Vis is good

Was up on the coast and the vis was good. Water was flat the last couple of days.

Hey Elt,

that was quite an impressive report. It reads like a U know what report. Very succint, straightforward, brevitous How the hell did your do? Fish/Abs, fun meter, etc. Wished I could have joined you. Super stoked to plan a trip late summer or early fall. Lets make it happen. Hope your had a ripping trip!

Shannon

 

I was too tired to write last night but I wanted to let people know it's a good time to get up there. We had been planning this trip for wekks. We were going with family and friends. We ended up with 20 people and I was the only diver. The plan was to drive up Thursday evening after everyone got off work, soccer practice etc. I was going to take Thursday off and spend the entire day packing and making sure we were completely prepared.

The week at work didn't go the way I needed it to so not only did I not get off Thursday but I had to work a little late. I got home and my daughters were giving me the "are we ready yet" and "we're ready let's go" treatment. It was 95 degrees outside and my garage opens directly to the west with sun beating into it while I try to deal with a bunch of girls and the anticipation of trying to drive late at night while exhausted.

I realized we were not going to make it all the way to Manchester (4.5 hours of driving) that night so I had to take even longer packing the truck carefully so I could make room for 5 people to sleep somewhere on the road that night. Noone on the board had answered up to meet for a dive so I decided to leave the boat at home and have one less thing to worry about.

By 9:30 at night I had everything packed with the kayaks on the roof and we left. I had been up since 5 am and was tired as soon as we got on the highway. I was determined to get there in time for a Friday morning dive and knew I wouldn't make it if I tried to leave Friday morning no matter what time I tried to leave. I made it to Fairfield and had to pull over to sleep. We got up in the morning and finished the drive. I unpacked the truck and I was going to go get some ling and abs while the girls set up camp and went swimming at the heated pool.

Those of you that have traveled with me or discussed gear with me know that I use a check list with every single individual item when I pack. I neg people that don't have check lists to use one so we don't get all the way to the coast and have problems. I didn't use the check list because I was in a hurry and I did a walk through of the entire garage and house to make sure I didn't forget anything. I even went through all the garage drawers.

I was getting my dive stuff back into the truck to go dive and realized I didn't have my license/tags.  I had prepped my dive bag a week or two prior and was sure I had put them in the bag and they were nowhere to be seen when I did my garage walk through. I told my wife that she would be getting more time with me for the weekend because I couldn't go hunt.

There is a guy on Spearboard that goes by the name Vinwalrus. I told him I would be up at Manchester. But he was camping farther south on the coast so I didn't expect to see him. We had tried to hook up a dive a couple of times in the past but had never met in person.

Saturday I was sitting in my truck reading a book and Vinwalrus (John) drives up and wants to dive. He had his 8 year old son with him. We went to the regular spot that you would take an 8 year old and launched. I told John that I would dive even though I couldn't take game. I knew the place we were diving din't have any big abs in close but I knew where a bunch of 7.5s were close to shore and I have found good fish there before. John's son kicked out on the Banksboard with us and we went to the spot. John got his three abs, his son got one and John shot a fat cab right in the cave/hole where I have found ling/rockfish before.

We got back to camp and John gifted me three abs and the cab for our group that was expecting me to feed them abs and fish. John owns a wine company and gave us a bottle of wine to go with our dinner. My wife made him a ghetto Mocha and a PBJ for him and his son. John headed back to his camp and I went to work cleaning the abs and fish. The cab had a big octopus in its belly. My wife cooked the fish in lemon and herb seasoning salt and olive oil, no breading. There were 20 people like a pack of wolves on that stuff and it was gone as fast as it was put out. Thanks John, you are a true gentleman.

Sunday I took everyone up to Van Damme to go through the sea caves on the yaks. The water by the caves was clear enough that I could see some detail on the bottom in about 15-20 fow. We went into Fort Bragg afterward and ate at the hotdog restaurant (nothing special and they were out of Polish Dogs). We drove home and Now I am headed back to work. It was a good weekend but I felt sick when I realized I had forgotten my license.   

Hey Shannon, we need to get out there in the remoteness where you can get a 10" ab and I can get a ling big enough to swallow it. 

Merv, ripping write up on your trip. Man, I've been there. Your tired as hell and trying to get everything together and the time crunch is stressing yout out. I felt for you while reading your report. That sucks about the license. Have been there before too. But, you made the best of it and all went well. Yes, we need to get a trip together before too long. Lets stay in touch,

Shannon

Good read! I was at Van Damme on Saturday and took my place in the water with the other 150 or so souls seeking mollusks. My daughter was home from College (20 yo)and told me she wanted to try abalone diving. So, we did it. Great time, she got a limit of decent abs (7.75"-8.25") as we kayaked a little ways away from the hordes.