Salt Point Dive Report 6/2 - 6/4

Sorry for the late report.  If you want the short version and have the day off tomorrow to dive, go north.  Conditions are excellent along the Sonoma coast right now and should hold for a bit longer.  Considering the vis reports I’ve heard from Monterey this weekend, I think it’s a no-brainer.

Elisa and I camped at Salt Point SP this weekend.  Having taken Friday off, we arrived mid afternoon to sunny skies and a slight NW breeze.  We grabbed a site and headed for the water.  Launching out of Gerstle was a breeze as usual.  We headed south and anchored up just before high tide.  Where’s the kelp?  The late storms we had this year must have set the growth back.  When I jumped in the 40’ bottom was clearly visible from the surface.  Once on the bottom it was pushing 60’ horizontal.  Epic for the north coast.  I watched a large school of blues in the lee of a washrock tear up some unfortunate jellies.  I didn’t scratch up any groundfish and we didn’t feel like preparing an ab for dinner, so we were content on just sightseeing.  E had fun playing with my dive watch.  I watched her do 35’ drops for 45 secs and smiled.  On our paddle back in we were followed by a pair of harbor seals.  They watched and waited for a handout as we loaded the boards.  One was missing his left eye and E dubbed him One-Eyed-Willie.

Saturday morning greeted us with no fog or condensation.  E planned to hike towards Horseshoe, so I headed for Fort Ross to meet up with JohnGuineaPig, fishndive and others.  We were confined to the cove due to the increased NW wind.  A paddle around the point would have been a struggle and offered little protection.  I anchored and decided to work towards the point.  Vis was around 20’ and the water cold.  Still excellent conditions for up there.  Saw a couple underlings, lots of small rockfish and a dungie.  I took a short water break and when I jumped back in…ice cream headache!  The water felt colder and I glanced at my watch.  46*…brrr.  It must be a result of the upwelling that occurs this time of year.  Ended up with a fish and ab for dinner for two.  It was nice to put some more faces with names from this board.  Glad I made it down for the short dive.  More info here:

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/bb/index.php?topic=4150.0

After a rest at camp we decided to dive the evening high tide again.  Left the kayaks and guns at the truck and headed for a swim through the reserve.  Having never taken the opportunity to swim through Gestle, I was thoroughly impressed with the life.  Abs of all sizes stacked on each other, juvenile rockfish, crabs and the list goes on.  No big fish spotted, but then again I didn’t look in many holes.  On the way back in as if on cue, Willie showed up.  I moved to a non-threatening posture and he responded by nudging my fins.  Probably looking for a hand out again, but I got a close up of his eye.  Nasty…wonder who did it.  Finished the evening by trying the Thai abalone salad recipe posted last season.  Damn tasty.  Try it.  That would be great on a hot summer day.

From E’s hike:   http://free.cramey.com/moro/xx1_060406-Salt_Point_SP.jpg

      http://free.cramey.com/moro/xx2_060406-Salt_Point_SP.jpg

Sunday morning was full of drizzle and fog.  The type of north coast morning I expect.  E wanted to get home by evening, so we headed to our old bread’n’butter for a quick shore dive to invite some friends home for dinner.  She asked me while suiting up, “how many dives do you think it will take me to pull my limit?”  I told her 3 maybe 4.  She doubted, so we settled on a dozen or so.

I planned to work the shallows out to the point and then the deeper stuff on the way back in.  I found a large cave with a small opening in a surgy area which I dove on several times.  This cave was lit by a small crack that ran to the top of the rock.  Inside, over 10’ away I saw the largest ab I’ve ever seen.  If I had to guess, it was approaching 11”.  Unreachable, probably.  Abs that size don’t grow that big without keeping to hard to reach areas.  Without a spotter and given the surge I passed on any attempt.  A bit later E made her way out to my location to tell me she was headed in.  “So, how many dives?” I asked.  “Four.”  I chuckled.

Still wanting to hunt I pushed on towards the point.  Ran across another harbor seal hunting in the rocks.  He kept circling this area sniffing and peeking.  At times he would stick his head in the cracks and violently spin as if trying to grab something.  Eventually he needed air and retreated to the distance.  I had a peek at the rocks he was interested in…no one home.  As soon as I surfaced, he was back at it.  This time after minutes of rushing around the rocks and a final spin and twist he emerged with a large perch.  I thought about my broken video camera at home.

Back to diving I approached my turnaround point.  I dropped to the bottom and nearly swam past a ling on my right.  I quickly lined him up and just as he started to gravitate I pulled the trigger.  I gathered him up and headed for the surface.  He thrashed hard which was surprising considering the shot placement behind the gill plate.  As I began to brain him, my left hand holding the underside of his gills, he thrashed again.  I pushed the knife too hard and put the blade through the top of my left index finger.  Ouch.  I took it as a sign and made my way towards the shore.  On the way in I came across a huge mass of small fry.  Probably 300 square feet of small, brown fry.  It took me some time to swim past them.  I didn’t get close enough to have a good look as they would spook, but it was an encouraging sight to see.  All in all, a good dive with 20’+ vis.  I managed to convince a few abs to make the trip home as well.

http://free.cramey.com/moro/xx3_060406-Salt_Point_SP.jpg

My finger is about to explode as it has swelled to twice its normal size.  Hopefully the antibiotics will tame the infection soon.  It was a great weekend to be on the north coast.  Get out there if you can.  Be safe.

JP

Man, I didn't realize it was 46 degrees in the water.  I just knew it was damn cold - I've never had to quit due to that before, but this time my feet and hands were throbbing by the time I headed out.  Glad I had the 7mm wetsuit instead of the thin one cuz the rest of me was fine.

hey it was nice meeting and diving with you folks! it was sure cold and windy. glad you were able to do more diving and enjoy the vis!

john

Nice report.