On this trip the plan was to dive the Olympic II for the 1st dive and then go to the rigs to finish our day of diving. The Olympic II is a short distance and it takes longer to fill the tanks then to get to the dive site. As we anchored I thought it should be a great dive because the sea & topside conditions were excellent and in fact as the day went by the ocean became flat as a lake with no wind and some cool clouds overhead. It was so calm that there were 2 boats pulling water skiers.

While the anchor was being set we all got suited up and then had the dive briefing and this is where things started to change for some (most) of us. The anchor was close to the wreck because  there was a trap close to where we wanted to be and most of us (including myself) just didn’t listen to the briefing very good plus the briefing could have been a bit more detailed so everyone knew that we needed to take a compass heading on the float over the wreck. Because of this some aborted their dive, some had a nice sand dive (my buddy and me) and a few listened and made it to the Olympic II. I heard there was about 15′ vis and a nice size ling cod was seen. O’ well you win some and lose some. For now on I am going to try real hard to make sure everyone understands what to do when we are not anchored directly to or next to a dive site.

I guess everything works out for a reason because we may have not found the wreck but the whale watching we had during our surface intervals made up for it and then some. That’s one (of many) thing I like about Captain Dave and the crew of the Pacific Star, there not into rushing and want to just have fun like everyone else but when it’s time to be serious and they have the safety of the passengers in their hands they don’t disappoint. They gave everyone plenty of time to see and get pictures of all the whales. One friend (Howard) said he should bring his wife out on the next rig/wreck trip because we have seen more whales on the trips then they ever have on a dedicated whale watching trip.

We finished the day off with our 2nd & 3rd dives on the rig-Eureka and like always they were great. There is just something about cruising through what seems like a giant erector set with cross beams and pipes covered with life to see, photo, video and collect scallops. Under the rig we had a good 50′ ft. + visibility , blue water and just a little current-what a great couple of dives. It’s funny because with a full boat of divers all on the same rig you would think it would be divers everywhere and you would be bumping into each other and you’re not. Everyone gets going in their direction and it works out great.

The ride back was equally as good talking with friends and having an ice cold beer with us getting back about 4:00-4:15. If you’re looking for a photo only trip to the rigs, CIDA has partnered with Bluewater Photo for a tips & demo day on Saturday, April 7, 2012. Hope to see you there!

Before the trip there was some concern about the weather. The forecast called for 20-30 mph winds, rain and 3′-5′ swell and another forecast called for less swell . So who do you believe? I found it best no matter what the report says or what it’s like where you live to just go to the boat (unless you get the call not to) and see what happens. The forecast has been wrong before and it sure was on our rig trip. The conditions we had for the day was flat calm seas, no surge, maybe 1′-2′ swell, no wind at rig and some when we dove the wreck, cloudy with some sunshine coming through and a few rain drops, 50′+ vis on the rig and 30′+ vis on the wreck and high 50′s water temperature.

The day did start with some confusion and the captain dropped the anchor on a wreck that was 125′ deep (too deep for this trip). It turned out to be the Ace 1 which we will schedule for another trip. We then pulled anchor and headed over to the rigs. We did 2 dives on Eureka and with the conditions we had they were excellent dives! What is really nice is that the rigs and wrecks are all quite close to the San Pedro Harbor.

We then slowly moved to the next dive site for our 3rd dive which would be on the Georgia Straits, only about 3 miles out of the harbor. The Georgia Straits was a tug boat that sunk in August of 1965. There really isn’t much left now except for a small debris field and its engine, but it is a pretty dive with sea fans and metridums growing on pieces of the wreckage and it makes a good home for plenty of fish.

As I dropped down the anchor line I could tell we would be in for a treat diving the wreck because there was about 30′+ of visibility and no swell or surge. The wreck is sitting on a sandy bottom at about 80′ deep and because we were able to get a long surface interval before the dive I was able to inspect every nook and cranny. It was a great way to end the day! Once getting back topside the captain had set-up large rinse buckets with simple green and fresh water to clean our gear and then it was only about a 20 minute ride back to the dock. To top it all off the crew unloads your gear (if you want) and they take it all up to the loading dock for you, now that’s service! All this and we where back by 4:00pm.

If you would like to get in on another CIDA rig/wreck trip there are several scheduled throughout the year with the next one coming up on January 14, 2012.

I hope to see you on the next CIDA adventure!

