Visibility: 15 to 20 in the canyon, 5 to 15 shallow
Temp: 54F
Bottom Time: 86 minutes
Max Depth: 73 fsw
Surf: 1 to 2 with an occasional 3 ft.
Surge:1 to 2 ft shallow
Buddies:Kim, Terry, Pirate John, Spencer, Soraya for shore support.Steve, Calvin and Allison kept reappearing all morning.
Pulled up at 6:59:31.3 am to see a menacing gang of shifty divers parked near the lifeguard tower. I was pretty scared because the most infamous of Scalliwags Pirate John was staring at me in a very intimidating fashion as I drove by.I cautiously got out of my car and prepared for the worst, but having made it for the first few minutes without any serious trouble, I knew I was probably being accepted by the gang and they might even watch my back all morning.
After trading a few lighthearted insults we geared up at a relaxed pace, and trudged across the sand.The surface swim was uneventful but interesting because we had a northerly current to about 50 yards out, then a southerly current until our lineups at the end of Scripps Pier and the lifeguard tower.
We dropped down through a layer of light brown gunk to beautiful vis in the canyon at about 70 feet, and started finning south for the point.Now at my seventh or eighth dive since my absence from the LJS barrio, I felt my perception broadening away from my gauges and gear and onto the underwater scene and life surrounding me.
We arrived at the point in good order and there were plenty of critters.Highlights for me were the White Spotted Porostomes, a San Diego dorid, an octopus and a little school of juvenile delinquent painted greenlings trying to bully an adult.There was also a nice cluster of market squid eggs but few of the eggs actually contained squid.I poked around at my leisure, enjoying zero gravity and nice conditions.About five minutes to decompression I turned the dive and headed east across the sand.I had plenty of air at that point so I took my time crossing the sand dollar beds, and spent a full ten minutes watching a pipefish trying to hide from me in a patch of eel grass.I surfaced in four feet of water after a nice long 86 minute dive, and exited the surf without incident.
After the dive we enjoyed a hearty breakfast at Honey’s on Balboa Avenue, conveniently located near San Diego Underwater Adventures.Perhaps the best part of the dive, aside from seeing Pirate John again after a long time, was that I was finally feeling more relaxed, had much improved buoyancy control and a decent SAC rate.Thanks for inviting me Kim and including me in the dive all, I truly had a fantastic morning!
Oh yeah, the camera housing arrived yesterday and it's freakin' cool looking. And intimidating.
