July 31, 2006 San Clemente Island, Day 1 of 2 with SeaCamp

Dawn was grey, cool and windy this morning, the blades of kelp flipping over in the wind while the south swell pounded the beaches in Pyramid Cove. After admiring the waves rolling over some of our favorite dive spots, we turned the corner onto the lee side and started our dive day at Fish Hook Cove.

The wind remained blustery throughout the day and evening while our campers dove and snorkeled around the cove. Bat rays, garibaldi, kelp bass, sheephead, and octopi met our divers and snorkelers. The visibility ranged from 40 to 60 feet and the water temp was a balmy 74 degrees!

In the evening we snorkeled the same spot and our squid lights brought up all kinds of cool creatures--schooling tube snouts, baby loligos (market squid), a big glass squid--so clear you only saw its very outline, its eyes and ink sac. The flying fish also came to the lights and with them the voracious sea lions. Quite a show...

Well, after pulling anchors, we're on our way to the Coronado Islands where visibility has been good and there will be no bombs falling, since the last word was the big guns were headed to San Clemente. We'll see more sea lions and kelp flies than explosions, but that's a good thing.

hasta manana,

Captain Chris

July 30, 2007 San Clemente Island, Day 3 of 3 with Elk Grove Dive Center

The sun rose behind a grey curtain as a mild south swell rolled into Pyramid Cove. The water looked a little greener in the Cove than a few days before, perhaps from the surge of the building swell.

Since we were here to dive instead of surf, we pulled around the corner to the lee side of the island and set up at a spot we call Window Pane. A breathtaking wall on one side and shallow kelp forest on the other make it an ideal dive site for people of all tastes. Blacksmith and halfmoon hovered suspended in the water column while garibaldi, kelp bass, lobster and hundreds of gobies roamed the reef.

After a couple of morning dives we were off to San Diego! It has been a true pleasure having Elk Grove's people on board the good ship Horizon. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year...

ciao,

Captain Chris

July 29, 2006 San Clemente Island, Day 2 of 3 with Elk Grove Dive Center

The cool cloud cover and breeze on the Northern end of San Clemente was a good respite after yesterdays muggy weather on the southern end.

The thick kelp, beds of hydrocoral and some donkey-sized sheephead met our divers on the first site of Purple Boilers. Octopus and morays leered from the cracks in the kelp covered reef while bat rays slid by in the current on the outside. The Boilers get their name from the purple hydrocoral that covers the wall of this beautiful pinnacle.

After the first dive the current seemed to follow us everywhere. First at Runway Kelp, as soon as divers suited up, the kelp laid down. Fortunately it was relatively calm on the bottom. As we left to look for a fourth site of the day, the current died and the kelp all came up. Murphy didn't stop there, either. So we set up on Sand Dollar, kelp up, looks good. Once again the current came up, making our last day dive a good work out. I jumped in for a bit and the swirling macrocystis was beautiful, however I could see the fish, like me were having to work to stay upstream, though not as hard since they were lucky enough to be born with fins.

We moved back to Runway for the night dive where there was finally no current. One thing there was lots of were lobsters, all over the rocky reef. Once everyone was back we returned to the south end for the night, and to be ready for a short morning of diving before we returned home...

hasta entonces,

Captain Chris

July 28, 2006 San Clemente Island, Day 1 of 3 with Elk Grove Dive Center

Scarcely did it feel like the boat was moving last night the ride out was so smooth. The sun came up orange and fiery over an oil slick ocean as we dropped our skiff and anchors in the water.

We began at Arrowhead, then worked our way down to Little Flower, Calico Cliffs and finished at Calico Cove. The water temperature on the surface was a toasty 73 to 74 degrees with a thermocline first at 60 feet, then up to 15 feet. Water visibility ranged from 40 to 60 feet with the water seemingly clearest at the Flower.

As we pulled up over the sand flats, the water glowed a tropical turquoise blue. As the day progressed the current picked up bit and stirred up some plankton, but for the most part, the water was gorgeous. Lobster munched on sea cucumbers mercilessly in broad daylight, and numerous octopi were seen on the prowl. The latest crop of juvenile fish have sprung up here and there, tiny toothpick sized senoritas darting in the shallows, along with yellow-tailed juvenile blacksmith.

And we can't forget the blue whales passing a few hundred yards off our bow as we suited up to dive...

until tomorrow,

Captain Chris