May
5 - 6, 2005
Trip Report and Photos
San Miguel Island, the Oil Rig Grace,
and Anacapa Island
with the Sea Divers on the Peace
Story
and Photos © Elaine
Jobin. May not be reproduced in part or in whole without
advanced written permission.
On May, 5 -6, 2005
the Sea Divers went
to San Miguel Island, the Oil Rig Grace, and Anacapa Island
(all in one trip) on the Peace.
We boarded the Peace
on the evening of May 4th. My Thursday evening commute, from
home to Ventura, took me through several heavy, cloud bursting,
rain storms. I sat in traffic wondering what kind of dive trip
lay ahead. By the time that I arrived at the boat however, the
weather had completely changed to clear and mild. Everyone was
optimistic that we would make our planned dive destinations.
Chris Grossman showed
us his new toy. He was taking his housed Olympus 8080 digital
camera system on its maiden salt water submersion.
The overnight ride
to San Miguel Island was mostly a smooth one. At sunrise we
were almost at our first dive site, and, we saw that it was
going to be a weather perfect dive day.
Our first two dives
were at the pinnacles known as "Boomerang" and "Wilson's". The
water looked a little green and there was some mild current
and surge. Captain Eric announced that the diving conditions
should be good at depths greater than 60 feet, and, that is
exactly what we found. The anemone covered landscape combined
with 50 feet of visibility was eye popping. Photographers began
their hillside strobe light show and those choosing to hunt
set off in search of scallops or rockfish.
After the pinnacle
dives we headed for shallower water. Our next three dives were
at "The Canyons", "Shark Park", and "Wescott Shoal". "The Canyons"
had some beautiful swim throughs and sand channels. "Shark Park"
had no sharks but did have lots of fish and some sea lions.
"Wescott Shoal" had interesting terrain and some huge sheephead.
I opted to shoot macro and close up on these dives and got lots
of photos of nudibranchs. I also found an orange sea cucumber
that I have never seen before
Those who were hunting
brought up several good size fish.
After five great
dives, we began our journey toward the Oil Rig Grace and anchored
in a cove off Santa Cruz Island for the night. Day two began
with the bright chipper faces of dedicated divers.
As we approached
the Oil Rig Grace, Captain Eric herded everyone into the galley
for a detailed briefing. Then we waited for a supply boat to
clear the rig.
Next Capatin Eric
maneuvered the boat for the transfer of the candy bag containing
the "diver list". A satisfied nod from the rig official in the
yellow hat began our dive day.
Eager Sea Divers
prepared for the live boat drop off the bow.
Visibility on the
rigs was probably at least 80 feet on the first round of dives.
Wow, perfect conditions!
By the second dive,
visibility had decreased to perhaps 50 feet and a mild current
had started to run. I spent this dive searching the columns
for macro subjects and came up with lots of nudibranchs, anemones,
and barnacles to keep my shutter finger happy. I spotted a few
blennies darting briefly out of the safety of their empty shell
homes but I wasn't fast enough to photograph them. Tiny shrimp
were present by the billions and climbed onto our wet suits
and dry suits at every opportunity. Even the yellow nudibranch
in the photo below was wearing a small shrimp.
During my safety
stop I found a nudibranch that I had not seen before. He was
a challenge to photograph due to considerable surge. An email
to Michael Miller at the Sea Slug
Site helped me to identify him as a Triopha
maculate or spotted triopha. This nudibranch has many
different color variations that can make identification confusing.
Next, we went to
Anacapa Island for our last two dives.
Parallel reef was
a scenic combination of shallow kelp beds, a deeper brittle
star encrusted rocky reef and a sandy bottom. There were several
Giant Black Sea Bass sightings.
This is also where
Chris and I found the Gurney's Sea Pen at about 90 feet. Chris
took the wide angle photo and I did the macro.
Our last dive was
at "coral Reef". Captain Eric said that there are only a few
times a year when this site has good diving conditions and today
was one of them. He cautioned us that strong currents are common
and that they could come up during the dive. We were lucky and
had a nice easy dive to end our tirp.
Of special note
on this trip:
We were a group of
happy Sea Divers on the trip back to Ventura Harbor
When we arrived at
the Harbor, the storm runoff was a stark contrast to the beautiful
diving conditions that we had had out at the islands.
Captain Eric and
the Peace Crew - you did another flawless job of keeping us
pampered, well fed, and entertained for two awesome days. Thank
you so much for everything.
Until Next Time.............
