Get Bent Scuba Diving Blog
This is my combination Scuba Diving Log and Blog. I'll post dive reports, underwater pictures and video here. I'll discuss scuba diving related articles and diving, ocean & marine related news and throw in my 2 psi. I may even announce new designs and promotions in our store. Feel free to comment on any post.Sunday, November 26, 2006
Thanksgiving Weekend (Dives #90-94)
The kidz, dog and I headed to "The OC" for Thanksgiving weekend for some turkey, scuba diving and the USC/Notre Dame football game.
Thursday (Thanksgiving) met up with Ruth, Larry and Mitchell from ocdiving.com for a Thanksgiving scuba dive at Shaw's Cove, Laguna Beach. Conditions were stellar, not quite as good as last Thanksgiving, which was tropical, but very good nonetheless. Ruth and Larry has some minor physical ailments and decided not to dive, so Mitchell and I, the two out-of-staters (Mitchell's from Las Vegas), dove in. The inner reef was great, good viz, manageable surge, nice dive. Saw the ususal critters, tons of Hopkins Roses in "The Arch". Just what the doctor ordered after being dry since Halloween. No problems with my ear, which is what I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving, I have just recovered from a severe ear infection. Headed home (or my home away from home) and had a great Thanksgiving dinner with the Family.
Friday my call for buddies was answered first by Andy (aka WTH) from Scubaboard. Andy and I had dove together on one of the Scubaboard SoCal Mo2vation dives off the Sundiver at Catalina. I arrived quite early to Shaw's Cove, surface conditions still looked great. Ran into and chatted with Christian (aka Headhunter - Scubaboard Mod) who was preparing to dive with some DIR buddies to do some drills. After about an hour and half (I was really early) Andy and his buddy Frank arrived, but needed fills :(, Laguna Sea Sports didn't open for an hour, so I opted to do my first solo ocean dive while they did some snorkeling and free diving waiting for air. Conditions were still great outside the reef, I went inside the arch and poked around but the viz deteriorated at the main chute to the inner reef, so I exited and explored the outer reef to "turnaround rock" where I turned, went back in the arch for awhile and noticed the time and surfaced to allow myself a SI before my dive with Andy and Frank.
Andy and Frank were waiting for me on exit with filled tanks :). I needed a Surface Interval and needed to change out my tanks. Unluckily for Frank during my SI his sister called and had broken down on the road, so after all that he had to bail. Andy and I had a nice dive, explored some veins, chutes and swimthroughs ended up on the S. Crescent side of the reef and made the long way back on the outside. Went to Laguna Sea Sports rinsed gear, filled tanks and grabbed a burger at Husky Boy and headed home. Plans for a night dive were scratched, I think due to too much turkey & pie by everyone the day before.
Saturday I was going to the USC/Notre Dame football game in LA. So I only had time for one quick morning scuba dive. Andy called and wanted to dive Old Marineland (Palos Verdes), but I had to decline, didn't think I had enough time to run up to West LA and get back in time to leave for some tailgating before the game. So I met up with Ruth, Larry, Mitchell and Chuck at Shaw's. I told them the night before if we could dive someplace else, that'd be great, but by the time everyone showed up, they were up for a site change, but do to my time crunch, I opted just to dive Shaw's again. It's a large reef so, it wasn't like I wasn't going to see something different and I wasn't dissapointed. The viz was still great, not quite as good, but still very good. Must have spotted 15 octopi throughout the dive and two large morays along with the usual species. A nice dive with good buddies. Packed up and hauled *** home to get ready for the game. The game was fun but being a UCLA homer and my dad being a ND fan, the game itself was a bummer, quite frankly ND got their butts kicked, but college football games are so much fun, had a blast, game score aside. Thanks to Chuck (a different one), an old family friend and USC alum for the tickets.
Since all I had dove is Shaw's all weekend, I asked Larry if he wanted to do a early morning dive at Wood's Cove Sunday before I had to head home. Mitchell had to opt out do to Altitude considerations. So we all met up at Wood's, I was a little late because of a BRAKE warning light on my truck, had to stop and get some brake fluid and make sure it wasn't something else I'd have to deal with before heading home. I love Wood's because of the underwater vegetation, I'm sure it kelp, but not the "typical" kelp, lots of reef structure a nice site and one I've wanted to explore more. Due to it's exposure it's only dive-able during best conditions. Dive was nice, nothing out of the oridinary like last time I dove there where I saw my first Giant Sea Bass and two large horn sharks. Lots of lobster traps at this site, a few had some BIG bugs in them, also spotted a couple Spanish Shawls (nudibranchs).
Said my Good-bye's and I am already making plans for my next trip, Christmas weekend. The drives to and from were terrible, they both rate in my top 10 worst drives in my 9 years and around 100 trips to SoCal. Generally I leave earlier on Wednesday and come home late Sunday night or Monday for Thanksgiving weekend, but got a late start Wednesday and had to come home today, Sunday, I missed too much work with my ear infection and the kids really shouldn't miss school unecessarily anymore now that they're older.
