Darn that channel ride. There were 6-8 ft swells on the way over so I got kind of sick on the way to Catalina and ended up skipping my first dive. My buddy was sick too so she ended up skipping the first two. Getting re-buddied up and sorting out weighting was confusing, but underwater conditions were nice and calm near the island. Jenna Nichols was on the boat with Reef Check surveys and ID photos of various fish and plants. I went over them quickly and the info made the dives much more fun.

Dive No: 28
Location: Catalina
Conditions: 6-8 ft swell
Vis: 25-30
Surface Temp: 68
Temp:
Depth: 60 ft
Gear: My own - 7x7 wetsuit with hood, Tusa X-treme split fins, gloves, booties, watch.
Rented from Sports Chalet in Arcadia - BC, Regulator
Weight: Lead 3x3, tank strap 2 = 8
Tank: LP 80
Starting PSI: 3000
Ending PSI:
Bottom Time:
Total Bottom Time:
Creatures:
Dive Buddy: Sasha and Matt, Brona and Yvette, Robert and ???
Dive Group:
Sasha an I both had a hard time getting down with only 6 lbs of weight so the group Matt, Brona, ??? went off first and Sasha and I followed. Sasha apparently went down line, lost them, and went back to the boat, but I didn't know that. I swam out to the bubbles and dropped in. I saw four people when I got to the bottom and started following what I thought was Matt and Sasha. I kicked around with them for awhile and surfaced with them, and figured out it was Robert and his buddy, ???. I guess I should have known since Matt and Sasha were diving their own tanks which were white. However, I did come back with my slate marked with some fish.

Dive No: 29
Location: Catalina
Conditions:
Vis: 15-25
Surface Temp: 68F
Temp:
Depth: 50
Gear: My own - 7x7 wetsuit with hood, Tusa X-treme split fins, gloves, booties, watch.
Borrowed -
Tank: HP 80
Starting PSI: 3000
Ending PSI:
Bottom Time:
Total Bottom Time:
Creatures: Giant Kelpfish,
Dive Buddy: Christina
Dive Group: Matt, Sasha, Brona

On the second dive, Christina felt better after a nap and decided to join. She was a bit overweighted, was struggling with her buoyancy and had a runaway ascent towards the end but none the worse for wear. I tried to watch over her and gave her a hand a few times to keep her from floating off. When she signaled to me that she hit the halfway mark on her air, I gave her the ok and stay, and went to notify our buddies that we were were going up. However, when I turned around she had disappeared. I hovered for awhile, ascending a little bit at a time and finally surfaced. After I showed the boat my OK sign I asked them where Christina was. Thankfully, she was already aboard. She told me later that she tried to get back down but was having trouble. The situation was just like what had happened to me. Frightening how quickly something like that occurs and how important it is to stay together especially in low vis or dense kelp.

Both dives had a lot of sealife right near the boat and I loved how Sasha and Matt dove really, really slow, often hovering for long periods around a rock or some interesting group of animals. The Reef check helped me identify lots of things that I would otherwise have missed. I think a nice book with photos is something I definitely want for the future. A book is also a great thing to have while on a trip.

Crew on the boat were attentive and understanding. The DM helped me to set up my gear since I was feeling sick.  Since my friend was so sick, they gave her half off of her trip price.