http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/ en-us Nucleus CMS v3.23 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/ http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=48 Northern California Diving http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=48 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 08:37:00 -0700 http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=47 Northern California Diving http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=47 Wed, 28 Feb 2007 08:36:00 -0800 http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=45 Northern California Diving http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=45 Wed, 31 Jan 2007 12:12:00 -0800 http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=44 Northern California Diving http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=44 Sat, 30 Dec 2006 10:19:00 -0800 http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=42 Northern California Diving http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=42 Thu, 30 Nov 2006 18:40:00 -0800 http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=40
Our dusk dive started when we walked into the ocean at around 5:00pm followed by a 10 minute surface swim to our drop point. We all brought our lights for this dive. Glenn had bought a new housing for his digital camera to give it a try. We decended with our lights on and came to rest in 30 feet of water. It was still too bright underwater to see the bioluminescence so we swam off on our heading of 70°. Glenn captured some nice pictures and videos while on this dive. During the dive we saw the nearly ubiquitous Pachycerianthus fimbriatus, there was very little Macrocystis sp. or other types of alga, of course there was Calliarthron sp. (red coralline alga), there was only one or two Phalacrocorax pelagicus (pelagic cormorant), Cryptochiton stelleri were found on the rocks of the breakwater, Citharichthys sp. (Sanddab), many Paralabrax clathratus (kelp bass), Cymatogaster aggregata (shiner surfperch), and another fish I could not identify. The unknown fish was 5-6" long, only 3/4-1" wide at the head and swam like an eel. We surfaced about 5:45 and swam back to shore. We were back on shore about 6:00. [Max. Depth 46 feet for 34 minutes]

Our nocturnal dive started with us walking in at 6:30pm and swimming out along the breakwater for 10 minutes. At this point it was dark enough to see a small amount of bioluminescence while on the surface thanks to the cloud/fog covering the moon and stars. We dropped down into 30 feet of water again and gathered together. We switched off our lights and waved our hands through the water to see the faint blue (some people see a faint green or white color) bioluminescence of the zooplankton. Afterwards, we switched our lights back on and swam on the same heading as the first dive (70°). We quickly ran into another group underwater. They were heading in the opposite direction which meant we were going to be swimming through all of the junk they stirred up--it knocked our flashlight vis down in half. The junk settled out of the water quickly and we found ourselves near the breakwater. There were fish hanging near motionless in the water column like stars. When we shone our lights near them, they swam for cover. On the seafloor between the Pachycerianthus fimbriatus was many clusters of tiny ball-bearings reflecting a copper color. On closer examination the ball-bearings turned out to be the eyes of Neotrypaea californiensis (Bay ghost shrimp). During this dive, I believe I was mistaken when I thought I saw a Holocentrus sp. (squirrelfish) belonging to the Holocentridae family. It was more likely a Sebastes spp. (Rockfish) belonging to the Scorpaenidae family. [Surface interval of 40 minutes, Max. Depth 49 feet for 34 minutes]]]> Northern California Diving http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=40 Sat, 14 Oct 2006 17:00:00 -0700 http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=41 Northern California Diving http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=41 Fri, 1 Sep 2006 15:09:00 -0700 http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=34
On our first dive, we planned to swim out along the edge of the kelp (heading 330°) and drop down near the canyon and go below 100 feet followed by an ascent back to 60 feet for the rest of the dive. We put our masks and fins on at the edge of the surf and backed into the waves. While we kicked out to the edge of the kelp, two white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) swam near us. The pair were swiming and jumping out of the water. Once we made it to the edge of the kelp, we descended. We followed a heading of 330 along the rocks. The horizontal vis was amazing, 40 feet with fog covered sky! We came across all sorts of things on our first dive. We saw Parastichapus californicus (California Sea Cucumber), Archidoris montereyensis (Lemon Dorid Nudibranch), Pycnopodia helianthoides (Sun Starfish), Julie saw another eel that Glenn and I didn't see, coryanactis anemones, burrowning anemones, strawberry anemones, Cryptochiton sp. (Gumboot Chitons), Asterina miniata (Bat Stars), Loxorhynchus grandis (Sheep Crabs), Loxorhynchus crispatus (Decorator Crabs), Ophiodon elongatus (Lingcod), other fish, and some mollusks that I can't identify yet. These unknows were white exposed shells about 3-4 inches long with three large keels. One running dorsomedially and the two others running down the sides giving the shell an overall circular profile when viewed fro the top down and a half circle when viewed from the side. Each keel was 3/4 inch in height. We kept swimming at 330° and reached the edge-of-the-world. The edge of the canyon was at 80 feet. I looked over the edge and saw a rocky plateau and decided to head down to it. I watched my depth gauge tick up toward 101 feet where I came to rest on the rock. Julie and Glenn followed me down. We spent only 1 minute at depth and headed back toward the rocks and kelp at 65 feet. We ascended and spent 5 minutes at 15 feet to off gas. The dolphins were nearby during our exit swim. Glenn walked out onto the beach while Julie and I crawled out. [Depth 101 feet, Time 31 minutes]

