4/17 SAT Abalone diving - Non-Yak

Date/Time: 4/17 Saturday morning at 8am
Place: a few miles north of Van Damme
Conditions: not too bad, but pretty large swells  here and there.
Visibility: 5-15 feet, depending on the swells

Short version:
caught my limit in 1.5 hours; had a freshly cracked open beer and uni upon reaching the shore, ate at a mexican place near 101/128 intersection (yum yum); and drove home happy as-can-be.

Longer version:
Been out spearfishing thrice, but my first time abalone diving.  Went with 7 others from my church, a few miles up from Van Damme.  Don't remember the name of the place.  It was kind of a scene:  we were a group of 8 asians, and when we arrived, there was another group of 6-8 asians ready to take to the trail.  It could have been a meeting of the AADA (Asian Ab Diving Association).  I was surprised there was no ranger around given we were such a large group.

Took the speargun but didn't spearfish.  With the swells, I didn't feel very comfortable.  No pictures-sorry.

One of the guys in my group, who's been diving for 5 years, had an incident.  A large wave sneaked up on him (he was facing the beach, not the ocean), and the wave pummeled him.  He said it felt like a sucker punch.  He did a couple of flips in the water, had difficulty getting his head above water, and lost one fin and his mask in the process.  He said he yelled for help, but none of us could hear him, and we didn't see him until he had almost reached the beach.  Because there were 7 of us in the same area, it was hard to make out which person was your dive buddy.  They all looked alike.  Having heard about the guy who drowned the day before, we were all very much humbled and reminded how we often forget to give mother nature the respect she demands...

I was stoked about the abalone, and was having a dilemma as to whether to go ab diving or the monterey opener on May 1st.  However, I realized that I miss the NCKA camraderie- so I'll see y'all at SWS, or maybe even this Wednesday at PP for halibut.

Did you eat at Libby's?
I loooooove that place.   


Glad to hear you had a successful trip & you all came home safe.   

Congrat on the Ab limit.  Sorry to hear about your weight belt.  Thank you for the report Jonathan.

In my report, I forgot to mention the most important part- Sonny lent me his boogie board.  He was nice enough to offer.  thank you, Sonny!  I may have not been able to go had you not made the offer!!
sonny,  btw, you need a larger bag on your board- I could barely get the abs into the bag- and mine were mostly 7 to 7.5 inches.  what would have happened if I got lucky enough to get an 8 inch ab ?! 

In my report, I forgot to mention the most important part- Sonny lent me his boogie board.  He was nice enough to offer.  thank you, Sonny!  I may have not been able to go had you not made the offer!!
sonny,  btw, you need a larger bag on your board- I could barely get the abs into the bag- and mine were mostly 7 to 7.5 inches.  what would have happened if I got lucky enough to get an 8 inch ab ?! 

I was able to put a 8.5" Ab in that bag.  I'll show you how when you return the boogie board to me.  If it's a 10" I'll put it on top of the board and be happy call it a "great" day! 

Did you eat at Libby's?
I loooooove that place.   


Glad to hear you had a successful trip & you all came home safe.   

thx fuzz.  I don't remember the mexican place, but I do remember that the food was really good.  I don't think it was Libby's though- I'll keep them in mind for the next trip.
Now that I don't have a belt/weights anymore- do you want to part with one of 50 belt/weights I'm sure you have in your arsenal??

I'm glad you were able to go ab diving, John.  Thanks for the detailed report, and congrats on getting your abs.     Hopefully we'll get good ab diving conditions at Shelter Cove. 

John,

great job on the abs. Diving with friends is always better. Stay safe,

Shannon

WTG John,
Thanks for the report
Tad
 

WTG on the ab limit John. Thank God nothing else serious happened to you buddy.

Jedmo

congrats on your ab's, glad your friend wasnt seriously hurt, thanks for the report, cameron p.s. libby's in booneville is great.

good picless report 

John!!!!!!! I taught you better than that!!!!!!! No pics????? WTF???? Over! Thanks for the pic less report! Good job... Kinda....