Ab Limits at VanDamme on 6/2/13

After months of planning, shopping and studying YouTube Ab diving videos, my brother in law Matt and I finally did our first Abalone trip.  We opted for Vandamme based on great advice from Keli's Ocean sports in Concord who told us about the protected conditions where you could basically go in right off the beach.  We brought the U.S.S. Enterprise, (Malibu Two) Kayak and had it loaded down so heavily it was hard to move and paddle.  We tried a little cove on the right side of Vandamme and while it was calm, we saw no Abalone.  It was beautiful though.  The next morning we tried the big island off shore and that was pretty scary as the currents were way to fast and it was clear that there would be no way to make it back to the kayak if we became seperated.  We went back to the shoreline, albeit, to the left of the main beach and dove in about 5-12 feet of water in pretty heavy kelp and a good surge.  It took us about two to three hours, but we each finally pulled our limits ranging from about 7.5" to about 8.5."  There was a very steep learning curve here; I lost a lot of equipment for various reasons and made some rookie errors.  I had always wondered why any diver would use a straight "J" type snorkel with no fancy valves or drains.  I found out why in the first ten minutes of diving in the kelp.  I realized that I wasn't gliding through it anymore, and then was startled when I couldn't breath out of my snorkel...  I pulled the snorkel out and realized that the kelp had wedged itself into the rocker valve at the top of the snorkel and wasn't letting go.  As I had tried to swim forward with it like that, the flexible elbow twisted and cut off the air.  At that point, I realized why a simpler snorkel is better...  I lost that same snorkel the next day in heavy surge as I relied on the cheap plastic clip rather than something more robust.  I tried to dive without a snorkel, but ended up gasping for breath each time I came up.  Eventually, I borrowed Matt's snorkel when he was done and then got to work.  I got my first Abalone, and when I was trying to put it in the bag, I was so excited that I did not secure my fancy new $35.00 combo bar/guage and it went to Davy Jone's locker.  Things got better though,  I began to see the pattern of where the abs hide and how to time the surges to make the proper attack.   I also plan to get a good float line to mark spots and then come down there with less urgency.  I think that just making these improvements will turn  Sunday's 2-3 hour dive into a less than one hour harvest for limits.  I am looking forward to the next dive and Albion now.

Congrats on your first abs!!

I still remember when I popped my abalone cherry...you never forget your first!

Stoked you guys got out there, had fun, had some learning experiences and are excited to do it again! The floatline will help out for sure!!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Awesome! Thanks for the report! We will be diving fathers day weekend over in Timber Cove. Place is very protected and newbie friendly..Congrats on your first limits...

Congrats on your first Ab limit Tom.

Congrats on your first limit and GREAT report

Congrats on your first abs!!

I still remember when I popped my abalone cherry...you never forget your first!

Stoked you guys got out there, had fun, had some learning experiences and are excited to do it again! The floatline will help out for sure!!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Couldn't have said it any better!!! especially about the floatline!!!

Man that first dive is unforgettable... you Rocked it!!!  WTFGS!!!