The Skyline Experiment
Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 11:21 pm
I kicked around a couple of names for this post i.e. "fmerkel-1 dieseldude-0" and "Skyline, Gateway to Rosario Hell"
For those that don't know, this started with me looking for a buddy to dive skyline 5/21. fmerkel was kind enough to point out it wasnt a good day for it & a friendly discussion began on how to pick a "good time to dive" at skyline. I tenatively had an offer to do another dive that I hadnt been to so I dropped my plan in case he was right. This still left me hungry to answer the question. My alternate plans fell through so I elected to make myself a guinea pig & do skyline anyway just to see who knows their stuff about skyline. I should point out for the record, I have only one dive there previously & it sucked big nasty rotten eggs in terms of vis & current but I recognized the potential through all of that. So this is how my day went.....
I started about 7am rechecking the current predictions. My info was to be in the water & drop on the wall about 30minutes prior to slack. Nobody said slack where so I used this: I noted that the time had changed 30 minutes later than when I looked it up the 1st time. Made me a little nervous. I headed out early just in case, grabbed my egg McMuffin & med coffee with 2 cream & 2 splenda, & hit the freeway. Weather was overcast with a light breeze coming out of the east on arrival. The surface looked pretty calm & it looked like it would push me the direction I needed to go. The really cool part, there were other divers there. In fact 2 were in the water at the point already(more nervous) I asked the 2 on the street what their take was.
The info was be in the water 1hr before Rosario high slack. I'm dumb so I asked, "when is that this morning"
"Right now" was the answer. Oh Snap! I'm not even in my undergarment yet.
Fortunately I show at a sight with most of my gear cocked, locked, & ready to rock so I was dressed & in the water at 9:12am. I got a free ride down to the point. I seem to remember that the leaning tree was the drop point but then in the back of my head I was thinking I got that from Sunrise. Thats the downside of being a dive whore. After a while, all of your conquests start to blur together. I was later told that your 1st sign of trouble is a "free ride" to the point(at least a swift one).
I dropped at 9:21 in what had to be 1kt easy. No big deal. woo-hoo! ride me baby! Ride me like we goin somewhere!......& then it picked up a little more....still no biggy. got the camera out, attached to the light,set the white balance, set to macro, flash on auto....moving a little faster....faster...your kidding right....faster...air check...lots of air, bouyancy good,vis decent enought to adjust for incoming....dropping down some more...I'll shoot some quick video to show the cool ride I got..
this is point & shoot, unedited & it ends with me getting whipped upside down with bouyant boots. you remember that move they taught you when you 1st got your drysuit? This is the 1st time I ever got to use it & it wasnt my fault. Pay attention to the waving sea cuc's & note that I am holding the camera as still as I can & not kicking at all. fmerkel, take your best guess at current from this, I say 4kts as I rounded the point easy.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MxMiNq8M3Q[/youtube]
At this point I clipped off the divelight, clipped off the camera & regrouped. I was thinking this may be a survival dive rather than a photo shoot. I'm still moving as this is all going on & suddenly feeling a little bouyant. It looked like I was traveling straght but I had gone from 70' to 36' rather abruptly. I'm 20 minutes into the dive now. Air check ok, bouyancy back under control. I dropped down slowly & settled in the 50' range still riding the lightening. clock check tells me slack should be coming so I'm rationalizing this all out that I'm still ok.
I began to think about my situation & how to make the most of it. i was moving too fast for stills. I had to anchor somehow. I started finding hold points. Then a little voice in the back of my head said, "Move slow, thinks small" So my eyes concentrated on each area that I anchored myself in. This Sea cuc was a warmup shot. I love these things. Buffalo Sculpin & Red Irish Lords everywhere & they all look pregnant Of course there were Urchins-O-Plenty this shot reminded me of breakfast-Thats right ladies, some of us men still think about food, after scuba & sex of course appx 48 minutes into the dive I'm at my turnaround pressure & slack time has come & gone except there never was a slack. Now it's hand over 1st against the current & making a slow ascent as I go. i felt more like a rock climber leaping from ledge to ledge looking for the next holding. I started getting a little more picky about my photos. i did shoot 97 which isnt bad considering. I love anemone's, especially the crimson which I have many shots of on this dive. I have never got a whitespotted anemone before & have long searched for the elusive candy stripe shrimp. Guess what I found!? yeah baby! And then I found this wicked Nudi that I cant name but think it should be called the Christmas Light Nudibranch: Don't you think Red Irish Lords have some really cool eyeballs? So I got my groove back even though I hear Poseiden laughin at me & I'm thinking what this place needs is some wolfeels. The guy I met on my way in told me after the dive that he has been here at least 60 times & never seen a wolfie. Check out this juvinile specimen: He was all alone full out in the open too. I think maybe bewildered by the current. It was about 78 minutes into the dive now & it was as close to a slack as it ever came. Now since someone was anwering my prayers, I figured I'd ask for a grunt sculpin & I got it. Little booger was camera shy though. so feeling a little miffed I moved on & left her alone but I found her boyfriend & he wanted to be famous So, what did I learn today:
fmerkel was right, dieseldude was wrong.
Guy on the beach(paul I think) says swim out to point & look for kelp on surface, if you cant see it you are f#*#ed, climb on the rocks & get out(he thumbed the dive after I had dropped)
The whole 1hr before high slack at rosario current station dealio
Kelp visible on the surface.
Sometimes its a good thing when noone from the dive club shows up to dive with me!
Lastly, some sick, twisted part of me really enjoyed this dive, messed up though it was. Mr. merkel owes me a good dive for publicly proclaiming him all wise & allknowing(hint: better pick a good day or I'll have fun at your expense )
todays dive: 1:29 minutes
max depth 70'
avg depth 41'
bottom temp 48F
Making it back to the car alive: priceless
p.s. In case you didnt get it, I never got a reversal.
