07.04 We Survived Big Sur (update: video added)

Who was going to post it first?  Lol, I'm on a airplane with wifi, typing this from my iPad.

Woke up at 4am, picked up Slick Rick the Ruler, met Ccup at my house and carpooled with Jeeosh.  Got to Jade cove and met up with hunterlee.  We all got out and walk alittle ways to the fresh breeze of the ocean side and like horses, let out a gallon to the pasture.  We walk way down to the rocky entrance of jade cove and all agree, " oh hell no ".  We then trace our way back up, stopping at every cove to see what options we had.  We could see the visibility, like the beaches of hawaii in some spots. God Damn it was beautiful up there.

We finally pick a cove and Rick sprains his ankle, he sucks it up and keeps moving.  We do the long....... Hike of death, and get to the beach.  As we are watching the water, it makes us a little uneasy, but no one says anything until after the trip, hahahah.  I go over safety protocol, and flip on my emergency radio and throw it in my banks board.  I go out first with ease, and established a safe point.  Rick follows behind me, and checks in.  Ccup makes a attempt, and the wave throws him back, cause something to hit his mask and it shatters.  Jeeosh luckily brought a backup for Ccup to use.   Finally the rest of the crew makes it out. 

I hit record on my GoPro, and it make a beep that I dont recognize.  I know I charged it, and see my memory card... Oh snap, I didn't push my memory card in completely.  Damn it.   I throw it into dry storage and call the posse to round up and head out.  We get halfway around the bend and we hit open waters with waves hitting the wash rocks, which sound like bombs dropping from nearby.  So loud, that Ccup and hunterlee sh*t their wetsuit and turn around to go back in.  Jeeosh, Rick, and I push forward around the bend to a cove that we will call " Naked Mans Cove " because of a man free balling on the peak of the rocks above us, enjoying the breeze... LoL. Whoa.... I got to try that, just to say I did it.

We dive in 30ft vis, and this is a bad day with 5th swells... But with the vis like that, man who cares.  We make several dives, and the game is on.  Fish On, yells Rick.  Jeeosh and I look at each other and say " I didn't see any fish". Now we know why Slick Rick is the ruler @&$&@&@&$) 15yr old kid owning us. 

I look up and see that hunterlee and Ccup walked to the other side through the cave.  We all wave fish at them and they make a daring leap into the water from the wash rocks.  Ahahah temptation from the dark side. Later that day a group of 15 and tourists out there on the rocks start taking our picture.  Some doing some type of wave taichi yoga, pretty cool.

I must of did 35 dive and shot at some really nice sized fish, they are much bigger than the ones in carmel by far.

Total tally was:
Chaeki = 3
Rick= 6 (1 was a cab)
Jeeosh= 4
Ccup= 1
hunterlee= 1 (gifted from Rick)

So we were done, and packed up to go in.  I go in first since I was turning green, and the swell and tide has picked up.  I ride the wave in all the way to the beach.  Scary fast, but cool.  I put everything away and throw it on back.  Omg it feel lime 60lbs on my back with the big fish and my board.  I start climbing and stop hmmmm maybe 10x's on the way up, feel exhausted and thirsty.  I can see Jeeosh still recording with his GoPro, and laugh as he also is walking like a turtle up the hill, which seems like it took us about 20mins.

We take our final picture and head home.




Jeeosh GoPro:

Thanks for writing this up, Chaeki. I was too tired yesterday. This pretty much sums everything up.

Swell was NW, 6 feet @ 9 seconds, so for anyone planning on diving Big Sur, you're probably best off diving with swell forecast better than this, though it's doable at south-facing coves and coves protected by points.

Though the schools of blues were small and sporadic in the cove, the individuals were big. Two of the blues I shot were over 3 pounds, and one was about .12 from a state record.

Besides the schooling blues, there were plenty of kelpies to pick off. I shot one which was about 14-15 inches. Also, the structure had a lot of nooks and crannies, and also a few ledges which said "ling". I saw tons of black and yellows and kelp rockfish holed up, along with a few cabs. One particular ledge which I thought would hold a ling, instead held a 16" cab, which I shot.

Next time I'm going to swim out further to the far kelp beds, and see if the structure is any better for lings or reds.

It felt great to dive in such awesome visability, and I can't wait until I can get back and dive Sur again.

Rick, how's your ankle holding up?

Sounds like you guys had some fun and a good work out.  Thanks for the reports and pictures guys.

Huge effort,Big Sur is the ruler!

Great writeup Chaeki!  Too bad your vid didn't come out.  I always enjoy them.  That was a hell of an experience no doubt but it helped me to grow my skills and gills.  Swell seemed larger than forecasted on such an otherwise gorgeous day.  Glad I was still able to get in the water and hunt with you crazy bastards.  Stoked about my perch - he was a big boy, though! Made for a tasty dinner tonight! Rick, one word for you brother, "Beast!".  Josh, thanks for letting me borrow your extra mask.  Saved me a hike back up to the car! Looking forward to the vid when you get around to it.

For those that are curious, the mask that busted on my face is an "Atomic Aquatics frameless" http://www.atomicaquatics.com/masks_frameless.html. Not sure what hit me in the face though. The waves were large as were the boulders in the cove that we launched from. Could have been a boulder, my banks board, or maybe the speartip of my gun.  Completely busted the glass (was safety glass of some sort since the glass shattered into small cubes). I must have gotten smacked pretty good.  I didn't even know that it happened until Isaac pointed it out as I was attempting to launch again.  Lesson reinforced: enter the surf with mask on (hate to think what would have happened had I not had my mask on...).

Another memorable moment for me was having a massive sea lion swim right under me!  The thing was huge!  It was so graceful and fast; obviously build to glide through the seas unlike my loppy a$$.

Looking forward to getting in the water again. Unfortunately for me I won't be back in town until 23 July... Would love to hit the water again that weekend.

bump, video added by jeeosh

Excellent vid!  Nice way to memorialize the day.  Will be bookmarking this one   

how do you like your mako fins?

The cab had an abalone, an octopus, and a crab inside it's stomach.
Pics:

how do you like your mako fins?

They're the Mako plastic fins but the footpockets will take the carbon if I decide to upgrade at some point. The Mako plastics are awesome. Foot pocket fits me well. size 10.5 reg shoe so got 10/11 fins. I get great action out of them and I don't care about giving them a beating. huge thumbs up. though they are my first set of freediving fins so I don't have another reference point...  also have the mako socks and gloves. very nice gear as well. keeps me toasty even after several hours. the Mako dive knife is a great brainer. very small and streamlined. more than you asked for but I've had a great experience with Mako. don't get me started on their customer service.  well, ok, two quick stories. bought the large dive bag. stupidly I loaded 24+lbs weight in one of the side pockets and hoisted it onto my shoulder quickly only to rip the pocket... called them up and asked about how much for a replacement. they said no worries and shipped me a replacement for free! second story. ordered a grip of gear and needed it that wknd for a dive. ordered in sufficient time to pay reg shipping. they had a small delay on getting the fins I ordered in-house so upgraded my shipping to next day air at no add'l charge so I would have my gear in time for my dive trip!

Rick, always fun to inspect a cab's last meal. Looks like your cab dined at a seafood buffet! nice find.

Chaeki, thanks for another awesome report this time from BS!! Cool of ya t ake some of the brothers down there Stoked y'all had a blast out there with some decent swells hitting the coast lol.

Wtg ccup on your fat perch, so stoked to see ya hitting the waters! Bummer that your mask broke, that musta been gnarly.

Rick, you truly are a studly beast. Beast mode!!