September 20 & 21, 2006 Guadalupe Island Shark Adventure,
Days 3 and 4 of 5 with San Diego Shark Diving

These two days were active with plenty of action on the 20th and a bit slower on the 21st. Captain Chris was not able to supply us with an up to date log as he had a hard time finding time to sit in front of the computer on this trip.

We've offered to supply him with an additional 3 hours in the day so that he can complete and submit his reports on a daily basis as we understand that so many of you live vicariously through these pages.

Now if we can only get Mother Nature to slow the earths rotation down to supply those additional three hours that we promised...

September 19, 2006 Guadalupe Island Shark Adventure,
Day 2 of 5 with San Diego Shark Diving

After a smooth ride down from San Diego, the Northern Bay of Guadalupe Island waited for us with calm, glassy blue water.

We dropped in our cages just after breakfast and our first shark arrived within the hour. A truly quality day of shark diving with up to 3 different sharks, a full breach next to the boat, and even a manta ray passed by the cages!

We look forward to more good white shark diving tomorrow!

adios,

Captain Chris

September 15, 2006 Guadalupe Island Shark Adventure,
Day 4 of 5 with San Diego Shark Diving

The morning began with an ominous breeze and clouds rolling off the north end of the island, but that passed by midday and it was a nice clear day with up to 74 degree water and still 90' of visibility.

Our first shark, Scar, came around at 7:25 with a few deep passes and surface passes before he left. Then it wasn't until around noon that we had any action, but it was good action with another ole' regular named Buckethead.

All in all we saw three different white sharks, one small mako shark, a crazy sea lion, and a few sea turtles during the day. To top it off after we had retrieved our cages at the end of the day and were seating for dinner some humbolt squid came to the surface very close to the boat ranging in size from about 1-1.5 feet in length. This is a daytime sight that I have not seen before here at Guadalupe. It was like a Discovery Channel show with the squid being chased by yellowfin tuna. There is always something new and exciting to see here at Guadalupe island!

As I write we are securing 'Horizon' for our trek home. We'll be back out again in a couple days so stay tuned for more exciting adventures from the wild blue!

Adios,
Capt. Gary

September 14, 2006 Guadalupe Island Shark Adventure,
Day 3 of 5 with San Diego Shark Diving

The day began with a beautiful sunrise and the guest of honor showed up early at 7:10am. Though brief was his appearance, we were excited for another grand day of sharkin'. Little did we know that it would be four hours later for the main attraction to reappear.

The passes were deep but our lunch kept us happy until Scar came back at 1:55 and stayed until the day ended at 5:00. Scar was a very hospitable host treating us to a show on the surface and below. The weather was glorious at again 90' of visibility and 72 degree water temperature, light winds and lots of sunshine.

One more day at Isla Guadalupe and we will be heading back for San Diego.

Until tomorrow.
Capt. Gary

September 13, 2006 Guadalupe Island Shark Adventure,
Day 2 of 5 with San Diego Shark Diving

The second day of our great white shark trip began with Isla Guadalupe emerging from the marine layer that covered it from view. The island typically emerges from the haze when we are around 15 or so miles from it, an eerie yet beautiful sight.

Today's sharking locale was at "Monkeyface". The conditions were good with 71 degree clear 90' visibility water. Our first guest came in at 10:30 then it left and we did not see another until 11:30. From 11:30 until the end of the day the action was consistent with brief lulls here and there, but no major dry spells. There were four different sharks in all, notable were "Scar" and "Thor" a couple of 12' males that we have seen throughout the years.

It was a grand start and we are looking forward to our next two days here at the island before we take that journey home.

Aloha,
Capt. Gary

September 9, 2006 Guadalupe Island Shark Adventure,
Day 4 of 5 with San Diego Shark Diving

Dawn came a little grey this morning, not the brilliant sunrises we long for here at the 'Lupe' as some like to call her.

Water was gorgeous 100 foot vis, low seventy degree water, and two sharks showed up mid-morning. They stayed low and circled, making a few passes, but nothing like yesterday. Scar showed up at noon, however by then our group had decided with enough quality shark time in, they'd prefer to return a little early the following day, so we were off.

After a brief shore tour to take a closer look at the elephant and guadalupe fur seals, we rounded the point and plotted a course back to San Diego...

ciao,

Captain Chris

September 8, 2006 Guadalupe Island Shark Adventure,
Day 3 of 5 with San Diego Shark Diving

We moved down the island a few hundred yards into an area with a little less beach in the hopes of avoiding the afternoon mung layer caused by the tidal change and light currents. It paid off with 100 foot visibility all day in the 72 to 75 degree water.

We had up to three different sharks approach the boat, with the star of the show being our old friend Scar. As the full moon rose we celebrated Andrey Novak's birthday.

One more day of sharkin' tomorrow, hopefully just as good!

hasta luego,

Captain Chris

September 7, 2006 Guadalupe Island Shark Adventure,
Day 2 of 5 with San Diego Shark Diving

Conditions were surprisingly calm as we approached the north end of Guadalupe. Typically this massive volcanic island creates its own weather, the wind accelerating around the tips and over the ridges of the island, but not today. Mostly shrouded in low clouds, the north end seemed sleepy, only a portion of its igneous scarred cliffs peeking out before us.

The shark diving was decent, with the first Carcharodon Carcharis spotted merely an hour into our dive rotations. Three different sharks appeared during the morning and afternoon. Jessie 'shark chick' Harper recognized one as our old fiesty friend Scar.

