Black Friday, limits of ABS & REDS with a few Ambers thrown in as well 11-23-12

I woke up around 9AM Friday morning and noticed a missed call from one of my diving buddies. I returned his call and agreed to meet him at his place for another spontaneous ab run to Van Damme. There was a small window that looked like the swell would be down but vis might be an issue due to Thursdays huge swells.

We arrived at Van Damme at 2 PM to beautiful skies and calm waters.  We quickly suited up and entered the water for a shore dive at 2:20 PM. To my surprise the water was clear again with at least 15 feet of vis. I couldn't believe my luck to have this type of conditions based on the previous days WX  . The ocean was chock full of large schools of these tiny little critters that I had never seen before. They were about 3/16" long and brown in color. My buddy said it was krill but I wasn't sure if he was correct or just talking out of his ass  . There were several large schools of smelt that I noticed throughout my dive as well.

I kicked out to a spot that I wanted to re-aquaint myself with but when I got there a couple of free divers with pole spears were working the same area. I decided to move on to a different spot and quickly found a nice rocky area littered with abs. I popped my 3-8” abs in this new spot and then made my way back to shore to tag my harvest.

My buddy was pressed for time because he wanted to make it to a nearby winery before closing. Since we were in a rush I didn't have time to take any pics at Van Damme. I did however snap a few from our moving vehicle on our way to the Brutocao Winery. We ended up making it there with about 10 minutes to spare before their 5:00 PM closing time. Our luck continued when they graciously kept the tasting room open for us to sample all of their wines.

One hour later we left the premises with purple tainted lips and teeth and one case of wine for me “limit of REDS” and three cases for him.

We then made a B-line to the Anderson Valley Brewing Company since it is one of my favorites and they also happen to close at 7:00 PM. We arrived there at 6:00 PM to find that the only patrons there were the brewery workers that had just gotten off of work. They were there enjoying the fruits of their labor. I befriended a very social worker that was extremely knowledgeable about all the beers on tap. After an hour of BSing with this guy it turned out that he was the Brew Master for the Anderson Valley Brewing Company  .

 Feeling generous I felt it only fitting in departing to gift him one of my abs since I had enjoyed his beers for the past 3 years. He was very appreciative of my gift and offered to buy our drinks next time we were in town. 

I ended up getting home at around 11:30 PM after stopping for a big dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Cloverdale.

It was a very eventful and long Black Friday that I will remember for years to come.

Antonio

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Simply putting it... SWEEEET! glad u had a blast bro.

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Thanks for the diving report and pictures Antonio,

What a cool trip!!

Congrats Antonio, we need to hook up and dive together soon!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Thanks Guys

What a cool trip!!

Congrats Antonio, we need to hook up and dive together soon!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

I need to take baby steps to get to your level buddy. But it's my goal.
Thanks

Quality fun run, Antonio - that's the way to pack in the Good Times.   

Thanks Eric, It was definitely a long day but worth every minute.