July
29, 2006
Trip Report and Photos
The Sea Divers on the Sea Bass - The Wrecks of the Palawan and the
Star of Scotland &The Los Angeles Hyperion Outflow (Sewer) Pipe
Story
and Photos © Elaine
Jobin. May not be reproduced in part or whole without advanced
written permission.
Saturday
morning The Sea Divers boarded
the Sea Bass for our 7am
departure. The Sea Bass had moved to a new dock at Ports O' Call in
San Pedro. Now located behind a Crab Restaurant it was pretty easy
to find.
We
shoved off and headed toward Redondo for our first dive on the Palawan.
The
Palawan
The
Palawan looked a little different than usual from the surface - the
buoy marker was missing! After several runs over the wreck our Captain
dropped anchor near the bow.
Our
dive started with the trip down the anchor line to the wreck. We weren't
exactly anchored on the wreck, but we were near by on a sandy bottom
cris crossed with piling debris. It took a little searching to find
the structure. These are some of my Photos from the Palawan.
The
water, at least near the surface, was warm - 68º+, and visibility
has been good at 20+ feet. Even with the good conditions, it was necessary
to start a Score Card.
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The
Sea Diver 2006 Palawan Score Card
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Hall
of Shame - Didn't find the Wreck - Roger, Chris, and John
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Hall
of Fame - Found the Wreck
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The
Star of Scotland
Next,
we headed to the Santa Monica Bay to visit the Star of Scotland.
This
time the anchor was in the sand a little further from the wreck. It
took a some searching to find the structure. Chris located the wreck
by matching his surface GPS heading up with his compass. I used the
"no brainer scientific method" and followed Gene Greenberg's
line from the anchor. I spent some time floundering in the sand with
Gene while we ran a search pattern, but eventually, we got it right.
The
visibility on the Star of Scotland wasn't as good as on the Palawan,
but, it was the best that I've seen for the area. There were several
black sea bass sightings on the wreck.
After
this dive, we once again found the need for a Score Card.
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The
Sea Diver 2006 Star of Scotland Score Card
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Hall
of Shame - Didn't find the Wreck - Walter, Jeanne, and Laura
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Hall
of Fame, Found the Wreck
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The
Los Angeles Hyperion Outflow (Sewer) Pipe
Our last
dive site of the day was the Outflow Pipe of the Hyperion sewage treatment
plant. The vicinity of the outflow pipe is a "no anchor zone"
so we used a live boat drop off and pick up. At the site of our drop
off, the top of the pipe was approximately 35 feet deep and the surrounding
sand was about 50 feet deep. We were miles from the actual outflow
area.
The
pipe was an amazingly interesting and colorful place to dive. It was
covered with gorgonian's and other invertebrate life. Crabs were prevalent
in the rocky pipe supports. Walter videoed two sheep crabs mating
and later found a huge lobster molt.
The
Trip Home
We
had a fun day of diving on the Sea Bass. There was a lot of sleeping
going on on the way home.
Thanks
to the Captain and Crew for a terrific day!
We
were also happy to be reuniting someone with their lost property.
The week prior to our trip Frank Farmer put the following post up
on the diver.net BBS:
"Expensive
trip today: dropped my Manta Sr. reel returning from a STAR OF SCOTLAND
dive. Had that monkey for over 15 years. When I bought it, it was
under 50 bucks, new they're now over 150 buck-o's, slightly less on
Leisure Pro, but when you add in shipping...
Anybody got a used one, Jr. or Sr. I could buy? I'm missing my "baby";
boo hoo."
On
our trip, John Delaney found Franks Manta Reel near the Star of Scotland.
Phil
Garner (aka Max Bottomtime) met us at the dock to pick up the reel.
And,
finally later in the week, Frank got his reel back!
A
happy ending for all!
Until
Next Time.........
