Today was the last minute Meet and Greet for Scubaboard which was really fun. I had a good time watching people set up and break down their gear and shoot the shit. The weather was beautiful and conditions over all were fair - meaning, what a beautiful day!

Dive Summary:

Date: Sunday June 12, 2010
Dive No: 26
Location: Monterey, Breakwater, The Barge
Conditions: Slight swell
Vis: 10-15
Temp:
Depth: 60 ft
Gear: My own - 7x7 wetsuit with hood, Tusa X-treme split fins, gloves, booties, watch.
Borrowed - Deep Sea Supply Singles Rig, Long Hose, Scubapro Regs, Uwatec Bottom Timer
Weight: BP 5, Cam Bands 1x2, Lead 3x3, Lead 2x2 = 17
Tank: HP 80
Starting PSI: 3600
Ending PSI: 100
Time in:
Time down:
Time up:
Time out:
Bottom Time:
Total Bottom Time:
Creatures: various fish, small lone jellyfish with a blue rim, lemon nudibranchs, crabs, sea lions in on the surface large and bull sea lion.
Dive Buddy: Don
Dive Group: Doug and Kristina

We followed the pier out to where the walkway ended and dropped down to sandy bottom at 60 ft, covered with little eels/worms and tiny flounder. We followed a line all the way to a floaty water bottle and then south a bit. I guess we got lost so we turned around and started from the floaty bottle straight out from the line and hit the end of the barge. Really, it was just a pile of long thick planks of wood all covered in starfish. I was having a good time peeping at the fish under the ledge and the humongous crab all camouflaged and craggy. Towards the end of the dive I had some difficulty venting my wing. I later discovered that since I was doing pretty good with trim, I wasn't actually lifting my shoulders enough to vent properly. I was also pulling the string on the dump valve towards the front (I think, anyway. My fingers were a bit numb at that point.) instead of towards the back and side.

After about 1500 psi we turned around the way we came, making our way up to the wall of the Breakwater and dove along it. Apparently, I swam off after hitting 700 psi, because I didn't read Don's hand signals well enough to stop at first. When I figured out what he was trying to tell me, we did safety stops at 30, while attempting to hover. I guess I was sinking down so Don flashed me his depth gauge and pointed at a strand of kelp so I could get my bearings. After that it was easier to watch how I was drifting. We did another stop at 20, then we tried doing a last stop at 10. When I looked at my pressure gauge, I realized I was really low on air and pointed at my SPG to my buddy. Immediately he twisted his hose around in an S and handed it to me. I took a breath from my own reg and then started breathing from his. Together we ascended to surface slowly. Kristina told us later that she joined in as third person buddy once she knew what was happening. I was so gratified that everyone in our group was so great at staying together although we did jostle each other some times or start floating on top of each other. Don was really good guiding me through each difficulty the whole time, and he probably deserves some payment for all the gear he lent me and the instruction he gave.

Dive No: 27
Location: Monterey, Breakwater, Metridium Fields
Conditions: Slight swell
Vis: 10-15
Temp: 49F
Depth: 45 ft
Gear: My own - 7x7 wetsuit with hood, Tusa X-treme split fins, gloves, booties, watch.
Borrowed - Deep Sea Supply Singles Rig, Long Hose, Scubapro Regs, Uwatec Bottom Timer
Weight: BP 5, Cam Bands 1x2, Lead 3x3 = 13
Tank: HP 80
Starting PSI: 3600
Ending PSI: 1600
Bottom Time:
Total Bottom Time:
Creatures: fried egg jelly (It's big and beautiful!), that crazy many legged starfish, metridium (giant cauliflower fields of snow), a tiny purple and gold shelled fluorescent orange snail chilling on a leaf (Calliostoma Annulatum), tiny baby fish swimming at the base of the kelp forest for cover, a burgundy fish with markings that allowed it to camouflage into the kelp "bushes". 
Dive Buddy: Don
Dive Group: Doug and Kristina, Ben and Ted

Second dive was much more controlled. My weight felt right and I was able to use my inflator more efficiently and stay in trim better, concentrate on conserving more air through breath control and generally feeling more relaxed. Don told me that if I feel like I need to scull or am lifting up, then tap the appropriate BC button. That seemed to really help. We started at about 30 odd feet and went down to about 50 ft.  Then we turned around following the big pipe, and I felt mostly stable and able to regulate my buoyancy. Don told me to try inflating and dumping the wing as I traveled, but I never did get around to it. Maybe a skill I will try next time. At the end of the pipe, we turned inland and towards the breakwater. However, we ended the dive doing SMB drills at about 11 feet of water nearer to the shore. This was tough, trying to stay motionless as the surf washed over us and the neutral buoyancy went out the window. As I started working hard to swim, I started breathing harder and floating up more and more. I had to really tell myself to calm down so I would stay down. Meanwhile, I was also trying to stay de-tangled from everyone's deployed line. I guess I also still had some air in my wing to let out but went up without relative mishap. I thiink I forgot to help my buddy hold his SMB to reroll, but I did retrieve his double bolt snap from the bottom while trying to stay neutral during the skills practice. We were trying to angle back towards the wall but we didn't quite make it and surfaced in the middle of some kelp. I did the kelp crawl which I actually think is fun and we were almost out of the tangleweeds when Kristina found a strand of dangling line. It belonged to Doug's SMB and apparently, the reel had gotten unclipped and fell to the seabed like an anchor. No problem! Don went freediving and Kristina helped to reel it in. Got to shore without further complications. In fact, surface swimming the second dive seemed easier to me and everyone seemed in good spirits at the end. Yay!

Summary:

Pre Dive - Need to review bookwork and videos. Need own gear already. Need some kind of depth gauge. Make personal checklist of stuff to bring (doh! forgot towel and rubberband for hair). Tarp.

Dive Stuff - Also, I think I need to review dive plans before the dive rather than while swimming, because I think I'm concentrating too much on kicking and not really listening to all the convos around. Soak the straps before donning.

Post Dive - Shower your gear before showering yourself. Log that stuff immediately.  Pick a skill to practice every dive day, and then do it. Ben's ingenious quick post dive washing solution - various size milk crates that go direct into a soaking water tub once you get home. After the rinse, leave it out to drain. Nice!

I really liked diving the long hose, BP/W setup in the ocean. The backplate was the smallest I've tried yet, and was really a great fit with the smaller tank. It was a little less stable side to side, but in a way, the rig just seemed more responsive. I loved not having to swim around in an air donut around my chest. The way the hoses were snapped and routed were clean and easy to reach. Getting used to the order of donning/doffing is still not totally automatic for me, but not a transition that should be too difficult. It was also easy to figure out where everyone else's important gear was stashed on their body. A definite plus!