Mal De Mer

11/27/2010

2010-11-27T17:40:00.001-08:00

Dive Number: 200 (Not sure actually, but this is a conservative spot to start over at)
11/27/2010
Dive Location: Shaw's Cove, Laguna Beach
Dive time: 63 Minutes (am)
Max Depth: 41'
Water Temp: 55°
Visibility: 25+

Description:
Dove with Peter at Shaw's Cove today. With conditions as good as they have been these past few days, I could not pass up the opportunity to dive this morning. I may have been a bit over zealous, however, when I packed my camera with strobes and wide-angle lens, as I haven't used my camera in over a year. Since there was "0" serge, Peter and I were able to explore every crevice of Shaw's Cove with ease and deliberate intent. Today we saw a large schools of bait fish ( Reminded me of Finding Nemo), were buzzed by a Sea Lion, found Shelly of Shaw's, and enjoyed a leisurely swim over the open sand, as it was just that nice (It is not every day that I brag about taking a leisurely swim with a large man wearing neoprene in Laguna Beach...)

Catalina 07/20/2008 (More Pictures)

2008-07-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

Dive report to follow...

Catalina 07/20/2008

2008-07-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

Dive report to follow soon!

Here are some more random pics from Laguna Beach, CA.

2008-07-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

The Protectors of Shelly's Ghost

2008-04-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

Well at least her hair is growing back.

Dive # Unkown

2008-04-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

Shaw's Cove 4-16-2008
Nice dive with Pete. Vis. was not all that great, but we had a good time.

Dive #: Well I am not certain

2008-03-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

Location: Shaw's, Laguna Beach
Visibility:5-10
Surge: Alot
Surf: 1-3
Fun Factor: GREAT
(Not so much, All right, Good, Great, Sweetness)

Fun dive w/ Len (pictured next to Shelly of Shaw's). It has been a long time since I dove with Len and it felt good to get back in the water with an old friend. Lots of good stuff including, but not limited to: Sea lions, Nudi Branchs (Is that how you spell it?) Sheep crab, and lots of fish. We even saw some of those rare orange ones, but I can't remeber their names right now. Visibility was better the deeper we went. Overall raiting GREAT, as it was a safe entry and exit, with alot of good stuff to see.

Diver's Cove 02/10/2008

2008-02-10T15:26:00.000-08:00

Diver's Cove
Weather: Hot and Sunny
Water Temp: 54 degrees
Visibility: 10+ (better in shallows)
Surge: Very little

Family day at the beach today. Dove with Pete, Eric, and Papa Wade, while our families played on the beach. Lots of Bat rays. They were rather large and I have heard that means that they are females... I didn't, however, find it polite to ask or look. I have been having some trouble with my camera fogging up, so the pictures are not as good as I hoped. It was a great dive and it felt good to be back in the water again.

Montage 11/28/2007

2007-11-30T17:46:00.000-08:00

Night dive w/ Pete at the Montage. Temp was around 58 degrees, with a max depth of around 22'. Pete and I were on the look out for some good photo oportunities. After about 45 minutes, we decided to head back to shore. As we headed in, we found our selves an escort. Not sure how to tell if it were a male or a female and I didn't think it polite to ask, but "it" was the most friendly of all that I have met. This Harbor Seal followed us back to shore until around 4' of water. Dive was around 79 minutes and I thank Pete again for bringing his Light Cannon. Over all Great Dive!

11-24-2007

2007-11-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

This is for you Pete!

Dive in Laguna 9/19/07

2007-09-23T10:16:00.001-07:00

Dove w/ Pete. Had a great dive :)

More pictures from Hawaii

2007-08-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

Please be sure to start checking my new site, http://porter.ocdiver.googlepages.com/home. This site is being created as a side project. I thought it would be a great to organize my photos and create a Fish ID page.

More Pictures...

2007-08-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures that I have taken. I haven't been diving as of late, but I am in high hopes of diving real soon!

