Wreckreational Diving

7/27/2008 - Not The Best Dive Day

We've been resolving gear issues lately and wanted to finish up tanks that have been sitting for a week. Marineland looked pretty nice yesterday but my drysuit seals weren't finished yet. Merry just got new seals a couple of weeks ago, so we decided to wait until this morning. I replaced Merry's leaky drysuit inflator valve last night and was hoping to test it today. We arrived early to find waves and dirty water. We really need a boat.
We tucked our crotch straps between our legs and crawled off to Vet's. It looked OK, so I chained my wagon to a parking meter. I didn't need a wagon here. :)
As we approached the bottom my drysuit inflator began leaking. It's the first time it has ever leaked, but still, a bad coincidence. The dive itself wasn't bad, but the water in my boots made the walk up the stairs a little sloshy. When I removed the suit I found that the valve was loose. I tightened it and hope to have a better dive next time.
As for the dive itself, we dropped right into the detritus field and found nudibranchs, skeleton shrimp, crabs and juvenile fish immediately. I saw a Triopha maculata crawling over what I thought was a stick, but it turned out to be a pipefish. We spotted two Polycera atras munching away at bryozoan on kelp fronds and a pair of mating San Diego dorids.
Eggs covered every piece of vegetation. The Sand dabs seemed grateful for Merry's peas, as did a few Sarcastic fringeheads.
I spotted a school of juvenile senoritas and another school of baby lingcod.
We made our way to the water's edge where we were met by the infamous Vet's Step. It took two waves to push us over the sandy lip and out of the water. We need a boat.

Sarcastic fringehead