Trip Report and Photos
Diving with Ross O
Hawthorn's Reef
November 30, 2008

Story and Photos © Elaine Jobin, may not be reproduced in part or whole without advanced written permission.

Sunday Ross invited Phil, Merry, and myself out for another dive day. Last weekend the ocean had hosted us with wonderful visibility and conditions. We were eager to get out and get some more of the same.

Everything was different today though, it was foggy with poor vis above the ocean, and heavy with floating sand and poor vis below. At Hawthorn's visibility was 10ft at best.. Even at 70 fsw, there was plenty of surge. A very bad day for wide angle photography.

Unless it was topside wide angle. This is what it looked like near Old Marineland.

Anyway, Ross went into his role as "super model" for a few photos at Hawthorn's, and I had to stay really close for somewhat decent results.

Phil pulled out his macro and went to work in the surge on the nudis and cone snails. Somehow I never got a picture of Merry.

I think Ross got bored of being followed so closely by a fisheye dome port as he started checking out every nook and cubby hole in the reef.

He finally found a hole big enough to crawl into.

Hum, where in the world was Ross O?

Ohhhh! He was lobster hunting, and he caught one. He let the lucky guy go.

After an hour we too a final look around and returned to the surface.

Back on the boat the dive boat Sea Bass pulled up. They reported poor visibility, even at the Avalon. So, after one long dive - we called it a day.

On the way back to the slip, we passed a dead, bloated, really stinky sea lion. A sad sight.