Adventures Of ScubaBob

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3/1/2009 - Rigs to the Left, Reef to the Right

Let's see, what have I been doing the last 6 weeks since my last dives in PV? Packing, moving, unpacking, working, more packing and unpacking. Yep, no diving! Severe dry gill syndrom! I received an invite from Ruth Harris to join her and Larry for her 300th dive (and first) on the Oil Rigs. I didn't make any immediate plans - until I got a friendly reminder and "nudge" from Ruth last week, so I talked to Rob C and we decided to sign-up. I called Kyaa, and before you knew it, Sunday March 1st was upon us and we were boarding the Sundiver Express, the dive boat formerly known as Island Time - sorry no fancy symbols. The trip turned out to be a great one, with conditions that made March 1st 2009 almost seem like the first day of summer. The trip also reminded me of a very important lesson - details to follow..

We arrived early Sunday morning and found a boat full of eager divers, ready to set out for the rigs (many for the first time.) Among the group were the notorious Dive Matrix Duo - Ken and Claudette. I'd never met either Ken or Claudette, but of course have loved their stories and photo diaries they have shared with us over the years. Soon thereafter, Mike Bartick walked down the ramp, multiple DSLR rigs in tow. With Bart and Ken aboard - I almost considered just leaving my video camera behind! Haha - not likely - I'm far too addicted.

Rob and I were amongst the first ones in the water at the Oil Rig Eureka. We kicked over to the rig (calm surface conditions eliminated the occasional need sometimes present at the rigs to giant stride, grab camera, and descend.) After dumping the air from my wing, I dropped below the surface, turned to face down and gave a kick down towards the pilings. After about 5', I quickly returned to the surface. What? My gear is usually dialed in. 8 lbs with my XCEL wetsuit, 16 lbs with my DC drysuit. I checked my weight, I had 10 lbs to compensate for the vertical surge. I hung my head and headed over the boat and Kyaa graciously handed me 4lbs of hard lead. Rob also requested some extra weight. Wow - the day's starting off great. I figured the LP steel 85's that I BELIEVED we were diving with wouldn't have required much extra lead over diving with my Steel HP100s, and the extra 2 lbs should have more the compensated for that. Oh well, Another dump of air and I was able to kick down to the pilings. My weight still didn't feel right, and I finished the dive after 25 minutes. When I got back to the boat I realized my BIG mistake. The LP steel 85 that I thought I was diving was in fact an AL 80. ARGH! I hate aluminum tanks! Lesson re-learned. Bring my own stuff (including my tanks - I ALWAYS DO THIS), and inspect my gear closely before the dive. This should have been a no brainer.

The Rigs dives were great - these were my first two dives on Eureka, and bring my total Oil Rig dives to 4. The rigs are amazing - if you haven't dived them - do it! The life on the rigs is hard to describe. I was picturing in my head some of the shots I wanted today. I swear I spent half of the dive just staring in awe holding my camera to my side.

The last dive was at a site picked from Ray's long list of near-shore favorites (Red Tank - if you feel like you are diving in the shipping lanes - you found the spot.) The temp here was a couple degrees colder then on the rigs - but was well worth it. Several nudi's were amongst the rocks and reef structure. I came across what I thought were Janulous eggs, but I could not find the nud's themselves amongst the kelp. The dive was cut a little short due to NDL and air supply time, I would have really liked to explore more of the reef. Ray promises to visit many more near-shore sites - including advanced sites like the rigs. I know I'm looking forward to it!

Nudi's seen: Doriopsilla albopunctata, Flabellina iodena, Dendronotus robilliardi, Diaulula sandiegensis, Cadlina limbaughorum, Chromodoris macfarlandi

Some pics from the trip (all taken with my video cam in still mode)

White Anemones