Went out today with Craig Peterson and his 7-year-old son Christopher and Dam Nguyen. It was Christopher's first time on a boat, and he was a trooper.
He needed to be a trooper because at the first stop, the water temp was 57 degrees and the vis was 10 feet at best. Every place I dove Monday it was 64. How the hell does it drop to 57 at the end of July?
But since he jumped in wearing a 4 mm suit and grabbing a boogie board, I figured I had to man up and go in too. It was pretty dead as well as cold, and we didn't see a thing. However, Christopher was proud to see some goldfish (senoritas).
That was about enough for his first boat dive, so we dropped him and his dad off at the harbor and went on for some serious killing. At the next spot, we were amazed to find blue water and 63 degree temps. What a difference a few miles makes. Its a lot more fun getting skunked without freezing to death and with some visibility, but we still got skunked. The only points for me were coming up on two different big black sea bass sort of hidden in bent over kelp so that I was right on them before I saw them. I was a bit startled, but neither of them were, and just sat there while I held the tip about 6 inches from them.
At the third spot, we found more 63 degree water and good vis, but still no fish. After I got bored and climbed back into the boat, I looked over the side and thought I could see a plastic bag drifting by a few feet below the surface, but then it moved against the current. It almost looked like a mola, but that seemed unlikely in the middle of a kelp bed. I ran into the cabin to get my polaroid glasses to see better, but then didn't see it again.
About 20 minutes later Dam came swimming back against the current, and about 20 feet behind the boat said that he could see a mola. He dove, ran it down, grabbed it, and brought it up for photos. Who needs a speargun? Then he turned it loose, and it ran off to tell its mother what happened.
They sure are more colorful and cuter when they are small.
He needed to be a trooper because at the first stop, the water temp was 57 degrees and the vis was 10 feet at best. Every place I dove Monday it was 64. How the hell does it drop to 57 at the end of July?
But since he jumped in wearing a 4 mm suit and grabbing a boogie board, I figured I had to man up and go in too. It was pretty dead as well as cold, and we didn't see a thing. However, Christopher was proud to see some goldfish (senoritas).
That was about enough for his first boat dive, so we dropped him and his dad off at the harbor and went on for some serious killing. At the next spot, we were amazed to find blue water and 63 degree temps. What a difference a few miles makes. Its a lot more fun getting skunked without freezing to death and with some visibility, but we still got skunked. The only points for me were coming up on two different big black sea bass sort of hidden in bent over kelp so that I was right on them before I saw them. I was a bit startled, but neither of them were, and just sat there while I held the tip about 6 inches from them.
At the third spot, we found more 63 degree water and good vis, but still no fish. After I got bored and climbed back into the boat, I looked over the side and thought I could see a plastic bag drifting by a few feet below the surface, but then it moved against the current. It almost looked like a mola, but that seemed unlikely in the middle of a kelp bed. I ran into the cabin to get my polaroid glasses to see better, but then didn't see it again.
About 20 minutes later Dam came swimming back against the current, and about 20 feet behind the boat said that he could see a mola. He dove, ran it down, grabbed it, and brought it up for photos. Who needs a speargun? Then he turned it loose, and it ran off to tell its mother what happened.
They sure are more colorful and cuter when they are small.
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