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Catalina
Island It felt like a true summer day today with the sun bright and hot before breakfast as we anchored up at Ship Rock. The water temperature on the surface peaked at 69 degrees midday, though there was a chilly thermocline at 50 feet. Visibility was good at 50 to 60 feet and we made two dives at Ship Rock and two at Bird Rock. Some of the cooler denizens our divers encountered were the Giant Black Seabass, huge knobby sea stars, keyhole limpets, and barracuda. Tonight we'll make a stop in Avalon after a quick night dive at Torqua Springs. Then we're off to San Clemente Island for our last day before returning to San Diego. ciao, Captain Chris
Santa Barbara
Island The warm water and good visibility continues to grace the island of the Sea Lion. We jumped in at South East kelp for two beautiful dives in the kelp forest with the sea lions. As we anchored up I could see the bottom clearly below the boat at 40 feet. Temperature hovered right around 66 degrees on the surface. The sea lions cavorted with our divers, blowing bubbles, grinning and eyeing them curiously. We moved over to the three sisters then Sutil Island for a few more afternoon dives. Sea Lions were the staple each dive with a few bat rays and even an octopus seen by our bubble blowers as well. After the night dive we anchored up in the lee of the island and headed toward Catalina in the wee hours of the morning with Captain Spencer guiding us safely during the passage. We look forward to diving on the West end tomorrow. Adios, Captain Chris
Catalina
Island After a smooth ride from Santa Barbara Island, we anchored up for the night at Catalina, and while light was still grey from the low clouds hiding the sun, we tied off at Italian Gardens in search of the Giant Black Seabass. A few were spotted, however not in huge numbers, so we moved over to Torqua Springs to finish off the day, where we found at least one Black Seabass, or perhaps the same one had followed us from the last site. Schools of sardines swirled through the kelp below the boat. Barracuda and kelp bass occasionally darted after the wayward baitfish. Visibility was a hazy 30 to 40 feet and the water temperature a balmy 65 degrees on the surface. Tonight we'll be back out to the southern channel islands, wish you could join us! hasta entonces, Captain Chris
Santa Barbara
Island The water here at the island of the Sea Lion was beautiful today, showing at least 50 foot visibility in the better spots and the temperature was a balmy 64 degrees on the surface. The sea lions were out in full force to entertain our divers, and when those weren't blowing bubbles, there were the garibaldi and angel sharks to keep our bubble-blowers company. Tomorrow we'll take a peek at Italian Gardens on Catalina, hoping for some Giant Black Sea Bass. keep your fingers crossed,
Captain Chris
San Clemente
Island "Two days in paradise!" Captain Spencer led a group of kids to two days of fantastic California diving at San Clemente Island. He forgot to send in a log, but everyone told me that they had a fantastic time. Day one was spent in Pyramid Cove on the east end while the second day he moved up to the west end in Northwest Harbor to avoid military activity on the east end and had good conditions with vis in the 30 foot range. Catch Captain Chris' log's from Santa Barbara Island on our next voyage out!
San Clemente
Island The cove was glassy and the sun appeared among scattered clouds as we anchored up for the morning. The visibility ranged from 15-30 feet in the 62-degree water and our free-divers found a few yellowtail and white-seabass. We re-located mid-morning to another location where the spearfishing was still a little slow, still some of our people saw some whites and brought one yellow, one white and a halibut onboard. A few unusually large lobster for San Clemente were seen by our scuba divers, and during my morning dive I happened to run across a large striped bass. I know that they spend a good portion of there lives in the ocean, but this is the first I've ever seen and as far as I know, there has never been a sighting from any of our divers in 30 years of diving the Channel Islands. All too soon it was time to round everyone up and return to San Diego. We'll be right back out tonight for SeaCamp San Diego's trip to the Southern Channel Islands. Until then, Captain Chris
San Clemente
Island Of all the forms of fishing in the world, freedive spearfishing is the purest and most environmentally sensitive. You may notice that we offer a number of these departures, and may find the descriptions in the Captain's Logs from our freedive expeditions to be offensive or undesirable. For this we appologize, but take heed when I say that this form of fishing is the most environmentally sensitive you will find and the individuals that frequent these departures share a common bond with all other ocean enthusiasts, a shared concern for the well being of the ocean. The risks that freedivers take when slipping into the blue is no different than taking a walk on the Kalahari or hiking through Denali. When taking on these endeavours you place yourself into the food chain and accept these risks knowingly. We have the honor of hosting some of the world's most gifted water athletes on an annual basis on our freediving expeditions. Not all of them are equipped with spearguns, as a major movement in