Dive 115

2007-06-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

Date: June 28, 2007
Time: around 10:30am
Location: The Pipe

Depth (feet): Approx 60'
Dive Time (minutes): 40
Surf (feet): none
Surge (feet): Calm Water, no current
Temp (fahrenheit): 78 F
Visibility (feet): 80+
Visibility Description: A bit cloudy
Notes and Highlights: Fun Dive! Visibility was pretty good. This was an old sewer line than leached out into the ocean (They said it was no longer active...hummm). We dropped down on an eel (pictured earlier), and a small reef with a hawksbill Sea Turtle resting (Pictures didn't turn out so cool). Lots of coral and reef fish. Good relaxing dive and a great way to finish off my diving on the island. Thanks to my dive buddies, Jeff and Wouter, as well as the captain and crew with Dive Oahu.

Dive 114

2007-06-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

Date: June 28, 2007

Time: 9:00am

Location: Sea Tiger (Wreck Dive)

Depth (feet): Approx 100'

Dive Time (minutes): 18

Surf (feet): none

Surge (feet): Calm Water, no current

Temp (fahrenheit): 78 F

Visibility (feet): 80+

Visibility Description: Good and clear.

Notes and Highlights: Great Dive! Visibility was great. I penatrated the wreck in the bridge area and decided not to go too far in as I did not have my dive light with me and it was dark! Dove with Jeff again, who was also taking pictures. There were alot of fish of all different shapes and sizes, a few random starfish (which I have never seen before) and two spotted eagle rays (no pictures though :0( ).

Free Diving on the North Shore of Oahu, HI

2007-06-29T18:49:00.001-07:00

I found a few turtles and went crazy.... If you ever make your way to Hawaii, make sure you talk to the locals. They know all the cool spots. When I said I wanted swim with Sea Turtles, I was told were to go and guess what? My wife, Regan and I had a great time!

Dive 113

2007-06-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

Date: June 27, 2007
Time: 10:14am
Location: Turtle Canyon, Oahu, HI
Depth (feet): Approx 33'
Dive Time (minutes): 37
Surf (feet): none
Surge (feet): Calm
Water Temp (fahrenheit): 78 F
Visibility (feet): 50+
Visibility Description: Good and clear.
Notes and Highlights: Really fun spot. Again, I dove with Wouter and Jeff. Lots of turtles, a white tip reef shark, an octopus, an eel and lots of fish. Big reef area with lots of overhangs and coral. One of the best parts of our dive trip was the dolphin who decided to do a corkscrew as he jumped out of the water in the wake of our boat on our way back to port. He must have done it 3 times. We all cheered for him. What a GREAT trip! Really!

Dive 112

2007-06-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

Date: June 27, 2007

Time: 9:06am

Location: YO-257, Oahu, HI

Depth (feet): Approx 85'

Dive Time (minutes): 29

Surf (feet): none

Surge (feet): wow.... A really strong current

Water Temp (fahrenheit): 78 F

Visibility (feet): 75+

Visibility Description: Good and clear, but a strong current kept it a bit foggy.

Notes and Highlights: Really nice Wreck dive. It took us a few minutes to drop down to the wreck hitting its top at 75', because the current was really strong. Picture a flag on a flagpole durring a hurricane, and well that was us. Really calm below, however. Saw three turtles and alot of fish. We entered the bridge area and 1st level of the wreck. Lots of easy swim throughs and plenty of fun. Had a great time with Wouter and Jeff.

Preview Oahu, Hawaii. Lots of fun, lots to learn

2007-06-28T23:45:00.001-07:00

I still have lots to learn. Not one picture worthy of a frame, but I am posting a few just for the heck of it. Four great dives in Oahu. Two wreck dives and 2 reef dives. The only bad part is the camera man. I posted a few more pictures on Picasa and I will put up my dive info later. For now, I am just trying to make an old dive buddy happy. Here you go Pete! :0)

Found Pictures

2007-06-02T13:56:00.001-07:00

Okay, I found these pictures from a few dives ago and I feel that they are worth posting.