Any way’s, plan B (outer reefs of Anacapa) was also out because of the direction of the wind which became much stronger,  faster and sooner then expected so we went with plan C to Yellowbanks, Santa Cruz.

Yellowbanks is never disappointing and even with the wind we were able to get in 3 good dives with 30’+ visibility and water temperature around 60°. The wind did keep us from diving the deeper areas I had hoped for but we still got in the first 2 dives at around 50’-60’ and the 3^rd was around 35’ deep. The area’s had good structure, no surge or swell and lots of lobster.

I managed to get 3 bugs and I grabbed many with most all of them just not yet legal and wanted to hang out till next year. I did see lots in groups of between 4-8 and lots of them were out, but of course they would then back way into their holes so all you could do is get frustrated. I think some night diving would be great in the area we where in so maybe a trip back at night before the end of bug season will be in order.

Again, the Explorer worked out great and it was very nice to hear that after talking to the owners (Tony & Candee) about the fills they decided to bump up the fill pressure from 3000psi to 3400psi, now that was a very good improvement! We also found out how to turn the bunk room lights off at night and for me being a very light sleeper this was another good improvement. There were others that really liked this and who wouldn’t. It’s nice to sleep when it’s dark. It goes to show you, surveys do help!

CIDA is getting ready to charter the Explorer for 6-8 trips through out 2012 so stay tuned and hopefully you can join us on some of them.

The week before I talked to a friend who had just been on a 3 day San Nick. They made it there, but it was rough, people were getting sick and the diving conditions sucked so they decided to leave and finish the last 2 days off at Catalina.

I watched the weather report the week before and they expected a mixed swell with wind, it didn’t look bad but I can tell you our trip wasn’t anything like the report said.

Now to the trip, like always there was traffic and I had hoped to get to the boat earlier then we did because I had a large Rubbermaid cart I was donating to the Pacific Star that I had disassembled in our car and I still needed to put it together so it could be used and not to mention I had the bunk assignments. When we arrived a crew member came out to our car and immediately put their new cart to use. I also like to get to the CIDA boat trips early so I can greet everyone as they show up.

After the boat briefing at 10:30pm most everyone went to bed for the trip out to San Nick. I couldn’t sleep and heard the boat start moving away from the dock. As we continued I kept hearing the boats transmission go into neutral and then forward again. I thought we were still in the harbor with problems so I went  up to see what was wrong and it was then that I realized we were quite a few miles out of the harbor and the ocean was so calm that you couldn’t even tell the boat was moving. I also found out the problem was the crew was just adjusting the line on the skiff. With the ocean as calm as it was I could tell we were in for a treat!

We arrived to San Nick about 7:30am and it was just about calm enough to go water skiing. After breakfast the diving began with short moves, I should have asked for us to move a bit further each time-next year. The first couple of moves didn’t seem all that good and as we moved further west the structure got bigger and more lobsters were seen the only problem was that they were in the holes a bit to far to grab. The diving conditions were good especially because the week before was terrible. We had 10’-20’ of vis and the water temperature was in the low 60’s and very little surge.

The bug yield was OK, you really had to look for them and the best bug catching was in the shallow areas. I dove with a friend (Kristine) and most all our dives were between 10’-40’ deep. I was able to get a 7-8 pounder and another guy (Jimmy) caught a huge bug, over 10lbs. After dinner quite a few of us did the night dive which really was productive for most of us. Two people caught bugs that were easily over 10lbs. What would have been best would have been the chance for another night dive which I am going to work on for the 3^rd Annual CIDA Bug Fest. After all the pictures and excitement it was time for bed and the trip over to Santa Barbara Island.

We left San Nick about 2:00am for Santa Barbara and I didn’t even know we were there until I heard the anchor drop, now that is a calm ride. After breakfast we moved to an outer reef in an area we did very well a few years back. We ended not being able to get on the spot we wanted and tried another spot close by. It was a pretty spot with lots of purple hydrocoral, but no bugs. We then moved to another spot with lots of playful seals and did find some bugs in the shallow area along some wash rocks along with lots of urchins. Vis was great at Santa Barbara running about 40’ and again with excellent dive conditions.  The only problem was that timing for the day didn’t work out well and we only were able to make 2 dives. Next year I will have to get with the captain to make sure we can at least get 3 dives in on the last day.

