Monday, November 29, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Last Dive - First Ten!
As is my customary practice, I skipped out on shopping on Black Friday, and since Poseidon had granted us divers a boon, found myself paddling the kayak with Pat to our new favorite abalone spot. We couldn't have asked for much better weather. Light breeze, sunny, a touch cool, but the seas were flat like all get out. Flat like dive anywhere. Flat like try out that spot you can only dive a few days a year flat.
We checked a new area, which I believe still has some big ones hiding out in the kelp, and then popped back over to a really productive spot we hit a couple times this season already. Lots and lots of abalone from just-emergent fives right up to big nines living in perfect harmony. I don't think many people ever get into this spot.
After scouting a bit, I saw a huge one on my way up. When I surfaced, and I told Pat there was a big one "right there." A couple breaths later, I was back down at it. It was bigger than a 9.5, so that would be a record for me. I popped it, then gauged it underwater, and it was bigger than 10. Started singing the abalone song in my head. Measured again. Plain-and-obvious first 10. Not a clicker. Then I realized I needed to breathe. Sounded the ten-inch alarm when Pat surfaced and barely tucked it through the opening on my game bag.
10-1/4" x 8-1/4"
We limited out since the season is over. My others were 9-plus, as has been everything I've pulled later this season. Once I get a chance, I'll do a review post for this season. Next year I plan to focus even more on hunting the giants and encouraging friends to understand the resource and sport of abalone diving.
We checked a new area, which I believe still has some big ones hiding out in the kelp, and then popped back over to a really productive spot we hit a couple times this season already. Lots and lots of abalone from just-emergent fives right up to big nines living in perfect harmony. I don't think many people ever get into this spot.
After scouting a bit, I saw a huge one on my way up. When I surfaced, and I told Pat there was a big one "right there." A couple breaths later, I was back down at it. It was bigger than a 9.5, so that would be a record for me. I popped it, then gauged it underwater, and it was bigger than 10. Started singing the abalone song in my head. Measured again. Plain-and-obvious first 10. Not a clicker. Then I realized I needed to breathe. Sounded the ten-inch alarm when Pat surfaced and barely tucked it through the opening on my game bag.
10-1/4" x 8-1/4"We limited out since the season is over. My others were 9-plus, as has been everything I've pulled later this season. Once I get a chance, I'll do a review post for this season. Next year I plan to focus even more on hunting the giants and encouraging friends to understand the resource and sport of abalone diving.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Gerstle Cove 6/13
Pat and I did a SCUBA gear check-out at Gerstle Cove last Sunday. At the end of the month (and first half of the season) we'll be at Russian Gulch (Mendocino) and wanted to use the SCUBA gear, so we decided to give it a test run last weekend. The conditions were really quite nice. Low tide drew out the shore pickers and shallow-water divers who huddled inside the "protection" of the rocks. Outside (where it's safer) there was a good 20 feet of visibility on Sunday, which made our tank dive really quite nice and abalone easy to spot. I'm getting better at reading conditions and forecasts for the North Coast: pay attention to the interaction between swell, wind, and pressure. It was much nicer at 9 am than it had been at low tide (6:30 am).
We headed due south on SCUBA from the rocks just inside the point into about 40 feet of water. Personally, I tended to gravitate to checking out the abalone, but there were a good deal of urchins and fish out there as well. It's still early enough in the season that the kelp hasn't gotten thick. The abalone under "refuge depth" tended to cluster into small groups, but there were a lot of them in the 8 to 9-inch range. I was really glad to see a large number of emergent, sub-legal abalone as well. No giants outside the reserve though. At "turn around" pressure, we shifted our course to the east and swam into the cove. Inside the reserve there is a great deal of life - including a lot of abalone, some quite large. It's a worthy dive, and for a first SCUBA experience on the North Coast, I'd declare it total victory. Only complaint: it was good and cold.
Afterward, we stowed the SCUBA in the truck, grabbed the long fins, and headed out to the calm water to the west of the rocks at the north end of the cove. It was about 20 feet deep, and you could just make out the abalone on the bottom. I dropped my marker in a huge aggregation - no less than 18 legal abalone in a small area, and worked around the rocks, cracks, and caves. I found what was probably a 9, but couldn't mark it and lost track after surfacing. I ended up settling for a thick 8.5" and we headed back.
