San Clemente Island
November 18, 2007
Day 2 of 2

As the sun started to rise over San Clemente Island's China Hat we were already
underway to our first dive site. 

The first and only dive site of the day was Twin Peaks. I opened the gates early today because it was our last day and wanted to get three dives in before we needed to head home.  As the first two diver came back to the boat they said they had seen a torpedo ray right under the boat not moving at all. Sure enough, the rest of the passengers had similar encounters and were amazed at how it could maintain it's position in the water column like it was hanging by a string without a movement from any part of its' body. The visibility was great again and I decided to stay here for the next dive.

This time they all seemed to return at the same time and couldn't stop saying how beautiful it was and they all wanted to do our last dive at the same site. The same torpedo ray was still hanging out and a school of yellowtail flew by a few of our divers. One diver returned to the boat and said he had been diving California for 40 years and this was the best day he had even had! Days like today are why Horizon Charters is working hard to keep our ocean clear and clean.

On they way back home we ran into the "Everlasting Gobstopper" of dolphin pods riding our bow wake for over an hour! Today pretty much explains why I love my job!

Till the next time.
Captain Spencer

San Clemente Island
November 17, 2007
Day 1 of 2

We left the dock Friday night as a beautiful fire works display was lighting up downtown San Diego. As is typical of fall weather, it was a smooth crossing over to San Clemente Island. We arrived at the south end of the island just as the sun started to peak over the horizon.

We started the diving festivities in Pyramid Cove at a site called Danny's Dive Inn. It was a little cloudy this morning so it was hard to get a good idea of water visibility was from my vantage point in the pilothouse. Once the divers started to arrive back they reported the visibility to be over 100 feet! They saw huge bat rays and schools of yellow tail out in the sand, lobster were everywhere and some people even found sneaky morey eels.

I moved the boat around to the east side of the island as the sun started to peak out through the clouds. As we pulled into Black Caverns I could see every shell on the bottom from the surface at 60 feet. The water was beautiful so I quickly anchored the boat and opened the gates. Just like the first dive everyone was in the pool within a few minutes. The reports were the same, with clear water and lots of fish. More bat rays were spotted cruising the water column and the cracks were full of lobster.

I was able to anchor up right next to a rock called Jesus rock. I gave everyone a site briefing and opened the gates. The passengers were eager to get out and explore the wall around the rock. Everyone came back saying the loved the wall and the rock that comes up to two feet below the surface. One of the passengers saw a rare giant black sea bass hiding in the kelp near shore.  Garibaldi were all over the rocks along with schools of kelp bass swimming through the kelp.

The night dive was was fantastic, just as the day dives had been. Lobster everywhere, the cracks in the rocks were packed with sleeping blacksmith, sheephead and kelp bass. Another great dive in clear water.

We'll be spending the night anchored up here in the Garage and look forward to what tomorrow will bring!

Till tomorrow
Captain Spencer

San Clemente Island
November 14, 2007
Day 4 of 6

After a smooth crossing we anchored up in the lee of Santa Barbara just before midnight last night.  The air and water was cooler than San Clemente, our meter registering a chilly 58 degrees on the surface.  In the deck lights I could see chain salps drifting through the water, their pale bodies looking like giant ghostly caterpillars.  The lights of the naval bases on San Clemente and San Nicholas Islands winked at us through the incredibly clear air and even the lights of the mainland twinkled in the distance nearly 30 miles away.  The constellation of Orion the Hunter rose in the east and only the hum of our generator and the yelps of the sea lions ashore broke the silence. 

For some reason I was reminded of a Peter Mathiessen's words scribbled in notebooks on a trek through the mountains of Tibet and later published in his book, The Snow
Leopard:

"Childhood is full of mystery and promise, and perhaps the life fear comes when all the mysteries are laid open, when what we thought we wanted is attained.  It is just at that moment of seeming fulfilment that we sense irrevocable betrayal, like a great wave rising silently behind us , and know most poignantly what Milarepa meant: 'All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow: acquisitions end in dispersion, buildings, in destruction; meetings, in separation; births, in death...'  Confronted by the uncouth spectre of old age, disease, and death, we are thrown back upon the present, on this moment, here, right now, for that is all there is.  And surely this is the paradise of children, that they are at rest in the present..."

Dawn was once again a mirror of the sunset the night before, the yellow orb climbing out of a glassy sea.  We looked at some of the outer reefs, hoping to dive with brittlestars, but the current was quite strong, so we set up near the eastern rookery.  Never have I seen so many sea lion pups so eager to play.  The kelp bed looked like a preschool playground with little tykes frolicking everywhere.  After we anchored up, nearly 30 of the little fellows peered curiously up at us only inches from our swimstep.  I jumped in for a quick swim and catching my breath on the surface, found myself nose to whisker with several of the inquisitive pups. 

We stayed all day with the tireless waterdogs.  One of our divers snapped a beautiful shot of a pup blowing bubbles next to her buddy each time they exhaled.  It was almost as if the pup was saying: "Look! I can blow bubbles too!"  Perhaps it is on our scuba dives that we, too, can be at rest in the present like the children and sea lions, enjoying the moment of the bubble-blowing pups or the sway of the amber kelp fronds in the late afternoon sunlight.

Tomorrow we'll return to San Clemente Island for the last few days of our trip.

Adios,

Captain Chris

San Clemente Island
November 13, 2007
Day 3 of 6

Dawn this morning was a mirror-image replay of the sunset last night--glassy
waters, orange red hues fading to the brilliant yellow orb.  

We returned to China Hat for some more kelp forest and wall dives along the outside edge of the reef.  Red gorgonians hung from the rocky reef that dropped into deep sand below. The clear water of fall makes this island an underwater visual feast!

In the afternoon we made a jump in at Inside Boiler for some photography in the kelp
forest and the garibaldi guarding their palm kelp covered pinnacle.  Rarely have I seen it so calm in Pyramid Cove.  Visibility was still excellent in the 40 to 60 foot range, and the surface temperature hovered around 63 degrees. 

During dinner we steamed along the flat waters in the lee of San Clemente on our
way North to Santa Barbara Island, home of the Sea Lion. We're expecting more great weather and hope that the sea lions are ready to play!

adios,

Captain Chris