Wkndbum
April 11th, 2007, 10:10 PM
Catalina Island Dive last Sat (4/7)
My Son & I boarded the Bottom Scratcher berthed @ Long Beach on Fri night around 7pm. The Pier was fairly easy to find, a couple other dive boats & several fishing charters are based there. Met Capt Greg (he’s a character) & first mate Valdamir (yep, Russian). We picked out bunks & gear up spots. Capt Greg passed out beers & cooked up some popcorn while Valdamir plugged in a movie.
I decided to hit the rack around 9pm (11pm Home time). It is rather crowded in the sleeping berth, all the gear you bring in has to be stored on your bunk because there is no floor space except to stand. It seemed like about every half hour someone would show up & unpack, this went on until around 12:30am, so I finally dozed off about 1am. Got up @ 5am & walked around the docks while until Deb (the cook) showed up around 6am. She made coffee & started breakfast right away. The Galley is right next to the sleeping area & most everyone started getting up (Deb is NOT a quiet person) (She is a character also) All you could eat breakfast was good.. The Dive Master (lady, can’t remember her name) was signing up divers (waivers) & collecting $. 23 divers, 2 dive masters & 3 crew on board, it was crowded but they supposedly carry 30 divers.
The boat left @ 7am, it was about a 2 hr ride to the first dive location, “Ships Rock”. It was a bit rough on the ride over (a couple people were feeding the fish) The wind kept changing direction & they had a rough time anchoring the boat. Air temp was 58 to 60 degrees & cloudy.
I was surprised that only 2 divers besides myself were diving drysuits. Most were using 7mil & several even had 5 mil.
The boat has racks for tank & BC but no seats, so you had to squat, stand up & be ready to jump in, no sitting around. Some kelp, lots of fish, vis around 40’ to 50’, temp 58 degrees. We dove to 75’, 40min dive. Some surge & current. Capt launched “Bubba” the chase boat & said just the stupid people try to surface swim back if the current gets them too far out, he would be happy to pick you up with “Bubba”. When we surfaced from the dive, Vladimir filled the tanks immediately (good fills). Deb had cooked up a big batch of Chile (good)
Capt moved the boat next to a cliff area called “Blue Caverns”. Fairly calm water there.
Lots of kelp, fish, star fish, shell fish & sea urchins. Vis 60’+, some surge down to about 15’. A sea lion was resting on a rock next to the boat. Made a dive to 73’ & had a great time in the kelp. Deb had lunch ready by the time we finished the dive (roast beef, mashed potatoes/gravy , veggies & rolls) great meal.
On the next dive, we got in “Bubba” & Capt took us down to a couple swim thru caverns, we checked them out (not the easiest with the surge blowing into the holes) & then we worked out way back to the boat. Another 70’ dive about 35 min. We were the first ones in this dive & first out so we got our gear squared away before the big rush. Pulled anchor & headed back to the dock. Deb cooked up spaghetti/meatballs & garlic bread for the ride back. They started selling beer for the trip home.
All in all I really enjoyed the trip, loved diving the kelp, food was great, crew was good. Total cost of the trip was $110 plus tip, plus soda/beer. About the only thing I didn’t like was the bunks on the boat (probably won’t stay on board overnight again) & the gear up set up (no seats)
I definitely will do this trip again.
Any ? about the trip, give me a shout.
Terry
My Son & I boarded the Bottom Scratcher berthed @ Long Beach on Fri night around 7pm. The Pier was fairly easy to find, a couple other dive boats & several fishing charters are based there. Met Capt Greg (he’s a character) & first mate Valdamir (yep, Russian). We picked out bunks & gear up spots. Capt Greg passed out beers & cooked up some popcorn while Valdamir plugged in a movie.
I decided to hit the rack around 9pm (11pm Home time). It is rather crowded in the sleeping berth, all the gear you bring in has to be stored on your bunk because there is no floor space except to stand. It seemed like about every half hour someone would show up & unpack, this went on until around 12:30am, so I finally dozed off about 1am. Got up @ 5am & walked around the docks while until Deb (the cook) showed up around 6am. She made coffee & started breakfast right away. The Galley is right next to the sleeping area & most everyone started getting up (Deb is NOT a quiet person) (She is a character also) All you could eat breakfast was good.. The Dive Master (lady, can’t remember her name) was signing up divers (waivers) & collecting $. 23 divers, 2 dive masters & 3 crew on board, it was crowded but they supposedly carry 30 divers.
The boat left @ 7am, it was about a 2 hr ride to the first dive location, “Ships Rock”. It was a bit rough on the ride over (a couple people were feeding the fish) The wind kept changing direction & they had a rough time anchoring the boat. Air temp was 58 to 60 degrees & cloudy.
I was surprised that only 2 divers besides myself were diving drysuits. Most were using 7mil & several even had 5 mil.
The boat has racks for tank & BC but no seats, so you had to squat, stand up & be ready to jump in, no sitting around. Some kelp, lots of fish, vis around 40’ to 50’, temp 58 degrees. We dove to 75’, 40min dive. Some surge & current. Capt launched “Bubba” the chase boat & said just the stupid people try to surface swim back if the current gets them too far out, he would be happy to pick you up with “Bubba”. When we surfaced from the dive, Vladimir filled the tanks immediately (good fills). Deb had cooked up a big batch of Chile (good)
Capt moved the boat next to a cliff area called “Blue Caverns”. Fairly calm water there.
Lots of kelp, fish, star fish, shell fish & sea urchins. Vis 60’+, some surge down to about 15’. A sea lion was resting on a rock next to the boat. Made a dive to 73’ & had a great time in the kelp. Deb had lunch ready by the time we finished the dive (roast beef, mashed potatoes/gravy , veggies & rolls) great meal.
On the next dive, we got in “Bubba” & Capt took us down to a couple swim thru caverns, we checked them out (not the easiest with the surge blowing into the holes) & then we worked out way back to the boat. Another 70’ dive about 35 min. We were the first ones in this dive & first out so we got our gear squared away before the big rush. Pulled anchor & headed back to the dock. Deb cooked up spaghetti/meatballs & garlic bread for the ride back. They started selling beer for the trip home.
All in all I really enjoyed the trip, loved diving the kelp, food was great, crew was good. Total cost of the trip was $110 plus tip, plus soda/beer. About the only thing I didn’t like was the bunks on the boat (probably won’t stay on board overnight again) & the gear up set up (no seats)
I definitely will do this trip again.
Any ? about the trip, give me a shout.
Terry