Other than that, the trip was excellent and of course what made it so good was the people on the trip. My total take for bugs was 5 with a few others getting twice that and the total take for the trip was around 40. There were also 3 that were bigger then 12 lbs each and personally if I caught one that big I would take a picture of it and release it under water so it could return to its family and make many more lobsters for the coming years.

I did turn several people away from this trip because they were looking for a pretty day of diving like at Anacapa and I was sure that wasn’t going to happen and I was right. Going north up the coast is much different then going south down the coast like around the Deep Hole area. The area between the Rincon and Montecito is shallow low lying reefs and usually not the best vis.  The reason to go is because you are looking for something different and explore. I sure wasn’t disappointed and I know most others agreed.

We had a full boat (a few didn’t make it due to sickness) and with some dive spots to check (thank you Jonathan) out we left at 7:30am, did 3 dives and were back about 4:00pm. We first checked out a couple of spots along the Rincon from the surface to get an idea of the conditions and then decided on starting the dive day at Horseshoe Reef. I was diving with my grandson (Louie) and because I headed the wrong way it was towards the end of our dive when we finally came to the reef, just wish we had more time on it. The vis was about 10’-15’ and water temp was about 62° on all the dives. Horseshoe Reef was about 50’ deep and made up of smaller boulders with lots of sea fans, some bigger fish and few bugs. Some of the divers did see lots of swell sharks here and one friend happened to grab 4 bugs here.

We then pulled anchor and checked out Carp Reef which was only about 10 minutes away. We found a spot around the outer center and only about 25’ deep. Louie and I headed west through a sand area with some kelp and small rocks and didn’t see anything of interest so we turned and went towards the shore. I a short time we came to an area with bull kelp that was only about 3’ tall. This turned out to be a great spot and fun. We discovered that if we cruised along the bottom under the top of the bull kelp you would come up to area’s were the bugs were out and gathered in a group so then all we had to do was grab the largest ones which were all just a little bigger then legal size. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded, but we did manage to bag 3. We did try an area with lots of kelp and big rocks, but didn’t see anything there so we went back to the bull kelp and had more fun.

Afterwards we went did a little exploring (must go back to a few spots) and then went to 3 Spot reef for the 3^rd dive. 3 Spot reef was only about 25’-35’ deep and was a great dive. When I started to dive on the reef I thought that with all the big and little boulders this dive site looked like a submerged ancient beach and it turned out I wasn’t the only one who thought the same thing. I liked this spot with the big boulders and crevices everywhere there was plenty to explore. Again, lots of sea fans, bigger fish and some bugs (I got 1). This also turned out to be a much bigger reef then we first expected and would love to go back again.

Now with the diving over it was time to head home. It was a beautiful day out, calm seas and cruising back along the coast was awesome. Trips like this is what Channel Islands Dive Adventures is all about, unique dive trips to places most people will never have the chance to check out. Take a look at the Channel Islands Dive Adventures dive schedule for more exciting trips like this one!!!

The winds kept us away so it was on to plan B for this trip which was Santa Barbara & Santa Cruz Islands. As it turned out I don’t think anyone was disappointed by the end of the trip. The ride out and back was a bit bumpy from the swell and wind, but once at Santa Barbara everything was good for the most part. We left at 2:00am instead of the scheduled 12:00 midnight and arrived about 8:00am. The only problem with Santa Barbara when topside conditions are less then ideal is that the dive site choices become few. We started our diving at Rookery Wall and then moved to 3 other spots during the day staying at Arch Point for the later part of the day/evening.

The other dives where at Sutil Wall and Cat Canyon all with a water temperature of 62° and vis of about 40’. My favorite dive was Cat Canyon because there was a small wall with ledges, lots of kelp and plenty to see. The weather changed quickly I guess once we got in and when we came back the wind was howling and getting back onto the Peace was fun. This is where an easy dive turned into an advanced dive and why some trips like this are not for the newly certified diver. Diving the Channel Islands can go from easy to hard very quickly and that is why I try to have the newer diver to our area try Anacapa or Catalina first.

Of course the crew of the Peace is always on their toes watching in case any problems should arrive. They make it look easy, but it isn’t always. Then the whole time we are out diving and having fun and the crew are working the deck, Joe is inside whipping up something good to eat. From breakfast to lunch to dinner and all the snacks he just keeps surprising you with lots of excellent food and then dinner is always a nice sit down meal with the crew doing all the work.

After dinner was the entertainment…The seals were chasing the flying fish into the boat so they would hit it and get stunned and then the seals would enjoy a good snack. You could watch for hours if you wanted to or at least until you got to cold. That morning we left at about 2:00am again to finish our trip at Santa Cruz around the Yellowbanks area.