Didn't get my camera wet on this trip, no specific reason, just didn't, maybe I was just having too much fun just being in the water. Two Spot Octopus picture taken July 4th weekend.
Dive #90: Shaw's Cove
Date: 11/23 (Thanksgiving Day)
Time In: 08:50
Viz: 15-20'
Bottom Temp: 62F
Bottom Time: 01:03
Max Depth: 37'
Buddy(s): Mitchell
Dive #91: Shaw's Cove
Date: 11/24
Time In: 09:35
Viz: 15-20'
Bottom Temp: 63F
Bottom Time: 00:47
Max Depth: 38'
Buddy(s): N/A - Solo
Dive #92: Shaw's Cove
Date: 11/24
Time In: 11:11
Viz: 15-20'
Bottom Temp: 63F
Bottom Time: 00:56
Max Depth: 50'
Buddy(s): Andy
Dive #93: Shaw's Cove
Date: 11/25
Time In: 08:33
Viz: 15'
Bottom Temp: 63F
Bottom Time: 00:56
Max Depth: 47'
Buddy(s): Mitchell, Chuck, Larry
Dive #94: Wood's Cove
Date: 11/26
Time In: 07:57
Viz: 15-25'
Bottom Temp: 62F
Bottom Time: 01:00
Max Depth: 39'
Buddy(s): Larry, Chuck
Coupon:
$5 off $20 or more
Code: ATHENSADDUCT
Expires: Dec 2, 2006
Thursday (Thanksgiving) met up with Ruth, Larry and Mitchell from ocdiving.com for a Thanksgiving scuba dive at Shaw's Cove, Laguna Beach. Conditions were stellar, not quite as good as last Thanksgiving, which was tropical, but very good nonetheless. Ruth and Larry has some minor physical ailments and decided not to dive, so Mitchell and I, the two out-of-staters (Mitchell's from Las Vegas), dove in. The inner reef was great, good viz, manageable surge, nice dive. Saw the ususal critters, tons of Hopkins Roses in "The Arch". Just what the doctor ordered after being dry since Halloween. No problems with my ear, which is what I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving, I have just recovered from a severe ear infection. Headed home (or my home away from home) and had a great Thanksgiving dinner with the Family.Friday my call for buddies was answered first by Andy (aka WTH) from Scubaboard. Andy and I had dove together on one of the Scubaboard SoCal Mo2vation dives off the Sundiver at Catalina. I arrived quite early to Shaw's Cove, surface conditions still looked great. Ran into and chatted with Christian (aka Headhunter - Scubaboard Mod) who was preparing to dive with some DIR buddies to do some drills. After about an hour and half (I was really early) Andy and his buddy Frank arrived, but needed fills :(, Laguna Sea Sports didn't open for an hour, so I opted to do my first solo ocean dive while they did some snorkeling and free diving waiting for air. Conditions were still great outside the reef, I went inside the arch and poked around but the viz deteriorated at the main chute to the inner reef, so I exited and explored the outer reef to "turnaround rock" where I turned, went back in the arch for awhile and noticed the time and surfaced to allow myself a SI before my dive with Andy and Frank.
Andy and Frank were waiting for me on exit with filled tanks :). I needed a Surface Interval and needed to change out my tanks. Unluckily for Frank during my SI his sister called and had broken down on the road, so after all that he had to bail. Andy and I had a nice dive, explored some veins, chutes and swimthroughs ended up on the S. Crescent side of the reef and made the long way back on the outside. Went to Laguna Sea Sports rinsed gear, filled tanks and grabbed a burger at Husky Boy and headed home. Plans for a night dive were scratched, I think due to too much turkey & pie by everyone the day before.
Saturday I was going to the USC/Notre Dame football game in LA. So I only had time for one quick morning scuba dive. Andy called and wanted to dive Old Marineland (Palos Verdes), but I had to decline, didn't think I had enough time to run up to West LA and get back in time to leave for some tailgating before the game. So I met up with Ruth, Larry, Mitchell and Chuck at Shaw's. I told them the night before if we could dive someplace else, that'd be great, but by the time everyone showed up, they were up for a site change, but do to my time crunch, I opted just to dive Shaw's again. It's a large reef so, it wasn't like I wasn't going to see something different and I wasn't dissapointed. The viz was still great, not quite as good, but still very good. Must have spotted 15 octopi throughout the dive and two large morays along with the usual species. A nice dive with good buddies. Packed up and hauled *** home to get ready for the game. The game was fun but being a UCLA homer and my dad being a ND fan, the game itself was a bummer, quite frankly ND got their butts kicked, but college football games are so much fun, had a blast, game score aside. Thanks to Chuck (a different one), an old family friend and USC alum for the tickets.
