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BAUE Trip Reports
3/25/2005 Pt Lobos by Alberto Nava -- [View this report only]
2/11/2005 E3 aboard Phil Sammet's RIB by Alberto Nava -- [View this report only]
Bottom Team: Susan Bird, Alberto Nava Visibility: 5' - 50' Time: 12:00 AM Temp: 56F - 48F Surge: Scooter: Gavin Long Burn Time: Max Depth: 190FSW Avg Depth: Bottom Time: 0:50 Total Time: 2:10 Bottom Gases: 18/45 Deco Gases: EAN50 Backgas Config: Deco Tanks: Deco Profile: Susan and I took Friday off to go diving at Lobos. We were glad to have reservation as there were a lot of people at the Park. There were DIR divers from Sacramento, Modesto and the X-team.
At first we were all sad as the cove was very muddy due to rain coming from the local creeks. However, we decided to give it a try and head to Twin Peaks on the north side of Bluefish Cove.
We were surprised by great visibility at 100ft and it was at least 50ft at 180ft down at the Peaks. The water was pretty cold (48) at this depth so we limited our exposure to 20min and headed back to the Cove.
On the way back we scootered around the shallow kelp while doing our decompression. One of the best things of the dive was a school of YellowTail rockfish camouflaging on a very small piece of kelp. From the distance it looked like a very thick kelp but once you get close to it you realize the kelp blades were YellowTail hidding on the kelp. Way cool!!! When I have time I'll made a little clip of it.
All in all a great Easter Friday.
Good diving if you can!
Here are some video frames.
1/29/2005 Mile Buoy aboard Escapade by Clinton Bauder -- [View this report only]
Bottom Team: Susan Bird, Alberto Nava Visibility: 20' - 40' Time: 10:00 AM Temp: 50F - 54F Surge: Max Depth: 192FSW Avg Depth: Bottom Time: Total Time: 1:30 Bottom Gases: 18/45 Deco Gases: O2 Backgas Config: Deco Tanks: Deco Profile: Susan and I went diving at Point Lobos this past
Friday. We dove one of the Pinnacles on the E3 area. Phil said he has dove it before as E3, so
maybe "The other E3" but I'm not 100%.
There were a lot of rock fish of all color & sizes
and the usual deep water invertebrates. Vis was 25 ft at depth and 50 at the top. Water was 50 to 54.
I was brave enought to take my video camera on the
dive (first deep video dive :-0), so here are some
video frames. My kudus to the guys that do deep video in cold/dark water..... it's difficult.... and you want a lot of He ;-), at least the next gas down the list
Video frames
1/23/2005 Pt Lobos by Susan Bird -- [View this report only]
Bottom Team: Clinton Bauder, Susan Bird Visibility: 50' Time: 9:30 AM Temp: 55F Surge: Max Depth: 150FSW Avg Depth: 140FSW Bottom Time: 0:40 Total Time: 1:40 Bottom Gases: 18/45 Deco Gases: EAN50,O2 Backgas Config: Double LP80,LP104 Deco Tanks: AL40,AL80 Deco Profile: The original plan for the day was to dive Flintstones but a big west swell kept us from going around the corner so we decided to dive the Mile Buoy instead. Protected from the weather conditions there were actually quite good and Susan and I had a nice leisurly dive. Visibility was in excess of 50 feet. Highlights included a big school what I think were rainbow surfperch, several very large vermillion rockfish, 2 juvenile yelloweye rockfish and at minute 38 or so a small wolf eel.
