Saturday, August 27 at Rockaway Beach

Saturday I learned once more how easy it is to become separated from your buddies.  After numerous negotiations a small group of us met at Rockaway Saturday morning.  The tide was so low we walked out to the buoy.  Normally it's in 15 feet of water or so.  We suited up, walked out to the  buoy and set up buddy teams.  Steve and his son, Tom and Kari, Katie and I.  Steve and Tom went down first and the three of us went under next.  The water was so muddy and murky I could barely see a foot in front of me and I definitely couldn't see Kari and Katie.  I couldn't find the line down to the reef and after waiting a few minutes, at least it seemed that way, I headed off on a bearing of 065 degrees and thought I'd meet them on the reef. 

As the depth deepened the water cleared but I didn't see anyone, I also didn't see the line that I expected to run into.  I figured I was to the left of it and so went a bit right after hitting 30 feet.  No line so I continued on my way and eventually went through 40 feet then turned right expecting to run into the reef.  No reef.  I assumed I veered off to the right and was South of the reef so I headed North.  I found a reef.  Problem was, it was the wrong reef.  I swam around the reef quickly realizing it was the wrong one and decided to surface.  Yep, I was in the next cove over and definitely South of my target.

I went back down and headed North along the contour staying at 40 feet.  Slowly, out of the gloom the main reef appeared on my left.  I swam over to it but of course didn't see anyone.  I thought they were on the deep reef at this point so I swam a bit further North along the reef then headed back South.  As I came upon the end of the reef I spotted another diver and signaled I was okay.  No response.  I went around the corner and found Steve.  He was heading  back towards the line so I followed them wondering where Kari and Katie were.  Steve and Tom got ahead of me and I eventually got back on the line and headed up towards the buoy.  As we headed in, the water became murky again and it was necessary to keep hold of the line to follow it.  After stopping at 15 feet for my safety stop I continued on in towards the beach.  Nobody was there.

I trudged out of the water looking back for any sign of Kari and Katie.  Lauri, my wife, had come down to the beach and helped me carry my gear up to the car.  I found out later that Katie's light flooded so she and Kari headed back to Kari's house and never made it down to the reef.  The fleeting glimpse of fin I saw in the beginning of the dive and thought I was following was probably Tom's.  I didn't need my pony bottle but was glad to have it just in case.  All in all another good dive in  Puget Sound. 

Thursday, August 18 at Rockaway Beach

As we head into the end of August it's easy to see the beginning of fall setting in on the reef.  We dropped in at high tide and the visibility had decreased considerably from the middle of the summer.  The water was filled with debris from the dieing algae bloom and the slowly decaying kelp in the shallow areas near shore.  In the middle of the summer the multitude of green leaf and purple kelp was so thick it completely obscured the sandy floor beneath.  Now, as we headed down the line, windows were opened to the grey and brown sandy bottom.

Frosted Nudibranch on brown kelp

The clusters of squid eggs, opened at the ends where the squids escaped, had decayed with just a few scattered remains left.  The Nudibranch's were out in force as we reached further along the line with more appearing as we closed in on the main reef.  All colors of Frosted Nudibranch's from pale yellow to deep orange  and brown covered the sandy floor to the walls of the reef.  While they showed up last week even more were apparent this week with the distinct absence of the (Lemon Nudibranch's) that had blossomed on the reef in the spring.  Periodically, the reef lit up with the brightness of the sun on the beach allowing me to find Ryan and his video camera.  Steve was ahead of us taking pictures and only visible when his spotting light flashed our way.

Copper Rockfish

Copper Rockfish were sparingly scattered around the main reef with an occasional Starfish and Sunflower Star moving along the sand.  On the lower reef the visibility did not improve and still no octopus had inhabited the den awaiting for a new tenant.  The lower reef though was still covered with Rockfish, but fewer crabs and the Ratfish so numerous just a few weeks ago had disappeared.  As we headed back up the line, onto the main reef and into shore we looked towards our next Thursday evening dive.

  

Friday August 19, crabbing, jellyfish and anchors

This time around Fay Bainbridge was  something of a bust for crabs.  We met up at 8AM and were in the water by 8:30.  The tide was flooding at 0.12 knots so there wasn't much current to worry about.  We walked to the North end of the beach and with 100 pounds plus of gear that makes for a very long walk.  The weightless feeling after getting into the water was a welcome relief.  We headed East with visibility of only a few feet that cleared as we entered deeper water to a depth of 40 feet.  There was enough ambient light that my dive light was not to useful, but that didn't matter since there were few crabs to be found.  We managed to pull one out of an old tire after we fought with it inside the tire and attempted to grab it multiple times finally reaching inside and pulling it out by one claw.  Later on we found a few more Red Rock crabs around an old pipe but no more after that.  Our greatest find though wasn't a crab at all but an aluminium mud anchor and a 100 foot section of intact anchor line.  The rope was wrapped around a pole at 40 feet of depth that stood up about 15 feet.  I carried the anchor in while Lucas carried in the rope.  We went back out since we had 1700 psi in our tanks but no more crabs were to be had.

Later in the day as the sun was getting low on the horizon we made it to the Hood Canal for another round of crabbing.  We entered in about 5 feet of water with limited visibility in what appeared to be a long sandy ledge.  As we swam through the eel grass we found numerous small Dungeness Crabs but nothing bigger than a few inches in diameter.  We were somewhat worried at this point but figured this meant there must be adults somewhere in the vicinity.  The background light was dimming adding to an eerie feeling and difficulty in finding any crab.  After passing through the Eel Grass the we headed down a sandy slope that became littered with old pieces of wood and other debris scattered about with numerous Giant Orange Sea Cucumbers.  At 40 to 50 feet we began finding Red Rock Crabs that we through in our bag remembering the paucity of crabs at Fay Bainbridge.