When we woke up we were treated to no wind, flat calm seas and a cloudless warm day plus the vis looked to be very good. We didn’t have to move to far for any of the excellent dives we did. We dove Deep Fenceline, Drop Off reef, Deep Sandstone and Flame reef. The best part of all this was the vis was 50’+ and again warm water with a temperature of 62°. The dives were all excellent and from listening to everyone talking about the dives I am sure they all agreed. What I think was really cool was that we had a wide range of divers from sightseers to hunters to photographers and others with scooters having fun zipping around the dive sites.

Well, every trip must end and for the ride back we were treated to some rockin and rolling along with some excellent desert and a case of beer I brought along to share. We arrived back to the dock about 6:30 only to have to say bye to new and old friends. San Miguel may have been elusive, but it still was one %#& of a good trip!

Everyone showed up early which let us leave about 15 minutes early. The ride out was much nicer then expected and when getting to the TBM the water looked clear, calm and no current-perfect until we got down a ways and the water got dark, green and only about 15’ visibility. Our down line was about 50’ from the wreck and because of this there were a few that did not see the plane and never found it. My buddies Ray, Joe and I did find it and had a great dive.

Next we went to the Peacock off Santa Cruz Island. We took some time getting the down line next to the wreck, but didn’t realize that by time we anchored the down line had drifted making it very hard for most everyone too even find the Peacock. The vis here was only about 10’ with a slight current making it even more difficult to see the wreck. I aborted my dive after about 10 minutes because with the conditions we had it just wasn’t worth trying to find and then safely get back to the boat.

Our 3rd dive was a short distance away at a place called Fence Line. This turned out to be an excellent dive with lots of large steep rock structure that created overhangs along the wall. I just wish my video camera battery didn’t die. This site will be on the agenda for another trip. Afterwards it was back to the dock arriving about 4:30. All in all the day turned out very good and it sounded like most everyone had a good time.

We left about 8:00am with the 20 mile trip taking about 1 ½ hours, it was overcast out and at least the seas were good to us. When we arrived I thought –the vis doesn’t look to good and it wasn’t. The water was green and the vis was only 10’-15’ ft, the worse I have seen it. I have dove the same area before with 80’ vis, but 20’-40’ is more the norm. Our 1^st site was at Painted Rocks (named by a friend) which is a very pretty site with lots of good rock structure. Of course with the bad vis you would have never known.

Because of the bad vis I thought lets go in a little shallower to the outer area of Harrison’s Reef, were we did find a little cleaner water but still not the best. Then for the 3^rd and last dive we went to “The Ring” where I have had some excellent dives along the wall. It was one of those days that just was not the best day of diving. There was some confusion in the morning but it all worked out with the crew of the Raptor doing their best to help out and accommodate everyone.

To start most everyone arrived the night before with no problems, I actually had the easiest drive to and from the boat that I ever had…thank you everyone who decided to stay off the freeway.

In the morning we had our briefing and off we went for our 1^st dive which would be on the Olympic II, luckily this time there were no fishing boats sitting over the wreck. The last time we tried to dive the Olympic II there were 43 boats sitting over it. Sea and topside conditions were excellent with plenty of sun shine and flat calm seas, and we had a special treat all day…whales.

The Olympic II turned out to be a great dive even though we only had 10’-15’ ft. of vis at depth and a thermocline that started at 50’. Captain Dave set the anchor right over the wreck so navigating during the dive was not a problem. There is actually quite a bit to check out and my buddies and I (Marton & Marybeth) made our way to what seemed like the front then around some large structure and back. I know I will be looking forward to going back and exploring more of the Olympic II.

We then headed to the oil rig Eureka for our 2^nd & 3^rd dives all the while enjoying the whale watching we could. The dives on the rig were great with 40’+ vis starting from the surface. The scallop hunting was equally as good with everyone who wanted a limit of scallops getting one. Afterwards it was time to travel back to the dock with us arriving about 4:00pm. After packing up it was time to join some friends in the restaurant for a bit of socializing and talking about how good the day turned out. Thank you everyone who made this a very successful trip.

You never know what will happen with a trip to San Clemente because of the military and weather, fortunately neither kept us from getting there and diving.  The only bummer was that we didn’t get to dive the John C Butler because the military closed Northwest Harbor. I really wanted to dive the Butler because just before the trip I had been in touch with the family of John C Butler and we were going to do our best to photo and video document the wreck and pass what we had along to the family…I guess there is always next time.

