The unique experience may not be right for all divers, as it’s certainly different from my Caribbean and Atlantic experiences as far as North Carolina, but I would generally and strongly recommend it as a must try! Our West Coast divers would see my experience simply as “The Weekend,” while the Warm Water Wusses and Vacation Divers would see it more as “Inhuman,” but to me it was a wonderful adventure. I knew to allow for water down to 50 degrees F, and that California dive boats often do not supply tanks and weights as many of us are accustomed to expecting, but I just bought a 7 mil jumpsuit to wear over my 1 mil skin, heavy boots, gloves, beanie, then made arrangements for Capt. Tim of The Great Escape to come up with a 80 cf standard aluminum tank and some of the weight I’d need to sink my Michelin Man outfit.
I also knew that dry hours aboard would be very casual, and I’d not need my CD player or coffee maker I usually pack for land based adventures, so I substituted my usual over packing approach with a couple of towels, a sheet and pillow case, a set of sweats, and 15# of lead – half of what I’d expect to need – in my cheap Wilson bag from Wal-Mart. (See “High Cost of Cheap Bags,” elsewhere here.) To my dismay, though, my bargain bag gave up a seam en route, fortunately spilling none of my respective plastic bags nor my Pony Bottle, but – losing all but one 3# soft weight!
CRAP!! All I could do was forging ahead and hope, and – thanks to a wonderful misunderstanding, Capt. Tim had 25# waiting for me. It was good to know that the diving dimi-gods were favoring me so far, 
but I vowed not to push my luck further over the weekend.Super Shuttle got me from the LAX massive complex to Long Beach’s Berth #55 in short order, and soon I was settling in, making a bunk, meeting others (I think everyone else knew each other already), arranging for a local boat mate to pick up a bottle of Kailua on his evening town trip, and preparing to sail after midnight. The GE advertises a crew of six, but we were well cared for by two Captains, two Dive Masters, and four teenagers in functional training. We set up our kits that night to be ready to stride first thing in the morning, and – even though conditions discouraged the Night Captain from trying for Santa Barbara Island, we awoke to a remote location on the front of Catalina. “That’ll do nicely, thanks!”
It was a simple approach for the next 2-1/2 days: dive, eat as we moved, dive, eat moving again, nap briefly on deck until the boat stopped, dive, eat moving, nap, dive, eat moving, and just keep repeating until I’d had enough. I missed the very first dive opportunity in the morning, and I passed on the first night dive, but I got 4 done the first day, closing my personal gate by opening the coffee liqueur, then put in a good 10 hours of quality bunk time.
I made 5 the second day at San Clemente Island – opting for Happy Hour again rather than the night dive, slept hard again, and did 3 more the third morning on the back side of Catalina – passing in happy exhaustion on the last opportunity. And the sites I saw…!! 
As usual, I missed some of the fishes and invertebrates some others saw, but I was never disappointed in the variety of plants and animals I was able to spot – most of which cannot be seen on the other side of the continent, some no where else in the world. Swimming through the bottom of a kelp bed is in itself pretty mystic, but many other plants in a variety of colors and shapes were found on many dives. See DrBill’s galleries for a good coverage of all the sites possible, but no one could be disappointed even if they saw only a portion of the possible life.
Being at sea on a nice boat with good food and other divers is in itself a fun experience for the off-gassing Surface Intervals, but there were interesting sights above as well: feeding dolphins that turned playful on whim, bald eagles that chased the dolphins for a share of their herded fish, seagull flocks that chased the eagles back to shore, squadrons of pelicans, some birds I didn’t recognize, sea lions and seals. One piniped (not sure which) met our boat when we anchored, floated watching, and then jolted underwater as soon as he heard the first diver splash on the other side. Someone was in for a fin pull.
I never trust a computer’s thermometer, as they are so slow to register and so often just wrong, but I think one of mine does a pretty good job on temps – if I can stay at depth long enough for it to read. With two 114 foot dives and a number pushing a hundred, I saw 50-55 degrees F several times, but even on Air only, I loaded only up to barely yellow once, exiting the water always in green.
The bunks were a little crowded and next time I’m taking an inflatable pool mattress to soften mine, but they were fine for intense sleep. Thirty three divers shared two heads, two indoor showers, and two deck showers, but we clearly had everything we needed.
Gawd, but I love this sport. I wish I hadn’t waited until I was an old fart to start, but I’m loving making up for lost time, and this was a time to love….!!
Edited by DandyDon, 02 June 2004 - 07:17 PM.
