Author: Justin Yasutake
Location: Russian Gulch, Mendocino County
Divemaster: Lucas Murray
Weather: 63˚F around 9am, 68˚F by 12pm. Cloudy in the morning, opening to intermittent sunshine throughout the rest of the day. Wind picked up around 11am and persisted throughout the afternoon.
Ocean: Water temperature 49˚F. Swell 3-5ft and surgy outside of the cove. Significant windswell picked up significantly around 11:15am.
Visibility: 10-25ft depending on the location. Large pockets of plankton blooms decreased visibility to 5 ft in certain locations.
Location: Russian Gulch, Mendocino County
Divemaster: Lucas Murray
Weather: 63˚F around 9am, 68˚F by 12pm. Cloudy in the morning, opening to intermittent sunshine throughout the rest of the day. Wind picked up around 11am and persisted throughout the afternoon.
Ocean: Water temperature 49˚F. Swell 3-5ft and surgy outside of the cove. Significant windswell picked up significantly around 11:15am.
Visibility: 10-25ft depending on the location. Large pockets of plankton blooms decreased visibility to 5 ft in certain locations.
A bit of an eventful weekend for us all up at Russian Gulch. We had a few campsites reserved for the weekend and were able to fit 11 campers and a few friendly canines Friday night. The weather was surprisingly windy through the little campground valley, but there was plenty of fire to go around. We had the fortunate coincidence of camping across from Reef Check California (http://www.reefcheck.org/california/ca-overview), whom, throughout the weekend, we exchanged some good conversation and information. Lucas was dive master and built a kayak cart to be given as a prize for the diver with the most fish points the following day.
Everyone was up and moving by 7am. It was split 50/50 between shore divers and kayakers, with a total of 12 divers. Sal was in the water for the first time after his hip surgery, and was able to stretch out his legs a little with Jim K. The launch was a little staggered, as a few kayaks took a while to make their way from camp.
Everyone was up and moving by 7am. It was split 50/50 between shore divers and kayakers, with a total of 12 divers. Sal was in the water for the first time after his hip surgery, and was able to stretch out his legs a little with Jim K. The launch was a little staggered, as a few kayaks took a while to make their way from camp.
We made it into the water around 9am. Most of the kayakers went south, and passed a few shore divers exploring the northern side of the small Point Frank peninsula. We kept paddling and eventually met up with a few shore divers at 500D. I stopped there with Gregg, and hopped in the water on the northern face of the wash rocks. Lucas and Wasen kept moving south to dive the northern wash rocks of Slaughterhouse Cove. We dove for 3 hours in tolerably rough swell. There was not much to see, and I would run into pockets of small blues, and found a few Blacks and Black & Yellows under rocks, but nothing worth taking home for dinner. Plant life was minimal, and there were pockets of dense urchins all around the wash rocks. You can view this from the short video below. Eventually as I took to the southern side of the wash rocks, I ran into Josh T, Jason, and Leo, who had just found a large Octopus in 15ft of water. This is also depicted in the video below.
By 11am, most of us were exhausted from fighting the current, and we all realized that the wind had picked up significantly and was dragging our kayaks all over the place. We quickly headed back into the cove and vegged on the beach for a few. Most people came out of the water with a small payload, but Wasen and Lucas both came in with decent fish. Wasen took the win with a well-rounded stringer of a Ling, Cabezon, Black, and nice chubby 7.8lb Vermilion. He left that day with his kayak cart prize, and the most points on the board for the annual cumulative competition.
By 11am, most of us were exhausted from fighting the current, and we all realized that the wind had picked up significantly and was dragging our kayaks all over the place. We quickly headed back into the cove and vegged on the beach for a few. Most people came out of the water with a small payload, but Wasen and Lucas both came in with decent fish. Wasen took the win with a well-rounded stringer of a Ling, Cabezon, Black, and nice chubby 7.8lb Vermilion. He left that day with his kayak cart prize, and the most points on the board for the annual cumulative competition.
Back at camp, Lucas fired up his full-sized smoker, which he lugged all the way from home. He cooked up a few tri-tip and his famous chili. Everyone else brought a little something to eat, so once again, we all had more food than we knew what to do with. Games were played, stories were told, and logs were burned until around midnight when most were starting to nod off around the fire, so we turned in. I was up around 7 to find most of us gone except a few. We packed up camp, headed up to Fort Bragg and got ourselves some coffee and breakfast burritos at Mara’s Coffee House.
The weekend of June 9 is our campout at Manchester KOA with a dive currently scheduled at Moat Creek. I’m sorry to say there is no Big Ab Big Ling this year, but the campsite is always good fun regardless, and we have a good group going. So contact us if you’re interested in tagging along.
See you out in there.
The weekend of June 9 is our campout at Manchester KOA with a dive currently scheduled at Moat Creek. I’m sorry to say there is no Big Ab Big Ling this year, but the campsite is always good fun regardless, and we have a good group going. So contact us if you’re interested in tagging along.
See you out in there.