the sport of freediving, just as in SCUBA, is to carry a camera instead of a speargun. You will find that some of the most visually stunning and beautiful ocean footage has been captured by freedivers. In the upcoming years you will find departures on our calendar that are listed as freediving only - No Hunting. If you have interest in these departures, please let us know, we'll place you on our mailing list. And now for the Captain's Log from Horizon.... Another grey morning met us at the North end of San Clemente, the amber kelp beds beckoning our freedivers and divers from the slate-colored water. Our first stop proved productive for Sea Sniper Chris Chaput with a pair of fine 10 and 28 pound halibut, however the white seabass proved elusive. Visibility was reduced to 15 feet in places from the cold deeper currents and surge in the shallows. After a slow early afternoon dive, we pulled our hook and headed for the southern end, where warmer and clearer waters met our divers (63 degrees and 20-25 foot vis, but the white seabass continued to prove elusive. We'll start out here first thing tomorrow morning for hopefully better luck in Pyramid Cove. adios, Captain Chris
San Clemente
Island "Cortes Bank...so close but not quite." As we motored out towards Cortes Bank I was surprised at the smoothness of the ride for the first four hours, however the last two had us all rolling and bouncing around our bunks until we we made the turn toward calmer waters of San Clemente Island. Our first site provided plenty of stories of the elusive white seabass and a few nice fish up to 30 pounds. Yellowtail were sighted as well breezing by the kelp and even shallow towards the beach. Several solid yellows shouldered their way along the outside edge of the kelp beds, but none found their way on board until the afternoon. Visibility ranged from 15 to 25 feet and the water was 61-63 degrees on the surface with two thermoclines down into the 50s below forty feet. We made a short move and kept bringing in some fine whites until the sun drooped low over the horizon and it was time to come back aboard have some cold drinks and tell stories about the elusive silver ghost. Five freedivers celebrated their first, and some even their second white seabass today. Congratulations! Tomorrow we'll slip into the water again first thing in the morning. hasta entonces,
Captain Chris
San Clemente
Island It was a clear dawn this morning with a few low clouds stretching across the sky as we churned over to the Eastern side of Pyramid Cove start our day diving the "Arch. Conditions topside looked good, mild current, decent visibility, however down deep was a different story with a strong current laying the kelp over and reduced visibility, making the Arch an eerie dark passage way. We moved to the end of the island and finished in the more pleasant kelp beds of China Hat. 20-30 foot vis and 61 degree water met our divers there. Abalone, opal eye, garibaldi, lobster and even a harbor seal were the denizens spotted at this site. As we pulled our anchors for the last time this trip, the weather was at its best, a mild breeze and warm sunshine tempting us to stay just a little bit longer, but we had to return to San Diego. We'll be right back out on a trip tomorrow night to Cortez Bank--we'll keep you posted. Adios, Captain Chris
San Clemente
Island We arrived on the North end of San Clemente Island on glassy waters and grey skies. Conditions were excellent for diving the Coral Garden on SCI's exposed west end. We anchored up over the site and made two dives. The purple hydrocoral and abundant life were popular so we made our second dive here as well. The shallowest you'll find on this coral encrusted reef is 42 feet. Huge boulders make up the site and every crevice is chocked full of lobster, hydrocoral, cleaner shrimp, eels, gobies, nudibranchs...I could go on for another page or so. You'll just have to come out with us to check it out! The visibility was a respectable 30 feet and there was a thermocline at 20 feet. Below the half moons and blacksmith, the male garibaldi guarded their nests of red algae and the palm kelp swayed in the gentle surge. After lunch we moved closer to the island and jumped in at "Purple Boilers". A thick healthy kelp forest surrounds this reef which makes it's way up from 75 to to the surface. The sites name is derived from the purple hydrocoral that decorates the place. Bat rays, lobster, moray eels and even a torpedo ray were seen by our divers. We finished off the day in the calm lee of the island at "Sand Dollar" and then after conversation with the Navy, found that we needed to move south for the night dive to avoid a training exercise that was about to commence. Tomorrow we'll get in a couple dive dives before its time to head home. Adios, Captain Chris
Santa Barbara
Island
After a moderately bumpy ride out from San