1/16/2005 E3 aboard Escapade by Susan Bird -- [View this report only]
Bottom Team: Susan Bird, Alberto Nava Visibility: 20' - 50' Time: 10:30 AM Temp: 55F Surge: Scooter: Gavin Short Burn Time: 45:00 Max Depth: 77FSW Avg Depth: 44FSW Bottom Time: Total Time: 1:51 Bottom Gases: EAN32 Deco Gases: Backgas Config: Double AL80 Deco Tanks: Deco Profile: Beto and I opted for a shallow scooter run towards Moss Cove, in search of an arch described to us Pat Lovejoy. We zig-zagged among the canyons and kelp forests bewteen Whalers and Moss Cove. Highlights of the dive included pockets of multicolored hydrocorals, several schools of hearty blue rockfish, gangs of Sheepheads, a med-sized wolf eel sharing a crack with 2 dendronotus albus nudibranchs, a monster lingcod lying across a kelp holdfast, and a few shy but well-fed harbor seals. Although we had a great dive, we did not find the arch, so we will have to Dive Another Day. We concluded the dive in the shallow sand channel at Lobos, where we practiced scooter skills in preparation for future adventures. Here is a small map:
1/14/2005 Yankee Point aboard Phil Sammet's RIB by Peter Gelbman -- [View this report only]
Bottom Team: Susan Bird, Alberto Nava Visibility: 20' - 40' Time: 2:00 PM Temp: 54F - 55F Surge: Scooter: Gavin Short Burn Time: Max Depth: 187FSW Avg Depth: Bottom Time: Total Time: 1:43 Bottom Gases: 18/45 Deco Gases: EAN50 Backgas Config: Double LP80 Deco Tanks: AL80 Deco Profile: Fantastic day on the Escapade w/the BAUE gang. After a gorgeous run south including numerous grey whale sightings, surface conditions dictated that we abort our original plan of going to Yankee Point, so Capt Eric headed towards the more protected area near Lobos.
To accomodate our mixed boat of rec/tek divers, captains dropped Sue & Beto and our scooters at E3 and proceeeded to the Needle, where we would meet the rest of the divers underwater.
Our scooter run past the familiar canyons and crevices was fun and included fly-bys of the usual marine life for that depth range-- gorgonians, elephant ears, schools of various rockfish, sheep heads, and territorial ling cod. I kept looking for the tell-tale suckers of Giant Pacific Octopus in every crack and crevice we passed, without success.
Once we arrived at the Needle, we saw pairs of lights from the teams of our boat buddies, and enjoyed a colorful ascent and deco profile circling the pinnacle. At our 70 ft stop, Beto found what would have made a perfect octopus-condo in a crack along a wall. Sure enough, there was a nice GPO, with a crab leg attached to its suckers. Fortunately Clinton and Dionna were in the vicinty to verify the sighting!
Great day-- second dive at Aumentos was sweet, and hopefully Clinton will post a report with the scientific name of the really cool red fish we saw. (It was a Red Brotula; Brosmophycis marginata)
Pictures here.
12/2/2004 Uncle Phil's Deep Trench aboard Phil Sammet's RIB by Peter Gelbman -- [View this report only]
Bottom Team: John Heimann, Peter Gelbman Visibility: 30' - 50' Time: 10:45 AM Temp: 54F Surge: Max Depth: 255FSW Avg Depth: 250FSW Bottom Time: 0:25 Total Time: 2:10 Bottom Gases: 15/55 Deco Gases: EAN50,O2,35/25 Backgas Config: Double LP104 Deco Tanks: AL40,AL80 Deco Profile: John, Beto, Susan and I headed out on Phil's RIB today from Lobos. John
had booked this charter weeks ago and ended up nailing most excellent
conditions! As anyone can tell from last few day’s swell model, the ocean
was a LAKE... and awesome blue skies. Usually with Phil’s boat we don't
stray too far outside the park, but since conditions were so good we
decided to go south a bit to check out a spot off Yankee Point that Beto has wanted to
investigate for some time. We'd scouted this area on depth finders
previously and had a rough idea from maps that there would be good deep
relief here. On the ride south, we had a pod of large Rizzo Dolphins
scampering about, then 2 whales blowing and diving in tandem right near
us. Susan was in heaven!Located our spot fairly easily, dropped anchor in about 200' and went
for it. Diving as two teams of two, the teams were offset in time by about
5 minutes but did roughly the same dive, generally moving southwest into
some current then turned and headed north drifting back towards a
shallower region. Moderate current all the way down to the anchor, where
it tapered off and we had plenty of relief to tuck up close to and get out
of it. Phil had been reporting lots of brown water due to Carmel valley
runoff after all the rain, and on the way out of Whalers cove it looked a
bit murky green. On our way south, water cleared significantly was
actually quite blue in the shallows. Got a little hazy as we moved deeper
but still quite spectacular - probably 50' vis at depth.Anchor was on side of a sloping pinnacle system with interesting cracks
and formations. John and I headed due south following natural contour, and
then suddenly reached a sheer ridge. It rose a bit into a gentle crest
ahead of us and the water looked very dark and ominous on the other side.
