San Clemente Island
August 31, 2007 Day 1 of 3

"Hydrocoral, barracuda and a lobster stampede"

We decided on our night of departure to head up to the far tip of San Clemente. We arrived at Northwest Harbor just as the sun peaked over our stern. The ride out had been a smooth as glass so everyone was wide awake to catch the sun rise over the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

For this dive adventures first site I chose a site called Purple Boilers on the far west end of the island. The water was clear and as I prepared to position Horizon on site, I could see far down the kelp stalks into the beautiful blue.

As the divers filtered back onboard reports of good conditions and fantastic encounters were the norm. The boilers are covered in purple hydro coral and the cracks are filled with lobster and green Morey eels. Everyone seemed to enjoy the dive so I decided to stay at that site for another dive.

After dive number two, I pulled anchor and moved east to a Sand Dollar. With a mild current, pelagic California barracuda and Pacific bonito cruised the edge of the kelp while bat rays hunkered down in the sand.

Everyone enjoyed the kelp dive so we went in search of more in Northwest Harbor. People came back with stories of schools of kelp bass and flying fish passing by them in the kelp. A few lucky ones even found an elusive octopus under a rock.

With favorable reports I decided to stay at Runway for the night dive. As the divers returned from the dark everyone commented on the fact that there were more lobster down on the reef then they could count. Also spotted was a horn shark creeping along the bottom looking for an easy meal.

Tomorrow we'll be on the east end in Pyramid Cove. Stay tuned for for adventure from the bridge of Horizon!

Till tomorrow,

Captain Spencer
 

San Clemente Island
August 25, 2007 Day 3 of 3

"Petter's Rock rocks, bottlenosed dolphin and blue whales!"

Aloha divers! Today was fantastic! Great diving in Pyramid Cove and an incredible show from the cetaceans on the way home.

We started this morning at Inside Boiler and just prior to opening the pool the current went from 0 to 60 mph. Scratch this dive site...next. So we scurried over to Pyramid Palisades for a quick dive and then spent our final two dives at Petter's Rock.

The Rock was suburb today, with one comment being, " This was my best dive ever!" Just about sums it up... Divemaster Jake and crewmember Jeff did a quick jump and came back beaming that it was "Incredible!".

The Rock is actually 3 rocks, with the largest coming up to the surface from 95 feet. A beautiful kelp forest surrounds the rocks on all sides with a plateau at 40 feet on the north side being home to hundreds of opaleye. Off in the blue you will quite often find clouds of baitfish on the up current side of the Rock with the larger pelagics just outside the baitfish cruising for a meal.

Today's visibility was 40 - 70 with the water temperature an unseasonably cool 66 degrees.

The ride back to San Diego was amazing with Pacific bottlenosed dolphin riding the bow wave of Horizon and performing spectacular belly flop jumps almost within arms reach but close enough to get the crowd wet!

We also happened upon two blue whales and got some great looks! The blues make there presence felt off of San Diego from June through November and are the greatest show on earth, bar none...

Adios,

Captain Greg

San Clemente Island
August 24, 2007 Day 2 of 3

"Butterflyfish and caverns."

We arrived early this morning after a slow cruise from Santa Barbara Island. We awoke to cool breezy conditions and a wicked current running to the west.

Our morning was spent tucked into Clemente's east end at Twin Peaks. Great diving along the wall, terraced steps and the myriad of small caves and crevices.  The ever present scythe marked butterflies gave a show and by late morning the sunlit shallows were beautiful. Definitely the best dive of the trip so far...

We just finished the night dive and everyone came back happy with stories of lobster, caverns, and good times. The water has been a bit cool today with temperature running in the upper 60's.

Until Tomorrom,

Captain Greg

Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands
August 23, 2004 Day 1 of 3

"Three dives at two islands."

We had a fine ride all the way to Catalina Island last night. An occasional bump gave us notice that we were still on the ocean, but for the most part we had some great sleeping weather.