Since all I had dove is Shaw's all weekend, I asked Larry if he wanted to do a early morning dive at Wood's Cove Sunday before I had to head home. Mitchell had to opt out do to Altitude considerations. So we all met up at Wood's, I was a little late because of a BRAKE warning light on my truck, had to stop and get some brake fluid and make sure it wasn't something else I'd have to deal with before heading home. I love Wood's because of the underwater vegetation, I'm sure it kelp, but not the "typical" kelp, lots of reef structure a nice site and one I've wanted to explore more. Due to it's exposure it's only dive-able during best conditions. Dive was nice, nothing out of the oridinary like last time I dove there where I saw my first Giant Sea Bass and two large horn sharks. Lots of lobster traps at this site, a few had some BIG bugs in them, also spotted a couple Spanish Shawls (nudibranchs).
Said my Good-bye's and I am already making plans for my next trip, Christmas weekend. The drives to and from were terrible, they both rate in my top 10 worst drives in my 9 years and around 100 trips to SoCal. Generally I leave earlier on Wednesday and come home late Sunday night or Monday for Thanksgiving weekend, but got a late start Wednesday and had to come home today, Sunday, I missed too much work with my ear infection and the kids really shouldn't miss school unecessarily anymore now that they're older.
Didn't get my camera wet on this trip, no specific reason, just didn't, maybe I was just having too much fun just being in the water. Two Spot Octopus picture taken July 4th weekend.
Dive #90: Shaw's Cove
Date: 11/23 (Thanksgiving Day)
Time In: 08:50
Viz: 15-20'
Bottom Temp: 62F
Bottom Time: 01:03
Max Depth: 37'
Buddy(s): Mitchell
Dive #91: Shaw's Cove
Date: 11/24
Time In: 09:35
Viz: 15-20'
Bottom Temp: 63F
Bottom Time: 00:47
Max Depth: 38'
Buddy(s): N/A - Solo
Dive #92: Shaw's Cove
Date: 11/24
Time In: 11:11
Viz: 15-20'
Bottom Temp: 63F
Bottom Time: 00:56
Max Depth: 50'
Buddy(s): Andy
Dive #93: Shaw's Cove
Date: 11/25
Time In: 08:33
Viz: 15'
Bottom Temp: 63F
Bottom Time: 00:56
Max Depth: 47'
Buddy(s): Mitchell, Chuck, Larry
Dive #94: Wood's Cove
Date: 11/26
Time In: 07:57
Viz: 15-25'
Bottom Temp: 62F
Bottom Time: 01:00
Max Depth: 39'
Buddy(s): Larry, Chuck
Coupon:
$5 off $20 or more
Code: ATHENSADDUCT
Expires: Dec 2, 2006
Friday, November 03, 2006
Old Waddell Dam, Lake Pleasant
10/28/06: 12 of us chartered the local dive boat, the Diver Down II, for a scuba diving excursion to the Old Waddell Dam. This dam is completely submerged and was breached in 1992 when the new Waddell/Pleasant Dam was completed about 1/2 mile up-stream, which added about 6,300 surface acres to the lake, tripling it in size. When the old concrete dam was built in 1927 is was the world's largest multi-arch dam. On this day the top of the dam was at a depth of 63'.Dive Report:
1st Dive: My buddy, Weldon and I explored the Arches on the down river side (see pic above), pictures don't do it justice size wise, they are enormous, probably 25-30' deep concaves, hit a max depth of 107', could've gone down a lot further. You can still see wood and nails everywhere from the construction in 1927.
2nd Dive: Buddy and I traversed the breach (see pic below), it's 224 ft. long, we thought it would never end, someone was kind enough to string a guideline across the breach or we wouldn't have attempted it. Apparently the breach is 70' deep so the bottom of the breach would be at approx. 133', I have no idea how deep the rubble is. On the other side of the breach we explored the up river side. Made our long way back across the breach, did some further exploring, max depth reached 89'.
Pictures courtesy of Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office and Central Arizona Projects Office.
Dive #88
Time In: 13:34
Viz: 10-20'
Bottom Temp: 66F
Bottom Time: 00:35
Max Depth: 107'
Buddy(s): Weldon
Dive #89
Time In: 15:25
Viz: 10-20'
Bottom Temp: 66F
Bottom Time: 00:38
Max Depth: 89'
Buddy(s): Weldon
2nd Dive: Buddy and I traversed the breach (see pic below), it's 224 ft. long, we thought it would never end, someone was kind enough to string a guideline across the breach or we wouldn't have attempted it. Apparently the breach is 70' deep so the bottom of the breach would be at approx. 133', I have no idea how deep the rubble is. On the other side of the breach we explored the up river side. Made our long way back across the breach, did some further exploring, max depth reached 89'.
Pictures courtesy of Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office and Central Arizona Projects Office.Dive #88
Time In: 13:34
Viz: 10-20'
Bottom Temp: 66F
Bottom Time: 00:35
Max Depth: 107'
Buddy(s): Weldon
Dive #89
Time In: 15:25
Viz: 10-20'
Bottom Temp: 66F
Bottom Time: 00:38
Max Depth: 89'
Buddy(s): Weldon
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