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1/12/2013 Deep E3 aboard Escapade by Dionna House -- [View this report only]

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Bottom Team: Mark Lloyd, Dionna House

Visibility: 60' - 80' Time: 10:00 AM

Temp: 48F - 50F Surge:

Scooter: Gavin Short Burn Time:

Max Depth: 195FSW Avg Depth:

Bottom Time: Total Time:

Bottom Gases: 18/45 Deco Gases: EAN50,O2

Backgas Config: Double HP120 Deco Tanks: AL80
Deco Profile:
Nice day of diving and surveying!! Temperatures were a little on the cold side. Orcas on the ride back to the bay!!

E3 and Deep E3
1/14/13
S=Single, F=Few 2-10, M=Many 11-100, A=Abundant >100, P=Present
Vis 80ft
Bottom Time 40minutes
Depth 120-195ft
Temperature 48-50 F
Habitat Reef
Conditions Mild Surge

Fish
Greenlings
Kelp Greenlings F
Lingcod F
Painted Greenlings F

Rockfish
Gopher F
Copper F
Blue A
Olive M
Vermilion S
Canary F
China S

Invertebrates
Masking Crab S

Cnidarians
Strawberry Present

Coral/Gorgonian
Hydrocoral
Purple Hydrocoral M
Red Gorgonian M

Sea Stars
Bat Star A
Giant Spined Star M
Sunflower Star F

Chiton
Rock Scallop F

Enjoy the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wcHCWkjw44

11/20/2011 Deep E3 aboard Escapade by Alberto Nava -- [View this report only]

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Bottom Team: Susan Bird, Alberto Nava

Visibility: Time: 11:00 AM

Temp: Surge: 8'

Max Depth: 205FSW Avg Depth:

Bottom Time: 0:35 Total Time: 1:30

Bottom Gases: 18/45 Deco Gases: 50/25,O2

Backgas Config: Deco Tanks:
Deco Profile:
Today we were close to cancel the Escapade Tech trip due to bad weather but Capt Jarod decided to man up and go check it out in the morning. The winds were strong from the south but we were able to make it to the North side of Point Lobos. Once we got there conditions were good enough to go diving. We settled for Deep E3 and we dropped down to find 80-100ft of blue clear water. We were so glad we didn't cancel.

Teams dropped down to find an aquarium like conditions with tons of fish and amazing vis. We checked out the purple sea fan at the base on the pinnacle, and then we went for a loop on the north side on the pinnacle. We found a large toquina on the sand and another pink nudibrach. We saw several large vase sponges, one of them with 100 of brittle stars on it. We could see Rob and Allison about 80ft away so we used them for navigation aid and explore the reef to the north of Deep E3.

At the top of the pinnacle there were many red gorgonias moving with swells and many juv. yellow eye rock-fish, and large school of blue rockfish.

Visibility was so good teams motored from Deep E3 to E3, and the kitties made it to D3.

After the dive we swam with Risso dolphin!! They came close in several occasions and on one of them Susan saw a dolphin play with a piece of kelp, similar to what they do in Kona, where they move objecst btw their fins.

Not bad for almost a canceled day ;-)

Here are some images from Rob and Clinton.

12/4/2010 Deep E3 aboard Escapade by Clinton Bauder -- [View this report only]

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Bottom Team: Clinton Bauder, Robert Lee

Visibility: 20' Time: 10:30 AM

Temp: 50F Surge: 1'

Scooter: X-scooter Burn Time:

Max Depth: 218FSW Avg Depth: 170FSW

Bottom Time: 0:35 Total Time: 1:25

Bottom Gases: 18/45 Deco Gases: EAN50,O2

Backgas Config: Double LP80 Deco Tanks: AL40,AL80
Deco Profile:
Deep Stops, 6,4,4,4,4,18,6 Up
The forecast all week had been for calm weather. Naturally as we arrived in Monterey my first question to Rob was how he had managed to keep the van from overturning in the high winds. Been that kind of year. At least it was from the Southeast so it didn't limit us too much. As it happens what did limit us was the huge tidal change.

After a brief delay to free some debris from the prop shaft we made it to Carmel in good order. Despite the wind the surface conditions weren't much of an issue. After looking at E3 we decided to try further south and try to dive the Nixies. The first couple of attempts to set a downline failed as the ball was swept off the reef. This should have been a hint but we persevered and got it set on the third try. The wake from the ball should have been a hint too but Rob and I jumped in anyway. Some very minor delays clipping gear off and getting the pitch set right on my scooter did us in as we were swept past the buoy. Even at full speed on the scooters we were losing ground at a good clip and so we finally wised up and headed back to E3. (I think this is where I'm supposed to admit John was right but I'm not going to do that.)

E3 was much more tranquil. Rob mentioned he wanted to go look for a purple gorgonian that Beto had seen here at about 200 feet. I pointed out that my camera is only rated to 180 and that I've had dodgy results taking it deeper than that. So our plan became 180ish with the idea to scooter over to Deep E3 and back.

