*Ahem* I DOVE!!!
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:39 am
The last time I was in the water was September 18th, 2010, at the Redondo club dive. I had problems with my sinuses, and was unable to get below 10fsw without feeling like a 2 1/2" deck screw was slowly boring into the left side of my forehead. I was nonplussed, to say the least. After 5 months of talking to my otolaryngologist, getting a CT scan, and doing steroid sinuses rinses, I decided "f@$% this! I'm going diving!" I called up my old buddy Sheri, and on Saturday, in 30 degree weather, with the snow blowing sideways, we dove Cove 3 (Cove 2 was full of students, so I opted for boring with visibility.)
Visibility was 10-15 feet at best, and if you've been in Cove 3, you know there ain't nothin' there. I saw 4 GIANT white-lined dironas, a bunch of sea stars and sunflower stars, some shrimp, and a lot of garbage, including tires, engine blocks, table-looking things, beer bottles, and energy drink cans. We navigated (by accident, I wasn't paying much attention) to the can buoy anchor and the rowboat, then back to the boundary line. I had little twinge in my frontal sinus at 18fsw, but it didn't grow into pain, and we followed the boundary line down to 50 feet when Sheri called the dive due to the fact that her suit seems to be more of a wetsuit than a drysuit.
Max depth: 53 fsw
Average depth: 28 fsw
Dive time: 32 minutes
All in all, a totally boring dive, and I couldn't be happier. I even shot a bag at our 20ft stop. (I suck, apparently-I wasn't very good to begin with, and as it turns out, it's a skill you have to practice.) I'm looking forward to the next dive, wherever that may be, with the caveat that I should probably dive with a large group so I don't bum anybody out if I have to bail once I hit 20 feet.
Visibility was 10-15 feet at best, and if you've been in Cove 3, you know there ain't nothin' there. I saw 4 GIANT white-lined dironas, a bunch of sea stars and sunflower stars, some shrimp, and a lot of garbage, including tires, engine blocks, table-looking things, beer bottles, and energy drink cans. We navigated (by accident, I wasn't paying much attention) to the can buoy anchor and the rowboat, then back to the boundary line. I had little twinge in my frontal sinus at 18fsw, but it didn't grow into pain, and we followed the boundary line down to 50 feet when Sheri called the dive due to the fact that her suit seems to be more of a wetsuit than a drysuit.
Max depth: 53 fsw
Average depth: 28 fsw
Dive time: 32 minutes
All in all, a totally boring dive, and I couldn't be happier. I even shot a bag at our 20ft stop. (I suck, apparently-I wasn't very good to begin with, and as it turns out, it's a skill you have to practice.) I'm looking forward to the next dive, wherever that may be, with the caveat that I should probably dive with a large group so I don't bum anybody out if I have to bail once I hit 20 feet.