In the afternoon the visibility dropped from the 100 foot mark due to big tidal and current changes, though the water temp held steady at a balmy 73 degrees. We'll move the boat a little ways down the island tomorrow to avoid some of the mung layer.

until then,

Capain Chris

September 6, 2006 Guadalupe Island Shark Adventure,
Day 1 of 5 en route to Guadalupe Island with San Diego Shark Diving

From the wheelhouse the engines drone on, and I feel their humming in my feet through the deck. The rushing water outside the door is almost louder, pulsing as we push through the waves. Its late, or early and I have to think to figure out what day of the week it is. Its about two in the morning and I wonder about back home in San Diego. Today is Thursday, and its beautiful. The low clouds hide the nearly full moon except for a few patches where it shines silvery on the water's surface and the rest is a dark dark blue, almost black.

We are three-quarters of the way to Guadalupe, only a few more hours until the island rises out of the sea before us. Out here the air is sweet and thick, though not strong like when its crashing on the rocks and you can smell it clearly before you even see it. The water is 71 degrees according to my gauge, and the air feels a little cooler.

We hope for good luck with the shark cage diving tomorrow...

ciao,

Captain Chris

September 3, 2006, San Clemente Island
Day 3 of 3 with El Mar Dive Center

Dawn was clear and windy this morning, a warm offshore breeze from the island smelling of earth and sagebrush. Sometimes the smell of land is sweet after you've been to sea for a long time. We'll be back to the land of concrete and cars soon enough.

We pulled our anchor and churned down the island to the Southeastern tip and dropped our pick at China Hat where we found some shelter from fickle early breezes. The visibility was 50 to 60 feet and the water temperature was 69 degrees. The weeks of balmy waters has taken its toll on the kelp, the normally thick canopy at the Hat seemed sparse. Still the topography was a big hit, the wall dropping from 40 to over 100 feet, gorgonians reaching out into the blue for plankton. A thick school of opal eye finned on the edge of the plateau. Back up in the shallows garibaldi guarded their nests and abalone munched on morsels of kelp. We spent one more dive there before pulling our hooks and motoring home.

We're off tonight again for a one day dive extravaganza tomorrow with Ocean Enterprises...wish you could be there!

adios,

Captain Chris

September 2, 2006, San Clemente Island
Day 2 of 3 with El Mar Dive Center

A much less exciting day dawned for us this morning, and that is just fine... We set up during a clear and calm morning at the eastern side of the Palisades for some very cool kelp diving. A school of sardines so thick you couldn't see through them stretched from the bottom of the boat to the 50 feet of sand below the kelp forest's edge. Even the depth sounder couldn't push through their tightly packed silvery bodies, reading only ten feet of depth. We moved over to Tiger's Bend in the late morning for another solid dive, then the wind showed up, first in a choppy swell, then later as whitecaps lashing out down the island. We took a peek around the corner at fish hook, and though the water looked that delicious blue, the windchop was too much for the site.

Back around the southeastern tip of the island we found some good diving at Target Point. Visibility was still in the 50 foot range. Bat rays rested in the sand channels and winged their way through the kelp. On the sea floor some remnants of ordinance lay scattered, Interesting to see, but not for touching. We hopped over to the point off the garage for an afternoon and night dive. There were lobsters on top of lobsters, parchment tubeworms extending their tentacles out from drab shelters, gorgonians of all different colors and tiny spanish shawl nudibranchs.

We'll start of first thing again tomorrow morning..

Captain Chris

September 1, 2006, San Clemente Island
Day 1of 3 with El Mar Dive Center

Well, today will definitely be remembered. It started out gorgeous on the lee side where we set-up at Black Caverns for a couple of dives. The visibility was excellent at 50 to 60 feet, people enjoyed the wall, the cave and even saw a huge school of yellowtail hunting baitfish on the outside edge of the kelp. The wind picked up drastically, white caps spreading down the island like a little army of white marching foam, making our stay there short.

We churned around the corner to Pyramid Cove and the current had cleaned up the water to an inviting blue on the west end of Green Acres so we dropped our picks and continued diving. The current strengthened further offshore and held the kelp down on the outside edge of the reef, especially in the area usually marking the Inside Boiler.

A few hours later a two masted sailboat motoring up the island seemed a little close to the reef. In the late afternoon with the kelp down and the sun in their eyes it must have been difficult to see. The next moment I looked in their direction the boat was canted to one side right next to the boiler. Our last diver had just returned so we sent our skiff out with a couple crewmembers to aid the sailboat crew. Fortunately the boat's captain had acted quickly, focusing on the safety of his crew, and everyone donned lifejackets. When our crew arrived the seven souls had packed onto their skiff and into the boat's liferaft. Within the next few minutes the boat had disappeared below the blue waters of Pyramid Cove. We brought the crew onboard, made sure they were ok and the Coast Guard Chopper circling overhead offered to fly them home from the beach. By the time we secured all the odds and ends from the sailboat and moved our own vessel out of the growing fuel slick, it was too late for a night dive, so we anchored up for the night.

We're glad the crew of the sailboat was unharmed and I'd like to thank all the Horizon crew's hard work in assisting them on deck. A big "good game" to my co Captain, Spencer Salmon, and Michael Masi for their safe beach landings, Ricardo Leal and Kirsten Burke for crewing the skiff on scene at the boat's demise, and our chef Cory Grodske, and his assistant Shea Larson for ensuring there was plenty of dinner and drinks for our new temporary passengers.

We hope tomorrow is another good day, yet a little less exciting...

ciao,

Captain Chris