As I mentioned the weather was great and the seas during the trip made for a nice ride with some fog in the mornings and clearing to sunny skies in the late morning. Our 1^st dive of the trip was Little Flower then Pyramid Cove, Pyramid Flats and then a spot a little north of Little Flower for the late afternoon and night dives. The kelp was lush on all dives and the vis was a cloudy 30’-40’ with the water temp running in the low to mid 60’s. The dive site I really liked was Pyramid Flats with its tall rock structure and lots of nook and crannies to check out including a short swim through tunnel.

Very early in the morning Captain Dave moved the Pacific Star to Cat Harbor were it was calmer and then we headed out about 6:00am for Farnsworth Bank. The Vision had beaten us to the high spot so we anchored just a short distance from them. The only problem was that the anchor was sitting at 100’ deep but there was lots of chain out and as it curved, it ended up sitting on the bottom at 150’ deep and with the 10’-15’ vis it didn’t make for a good dive. Most everyone aborted their dive except for the scooter group (4 friends on scooters). They tied their reels off to the anchor chain at 70’ and headed over towards the Vision until they got to the top of Farnsworth. They had a good dive, but without the scooters it just would not have been possible.

Because of the swell on Sunday we decided to head around the west end of Catalina to the front side and dive Parsons Landing (excellent dive when the vis is good) , the vis still wasn’t that good so this dive was a mixed bag for everyone. We then moved to Bird Rock for the last dive and this turned out to be a great choice. Bird Rock has something for everyone and the vis was much better. After the dive it was time to head back to San Pedro for the end of our 2 day trip. All in all it seemed like most everyone had a good time. There were several problems that happened on the boat, but the captain & crew were able to still make things work so everyone could enjoy the trip.

Once back to the dock it was time to unload and get the boat ready for the next day’s trip on the 4^th. There were 7 of us that stayed (extra special price for those that were on the 2 day trip) with a few going home to sleep and the rest of us hanging out and sleeping on the boat. It was very nice because we were going to have a late departure of 10:00am and were able to sleep in on a quite boat, we then went for a walk before everyone started to arrive. This was more like a personal charter as there were only 12 divers, my wife and the Captain & crew’s family on board.

The ride out was exceptionally nice as the weather was even calmer then the days before and the sun was out in full force. With the small group we decided to start with the 1^st dive at Ship Rock. There was a little current, but not bad. I started my dive along the north side going towards Avalon and planned on going all the way around Ship Rock. The dive was incredible with a thermocline around 50’ and what seemed to be unlimited vis above 50’ and ton’s and ton’s of schooling fish. I have never seen so many schooling fish that would let me be as close as I was to them. I was in such awe that I finally thought it seemed like I wasn’t going around the rock so I surfaced only to find myself quite a ways out on the east side of Ship Rock. Luckily I always plan things and had plenty of air so I just got below the surface and swam into the current for a bit until finally getting to Ship Rock and then finishing my trip around it and back to the boat. Everyone agreed that if that was the only dive we got in then it would be worth the price we paid for the trip.

We then headed over to the Sea Fan Grotto area and did a live drop in the area between Blue Caverns and Sea Fans Grotto dive sites. This was a fun shallow dive just taking our time and then having the boat pick us up when we surfaced. Next it was over to the Goat Harbor/Italian Gardens area for some Black Sea Bass (BSB) viewing. I had another dive as incredible as the earlier Ship Rock dive. I first went west and seen a couple of BSB and then turned to the east past the boat were I came upon 5 BSB that I was able to spend about 20 minutes with all by myself. I have never had an experience like this before and it was AWESOME! There were some adults and 2 smaller ones with 2 of the adults having hooks, steel leaders and a very large lure stuck in their sides. I tried to cut them off, but only kinked the steel line and of course I only was able to get one chance at it. I know what I will need the next time I go back. I did get some great video of them all—click here to view.

Afterwards we motored over to in front of the casino, had a great BBQ burgers & dogs dinner complete with apple pie and champagne and topped it off with an excellent firework show. It was then time to get back to San Pedro and because it was late when we got in a few of us spend another night on the boat leaving early Tuesday morning.

What a weekend and I am glad I took off Tuesday from work because I never would have lasted a full day at work after such an excellent weekend!!!