We swam over it and were suddenly looking straight down from 250' into a
system of small canyons in the 280-300' range. Too deep for our mix and
plan, so we wistfully hovered there taking in the view for a while, then
meandered our way slowly around the edge of the ridge and headed back
north, working out way around and up the sloping face where we had
descended. Our 25 min BT was up all to quick...Been a few weeks since I've been diving locally and this was an
awesome welcome back, dense schools of blue rockfish and all the usual
suspects. Nothing overly spectacular fish-wise today, but terrific
terrain. Although there was lots of small life, the colors here aren’t as
spectacular as other shallower areas. Lots of thin,
bright-red Gorgonians here - interestingly there were none of the usual pink
fluffier Gorgonians. Every site has its own character... Highlight
of today was a crevice with 2 vase sponges, which John claims we should
now officially be calling "boot" sponges.Lazy ride home enjoying dolphins, drinking some custom Phil Sammet tea
brew and generally having more fun than should be legally allowed.
Tried adding a 3rd deco gas today instead of a bottom stage and that
seemed to work very well. I literally felt better after the dive than
before - but then again I usually do!!Surface conditions don't get much better than this and considering this
is January things are really spectacular. Those of you headed out on the
boats this weekend should be in for a terrific treat!
11/20/2004 Butterfly House by Nick Radov -- [View this report only]
Bottom Team: Susan Bird, Nick Radov, Peter Gelbman Visibility: 30' - 80' Time: 10:53 AM Temp: 50F Surge: 10' Max Depth: 222FSW Avg Depth: 210FSW Bottom Time: 0:30 Total Time: 2:10 Bottom Gases: 15/55 Deco Gases: EAN50,O2 Backgas Config: Double LP80,LP104 Deco Tanks: AL40,AL80 Deco Profile: We were shooting for 240' ish dive at Uncle Phil's Deep Trench but after some anchoring adventures, we actually ended up on a little ridge between Uncle Phil's and Deep E3.
Based on Phil and Susan's prior experiences at this site we were prepared for some potentially wild mid-water column currents, but were pleasantly surprised to only have a fairly mild current in one direction and were able to make it down the anchor line pretty peacefully. Flying squirrel descents in blue water straight down to 200+ are great!
Stunning clarity on the bottom, we worked our way slowly around a fairly sharp pinnacle face and several colorful smaller reef structures. A sea lion put on a show for us at 210', coyly covering his eyes with one fin and waving at Susan.
Several large clusters of Vase Sponges, large Lingcod. Susan pointed out a pretty Spiny Lithoid crab and also a cool Crinoid, neither of which I had ever seen before... About halfway through the dive Nick spotted a 2' Longnose Skate that let us check him out for a while. Since our depth was shallower than planned we extended our bottom time to enjoy the scenery.
Some of the prettiest part of the dive was at some shallower reef that we swam to during our deep stops in 150-160'. I think this was deep E3 foothills. We we ended up playing around here for a while, no one wanted to leave the bottom today! When we finally decided to depart, a dense cloud of Blue Rockfish bid us fairwell.
Per our plan, Nick shot a bag at 120' to make sure Phil knew our whereabouts as early as possible. Good thing we did, because Phil said we drifted about 1.5 miles from the time he saw it, he ended up picking us up outside of Pinnacle cove on SW side of Lobos.