Visibility below the thick jellyfish layer wasn't so hot but soon a target rich environment made me forget about conditions. First up was a nice basket star at about 180 feet. As I started to line up a shot I noticed a mosshead warbonnet in a old barnacle shell. Pretty soon Rob was motioning me deeper as he'd found a Quillback Rockfish. I'd seen one here before and but from what I gather they are quite rare this far south, especially at diving depth. As I started to shoot that while trying to include the nearby little Yelloweye rockfish in the frame Rob started signaling me to come deeper still - to nearly 220 feet! Oh well, the camera IS insured. This time he'd found the mythical purple gorgonian so we grabbed a few quick shots before retreating back up to shallower water. Rob says he saw a Bocaccio as we returned to E3 but I missed that.

After a mild comedy of errors getting the cameras squared away and the bag sent up we began our deco. I was starting to get cold at the 20 foot stop so I brought the camera back out to shoot pictures of Rob in the jellyfish soup. It's amazing how much warmer you are when you stay busy. By the end of the deco the surface conditions had really deteriorated making getting back on the boat a bit of a chore and so we decided to call it a day after one dive.

Pictures are here:

http://www.baue.org/images/galleries/v/local/DeepE3_12-4-2010/

4/10/2009 Deep E3 aboard Phil Sammet's RIB by Dionna House -- [View this report only]

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Bottom Team: Susan Bird, Dionna House

Visibility: 50' - 65' Time: 9:30 AM

Temp: 48F - 51F Surge: 2'

Max Depth: 200FSW Avg Depth:

Bottom Time: Total Time:

Bottom Gases: 15/55 Deco Gases: EAN50,50/25,O2

Backgas Config: Double HP120 Deco Tanks:
Deco Profile:
Since Beto was out of town, and Sue had a reservation with Phil, we both decided to make it an estrogen only boat, excluding Phil. Sorry Beto!! arriving the wind and swell were so/so. and was expected to kick up. After some discussion of where to go... and my inner desire to see a Vase Sponge.... we ended up deciding to go to some mysterious pinncle near Deep E3. Phil mentioned that there were a few Vase Sponges, but not as abundant as the other site in consideration I was not expecting to see a Vase Sponge. The anchor was set, we did the our GUE EDGE.. and rolled overboard. The top of the pinnacle was at 136ft and it went down to 230ft (ish). We arrived at our planned depth to a beautiful Vase Sponge. TAWANDA!!!! Lucky day... We meandered around and realized that most of the life was between 180ft and 150ft. Before our time at 200ft, I signaled Susan to go up and explore shallower. WOW!! What an awesome site. Susan spotted a yellow eye in a crack. I was loving the gorgonians, hydrocoral, lots of huge nudibranchs like, Tritonia Festiva, Triopha Catalinae. Besides seeing the Vase Sponge... the best part of the dive was at 150ft. There was an area that comes up to a ledge... the formation of the topography around the ledge made it look like we were in a coudesac, and better yet.... it was right next to the anchor line. Time flies when your having fun. It was time to go up. Nothing really special on Deco besides some very small pelaganics floating by and it was long.

Back on the boat... Phil told us some stories about the pinnacles at 80ft near blue fish cove. It was a very Healing Experience.

TAWANDA!!!

2/6/2009 Deep E3 aboard Phil Sammet's RIB by Alberto Nava -- [View this report only]

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Bottom Team: Susan Bird, Alberto Nava

Visibility: 20' - 30' Time: 10:00 AM

Temp: 53F - 53F Surge: 2'

Scooter: Gavin Short Burn Time:

Max Depth: 219FSW Avg Depth: 180FSW

Bottom Time: 0:30 Total Time: 1:30

Bottom Gases: 15/55 Deco Gases: EAN50,O2

Backgas Config: Double HP120 Deco Tanks:
Deco Profile:
Sue and I got to Lobos at about 8:30am. We have schedule to dive with Phil but the conditions had us a little worry. The cove was still flat so we ventured to the outside to check the actual condition.

Plan A was K3/YankeePoint area but as soon as we past the west corner of the park the wind and swells were large, with white caps. It was all coming from the south so backing a little bit we found very calm condition just outsite E3.

We dropped at Deep E3 and headed for the drop-off near the sand. We did a little detour (I felt by compass was stuck for a while ????) for a while and found a large rock with 10-15 crinoids on top. They are not as colourful as the tropical ones but still pretty nice to see.

We finally got to the based of Deep E3 and located the purple sea fans that live in there. I had the impression that it has crown quite a bit since last time. It's now 2 ft diameter. It's always weird to be looking at the bright purple colony at 220ft. It always make me think if I have enough He as this are not suppose to be in our water.

We continued around the pinnacle and found several cool vase sponges and some large school of rock-fish.

The plan was to motor to E3 and ascend on it but a couple of unsuccessfully attempts at 150ft had us abandon the plan and we came back to the up-line.

We decided not to deployed an SMB for a change and deco on the up-line. There was no current at all and it was a nice deco with moon jellies swimming by.