On the drive home, we checked out the view from the road above Longest Yard (Red Barn South) to consider what seems like a "reef" south of Pedotti. I haven't seen anyone out there yet, but we decided it would be worth the long swim sometime. We also checked out Russian Gulch (Sonoma) from which launching the kayak is out of the question. We had hoped to paddle north from there, but it looks like it'll have to be a swim. We dropped by Randy's store on the way through Sebastopol, and rinsed the gear and prepped the abalone when we got back. I relaxed the muscle by massaging it under warm water, and I have to say that was the tenderest abalone ever. Perfect for sushi or ceviche (it's intended purpose.) I still had to pound the few pieces we fried (no batter - just salt and pepper) but the muscle was so relaxed, I had a hard time cutting it thin with our (dull) knives. Good thing it didn't need it!
It's unlikely I'll get in the water again before Mendocino, so I'll have to make up for it when we get to Russian Gulch. I'd really like to get back into the water by Bolinas, but I need to track down an adventurous buddy for that.
We headed due south on SCUBA from the rocks just inside the point into about 40 feet of water. Personally, I tended to gravitate to checking out the abalone, but there were a good deal of urchins and fish out there as well. It's still early enough in the season that the kelp hasn't gotten thick. The abalone under "refuge depth" tended to cluster into small groups, but there were a lot of them in the 8 to 9-inch range. I was really glad to see a large number of emergent, sub-legal abalone as well. No giants outside the reserve though. At "turn around" pressure, we shifted our course to the east and swam into the cove. Inside the reserve there is a great deal of life - including a lot of abalone, some quite large. It's a worthy dive, and for a first SCUBA experience on the North Coast, I'd declare it total victory. Only complaint: it was good and cold.
Afterward, we stowed the SCUBA in the truck, grabbed the long fins, and headed out to the calm water to the west of the rocks at the north end of the cove. It was about 20 feet deep, and you could just make out the abalone on the bottom. I dropped my marker in a huge aggregation - no less than 18 legal abalone in a small area, and worked around the rocks, cracks, and caves. I found what was probably a 9, but couldn't mark it and lost track after surfacing. I ended up settling for a thick 8.5" and we headed back.
On the drive home, we checked out the view from the road above Longest Yard (Red Barn South) to consider what seems like a "reef" south of Pedotti. I haven't seen anyone out there yet, but we decided it would be worth the long swim sometime. We also checked out Russian Gulch (Sonoma) from which launching the kayak is out of the question. We had hoped to paddle north from there, but it looks like it'll have to be a swim. We dropped by Randy's store on the way through Sebastopol, and rinsed the gear and prepped the abalone when we got back. I relaxed the muscle by massaging it under warm water, and I have to say that was the tenderest abalone ever. Perfect for sushi or ceviche (it's intended purpose.) I still had to pound the few pieces we fried (no batter - just salt and pepper) but the muscle was so relaxed, I had a hard time cutting it thin with our (dull) knives. Good thing it didn't need it!
It's unlikely I'll get in the water again before Mendocino, so I'll have to make up for it when we get to Russian Gulch. I'd really like to get back into the water by Bolinas, but I need to track down an adventurous buddy for that.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Marin Abalone (Finally)
Spent a couple hours yesterday with two guys from the NorCal Underwater Hunters forum in the water off of Marin County. The vis was characteristically awful - 2 feet or less - and the wind was kicking up some waves that prevented us from really exploring as we would have liked.
Colin and Mike said they found a handful of small (couple of flat, legal 7-inchers and smaller) abalone in the cracks centered in the relatively-protected spot. On one dive, I found a pair of 8-9 inch abs sitting on a rock. In hindsight, I should have had a line with me to mark them, 'cause when you find a couple like that, who knows what's under the ledge. In my defense, I really didn't think we'd find any abalone.
So they're out there, but it's nothing like Sonoma (so far.) Up there are spots with hundreds of abalone - many out in the open. So far in Marin, they've been few and far-between, hard to find, and in relatively crappy conditions. The hikes and climbs, or paddles, make the effort similar to just driving to Sonoma where it's easy.
But I remain undeterred. The joy is in the hunt. Nobody took any abalone yesterday - not one of us was going to pop an under 9-inch ab.
Colin and Mike said they found a handful of small (couple of flat, legal 7-inchers and smaller) abalone in the cracks centered in the relatively-protected spot. On one dive, I found a pair of 8-9 inch abs sitting on a rock. In hindsight, I should have had a line with me to mark them, 'cause when you find a couple like that, who knows what's under the ledge. In my defense, I really didn't think we'd find any abalone.
