Palos Verdes - new slip-tip and breakaway test

[coadavid]

Yesterday a few buddies and I went to PV Point. We had 2 mph winds, 1-2 foot swells, 1 foot waves. In other words, conditions were awesome.

For those of you who haven't had the treat of diving there, it's along "Paseo Del Mar" in the city of "Palos Verdes Estates". It's pretty much nothing but rocks and kelp beds. Entry is tough but worth it - a hike down a steep path along the cliff with loose dirt and gravel (I personally bring hiking boots and stash them at the bottom). Once you get in the water, you're in for a long swim to get to 20' depth (at least 75m though DENSE kelp). I like to use my home-made boogie-board float to get over the kelp. Assuming you have full-pocket fins, you can stretch out straight and rest your hands/wrists on the board. The key is small kick strokes and don't lean forward on the board. Stay FLAT.

Anyway, once you're out there, you'll see endless kelp stalks in all directions with several clearings with reefs and a few sand spots. Last month we saw a few giant WSB, some Barracuda, several Leopard sharks, seals, etc. It's a site that reflects what Laguna probably used to be.

We didn't see much notable game this time, though we were hoping to see some of the large WSB that were there 4 weeks ago. I did see a nice size hali (I don't have a scale but he was most likely 15-20 lbs). Strangely enough, he was swimming over the reef rather than sand and made no attempt to hide himself. I shot him from about 7 feet above with my wood Riffe with newly added slip-tip and break away.

Seeing as I shot him through the lateral line, he didn't put up any fight whatsoever. The slip-tip made it really easy to pull him up, esp. since I was at 20' at 1:05 downtime and needed to take a surface interval.

[kkam]

very nice what kind of sliptip were you using

[coadavid]

I'm using an "icepick." I'm fairly sure it's made by Riffe.