 67 feet and found visibility of 2-4 feet. Oh well, I'm here, I'm going to make the best of it. I found the usual assortment of nudibranchs, including an egg-laying Cuthona divae. The lobsters were walking about, thinking it must have been night time. I only saw the preschool bugs, so Susan and Hilary will have to starve again.

I meandered my way back toward the cove, where the visibility went to zero. I surfaced just behind the waves and waited. And waited. Then I waited a little more. Finally, I just went for it. I removed my fins, rode a large wave in and managed to land on my feet. It's a little tough walking out onto uneven boulders, especially after returning to gravity and wearing double steel tanks. I rested for a few moments, then made the long walk back up the hill.

It was 90F today, so I was happy to be in my new suit, a thin trilam trashbag rather than my old crushed neoprene humidor.

I washed my gear, went to PW and filled my tanks for the weekend and still got home at my usual time. I need to find a way to do this every day instead of going to work.