Epic conditions great dives

We got to Ft Bragg Thur morning and it was windy. Not too windy to dive but enough to take a little bit of the fun out of it. There were sheep out there. My dive buddies weren't coming until Friday so I just hung out with the family and had a nice sushi dinner. Friday we woke to no wind at all. Straun and his friend Larry flew up and we took the Achilles out to the front of some cliffs with no shore access. There was almost no swell, there was no wind and the vis was great. We dropped anchor in 25' and could see the anchor on the bottom. Oh, I forgot to mention a negative tide also and the vis was still great.

I got in and could see large abs from the surface. We picked our abs from the suface with most of them in the 9.25-9.5 range. Didn't see many fish other than perch and greenlings. I don't care for them so I didn't shoot any. We stopped at a spot in the cove on the way back in where Straun lost his iron and float line a couple of weeks ago. The vis in the cove was 5-6 feet. Straun found his line and iron and we came in. They went back to Sac but I still had a day left in Ft Bragg.

None of you ladies could drive up there to go out on the boat so I went out today at a different spot from shore with an ab float. I walked a long way down the beach and realized I didn't have my stringer or snorkel. I was too warm to walk all the way back to the truck so I went in without a snorkel. It reminded me of Brian at Shelter Cove last year. I wasn't worried about the stringer because the place I was diving isn't known for fish.
Within 100 yards of shore I was going over a large rock formation where the water was only 4-5 ft deep. I swam right over a 24"ish ling. He was maybe 6-10 inches below my outstretched hand. I wasn't positive he was 24" so I swam on and he never moved. Abing without a snorkel sucks more than I can describe. I went to an area where the kelp is normally thick. It was much worse today because of the negative tide. I got 2 abs and decided to move to deeper water and see what I could find. I got some deeper water and the kelp was almost all gone. I saw a bigger ab (big for where I was about 8.5) and was just about to dive when  a 30"ish ling swam directly below me in 20-25 ft of water.  I didn't have a snorkel so I had to take my face out of the water and get my gun from the tube. I looked for that ling for almost an hour and never saw him again. There were no caves anywhere that I could see. I wish I could have stayed longer. Those were some of the best conditions I've seen up north.     

There were some Korean guys diving near me and they said they put bull kelp (the ribbons that stream from the top of the bulbs) in boiling water for about three seconds, wash it with cold water and then eat it with chili sauce. Has anyone tried something like this? Is it legal to cultivate bull kelp. I would love it if I could eat something so plentiful.

Hey Dave, remember the sheltered little cove you took me to on the kayaks a few years ago? Some old guy pulled a 9.5 out of there today. Not bad for the most sheltered spot on the coast.

There were some Korean guys diving near me and they said they put bull kelp (the ribbons that stream from the top of the bulbs) in boiling water for about three seconds, wash it with cold water and then eat it with chili sauce. Has anyone tried something like this? Is it legal to cultivate bull kelp. I would love it if I could eat something so plentiful.

Thx for sharing Merv. Where r the pics man. You're killing us armchair freedivers! Like i said, i'm diving weekdays this year, so let me know.

Re: the bull kelp, i do the same as the other Korean guys.  I even wrap ab sashimi with it sometimes, with chili sauce. I use the korean chili paste mixed with some sesame oil.
As for legality, my unederstanding is that u can cut it on the strand, but not at the bulb (so they continue to grow).

Peace, y'all

Sounds like you've had some great ocean therapy and Abs too.  Thanks for the trip report Merv.

Glad you got in the water, Merv. No snorkel must have been a royal pain - it is really tiring to hold your head up. Sounds like you got some great abs though. 9+ inchers are big. Never ate kelp. If you do, let us know how it is. How did you like your new wetsuit? Were you warm the whole time?

Yeah the Rob Allen wetsuit never got chilly at all. I'm going to have to have some bull kelp appetizer. I didn't take pictures of the abs because ab pictures all look the same to me unless you have a 10" guage on one. The next trip I do with good vis I want to focus on fish spots and hunt lings/cabs. Most trips I go on we spend the majority of time looking for big abs.

I'll keep you in mind for the next trip John.  I'll see amost of you at Shelter Cove in three weeks. 

Glad you had a great time up north! Come down south for the RF opener 

Hey Lt.,

thanks for the report. Isn't diving so much better with a warm suit. About the snorkel issue. Last week , i dove a spot in the southern lost coast and lost my snorkel after a 25 or so dives. Didn't want to give up so kept at it. It sucked as you mentioned. But, I did about 80 more dives without it and finally figured it out. My bottom times suffered severely until I go into a groove. But, it still stunk to the inth degree. Glad you hit some ripping calm, clear water and some big Abs.  See you at GS5,

Shannon

Glad you hit some ripping calm, clear water and some big Abs.  See you at GS5

+1

I'm looking forward to diving with everyone at Shelter Cove. I'm bringing the wife this time and staying in a hotel. It's going to be good.

Congrats on the abs Merv.