Our second dive was planned as another exploratory seach through the rocks. This time we put our masks on at the edge of the water again, but Gelnn and I walked in while Julie backed into the water. We swam out to the edge of the kelp and descended to 35 feet. Again we headed out at 330°. We swam along the outside of the rocks and we also penetrated into the kelp bed. We saw many of the same things except Julie did not see an eel this time. The horizontal visability had worsened a little (now only 30 feet). This was a great dive. Our surface swim back was uneventful. We sat outside of the shore break and counted the big waves. Julie started for shore first and crawled out. Glann left next and crawled out. I opted to walk out this time. [Surface Interval 1:30, Depth 69 feet, Time 33 minutes]]]> Northern California Diving http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=34 Sat, 26 Aug 2006 07:53:00 -0700 http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=33
We all got into our gear and headed down to the shore. The plan was to make two dives at around 40 feet. That was not going to happen. As it turns out, the area was overgrown with kelp and other alga. About 200 yards offshore, there was a kelp wall that was helping to keep the wave action down, but it also provided a nearly inpenetrable barrier too.

After a not-so-thorough buddy check (alert! alert!), our dive plan was to head out 60° to the edge of the kelp and work our way west along the kelp wall. We descended into average visibility (surface vis: 10 feet horizontal, bottom visL 10 feet horizontal). At the bottom we started working west and didn't see anything more interesting than alga and kelp. There were a few fish (surf perch). At one point, I turned around to check how everyone was doing and to check air supply. Everyone was doing well and had plenty of air. We surfaced because visibility was making it difficult for four people to dive as a group. At the surface, I divided the group into two primary buddy pairs. We took a new heading (120°) and started our descent again. I tried to penetrate the kelp wall, but thought better of it. It was so dark and thick with kelp stipes that it would have made diving too dangerous with a group of four. Our primary buddy pairs got separated during this time. James and I made a one minute search and headed for the surface. Julie and Glenn surfaced later. Glenn's BCD was not power inflating so we cut the dive short. [Depth 19 feet Time 18 minutes]

Jay could stay for only one dive, so the three of us headed down to the shore to do buddy checks. This time, Glenn's BCD was working properly. Our plan was to head out 70° to the edge of the kelp wall and work west again. This time, the visibility was better at the surface and at depth. We descended onto more algae covered rocks and started swimming on a heading of 330°. We crossed over one of the old Cannery Row waste pipes that run from shore out to deeper water (60°). Then we passed over a sandy area. With a quick brush of my hand over the sand, I revealed a number of cowries burried just underneath the top layer of sand. We headed farther west and actually found a less dense portion of the kelp wall. We penetrated the wall and proceeded to do an air check. Glenn had plenty and I had plenty. While Julie was reading her gauge, Glenn and I started pointing vigorously toward Julie. She though we were trying to rush her, but we were pointing out a harbor seal. We all watched the seal swim around us (at a distance of two body lengths). We turned our course back out of the kelp wall. We surfaced because I was becoming to positively bouyant. We took a new heading of 170° which would take us back to the sandy area and then we would head into shore (270°). Julie took the lead so that when I was unable to descend, the dive could continue. Julie lead us back to the sand and right back to the waste pipe. We turned toward shore to finish our dive. On the way back, I did some litter removal. I found a party cup and a coat; I deposited the coat on the beach and the cup I tossed into the trash. [Depth 19 feet. Time 26 minutes]
]]> Northern California Diving http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=33 Sat, 29 Jul 2006 07:52:00 -0700 http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=32
Chase Reef was a good spot for a sunny day, but with little sunlight above, the bottom was dark. Our descent down the anchor line dropped us into a dark abyss. The bottom (at 86 feet) came up quickly once our eyes adjusted. At depth, we have 10-15 feet of horizontal visibility. We took a heading west into deeper water along the reef. We saw Parastichapus californicus (California Sea Cucumber), Archidoris montereyensis (Lemon Dorid Nudibranch), Pycnopodia helianthoides (Sun Starfish), Julie saw an eel that I didn't, kelp fish, coryanactis anemones, burrowning anemones, strawberry anemones, and other invertebrates. We made a 3 minute safety stop at 15 feet before surfacing. Overall, the dive spot was not very good on this day. [Depth 86 feet, Time 25 minutes].

Playground is a dive spot just east of Chase Reef. Playground offers many dive activites. There is a wall to dive along, three pinnacles and some other stuff. The fog was burning off but the sun was not yet out when we dropped down the anchor line to visit the pinacles to the south. We hit bottom at about 68 feet. The horizontal visibility was better here at Playground than it was at Chase Reef. This area is more protected from swells so the bottom sediment was not churned up as much. On this dive, we saw a huge black Cryptochiton stelleri (Gumboot chiton), a very edible and good sized Ling-cod (Ophiodon elongatus), more dorid nudibranchs, sea cucumbers and coryanactis. We stopped at 15 feet for a 3 minute safety stop again. [Surface Interval 58 minutes, Depth 68 feet, Time 36 minutes]

We were pushing our NDL on the last dive. Thank goodness for computers. When I logged my dive and plugged the numbers into my logbook with the RDP, we were well outside of the RDP's NDL.]]> Northern California Diving http://quashnick.net/scuba/blog/index.php?itemid=32 Sun, 25 Jun 2006 07:36:00 -0700