My first liveaboard trip, and it certainly won't be my last! 20+ friends from Salem Scuba went out on the Vision through Truth Aquatics in Santa Barbara this week.
It began with a 15 hour road trip from Salem, OR to Santa Barbara, CA, which was half the fun thanks to riding down with two diving friends. We were rambunctious with excitement and laughed until we cried, shared some great music, and swapped drivers as needed. I was really looking forward to the rare opportunity to totally forget the rest of the world, and think of nothing but diving for four straight days. No phone, no communication or media of any kind with anyone other than the divers on the boat, some of which I knew and had traveled with before.
The Vision was departing at 10pm, so we could sleep for the 11 hour crossing down to San Clemente. The plan was for boarding to begin at 8pm, but the boat was ready early so we got to load up starting at 5pm. Despite two dozen plus gear whores hauling everything needed for cold-ish water diving through a maze to the boat, it went quickly and smoothly. Once on board the stories of trips past began, and we all settled in, met those we hadn't yet had the chance to, and explored the boat. We watched the beautiful sky with a bright moon and a million stars as we headed toward our morning dive destination.
I met -Aaron-; we'd crossed on a thread and knew we would both be on this trip. Didn't get a chance to talk to him much, but when I did really enjoyed it, helped or got help a time or two and saw him underwater a few times; he's a good egg!
The boat is just what it needs to be. It's not fancy, it's about function: about getting you to your dives, and keeping you fed, rested, and ready to do it all again. Plenty of space to relax and look at the stars or the water while underway. The bunk area was unfortunately a bit hot and moist; the cool weather during the season hadn't required the use of the AC -- so with record heat joining us on this after-season trip, it was found that the AC unit didn't work! The boat wasn't full, so while bunk assignments had been made, some people had a chance to change to a different location or size. Uh oh! We survived, though, with a few people choosing to climb up to the top deck and sleep some nights.
As one of only two female divers on a boat with a bunch of guys, it was totally comfortable -- in part because it's a good bunch of guys, in part because I'm not a girly-girl and roll pretty well with the boys, and because the accommodations--while basic and not elaborate--do allow for adequate privacy (areas to change, two small and separate showers). When I threw in my $5 for a friendly game of poker, someone said, "I think Amy's a guy." Maybe I'm twisted, but I took that as a sweet compliment.
The crew was great; Captain Graham was always smiling :luv: , friendly and helpful; deckhand Hunter was awesome (always RIGHT THERE with whatever you needed before you needed it), and Gretchen and Ashley in the galley did a great job keeping us fed.
Ok, now what you want to know about: the diving.
I'm so spoiled. Getting five dives a day in was easy! You set your gear up once when you get on board. You giant stride in the back or off the bow as needed, have a great dive, haul your ass up onto the large swim step on the back, you throw your rig back in its spot and detached the 1st stage, put a red tag on it so you get a fill, and then when you're ready to go again, it's ready for you. Graham took us to spots, let us know which line to use for descent, opened the gates and let us rip. There is no guide, you are responsible for yourself and he provided excellent site briefs at each stop after an initial security and safety brief. But... I HATE that damn swim step. Give me a ladder! My knees are hamburger (kneeling on a grate wearing all your gear sucks) and I missed more than once and have awful bruises all over my legs.
Kelp forests, bat rays, sea lions, sharks (horned, soup fin, blue), purple hydrocoral, giant sea bass, lobster, abalone, sea hares, nudibranchs, octos, sites with great topography, dives ranging from 30 to 110+... something for everyone. A friend was keeping a list of the site names -- I don't have all of them yet. The sun was out more than half the time, and the viz was good but not great for the area (varied from 80ft at one site down to 30ft or a bit less at a site where incoming surge stirred things up, from my own estimation, and from hearing others). The water temp is cooler than usual this year, and we had a variety of temps that often varied greatly through 2-3 thermoclines along the way down.
Despite that, most dives were comfortable without gloves or a hood. I wore limited undergarments; first day I wore the MK0 and MK1 under my White's Fusion but didn't need both; I used the MK0 only the next few days until it got pretty stanky and switched to a Lycra skin. As the trip went on the effects of testosterone poisoning resulted in multiple people trying dives in a 3 mil shorty, then shorts and t-shirt, then just shorts... Oh, the funny things we heard after that splashdown! I'll give him credit, though; he rode it out and had a nice long dive!
Graham would consult with the group about the desire to stay at a site and do a second dive or move on to another site. Aside from a night dive we dove the next morning, we moved for each dive. No lack of options down there.
My favorite... hard to say, a number of them were good. Farnsworth Banks was up there, though; the towering pinnacle started at 55 fsw and gave plenty to look at without going very deep (although you could if you wanted). The Captain has scared me with the site brief a bit -- he said it started around 70, got really interesting around 100 and went to about 140. I'm not comfortable doing even a short dive past 80 with a "normal" tank (for me that's a steel 80) and that's what most of us had. Luckily, I saw plenty from 60-90 to keep me busy for a number of dives!!
But my favorite was a site whose name I can't remember; it was our first dive before breakfast one morning. The primary attraction was a pinnacle with an arch at the bottom; the arch rose up to about 60 fsw. Current was stiff, so we dropped down near the line FAST, hit the other side of the pinnacle and continued down to the sand at 110fsw. The group got in close together and all went down fast; I love seeing a group of divers descending! I was ready for caution, as I haven't done much deep diving. I felt fine when we arrived on the bottom (maybe a little TOO fine but I was very excited about this dive). But turning to get to the arch, the current was kicking my ass. As much as I wanted to make the arch, I didn't want to find out how much exertion it took me to narc so I eased off and rose a bit to have a nice dive exploring up and around the wall to the top of the pinnacle. I admit I was really psyched to have been down to 110fsw before breakfast. =-)
I liked Eagle Rock, too. Okay, it's safe to say I liked a lot of the dives!
My computer was set conservatively, and on one of the deep dives I did earn myself a deco obligation, my first. My buddy didn't earn the same, but it's good to be safe, anyway. Bad on my part for not preventing it -- it happened when I went back down a bit to look at something. Cleared it with no problem with my default behavior for dives past 80 (half your depth twice and do long stops at each).
Got in 16 dives in four days (only missed one dive--slept in) including night dives. Let me tell you my gear just smells GREAT, inside and out!! I do believe I left the boat with everything I entered it with.
My photo skills are poor, but here are some shots! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... b6e2bfd744
. It was nice meeting you too