Sunday Stillwater 5/17 ab hook up

Hey guys; Gonna launch at Stillwater on Sunday at about 8:00 with a couple of friends, 1 noobie. If you need a parner we'll be there. Ultimate destination to be determined by conditions.
Andy

So myself, Swimming Stew and Noobie Leonard launched closer to 9:00. The swell dropped and conditions improved as the tide filled in. Light wind chop. We paddled south to the back side of the bird s#*t rock. It Was pretty surgy so we continued south about 200 yards to the spot where there is a ridge that is 20-30'. Vis was a hazy 10' on the inside, maybe up to 15 in a little deeper water. Nice on the bottom. Abalone werent stacked i. The shelves on the ridge like normal. Most were sitting on top of the ridge at 20'. Stew and I took an easy limit of abs just short of 9". Unfortunately the noobie had a bad day. I made him self rescue a couple of times in the cove to prove he could. He did fine, paddling wore him out. Then as soon as he slid into the water in our spot, he lost his weight belt. I spent a half hour looking for it but a black belt with black weights disappears quickly. Sitting on the kayak lead to a bit of sea sickness and in the end he chose not to take my belt and give it a go. Probably a good choice. I also shot a couple of nice blacks that made for a nice dinner.

Thanks for the report.

Thanks for the report. I went to Ocean couple days before and had the same problem with a new diver getting sea sick. It always suck to see someone who committed that much and to be so close to grabbing their first abs only to be stuck due to sea sickness.

Thanks for the report Andy.

Thanks for the report. I went to Ocean couple days before and had the same problem with a new diver getting sea sick. It always suck to see someone who committed that much and to be so close to grabbing their first abs only to be stuck due to sea sickness.

Probably should have let him dive in the cove. Next trip with a noobie will be to Van Damme.