So they're out there, but it's nothing like Sonoma (so far.) Up there are spots with hundreds of abalone - many out in the open. So far in Marin, they've been few and far-between, hard to find, and in relatively crappy conditions. The hikes and climbs, or paddles, make the effort similar to just driving to Sonoma where it's easy.
But I remain undeterred. The joy is in the hunt. Nobody took any abalone yesterday - not one of us was going to pop an under 9-inch ab.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Equalize
Just got back from a short talk given by Robert Lee of Performance Freediving. The main focus of the talk was equalization - a topic on which nearly any diver has something to learn. Robert discussed ways to prepare for your dive, both ahead of time and in the water, and on the Frenzel Fattah equalization technique. I'm not 100% sure that I've got that down yet (will keep practicing until it's natural), but apparently I'm in the 5% of people who can equalize without holding their nose, so I have that going for me already.
It was great to meet some people from the NorCal Underwater Hunters forum at the talk, and other abalone divers from the freediving world. Hope to see you all later this summer for a one-day abalone-diver-focused freediving workshop!
It was great to meet some people from the NorCal Underwater Hunters forum at the talk, and other abalone divers from the freediving world. Hope to see you all later this summer for a one-day abalone-diver-focused freediving workshop!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Big Fins!
Been coveting some real freediving fins for a while now - and thanks to some birthday cash from mom, they're on my feet!
They're Cressi Gara 3000LD - which are more flexible than some other long fins, but apparently that means that my legs will be able to take it, and they won't stiffen up too much in our frigid NorCal water. Leisure Pro had them on supa-sale for $100 and I grabbed a pair of Pinnacle 3mm booties while I was at it. Got them on as I type this and can feel the bones in my feet being squished together, but I figure if I'm not going numb just sitting here, I should be good once out there swimming.
More details after I get them into the water.
They're Cressi Gara 3000LD - which are more flexible than some other long fins, but apparently that means that my legs will be able to take it, and they won't stiffen up too much in our frigid NorCal water. Leisure Pro had them on supa-sale for $100 and I grabbed a pair of Pinnacle 3mm booties while I was at it. Got them on as I type this and can feel the bones in my feet being squished together, but I figure if I'm not going numb just sitting here, I should be good once out there swimming.
More details after I get them into the water.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Dives 29-30 May
Saturday we explored a chunk of coast with the kayak. It's one of those areas where nobody has ever said there are any abalone, and nobody has ever said there aren't any abalone. We figured it would be fun to go and look. The conditions were great - the seas calm, and the visibility wasn't bad, for where we were: 2-3'. Didn't see any abalone, but some spots were so beautiful (giant anenomes, huge carpets of strawberry anenomes, thousands of nudibranchs) that we resolved to return with compressed air and check it out on scuba. Would not be surprised to find some scallops, at least.
It's a little amusing that not finding abalone where I think there should be some only makes me want to search harder.
Carl called me Sunday night 'cause he wanted to do a meat run, and I agreed to set the alarm again and be in Sebastopol at 7am. We went to the same spot we did last time, though around the other side of the rocks. Once again, found an area littered with abalone bigger than 8-inches. Seriously, in plain-sight from the surface. Many right out in the open. Carl still popped his too fast for my liking, but at least he's getting more selective about finding the fat ones, and I see him spending more time with his head underwater. For my efforts, I pulled a 8.75" and a smaller 8.5" for dinner. Was happy to see some small guys this time. Maybe I was just paying more attention.
When we parked, the game wardens were in the process of citing some guys they had obviously been watching from the bluff. Shore-pickers, of course. It didn't seem like they had more than their limit, but there was some dialogue about pulling four, putting something back, walking twenty yards over the reef to hand one to a buddy. Not exactly sure, but there were citations and catch/permit confiscations. Even heard a "you're lucky I'm not taking your gear." I'm glad they're there doing that job. I thanked them as we headed down. They really do have a difficult assignment, and we really do need them out there doing it.
Long fins should arrive this week. Conditions look decidedly meh for the weekend. Better next week. I really want to be in the water.
It's a little amusing that not finding abalone where I think there should be some only makes me want to search harder.