As I struggled to stay close to Lucas I felt a strange stinging sensation around my mouth similar to that of stinging nettles on bare skin.  Focusing on finding crabs I brushed my glove across my face but the stinging wouldn't go away.  Suddenly, Lucas flashed his light at me and pointed it upwards and slightly in back of us.  I had swum right through the tentacles of a Lion's Mane Jellyfish.  The stinging sensation centered around my mouth for the remainder of the dive but that wasn't enough to deter us from finishing our crabbing.  Especially since we were beginning to find some good size Dungeness along with the Red Rocks.  Whenever we found a Dungeness Crab Lucas would pounce on them like  a cat pouncing on a mouse except these guys hurt if they were allowed to fight back.  They struggled against going in the bag but would eventually submit as the bag closed around them.  This went on for another 25 minutes as the stinging continued on my face.

Getting out of the water was no relief but seeing that we almost caught a full limit of Dungeness and Red Rock crabs certainly helped.  We dressed as quickly as possible so that we could get back to Lucas's house to splash vinegar on my face and relieve the burn.  As we headed to his house though I could feel the venom spread and I began getting stinging sensations around my arms, legs and feet.  No other symptoms were apparent and as soon as we reached his house I splashed vinegar on my face which made that feel better until I breathed some in through my nose.  Ow.  Upon arriving home my family pointed out that my forehead was quite swollen, I never felt anything there, and I appeared to have a permanent scowl.  The stinging had subsided by this point though so I just had to wait for it to go away which it mostly had by the next morning.

Cooking the crab and cleaning my gear wasn't finished until almost 11pm leading to a very long day.  The next morning though it was a crab omlette for breakfast and crab, bread and beer for dinner.  And I can't wait to do it again.

Saturday, August 13 at Rockaway Reef

I met Russ at Rockaway today at 12 PM for a dive.  Russ and I haven't dove together since we went to Nanaimo up North.  I was happy to be diving again in Puget Sound with my dry suit and not in a wetsuit as I did down South at Anacapa Island off Ventura.  That was cold.  Russ was diving in a wetsuit and I don't know how he did it.  The tide was so low we walked out to the buoy.  Normally we swim out to the buoy and drop in at 15 feet, but not today.  We dropped down and as we took off I felt a tapping on my leg.  It was Russ and we weren't ready yet.  We surfaced, fixed his light and my dry suit inflator valve.  I had gone down again without attaching it. 

Frosted Nudibranch

The viz was about 10 feet and I wasn't planning to take pictures although I did bring my camera.  As we headed down the line though I began spotting Frosted Nudibranchs on the sea weed and in the sand.  We made our way along the main reef and it seemed that there wasn't as much sea life as I'd seen a few weeks ago.  The Lemon Nudibranchs were fewer, there were no Ratfish and the juvenile Wolf Eel was gone.  I looked closer though and noticed more Frosted Nudibranchs ranging in size from a cm to a few inches and crawling on everything from the rocks to the Sea Cucumbers.  It was a good thing I brought my camera.

Multicolored Dendronotid

We made it to what I thought was the end of the main reef and Russ and I began looking for the line down to the deep reef.  After swimming back and forth for a bit looking in the sand we went back onto the reef and realized we hadn't made it to the end.  I'm sure this was due to the deteriorating viz and not my excellent sense of direction.  We located the line and went down to the deep reef where the viz wasn't much better.  The Octopus was still gone but the reef, as before, was covered in Rockfish and Ratfish.  We took a quick trip around the deep reef and headed back up the line to the main reef where I found a Mulitcolored Dendronotid.  I actually had no idea what it was and just wanted a picture.

Longfin Sculpin

There are usually a number of small fish on the way back up the reef and this time I stopped to take a look at them.  I always assumed they were just Lingcod and other fry's that had hatched, but in retrospect this didn't make sense Where is Steve when I need him, he knows all the fish and usually points out the interesting ones.  I guess this time I found some on my own and will pay attention more often.  As I was snapping my last picture Russ came up to me with 6 fingers up showing me he had only 600 psi left.  We immediately headed for the line up to the buoy and as soon as we found it Russ headed off ahead of me.  A few times it felt as if I was kicking without making any headway then shot forward towards the buoy due to the tide coming in.  I eventually surfaced and saw Russ walking up the beach.  No worries, we all made it back alive.  And so ended another good dive at Rockaway Beach.

Saturday, August 6 at Mondo's in Ventura, California

This ones not about diving.  This one's about surfing.  It's about remembering what I lost leaving Ventura Coast three years before.  Tom borrowed a board for me and we headed to the beach.  The board was an old beat up 9-2 with rounded rails and a fairly flat rocker.  As we paddled out through the surf the waves rolled over us as the cold salt water provided a bracing welcome.  We stayed on the inside away from the beginners and the paddleboarders.  It felt good just to sit on the board again and scan the horizon for the right incoming wave.  Tom caught one while I waited.  I pearled on my first wave.  The waves were 3-4 feet, breaking at the top and peeling to the right in towards the beach.  Apparently we were lucky as Hurricane Eugene was kicking up down in the Eastern Pacific while the prior few weeks were fairly flat.  As I watched the horizon I saw a few more sets coming in that looked sizeable with good faces and a nice peel.  A few strokes and I was up sliding down the face, cutting to the right with the wave breaking behind me.  I knew I was home.