Diego we arrived to a grey morning at the The first dive at the Arch on the weather side of the Island saw some strong current, and 30 feet of visibility. Cabezon laid on the rocky reef while half moons, blacksmith and sardines finned against the flow. After one dive we moved to the Eastern Rookery for some good old fashioned diving with Sea Lions. The little juveniles were abundant and playful. Always a crowd pleaser! The current had subsided a little so we moved over to South East Kelp in the afternoon where the water was surprisingly blue at almost 40 feet of visibility, and the kelp stipes stretched clearly up to the surface. Kelp diving in clear water has the effect of flying through a redwood forest! In the evening we dove on the West side of Sutil Island among the kelp, crevices and huge boulders. Lobsters, scorpionfish and sea urchins were on the prowl. Yes, I said sea urchins. Check them out at night, they are moving a 1000 mph...well for a sea urchin it's a 1000mph. Anyhow, give em a look. Tomorrow we're off to the Northern end of San Clemente Island, we're excited to dive the area that is often closed due to naval exercises. adios, Captain Chris
Rocas Alijos The past two days have been one of our smoothest rides north in quite a while... we took the offshore route, looking for warm water and untouched fishing grounds as our spearos wanted to do a bit of fishing on the way home instead of making our scheduled stop at Isla San Benito. We'll arrive at 6:00am back into to our port of San Diego. The water was gorgeous on the first day running up-hill. It was a deep purplish blue that made you just want to go for a swim. We even saw a few sea turtles and a large mola mola on one floating kelp mat. Spirits are high after a successful run to Alijos Rocks aboard the Horizon. This trip will mark the start of many amazing voyages to this incredible offshore seamount! In 2008 look for Rocas Alijos and the Socorros to ride prominently on our schedule. Tonight we depart for three days of diving the southern Channel Islands. It's been a couple weeks since our last dive at San Clemente Island and we're excited to get back. Adios, Captain Chris
Rocas Alijos After a better nights sleep outside the Rocks, we pulled up to the southern ridge and anchored next to a series of boilers. The water was still a deep indigo blue with the shallows glowing an emerald green. Swell from the south and west rose against each other in crests over the shallowest rocks. The freedivers saw some nice yellows and tuna, and brought aboard some fine twenty-pounders, but the really big ones stayed just out of reach. One of our divemasters jumped in for a jaunt on scuba under the boat and the terrain was spectacular, with caves, craters, walls, and swim-throughs extending along the ridge from 60 to 100 feet. In the afternoon we set our anchor back on the north side for some more yellowtail and a few tuna sightings. As the sun dropped towards the west we pulled our skiffs for the last time this trip, wishing we didn't have to leave these beautiful waters. We can't wait until our next trip to Alijos Rocks... We'll be steaming north for the next two days, the weather is beautiful on a flat calm ocean. Check in tomorrow for more reports from the bridge! hasta manana, Captain Chris Rocas Alijos After a bit of a bumpy night, we drove outside to the north for the morning dive. The offshore swell had nearly doubled and the Rocks were wreathed in whitewater. We started our day on an outlying pinnacle off the north side of the Rocks this morning, where the blue and yellow Socorro chubs slurped plankton from the surface above the shallowest portion of the reef. The Socorro chub is an interesting fish in which 1 out of every ten fish is colored bright yellow, in contrast to its blue brethren. The pinnacle turned out to be a spectacular dive and free-dive, the volcanic plug rising from over 250 feet to a shallow spire only 20 feet across dropping to a 60 foot diameter ledge, then plunging further down, the sides adorned with sea fans and swirling with hogfish, triggers, and fusiliers. Large yellowtail were spotted patroling the pinnacle in search of a meal. In the afternoon we pulled back to the rocks, anchoring on the northern plateau. A number of tuna schools breezed by our divers and one found its way on board the Horizon. The water was still a gorgeous blue with visibility in the 100 foot range, and temperature stayed constant at 65.5 degrees. At sunset we trolled south to the outlying banks to catch some bait for a little fishing on the ride back home. Small humbolt squid rose to our lights with the pacific mackerel. We look forward to one more day of diving tomorrow at this amazing place. hasta luego, Captain Chris
Rocas Alijos
The sun rose between the rocks off our
starboard side this morning, black monoliths framing the red
orb. First one green sea turtle came gliding by the rocky outcropping below me, then another, then another. Small yellowtail waggled up from the depths, their chins white against the blue below. The reef below jutted from 100 feet to fifty feet below me, pencil urchins wedged in the cracks and small grouper guarding the deeper crevices. After sighting one large yellowfin in the distance, I crossed behind the boat into the shallows, massive boulders 20 to 30 feet across strewn along the bottom in the 40 foot depth range. Everything was so clear at these depths, I felt as if I were in an aquarium. Schools of pargo swirled amongst the smaller boulders. I found another green sea turtle, this one seemingly sleeping with its head wedged under a boulder. I tapped its hind flipper with my own to see if it was ok, and its head came out to look at me, sure enough, just taking a nap. I kicked beyond the shallows to the north east side of the rock, where the bottom became hazy as it passed 100 feet. I glanced to my right and behind me, catching some movement. A school of tuna all appearing silver-blue in the distance were