Carl called me Sunday night 'cause he wanted to do a meat run, and I agreed to set the alarm again and be in Sebastopol at 7am. We went to the same spot we did last time, though around the other side of the rocks. Once again, found an area littered with abalone bigger than 8-inches. Seriously, in plain-sight from the surface. Many right out in the open. Carl still popped his too fast for my liking, but at least he's getting more selective about finding the fat ones, and I see him spending more time with his head underwater. For my efforts, I pulled a 8.75" and a smaller 8.5" for dinner. Was happy to see some small guys this time. Maybe I was just paying more attention.
When we parked, the game wardens were in the process of citing some guys they had obviously been watching from the bluff. Shore-pickers, of course. It didn't seem like they had more than their limit, but there was some dialogue about pulling four, putting something back, walking twenty yards over the reef to hand one to a buddy. Not exactly sure, but there were citations and catch/permit confiscations. Even heard a "you're lucky I'm not taking your gear." I'm glad they're there doing that job. I thanked them as we headed down. They really do have a difficult assignment, and we really do need them out there doing it.
Long fins should arrive this week. Conditions look decidedly meh for the weekend. Better next week. I really want to be in the water.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Easy Abalone 5/15
We tried a new (to us) spot on Saturday. It was a -1.26 tide, and there wasn't a place to park the trucks when we arrived. We watched a huge number of shore pickers coming up the trail as we headed down (an hour after low tide.) I asked them all how they did, and was surprised by an overall 'meh' report.
Once into the water, we sorta fanned out as we crossed a large distance of hip-deep rocky bottom. I had a feeling there would be a drop right where there was a little break, and sure enough, there were 8"+ abalone everywhere in about 8' of water.
Am I alone in finding it somewhat disconcerting that nearly all of them are the same size? I think I gauged about 25 abalone that were 8-8.5" and only one that was 7.25". Maybe all the other sevens were hanging out elsewhere with the sixes and fives. Maybe they crawl into the intertidal and get scooped up by the pickers. Anyhow, I think I came out with 3 8.5" shells. I'd like to spend more time and find the bigger ones, but was feeling a little pressure with a newb in tow and buddies who collected a limit on the way out that were ready to swim back. Next time, I'll just send them in and take more time I think....
Congratulations to Matt who spontaneously became an abalone diver late Friday night, and managed to pull the biggest, fattest abalone of all Saturday. Good job on that first limit - I'm sure there will be many more.
I haven't been ignoring the blog, and my abalone obsession remains unchecked. I've been working on an "epic" piece of literature about the abalone fishery, the Abalone Recovery and Management Plan, the Marine Life Protection Act, and how it all fits together for abalone divers and fans. I've seen more than one loquacious post followed by someone wishing the whole situation were more clear. I'm shooting for something with minimum verbosity and maximum understanding. Stay tuned.
Once into the water, we sorta fanned out as we crossed a large distance of hip-deep rocky bottom. I had a feeling there would be a drop right where there was a little break, and sure enough, there were 8"+ abalone everywhere in about 8' of water.
Am I alone in finding it somewhat disconcerting that nearly all of them are the same size? I think I gauged about 25 abalone that were 8-8.5" and only one that was 7.25". Maybe all the other sevens were hanging out elsewhere with the sixes and fives. Maybe they crawl into the intertidal and get scooped up by the pickers. Anyhow, I think I came out with 3 8.5" shells. I'd like to spend more time and find the bigger ones, but was feeling a little pressure with a newb in tow and buddies who collected a limit on the way out that were ready to swim back. Next time, I'll just send them in and take more time I think....
Congratulations to Matt who spontaneously became an abalone diver late Friday night, and managed to pull the biggest, fattest abalone of all Saturday. Good job on that first limit - I'm sure there will be many more.
I haven't been ignoring the blog, and my abalone obsession remains unchecked. I've been working on an "epic" piece of literature about the abalone fishery, the Abalone Recovery and Management Plan, the Marine Life Protection Act, and how it all fits together for abalone divers and fans. I've seen more than one loquacious post followed by someone wishing the whole situation were more clear. I'm shooting for something with minimum verbosity and maximum understanding. Stay tuned.
Monday, May 10, 2010
"Abalone Point" and [Not] Withering Syndrome
Point Reyes South
My buddy bailed out on me Friday night, but the conditions were so good, I had to find a way to get in the water. I've owned Bruce Watkins' A Diver's Guide to Northern California since it came out in 2000, and recently plotted the sites from the book on Google Maps. In a short, incorrectly-formatted paragraph near the end of the book he describes a spot in Southern Point Reyes where there are allegedly "mean" near-shore abs. I talked my kids into coming along and we were hiking down the beach by 9 A.M.