Let's hope the south wind continues so we get decent conditions on Sunday.

7/19/2006 Deep E3 aboard Escapade by Alberto Nava -- [View this report only]

Bottom Team: Susan Bird, Jarrod Jablonski, Alberto Nava

Visibility: 35' Time: 12:00 PM

Temp: 47F Surge:

Max Depth: 218FSW Avg Depth:

Bottom Time: 0:25 Total Time: 1:40

Bottom Gases: 15/55 Deco Gases: 50/25,O2

Backgas Config: Deco Tanks:
Deco Profile:
Out again on the Escapade with Jim and Abigail. We spent a lot of time planning to dive DWC wall out of Yankee Point. However, the fog was pretty dense so an open ocean with current was not on the day's agenda.

We decided to dive something on the north side of Lobos where the fog was not as bad and there is coastline for reference. JimC pulled out his laptop and GloballMapper and after a few minites we were ready to place a shot line at Deep E3. I really like the "high-tech" dive planning.

We were dropped near the line and since there was not much current the swim to the line was easy. We reached the descent line and started our dive.

We reached the top of the pinnacle on the west side at about 160ft. After pausing for a minute to catch our breath and make sure the team was ready to go, we followed a nice narrow reaching structure which meets the sand on the north side at about 220ft. On a clear day this can present a very nice view as you can see the sand sloping down in a 30 degree angle towards the Carmel Cayon... however on this dive it was a bit dark so the view was not as good.

After looking down into the Abyss we headed back towards the main wall and found a really nice purple sea fan. I could not blame the sight on the mix as we had plenty of He :-). I was told about that sea fan but didn't really believe it existed. As we moved towards the top of the structure we worked on failures and bottle rotation. We reached the top of the pinnacle on the south side at 140ft.

The south part of the pinnacle has tons of Elephant Ear sponges (thus the name of the site...), and it is a very nice terrain. We sent our bag and waited for the boat to signal before drifting.

During the deco we worked on bottle sharing and more failures which was a great practice for us.

5/31/2004 Deep E3 aboard Escapade by Peter Gelbman -- [View this report only]

Bottom Team: David Chamberlin, Peter Gelbman

Visibility: 15' - 60' Time: 11:36 AM

Temp: 46F Surge:

Max Depth: 182FSW Avg Depth: 160FSW

Bottom Time: 0:25 Total Time: 1:12

Bottom Gases: 18/45 Deco Gases: EAN50

Backgas Config: Double LP104 Deco Tanks: AL40
Deco Profile:
deep stops
5
3
3
3
3
10
5
With sketchy reports, things didn't look too good for heading south, but
Jim was willing to take a look. With nothing but masochist deepsters on
board, upon reaching Point Pinos despite the 10+ ft swells and strong
east wind, his word was "Well I'm going south until you guys tell me to
stop!". At E3 he proclaimed it safe enough conditions to dive if we
could stomach the topside conditions. By that time most of us were
already gearing up, so it was a moot point ;-) With the rough surface,
Jim ran a live boat for us and dropped a shot line on what we thought
was E3. Water clarity wasn't too bad and the green layer thats been
present lately wasn't around. Vis was a bit chunky till about 30-40'
depth, then opened up to at least 50' horizontal. Upon descent, the
highest point of the reef was around 145' and it didn't look anything
like the E3 that I had seen my first time here last summer - later we
found out from Beto & the maps that this was deep E3. With a fairly
strong southern current running, I wanted to duck down into a canyon -
we had a choice of east or west side of the main reef structure, and we
chose the west side. There is so much to see here its really something.
Everywhere you look are steep walls and canyons filled solid with life.
On the north side of the shallowest reef, we met up with Beto, Susan &
John who were following a deeper profile on the the east side. Dave
found a small wolf eel, other than that the usual suspects. Most of the
time I was taking in the big picture, so probably missed tons of cool
small stuff. 1/2 hour drift-ride
under a bag was nice and relaxing - all in all a beautiful dive.

Courtesy of Beto, here
is a map that shows the routes we took.

Many thanks Jim and crew for taking such good care of us on a rough day!

2/1/2004 Deep E3 aboard Phil Sammet's RIB by John Heimann -- [View this report only]

Bottom Team: Clinton Bauder, John Heimann, Joe Talavera

Visibility: 100' - 100' Time: 10:00 AM

Temp: 50F - 53F Surge:

Max Depth: 185FSW Avg Depth: 160FSW

Bottom Time: 0:25 Total Time:

Bottom Gases: 18/45 Deco Gases: EAN50,O2

Backgas Config: Double LP104 Deco Tanks: AL40,AL80
Deco Profile:
deep stops
5,4,4,4,4,12 on, 6 off 6 on, 6 up
After the big seas of saturday we were expecting nasty conditions today, but conditions were surprisingly flat on the surface. South winds brought cold clear water and fantastic vis (we could clearly see E3 pinnacle from deep E3). Clinton has put up some photos of the dive which show just how beautiful it was. You can view them here.

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