It's a funny thing to look back through this blog and see how much has changed from the beginning to now~ confidence level, gear, dive buddies, types of diving, and moving into the professional status (DM). It's been one heck of an adventure, that's for sure.. and I certainly cannot say that it's been dull  ... Made some awesome dive buddies over time, lost some of the not-so-awesome ones.. but have learned from them all.
My beach diving days have become a rarity, with the exceptions of Divemaster duties which sometimes require beach dives at LJ Shores & also some shore dives with the dive club when we have a club function.. Any other time, my happy little butt is on a boat out in the ocean..
Boat diving opens a lot of doors~ you get to see places that you'd never see on a beach dive, plus you don't have to deal with walking, crowds, surface swims, surf zones, etc.. So, since the addition of a boat to my family (plus my dive buddy has 2 boats), things have changed considerably.. The majority of my dives consist of wreck dives now, with some occasional reefs (Pt Loma), Coronados, and Scripps Canyon dives... Yukon, Ruby E, El Rey, NOS tower, P-38, High Seas, & the Hogan (http://www.cawreckdivers.org/Wrecks/Hogan.htm). It's pretty awesome to be diving ships, planes, etc that have been underwater for decades... but it's the P-38 that's my absolute favorite by far.. The plane has been down there since 1943 and is in great shape for the amount of time it's been down there.. http://www.cawreckdivers.org/Wrecks/P38.htm
Anyways, here's a little summary & a few surface pics from the Hogan dive this past Friday (I don't have my pics of the wreck itself online yet).
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A WICKES (LITTLE) Destroyer launched in 1919.
314' long and 31' wide, she boasted four 4" guns and two 20mm anti-aircraft guns. In WWII she served as a minesweeper and convoy escort. She took part in the invasion of North Africa as well as the battle of Iwo Jima. In 1945 she was slotted as a bombing target and was sunk off San Diego.
She lies in 125 feet right on the Mexican Border. Currents are common in the area and visibility can be reduced. There is not much in the way of penetration; most of the structure is collapsed.
Skill Recommendations: With a 130 foot maximum depth and unpredictable bottom visibility, this dive is for experienced divers only. Currents are common in the area and all divers are required to have a surface visual signaling device and well as an audible device. ) |
Watching the sunrise as we're anchored at the Hogan (which lies on the Mexican/US line):
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Sean helping Nate get all set up... |
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Tyler running over me (ok well almost, hehe) with the scooter~
Saturday's dive had nothing to do with anything wrecked or historical, lol.. Sean & I took his rib (rhib, whatever) out in Oceanside for a night dive.. Vis was almost non-existent and surge was at least 5 ft~ lol~ but it was still a pretty cool dive since I'd never been diving in that area before.
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