The morning was spent at Big Geiger in Catalina's Isthmus. Pretty good conditions with vis in the 30 foot range and the water temperature at a balmy 72 degrees. The highlight of the dive was a huge school of sardines that filled the water column that engulfed a number of the divers in a circling mass of life!

Even with the good conditions and amazing encounters the power decision was made by the group leader to pull up stakes and head west to Santa Barbara Island during the lunch break. We arrived at 3:45 and by 4:30ish had everyone in the water frolicking with sea lions in the rookery. Great fun for most, unfortunately a couple buddy groups were only visited a couple times by these underwater acrobats. The rookery is a place that you go to for one reason, sea lions, and if the reason doesn't show up you are stuck with nothing much to look at as the terrain is flat and sandy.  We'll actually if you spent time in the sand you'd find sanddabs, halibut and turbots. Maybe a lost sea hare or two as well.

The water was a full 7 degrees cooler at SBI than at Catalina so after one dive the group opted for a relaxing dinner and a slow downhill cruise to San Clemente Island instead a night dive.

We're underway now and look forward to a full day in the kelp at San Clemente! Until tomorrow...

Adios,
Captain Greg

 

Last nights wind-o-thon continued into the morning. We had a steady 25 knot breeze humming through the antennas all night, which in turn cause the ocean to be just a bit surly this morning.

Luckily, the water was still good and our spearos had a good time drifting through Canal de Peck, between Isla Medio and Isla Este. The vis dropped a bit from yesterday but was still a respectable 80 feet with the surface temperature 68 degrees.

As I write we are enjoying a fantastic barbequed fresh fish dinner provided by Chef Mark. The phone just rang and my dinner is ready, gotta go!

Adios,
Captain Greg

We awoke this morning to an accurate weather forecast of 15 - 20 knots of wind and increasing sea. For once the report was correct, unfortunately. After two beautiful days at San Benito, I was hoping for another 4 days of nice. The upside being that we are still at San Benito, and everything else except for the wind was fantastic!

Not as many fish seen today by the spearos, even though we hit one of our favs. Still a great day of freediving as the water was crystal clear for most of the day with vis in the honest 100 foot range and 120 at our final dive site this afternoon.

I had a chance to hop in at 4:30 this afternoon and was in awe as I swam away from the boat. The sand, 60 feet away, resembled the blue bottom of a swimming pool as bat rays swam  in wide arcs over the sand channel in some sort of biological ballet. The bat rays, 4 feet across, looked tiny in the distance which gives you an idea of the water clarity.

As I made my way toward the deep, the plateau under me faded into the blue and I felt suspended as a large school of Pacific bonito approached. I dived down 25 feet, levelled off and enjoyed the show as the school, 200 strong, encircled me for what felt like hours. The polarized schools green and black striped backs, and perfectly counter-shaded undersides glistened in the afternoon twilight.

As I made my way up current , just off the edge of the shelf, I noticed white spots moving my way in the distance. I stopped kicking and as my eyes focused on the approaching creature I realized that the white spots were barnacles on the host shell of a green sea turtle! He or she slowly passed underneath me 70 feet down, either unaware of my presence or not caring as I did not pose a threat.

Now you can see why I don't care about a little wind. We're still having a blast!

Adios,
Captain Greg

Another amazing day at San Benito as the gods of wind and water have been kind to us. It's hard to explain, and really needs to be experienced to understand, but the water at San Benito, when it is clear, takes on a purple blue hue. The white sandy bottom takes on a turquoise hue, which when mixed in with the water color and a bit of brown kelp is absolutely manifique!

We started our dive day back in the Alley once again and found better conditions than yesterday with vis in the 90 foot range. Huge schools of yellowtail were seen with 100 - 200 fish schools being the rule, not the exception. This trip is primarily freedivers, but our crew made a couple dives today and came back with stories of hydorcoral and butterflyfish.

Our spearos enjoyed a good day in the water and by days end and 8 hours of water time later, were ready for a beer, dinner and bed. We have two more full days of diving before heading home on Thursday. As hard as these guys have been going at it, they will need a vacation after their vacation!

Adios,

Captain Greg