We'd made an exploratory excursion earlier this year before the season opened, so I knew where to park and how to hike down the trail to the beach. It's generally as Bruce says in his book, though that little trail is somewhat washed-out, covered in poison oak, and there's a scramble near the end not for the faint-of-heart. Incidentally, you can park at the big lot at the end of the road, and hike a nearly-flat (though much longer) trail to the beach. Having never dove here before, I was going almost entirely on Bruce's description, though there was one bit that had me confused: He states that the hike from the car to the beach is about 1/3 mile (which I believe it is) and that the hike from the beach to "Abalone Point" is another 1/3 mile (which it is not.)
Abalone Point is, technically-speaking, the not-very-distinct point to the south of double point, but that is a lot farther than 1/3 mile from where you step onto the beach, and, since it wasn't yet low-tide, there were some big rocks we'd have to wade around to get to Abalone Point proper. I bet it's about 1.5 miles to the actual point from where the trail meets the beach, and I'm thinking Bruce means the tiny bump about 1/3 mile from the end of the trail.
In the end, we hiked a lot more than I think we needed to. Gonna chalk that one up to "learning experience." In the water, I was having a hard time finding the right place, and was signaling the kids to follow as I drifted south from where I got in. For about 40 minutes I didn't see even one abalone. Not even a little one. Then, as I was ready to pack it in and concede defeat, I figured something out and quickly popped a couple 8-inchers before heading in.
Next time I have a much better idea of where to start, but if someone experienced would like to show me the ropes here, I'd be forever grateful. Any takers?
[Edit: Not] Withering Syndrome
Here they are. The shells are nearly the same size, and in the water I didn't really notice anything special about either one. Quick measure of the shell and into the game bag. It was when tagging them that it became obvious that something was up with that one on the left above.
He has a gnarly "wound" there on the rim of the shell, and overall the shell is really thick and oddly-shaped. It's probably 2-3 times the normal thickness for a red abalone, and very "worn." By comparison, the other ab has a typical, attractive shell with nearly the same outside dimensions. I thought, "maybe, the odd one was just really old but never got very big," until I popped him from his shell.
It was immediately obvious that this wasn't just an unusual growth pattern. The gonad and gut were way too small for an abalone of his size, though the foot attachment seemed large. Feeling the gut, the whole thing seemed to be full of rocks, so I cut it open and removed a pile of hard bubbles [Edit: these were hard, solid "beads" that were filled with fluid]:
Is this it? Candidatus Xenohaliotis californiensis? The fabled abalone Withering Syndrome? The warm-water abalone disease that is blamed (along with greed) for the total destruction of the Southern California abalone population? I mean this was a not-well abalone with a tiny foot and something nasty going on in it's digestive tract. Compare the attachment point of the two abs relative to their foot size:
Maybe it was just a funky, geriatric abalone, with a bad case of indigestion, but somehow I doubt it. Anyone knowledgeable care to comment? [Edit: the pros say no, just a geriatric abalone.]
My buddy bailed out on me Friday night, but the conditions were so good, I had to find a way to get in the water. I've owned Bruce Watkins' A Diver's Guide to Northern California since it came out in 2000, and recently plotted the sites from the book on Google Maps. In a short, incorrectly-formatted paragraph near the end of the book he describes a spot in Southern Point Reyes where there are allegedly "mean" near-shore abs. I talked my kids into coming along and we were hiking down the beach by 9 A.M.
We'd made an exploratory excursion earlier this year before the season opened, so I knew where to park and how to hike down the trail to the beach. It's generally as Bruce says in his book, though that little trail is somewhat washed-out, covered in poison oak, and there's a scramble near the end not for the faint-of-heart. Incidentally, you can park at the big lot at the end of the road, and hike a nearly-flat (though much longer) trail to the beach. Having never dove here before, I was going almost entirely on Bruce's description, though there was one bit that had me confused: He states that the hike from the car to the beach is about 1/3 mile (which I believe it is) and that the hike from the beach to "Abalone Point" is another 1/3 mile (which it is not.)
