Fort Ross 11/24

Okay Tote...here's the scoop.


Fort Ross was FLAT @SS CALM....no acronyms cause that wouldn't have done these conditions any justice.  Coming up highway 1 at 8 am, the sun was shining, cows were grazing and this time I was actually able to see the water.  I pulled into the lot around 9 am, not as many people as I thought there'd be but still a good number of divers getting ready.  Drop my gear off at the beach, drive up to park and thumb a ride back down the hill to the water.  There was about a dozen people in the water around the cove and the people I was talking to on shore all told me to go north.  I thought that side of the cove might be picked over pretty good so I recruited another guy and went south of the cove to an area that looked like it takes a good beating whenever its not FAC.  I stopped next to boiler rock that was less than 70 feet from shore and surrounded by kelp, thought it looked good.  I attached my ab iron and guage to a 30' floatline and send it over the side to check the depth and it didn't hit bottom.  Holy Crap....I moved southwest a bit and was finally able to contact bottom so i leash up the yak and hop in.  I made a couple drops without seeing any abs so I started second guessing myself.  I finally see a nice ab so I drop my iron next to it and go back to the surface.  While I'm relaxing on the surface I'm looking down my yellow floatline and I am able to see the glowing yellow handle of my iron and the blue guage next to it...I look at my floatline and it finally occurs to me that the viz was over 15 feet (I talked to people later that said they were getting up to 25' feet in some spots....it was crazy) Anyway, I drop and pop my ab.  My next few drops were closer to shore in about 12 feet of water and the abs were all over the place.  All 3 were in the 8" range.  I hadn't seen many fish but was able to shoot one blue for dinner before my dive partner was ready to head back. I'm back on the beach rapping with another guy who's headed out so I tag along and we stick right around the closest kelp on the north side of the cove.  I seen a couple perch but that was about it in about an hours worth of diving. My day ended around 1:30 when I started getting this gnarly pressure in my sinuses. 

A couple other guys told me those were the best conditions they'd seen all year, I'm glad I was there     

Sounds fun, Art.   

Glad you were able to get out there Art.

That area south of the cove does seem to get pounded pretty hard when it's not FAC, or at least it did a couple of weeks ago when I was there.

Much easier portage than it was at the last place we went to.   

Now that I've got my polespear we'll have to go do some hunting.

Now that I've got my polespear we'll have to go do some hunting.

Most definitely.  You hear about your spear shaft yet.  My second dive I went out with Tony, that guy who showed me his speargun setup at the diveshop.  I talked to him about the HH muzzle and he said they had the shafts in.  He also said he'd put us on some lings at better spots next time we're up that way.  I think I'm gonna shoot for an overnighter next time...daytripping is brutal. 

   

I spoke to the owner...mentioned that I drove all the way to bodega bay from mountain view just to find out that they had sold the gun they called and asked me to pick up.

He offered to ship it to me for free when they arrived... he was hoping that would be friday.  So far no call. Maybe in the next couple of days, and if not then I'll just order from somewhere else.

Agree, day tripping is brutal.  Let me know when you're available, for either day or overnight trip.  I can probably dive Saturday.  Probably not Sunday, I've got to take some newb named Grammar Police out and show him how to fish.   

Thats a pretty shady move.  Wallins carries them also.  I'd go with whoever can get it to me quicker and cheapest.

Nice job, I didnt realize it was the last chance, Im smoking my last ab this Sat...
Looked like epic conditions...

daytripping is brutal. 

Thanks for the report. I am envious.
The older you get the more brutal it becomes. I have 'pull-over-and-sleep' locations already planned ahead of time when I try a drive 'n dive.
It is much easier to stay the night. If I only have 1 night I prefer to wake up at the dive location, dive, then come home. That way I am better rested for the physical part of the trip.
I hope that next season the Weather Gods and Weekend Gods can get together the way they did this past weekend.