passing by my left side, so I dropped down and kicked parallel to their course, three bending around me, the rest of the school passing by and veering to my left. Dark above and silvery below, they seem like such magical, powerful fish, speeding through the water effortlessly, their backs looked like a fine black velvet... A number of other tuna schools were sighted off the eastern side of the rocks so we anchored over there for the afternoon. Some nice yellowtail were captured this afternoon while a number of divers took some well deserved rest after many hours of hard free-diving. At night we feasted on yellowtail poke and seared yellowfin tuna. The weather forecast looks a little bumpier for the next several days, with the wind and swell building, but hopefully not too rough for us to get a couple more days in the water at this magical place! Hasta Manana, Captain Chris
Arrival to
Rocas Alijos At 15 miles out, Rocas Alijos (Alijos Rocks) appeared like a single dark ship on the horizon to the south of us. The water had warmed to a balmy 65 degrees and turned a beautiful deep indigo blue, the kind of water color that just makes you itch to put mask and fins on and get off the boat! We anchored up on a 90 foot pinnacle and dropped our skiffs. The vis reports were 100 feet and lots of ribbon-like ctenophores. During this dive and the next our freediving spearos saw and capture a number of large pelagics, yellowtail (jack family) and yellowfin tuna to be exact. Our goal on this departure is to target only pelagic species at Alijos. No reef fish. I jumped in the water for a little bit in the late afternoon and found tiny mackerel hovering over deep pinnacles, large yellows patrolling the structure, and schools of yellowfin breezing by on the outside edge. It is a truly magical place here underwater! In the evening, red-tailed triggerfish flipped their tails behind the boat, picking up scraps from the fish we cleaned for dinner. We'll spend the evening here in the middle of nowhere, 150 miles from shore next to Rocas Alijos. Really can't think of a better place to be right now! Adios, Captain Chris
The kelp laid in amber strands across the slate grey water as the sun rose behind the East Island. The commercial fishing boats at anchor next to us were tuna pen tenders with their pens folded together on tethers trailing from their stern. Tuna pens, thought to be a solution, but as proved with farmed salmon, now becoming a problem. We weighed anchor and drove to the pinnacles where a solid current pushed from east to west. The anglers from the boat capture a few white fish and calicos for Mark's delicious ceviche, however no yellowtail were spotted so we pulled our divers, buoys and anchor and started out early for Rocas Alijos. With a little extra time we trolled and fished kelp paddies with good luck for a few nice yellows and a couple yellowfin tuna before dark. The water was a deep indigo blue and inviting in the late afternoon. Water temps ranged from 58 degrees at Benitos to 63 degrees one hundred miles out. We have good reports for the weather south of here and look forward to getting in the water at the Rocas Alijos tomorrow. Adios, Captain Chris
Dawn crept up grey and breezy with cooler, greener water than the night before, we trolled by a few kelp paddies looking for a yellowtail or tuna for dinner but found no one home. We arrived at Islas San Benito shortly after lunch and anchored on the east side of Yellowtail Alley on the upcurrent edge. The scythe marked butterfly fish and purple hydrocoral were beautiful among the waiving palm kelp. Our freedivers spent the afternoon in the water but the yellowtail and white seabass didn't come out to play. We'll spend the night here and try the other side of the island in the morning, hopefully with more success. Still its good to be back at these three little islands and their relatively untouched kelp forests. Hasta Manana, Captain Chris
Enroute
to Baja's Islas San Benito The Pacific was calm and blue on the south side of the Islas Coronados as we churned our way southwards in our first leg of an epic trip almost five hundred miles south of San Diego. Our group of twelve divers are as excited as kids at DisneyLand as the anticipation of our first ever expedition to Rocas Alijos is coming to fruition. Several blue whales surfaced next to us, common dolphins frolicked under the bow wave and a pod of risso's dolphins appeared off our port bow. It was a good start to our trip watching the sun set slowly off our beam. Until Tomorrow, Captain Chris
Santa
Barbara Island "Sea lions and the bumpy ride..." A lumpy ride out to Santa Barbara left us a little groggy this morning as we approached the dark silhouette of the island outlined in a gray marine layer. We were happy to be approaching calm water as the 105 mile overnight ride had been a bit challenging. We stayed in the shelter of the island from a mix of south and westerly swells, enjoying the company of bright-brown eyed sea lions, garibaldi, and shovelnose guitarfish. Water temperature ranged from 58 to 59 degrees and the vis was a hazy 25 to 30 feet. The divers successfully completed some navigation dives and many made their first night dive this evening--congratulations! We're off to San Clemente Island for a few more dives tomorrow and are hoping for better conditions. hasta entonces, Captain Chris
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