|  Well,
dive season 2011 is now in full swing. We made our second dive
of the year not too long ago, back on 6/03/2011. Tough to get
offshore this year, there have been some breaks in the rainy
weather, but the wind has kept on blowing. The forecast for
our friday dive was blue skies, but the weather patterns were
changing frequently that week. The wind forecast kept jumping
around, and for a small craft you don't want to be stuck on
the big blue when those whitecaps come up. On thursday our Captain
made the decision to go, and it turned out to be a fine decision
indeed. I jumped in my truck early friday morning and rolled
over the coast range to meet the crew at the dock. What a beautiful
morning, not a cloud in the sky. I arrived at the marina around
7:20am and met up with the crew. The wind, otherwise known as
the "blow", was pumping across the parking lot, coming
in from the east around 10 knots...a perfect morning to go offshore.
We loaded up the Bull, a 21 foot aluminum dive boat, and headed
out from the Newport marina. The morning was captivating as
we passed under the bridge, I grabbed my camera and took a quick
pic on way out (see below). The clarity of the air, the burning
glow of the morning sun, both set the tone for the incredible
diving to come. We crossed the bar and greeted an ocean of slow
rolling swells, perhaps 3-4 feet in height. We kept motoring
due west until we reached the second green can, then abruptly
turned south to dive the infamous North Pinnacle. We had our
waypoint lined up before hand, a small portion called the "claw".
The dive spot is shaped liked a compressed crescent, as you
can see above, and shelters an incredible array of sealife.
You can click on the map above for a little
more detail.  I
can assure you the waypoint is Top Secret, known only to the
Captain and his First Mate. Our future adventures at the claw,
and subsequent stories to share, will be protected for a long
time. We finally pulled up on the drop zone and threw anchor.
The water was deep blue. Oh, I love days like this. Our intrepid
Captain gave order that he was diving first "just to make
sure conditions were OK". Yeah, right. We could easily
see 20 feet down the anchor line...the Captain knew it was a
good day to hunt. Aaron, our videographer, was elected to head
down also. Aaron knew it was a good day to take video. Nearly
an hour later the divers returned to the boat. Their report...30
feet of visibility easy. I found out some time later in the
day that Aaron was looking up from 50 feet and could see the
wavebreak on the surface from the light windchop. I readied
my gear and headed down. Wow. This is why I love diving out
here, most of the time the vis is challenging, but today makes
it all worth it. I explored the area, slipping along shear walls
covered with white anemones, pushing through clouds of seabass.
It was the type of dive you hate to end. I returned to the boat
and discussed where to make our second dive of the day. The
conversation was brief and agreement quick. The Pinnacle was
perfect today and we were all excited to make a second drop.
Aaron captured some great footage of this dive and is currently
cutting a one minute movie to post. I will put it up as soon
as it comes in. The crew finally finished all our dives and
headed back to shore to pack up and head home. The final tally
was 5 lingcod, 60 rock scallops, and some great northwest video...I
love this sport. Until next time...Dive On!
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