Sea Sabres Scuba Diving club, Southern
California, Fullerton
Sea Sabres
Dive Spots
San
Miguel Island
Peace trip February 5, 2000
By:
Walter Marti
In the days leading up to this dive, all the wise
weathermen were predicting high seas, rain and a generally miserable
weekend. Many called me to ask, “If we
were still planning on going?” “Don’t pay too much heed to the wise
weatherman,” I told all, “After all Captain Eric is quite fearless in the face
of storms. He has made peace with the
waves so many times, that he named his boat the Peace.”
When we motored out of the harbor at midnight, I
lied awake anticipating the rough seas once we passed the harbor. After all, the wise weathermen can’t all be
wrong. I lied awake for almost an hour
waiting to exit the harbor. I finally
fell asleep, the harbor must have been bigger than I had remembered. Where was the rough water? When I awoke at 6:30, I still thought he
must be in the harbor. I ventured
upstairs and found that we were beyond San Miguel at Boomerang Banks. The Pacific was living up to it’s name, it
was quite peaceful. I love diving these
seamount, it was quite spectacular and beautiful. The hunters collected a lot of scallops and the photographers had
a field day shooting the invertebrate life.
The water was a warm 57°, visibility was easily 40 feet plus.
Our second stop was at Wilson’s Rock. Another, spectacular dive. Seeing as it was so rough, we were able to
anchor tight up against the rock. The
hunters gathered more scallops, the photographers took more pictures, the sight
seers saw more sights and I decided to go off for a swim around the rock. The back side was quite incredible. It was a straight wall that went from 40
feet in depth to well over 150 feet
deep. I swam up and down it to110 feet
and there was no bottom in sight. This
cruising was a treat for me. I normally
have my video in tow, and find myself planted on a rock under the boat. Totally engrossed in the ‘slice of life’ I
can find on that rock. But sadly, my
camera was in the hospital on this day.
The third dive brought us near the island and to Castle
Reef. It was like a castle, with
lots of nooks and crannies to swim through and along. Many, including myself, seen absolutely largest lingcods ever. Four foot plus. Monsters, and out of season for the hunters. There were also some very large sheephead swimming
around. The visibility was odd.
We had 30 to 40 feet on the reef, beyond 60 feet deep it was pea soup.
This brought us up to lunch time. A very tasty and satisfying lunch was served. I must apologies here to the crew of the
Peace. Breakfast and lunch was great,
but I don’t remember what was served. I
don’t go on dive boats to eat, I go to dive!
If the food was crappy, I’d remember and let you know. There were many aboard, that could recite
exactly what was served. I guess, I
should deputize them as a food critic next time we’re on the Peace.
During lunch we made a slow cruise to Santa Rosa
and Talcott Shoals. We were
looking for lobster. There were a few
taken, I got two nice ones. Overall
there weren’t a lot of lobster taken, nor seen. I would like to thank all those that came along, Dave Gunning,
Terry Sobolewski, Karl Hafbauer, Hans and Marsha Eckert, Jeff Shipley, David
Morketter, Ron and Blake Koerner, Lloyd Howell, Peter Gallup, Andy Loska,
Denise Baca, Ron Prange, Irene Lewis, Mark Metildi and Susie Horowitz.
Also a thanks to the crew of the Peace for a great
day of diving,
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