If vis is anything like it was today, weekend diving should be fantastic.
10/2/2004 Ballbuster aboard Escapade by Nick Radov -- [View this report only]
Bottom Team: Devin MacKenzie, Nick Radov Visibility: 30' - 40' Time: 12:19 PM Temp: 52F - 54F Surge: 3' Max Depth: 82FSW Avg Depth: 53FSW Bottom Time: Total Time: 1:06 Bottom Gases: EAN32,30/30 Deco Gases: Backgas Config: Single,Double LP80,LP95 Deco Tanks: Deco Profile: I hadn't dived Butterfly House in about a year and Devin had never been there at all so we decided to have a look. Surface conditions were marginal with some occasional large waves, but just barely good enough to be safe. We swam straight west out to the edge of the main kelp forest and descended where it's about 45ft deep. Visibility was excellent with a lot of sunlight. Turned left and swam south-southwest through the forest and into deeper water. There were at least two, maybe four harbor seals shadowing us the entire dive. Saw the usual nudibranchs (Peltodoris nobilis, Doris odhneri, Cadlina luteomarginata) as well as one tiny Tritonia festiva. Not too much in the way of fish life, mainly surf perch and copper rockfish. After about 25 minutes we turned the dive to head back north slightly closer to shore. That was the best area of the dive with a really nice array of hydrocoral and some interesting rock formations. By the time we returned to our starting point a large school of juvenile blue rockfish had arrived so we did a slow ascent through those. Surface conditions had deteriorated further so the long surface swim back in was a real workout, but it was worth it (and I needed the exercise).
10/2/2004 Pinnacle of Tremendous Proportions aboard Escapade by Nick Radov -- [View this report only]
Bottom Team: Gary Banta, Nick Radov Visibility: 15' - 70' Time: 10:39 AM Temp: 52F - 55F Surge: Max Depth: 97FSW Avg Depth: 65FSW Bottom Time: Total Time: 0:37 Bottom Gases: 30/30 Deco Gases: Backgas Config: Double LP104,HP100 Deco Tanks: Deco Profile: There was a layer of brown muck from 10ft to 30ft but as soon as we dropped below that the visibility was the best I had ever seen at this site. We could clearly see everything on the bottom from 30ft. As soon as we hit the bottom Gary signalled me and pointed out a large bat ray flapping by just to our left. We trailed it for a couple minutes but it effortlessly left us behind. With such good visibility and 10 other divers in the water this site actually seemed a bit crowded. After doing a full clockwise circuit of the base of the pinnacle we moved off a bit just to take in a full view of the huge metridium fields. Then we swam up along the peak to check out the hyrdrocoral. Would have liked to stay longer but we were on a time limit and had to get back.
Bottom Team: Gary Banta, Nick Radov Visibility: 40' - 110' Time: 8:19 AM Temp: 52F - 54F Surge: 2' Max Depth: 120FSW Avg Depth: 80FSW Bottom Time: Total Time: 1:03 Bottom Gases: 30/30 Deco Gases: EAN50 Backgas Config: Double LP104,HP100 Deco Tanks: AL40 Deco Profile: Gary and I were originally supposed to be on the Cypress Sea extreme charter but when it was cancelled we were able to switch over to Joe's charter. Got to meet some of his students and prospective new club members.
We dropped down the anchor line to about 60ft, then turned around and kept going down the side of the pinnacle. Hit the sand channel on the west side and followed it northwest, then north at about 110ft. Saw a couple Tritonia festiva on the wall as well as the other usual rock fish and nudis. Visibility was spectacular; on the way back we looked up from the bottom and could clearly see the boat on the surface. We gradually made our way up the pinnacle and then switched to deco gas right above the anchor at about 60ft. The regulator hose o-ring extruded on mine so even though I could breathe from it with no problems the first stage was bubbling in my face during the whole ascent. Kind of annoying.