Date: May 6, 2007
Time: 5:30pm/8:00pm
Location: North Crescent
Depth (feet): 59/23
Dive Time (minutes): 42/46
Surf (feet): 1-3
Surge (feet): 2-8
Water Temp (fahrenheit): 62
Visibility (feet): 5-15
Visibility Description: Surge-murk, some red tide
Notes and Highlights: First dive was with Scott - swam out past where the reef sticks out on the north side and dropped down pretty early due to the pretty intense current and nasty swell - not fun surface swimming today. Dropped over sand and stayed that way for the dive - ok...we were "generally headed" towards Deadman's...but the red tide past 45 feet and surge even at depth over the sand made nav a little more interesting than normal. It also helped us stumble upon the first pipefish I've seen locally...so that worked out well (pics below). While I was taking pictures of the pipefish - Scott grabbed my arm - saving my life from a charging (seriously) sheep crab...the boy wasn't messing around - I must have looked like someone he knew. Some sanddabs, sea pens and not much else rounded out the sand tour - followed by a grueling surface swim in swell that I swear set off the "no-fly" warning on my computer...swell that completely obscured Seal Rocks, Laguna Beach, and the buddy next to you when it passed...
Kevin showed up for the second dive, and the three of us decided to stay shallower and avoid the surface swell. Probably should have sucked it up and dealt with it - as the shallow vis was 5+ at best and very often worse with the surge-induced turbidity. An octopus gave us an ink show as I tried to gently coax it into a better picture position, a large halibut, a rock pool blenny, assorted shrimp, California cones, and a few other snail varieties rounded out a good time had by all.
