SBD:
I went out on my buddies PB today in pursuit of the Mendo tri-fecta...abs, crabs and salmon. We left port at about 0730 and had our crab gear in the water in 10 minutes, and then off to a ab diving favorite. Had our abs by 0900, and off to the troll. Trolled quite a while for nada, and then pulled the crab gear for nada... :smt010
To add insult, I left my speargun at the house so i wouldnt get in trouble if we had salmon onboard. The whole time I was ab diving I kept seeing legal lings and cabbies. Next time I am taking the yak and bringing the gun.
Still a freaking gorgeous day on the water and the viz was way better than last week.
promethean_spark:
Got to fort ross at 9am and paddled off to the point where it was quite choppy. Jumped in and found the vis only allowed me to see my fintips, there was a milkiness to the water I'd not seen before. Anyway, I dove for a little while and picked up a couple abs and saw a blue rockfish make a run for it. Didn't even bother with the gun in that murk. I was having trouble catching my breath at the surface, which I attributed to the breakers that were being blown over me, so after some spluttering I paddled in one short of a limit and tried some shorepicking to fill out my day. Couldn't find any, but I collected half a dozen large mussles to see if they were any good. (wife wants 10lbs next time!)
Back at my gear I was rinsing it off in the stream when I noticed that my weight belt had all my weights, including a 4lb spare, on it. No wonder I was having problems in the chop. That was disapointing, but it also felt good that I could tell something wasn't right and head back, rather than try to be a hard-ass. One more punch on my card is one more excuse to go up the coast again too, hopefully in better conditions.
Another guy in an Omer suit managed to get 2 lings and some blues. Must have had a really short gun in that limited visibility.
SBD:
Its amazing how much work an extra 4#s can be. I spent a bit of time last year getting my weight belt right were I wanted it, and it made a huge difference. This was the first time in years I felt great on my first ab dive of the season. Hanging out with bideyedave is inspirational....but I have a LONG way to go.
polepole:
And having 4# too little is also a ton of extra work.
Here's how I adjust for weight. It doesn't take a lot of time.
1) Put your weights on. 2) Slide in the water. 3) Take a breath and stop treading water. You should be floating at eye level. If not, adjust the weights and test again. 4) Now exhale. You should sink slowly and not stay floating. If you don't, then adjust the weights. Iterate on #3 and #4 until all is well. 5) Adjust for personal preference.
Note: your weight needs can change due to a variety of reasons. Even gaining/loosing just 5 pounds of body weight can alter the amount of diving weight you need. A different wetsuit or a change in water salinity can also affect your weight needs.
-Allen
promethean_spark:
I had adjusted my weights last time I was out, about a month ago, but in between I'd painted the weights and I guess I put them all on the belt. Guess I should check my weights in the calm shallows before each trip.