MISSION BRIEFING
Date: August 15th, 2010 | Time: 6am-6pm | Description: Three dives at Catalina Island and a tour of the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. Accompanied by special guest James Kyson-Lee.
I arrived at the Sundiver in Long Beach, CA, on August 14th around 9 pm.
While I was loading the boat with my overnight pack and dive gear I noticed there were about 4 other people doing the same thing.
After a quick round of introductions there was a decision made to go to McKenna's for a dockside dinner, drinks, and some live entertainment.
This was so much fun! Amazing dive stories and getting to know people over a beer who all shares the same passion.
Heading back to the Sundiver I noticed a much larger group on the boat the captain, crew and many more divers.
After an hour we heard an announcement over the loud speaker.
It said that in about 7 hours we would be heading off to the oil rigs.
Everyone crowded into the bunks and crashed for the night.
After a quick breakfast we headed to the massive and slightly intimidating oil rig accompanied by a few dolphin escorts.
The anticipation of waiting for the the first group of divers was killing me. Finally it was our turn.
As the boat backed up to the rig and we got booted off one by one, the Sundiver quickly pulled away.
I waved by to the sea lions on the Eureka and dropped under the surface.
The first thing I saw was a pelagic about 4 feet long. It was the biggest I've ever seen.
It looked like a clear honeycomb with marbles stuck in every opening.
The giant pillars were taken over by every colored anomy.
I also saw scallops of course they were also covered with anemones, schools of bait fish and garibaldi sheep heads.
It was hard to think about all the things that are there that I wouldn't get to see because it is impossible to see it all in only one dive.
I would have to come back. Then, all too soon, the dive is over.
After lunch and a two hour boat ride to the decompression chamber on Catalina Island there was just enough time for a quick nap.
When we got to the island the weather was perfect. We pull into a small cove where the water was Caribbean blue and there found what looked like a large airplane hangar.
When we got to the door there were three men dressed in the same blue polo shirt. They invited us inside to see the chamber.
It was much larger than I thought it would be. The three chamber operators explained in great detail how it all worked.
It was instantly obvious that there wasn't a question we could've come up with that they couldn't answer.
After making us take off our shoes and inviting us all to cram in to the actual decompression chamber, they told a few stories that made me feel like I would never want to visit the chamber with decompression sickness but if I did, I would be in great hands.
After that we headed back to the sundiver.
It was roughly a five minute ride to our next dive site.
Our destination was a patch of kelp floating on the surface about five hundred feet from the island.
When I jumped in the water the first thing I noticed was the current dragging me towards the kelp bed due to a perfectly planned anchoring of the boat.
My dive buddy jumped in and we submerged on a giant rock wall and head down eighty feet.
Swimming into the current, we drifted through a school of bright blue blacksmith fish.
My dive buddy stopped me and pointed out a Cabazon fish I had missed due to its camouflage.
The visibility was about sixty feet.
We started to see bubbles in the distance and ran into a few divers laying on their back staring up at the beams of light shining through the kelp.
On our assent to the surface I spotted a giant fried egg jellyfish. I popped my head up through the kelp and swam to the boat.
This was one of the best short dive trips I've been on due to the incredible crew and divers also the amount of different things we did in such a short time. I think the Get Unbent dive trip was a total success and can't wait for the next one. Thanks Roddenberry dive team!
- Josh Rose
More pictures...
Photos by Josh Rose
BLOGAPHER BIO:
Josh Rose was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
He grew up near the ocean and has been around it all of his life.
Josh started taking scuba classes in 2000, but couldn't finish due to a cold snowy New England winter.
Finally in 2001, he got certified.
Instantly, he was hooked and hasn't stopped diving since.
Josh has dove Rincon Puerto Rico, Vieques Island, Cozumel, Cancun, Cabo, Playa Del Carmine, Grand Bahamas Island, Nassau, the Exumas Islands, the Berry Island's, Kona, Oahu, Outer Islands Boston, Rockport /Gloucester Mass., James Town Rhode Island, Walden Pond Mass, Blue Hole in New Mexico, Belize, and San Diego.
He lived and worked in the Bahamas for 6 months and there he dove at least 2 times a week.
When Josh returned to the U.S. he managed a dive shop on the East Coast for about 3 years.
He dove throughout all 4 seasons on the east coast including the cold snowy winters.
While shoveling snow in front of the dive shop one day he decided to move to San Diego CA.
Josh managed a dive shop in San Diego for 5 years.
His certification level is assistant instructor and he has three thousand plus dives.
He's still diving and loving it.
