Mr. Ed with Beachhopper II August 26, 2023

Tessa, Guy, and I had a very good dive on the Mr. Ed site yesterday with very calm seas despite small craft warnings. We had 20 to 30 ft of visibility and it was 58 degrees at the bottom in 64 ft of water. I had to rent a BC, regulator, and dive computer because I had forgotten mine in my car when I moved my gear over to Guy's van at 3:45 am....The rented computer seemed to be very conservative, I was out of no decompression time at 71 ft and I still had nearly half a tank of air left...Below are some photos from the dive, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gZxVg9rp51d9Vbfs8 Below: the site is large bolders piled up in sand with tube anemones, beautiful Metridium (aka Plumrose Anemones).

Below: There goes one kelp devouring sea urchin into a waiting anemone!

Below: Gopher or possibly Copper, Rockfish with Metridium

Below: My favorite local fish subject, a Cabezon.

Above: Treefish are a rockfish with prominent vertical stripes and lipstick lips.

above: lingcods below: another Treefish

Below: a passing school of Senoritas

Rockfish with long lost anchor chain

Just above: Vermilion Rockfish, next up, Guy in action. I had to abort my second dive at Cabrillo Point because I had a very painful sinus squeeze, I remember having this once before, over 50 years ago, in high school.... I was pleased to try out my new replacement Scubapro Seawing Nova fins. Design has been modified to address the failure mode I had on my last pair. They worked great, I was surprised how much resistance they offered and thrust they generated, obviously my old pair have been gradually degrading...

Two very good dives off North Monastery Beach and on the Pinnacles August 17, 2023

Greg Hoberg and I caught another very calm day last Thursday. We cruised down to the Pinnacles, were unimpressed by the apparent visibility so continued across Carmel Bay to Monolobo then went over to the Kelp Forest off North Monastery and anchored there. We had a very good dive, visibility opened up as we descended and we had 20 to maybe 25 ft of visibility. Monastery remains a great dive site, of course. Water temperature at the surface was a much warmer than usual 57 degrees, at the bottom 53. Below are some photos from our dive, to see more, go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q3oPHDDXntVjLZocA

Above: Orange Tube Anemone Below: Painted Greenling

Below: Monastery's Kelp forest is about half of normal size

Below: Gopher Rockfish on her perch

Below: Big Spiny Sea Star, my hand for scale.

Below: Leather Sea Star

Below: Spotted or Crevice Kelpfish, about 4 inches long. The first one I've photo'd in Carmel for awhile, so....

Above: Colorful Kelp Holdfast We headed out to the Pinnacles for our second dive. Near the Pinnacles we encountered a pod of Harbor or possibly Dall's Porpoises. Before starting our dive I decided to conduct an experiment with a new "Heatwave" instant reuseable heat pack. It works by releasing heat when it transitions from liquid form to a solid crystal structure. I pressed the activator button and presto, the transition began, releasing heat. I slipped it into my wetsuit between my main suit and the thin shorty I wear under it. It provided some noticeable, welcome, warmth for the next 30 minutes. See below, one pack in liquid form, the other one solid. I'll need to boil it to return it to the liquid state for its next use.

When we descended on the Pinnacles we were once again pleased that visibility opened up as we descendend. Again, we had 20 -25 ft of visibility, 53 degrees at the bottom. Below are some photos from this dive, for more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/juaYsdA2VCHfEDW87

Below: China Rockfish

Above: A patient Lingcod