MJ
For those that don't know, this started with me looking for a buddy to dive skyline 5/21. fmerkel was kind enough to point out it wasnt a good day for it & a friendly discussion began on how to pick a "good time to dive" at skyline. I tenatively had an offer to do another dive that I hadnt been to so I dropped my plan in case he was right. This still left me hungry to answer the question. My alternate plans fell through so I elected to make myself a guinea pig & do skyline anyway just to see who knows their stuff about skyline. I should point out for the record, I have only one dive there previously & it sucked big nasty rotten eggs in terms of vis & current but I recognized the potential through all of that. So this is how my day went.....
I started about 7am rechecking the current predictions. My info was to be in the water & drop on the wall about 30minutes prior to slack. Nobody said slack where so I used this: I noted that the time had changed 30 minutes later than when I looked it up the 1st time. Made me a little nervous. I headed out early just in case, grabbed my egg McMuffin & med coffee with 2 cream & 2 splenda, & hit the freeway. Weather was overcast with a light breeze coming out of the east on arrival. The surface looked pretty calm & it looked like it would push me the direction I needed to go. The really cool part, there were other divers there. In fact 2 were in the water at the point already(more nervous) I asked the 2 on the street what their take was.
The info was be in the water 1hr before Rosario high slack. I'm dumb so I asked, "when is that this morning"
"Right now" was the answer. Oh Snap! I'm not even in my undergarment yet.
Fortunately I show at a sight with most of my gear cocked, locked, & ready to rock so I was dressed & in the water at 9:12am. I got a free ride down to the point. I seem to remember that the leaning tree was the drop point but then in the back of my head I was thinking I got that from Sunrise. Thats the downside of being a dive whore. After a while, all of your conquests start to blur together. I was later told that your 1st sign of trouble is a "free ride" to the point(at least a swift one).
I dropped at 9:21 in what had to be 1kt easy. No big deal. woo-hoo! ride me baby! Ride me like we goin somewhere!......& then it picked up a little more....still no biggy. got the camera out, attached to the light,set the white balance, set to macro, flash on auto....moving a little faster....faster...your kidding right....faster...air check...lots of air, bouyancy good,vis decent enought to adjust for incoming....dropping down some more...I'll shoot some quick video to show the cool ride I got..
this is point & shoot, unedited & it ends with me getting whipped upside down with bouyant boots. you remember that move they taught you when you 1st got your drysuit? This is the 1st time I ever got to use it & it wasnt my fault. Pay attention to the waving sea cuc's & note that I am holding the camera as still as I can & not kicking at all. fmerkel, take your best guess at current from this, I say 4kts as I rounded the point easy.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MxMiNq8M3Q[/youtube]
At this point I clipped off the divelight, clipped off the camera & regrouped. I was thinking this may be a survival dive rather than a photo shoot. I'm still moving as this is all going on & suddenly feeling a little bouyant. It looked like I was traveling straght but I had gone from 70' to 36' rather abruptly. I'm 20 minutes into the dive now. Air check ok, bouyancy back under control. I dropped down slowly & settled in the 50' range still riding the lightening. clock check tells me slack should be coming so I'm rationalizing this all out that I'm still ok.
I began to think about my situation & how to make the most of it. i was moving too fast for stills. I had to anchor somehow. I started finding hold points. Then a little voice in the back of my head said, "Move slow, thinks small" So my eyes concentrated on each area that I anchored myself in. This Sea cuc was a warmup shot. I love these things. Buffalo Sculpin & Red Irish Lords everywhere & they all look pregnant Of course there were Urchins-O-Plenty this shot reminded me of breakfast-Thats right ladies, some of us men still think about food, after scuba & sex of course appx 48 minutes into the dive I'm at my turnaround pressure & slack time has come & gone except there never was a slack. Now it's hand over 1st against the current & making a slow ascent as I go. i felt more like a rock climber leaping from ledge to ledge looking for the next holding. I started getting a little more picky about my photos. i did shoot 97 which isnt bad considering. I love anemone's, especially the crimson which I have many shots of on this dive. I have never got a whitespotted anemone before & have long searched for the elusive candy stripe shrimp. Guess what I found!? yeah baby! And then I found this wicked Nudi that I cant name but think it should be called the Christmas Light Nudibranch: Don't you think Red Irish Lords have some really cool eyeballs? So I got my groove back even though I hear Poseiden laughin at me & I'm thinking what this place needs is some wolfeels. The guy I met on my way in told me after the dive that he has been here at least 60 times & never seen a wolfie. Check out this juvinile specimen: He was all alone full out in the open too. I think maybe bewildered by the current. It was about 78 minutes into the dive now & it was as close to a slack as it ever came. Now since someone was anwering my prayers, I figured I'd ask for a grunt sculpin & I got it. Little booger was camera shy though. so feeling a little miffed I moved on & left her alone but I found her boyfriend & he wanted to be famous So, what did I learn today:
fmerkel was right, dieseldude was wrong.
Guy on the beach(paul I think) says swim out to point & look for kelp on surface, if you cant see it you are f#*#ed, climb on the rocks & get out(he thumbed the dive after I had dropped)
The whole 1hr before high slack at rosario current station dealio
Kelp visible on the surface.
Sometimes its a good thing when noone from the dive club shows up to dive with me!
Lastly, some sick, twisted part of me really enjoyed this dive, messed up though it was. Mr. merkel owes me a good dive for publicly proclaiming him all wise & allknowing(hint: better pick a good day or I'll have fun at your expense )
todays dive: 1:29 minutes
max depth 70'
avg depth 41'
bottom temp 48F
Making it back to the car alive: priceless
p.s. In case you didnt get it, I never got a reversal.
MJ