Abalone Point is, technically-speaking, the not-very-distinct point to the south of double point, but that is a lot farther than 1/3 mile from where you step onto the beach, and, since it wasn't yet low-tide, there were some big rocks we'd have to wade around to get to Abalone Point proper. I bet it's about 1.5 miles to the actual point from where the trail meets the beach, and I'm thinking Bruce means the tiny bump about 1/3 mile from the end of the trail.
In the end, we hiked a lot more than I think we needed to. Gonna chalk that one up to "learning experience." In the water, I was having a hard time finding the right place, and was signaling the kids to follow as I drifted south from where I got in. For about 40 minutes I didn't see even one abalone. Not even a little one. Then, as I was ready to pack it in and concede defeat, I figured something out and quickly popped a couple 8-inchers before heading in.
Next time I have a much better idea of where to start, but if someone experienced would like to show me the ropes here, I'd be forever grateful. Any takers?
[Edit: Not] Withering Syndrome
Here they are. The shells are nearly the same size, and in the water I didn't really notice anything special about either one. Quick measure of the shell and into the game bag. It was when tagging them that it became obvious that something was up with that one on the left above.
He has a gnarly "wound" there on the rim of the shell, and overall the shell is really thick and oddly-shaped. It's probably 2-3 times the normal thickness for a red abalone, and very "worn." By comparison, the other ab has a typical, attractive shell with nearly the same outside dimensions. I thought, "maybe, the odd one was just really old but never got very big," until I popped him from his shell.
It was immediately obvious that this wasn't just an unusual growth pattern. The gonad and gut were way too small for an abalone of his size, though the foot attachment seemed large. Feeling the gut, the whole thing seemed to be full of rocks, so I cut it open and removed a pile of hard bubbles [Edit: these were hard, solid "beads" that were filled with fluid]:
Maybe it was just a funky, geriatric abalone, with a bad case of indigestion, but somehow I doubt it. Anyone knowledgeable care to comment? [Edit: the pros say no, just a geriatric abalone.]
Friday, May 7, 2010
Stewart's Point Now Closed
The whole MLPA Thing is, honestly, a bit confusing. So much so that I had to geek-out and write a script to plot the exact coordinates on Google Maps. To make matters worse, it's incumbent on abalone divers (and fishermen) to keep track of the MLPA process and closures, since you can't expect a clear sign at every coastal access point.
Great, one more website I need to keep a sharp eye on. I'm seriously considering writing a script to download it every day and alert me if something changes.
As far as I can tell, Stewart's Point is the major Northern Central closure that affects abalone divers and pickers, so those of you who liked to get your abs at Fisk Mill Cove had better find somewhere else.
Apparently, not everyone is happy about the closure. The Pomo Indians take exception to being shut out of their historic fishing grounds, and the North Coast MLPA process doesn't seem to be going swimmingly either. It's a complex issue that probably doesn't have a make-everyone-happy resolution, and I think most of us don't feel there's much we can do other than try to understand, and wait for the results.
Great, one more website I need to keep a sharp eye on. I'm seriously considering writing a script to download it every day and alert me if something changes.
As far as I can tell, Stewart's Point is the major Northern Central closure that affects abalone divers and pickers, so those of you who liked to get your abs at Fisk Mill Cove had better find somewhere else.
Apparently, not everyone is happy about the closure. The Pomo Indians take exception to being shut out of their historic fishing grounds, and the North Coast MLPA process doesn't seem to be going swimmingly either. It's a complex issue that probably doesn't have a make-everyone-happy resolution, and I think most of us don't feel there's much we can do other than try to understand, and wait for the results.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Contemplating a Surf-Dance
My modern equivalent to the Native American Rain Dance consists of a twitchy obsession with NOAA swell models and predictions and the UC San Diego Coastal Data Information Program (both concisely summarized by dive-celebrity Chuck Tribolet on his North Coast Sea Conditions at a Glance page), reassuring glances at the Fort Ross Tide Tables, Other Surf Forecasts, good old-fashioned Weather, plus an intuitive sense for how the view from the Golden Gate Bridge this morning fits all the other information.
At the moment, Saturday looks good.
It's a risk, driving a couple hours into the unknown, and we're always ready to call the whole thing off if we have a significant safety concern. The Pacific gets the final say. She is not to be trifled with.
At the moment, Saturday looks good.
It's a risk, driving a couple hours into the unknown, and we're always ready to call the whole thing off if we have a significant safety concern. The Pacific gets the final say. She is not to be trifled with.
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