One of them is a picture of Scott's crabs.....

Dive 110

2007-06-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

Date: June 2, 2007
Time: 8:00am
Location: Shaw's Cove
Depth (feet): 31
Dive Time (minutes): 40
Surf (feet): 2-5
Surge (feet): 2-12+
Water Temp (fahrenheit): warm
Visibility (feet): 5+ the deeper we went
Visibility Description: surge murky, mud.
Notes: Wow, visibility was around 2-5’. Dove with Scott today. I really am starting to think Scott is good luck… Today, we entered into the water with 4+’ surf. Very deceiving, since it looked like “Lake Laguna” when we got down to the sand. We dropped down pretty early and realized pretty quickly that we were diving in Brown Pudding…. First thought was, Scoooooott. Then, I realized that there was no way a human could have produced that much repellant in that short of time… So with my confidence renewed in Scott, we hit the sand… Literally. As we reminisced about our dive on our swim in, Scott reminded me that I almost ate a baby Halibut. The sighting of this fine creature was just the beginning of an adventure that made me want to kick myself for not bring my camera. As it has been the past few days, the bass and garibaldi have been out and about, friendly and look as if they just ate a Thanksgiving dinner. We came across two eels, one of which was just lying in a crevice, full body exposed. The other, coming out to say hi. We also came across two octopi and a Sand bass that looked to have been skewered in his back, but lived to “show” the tale. The best part of the dive, and the most agonizing, was the Spanish Shawl that we saw. It was around 1 inch in size, perched on a rock top between to rocks, blocking most of the surge, and no background. Man what a dream for a Macro Photographer, especially with a translucent subject. We also got to see some of Scott’s elusive crabs (the ones that live in the ocean), as well as: Lobster, shrimp, Rock-pool Blennies, sting rays, a Hopkins rose, and, did I mention, I perfect Spanish Shawl Specimen. Great Dive, regardless of visibility.

Dive 109

2007-06-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

Date: May 28, 2007
Time: 6:30am/8:30am
Location: Diver's Cove
Depth (feet): 31/38
Dive Time (minutes): 50/45
Surf (feet): 1-4Surge (feet): 2-12
Water Temp (fahrenheit): warm (no hood)
Visibility (feet): 5-12
Visibility Description: surge murky
Notes and Highlights: Dove with Len, Scott, Pete, Blake and Alex ...first dive we dropped down pretty quick and onto about 1 dozen bat rays of assorted sizes. Very murky with the surge, so they didn't give us too much of a view, and no photo ops. Made our way right - over to the reef between Diver's and Fisherman's in pretty surgey, murky conditions. Got buzzed by a sea lion that I didn't see...some lobsters, a medium sized cabezon and the remains of a sheep crab which was being taken care of by urchins...
....second dive we decided to go left and check out the reef that's 150 degrees over the sand. Visibility over the sand in 20 feet was a little cleaner and opened up 10+ ...not great, but enjoyable. Got over the reef and found a bunch of tiny Spanish Shawl's, a tiny crab, painted greenlings, rock pool blennies, and many large bass and sheephead. A small bait ball circled us a few times too...Geat Dive. (and, yes, I stole this from Peter's logs, since I am too lazy to write my own. Thanks Pete... Please remember to visit his postings at http://www.28thstreetproductions.com/blog/divelog.html)

Dive 108

2007-06-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

Date: May 27, 2007
Time: 6:30am/8:30am
Location: Diver's Cove
Depth (feet): 15-25'
Dive Time (minutes): 50+ and 50+ minutes
Surf (feet): 1-2
Surge (feet): 2-12
Water Temp (fahrenheit): warm
Visibility (feet): 5-12
Visibility Description: Wow...
Visibility was around 10-12, with patches of Red Tide. Dove with Scott today. Must be good luck, as we saw more that 20 Bat rays between our two dives. I am sure that many of them were repeats; however, there was one spot that had to have 15 of them in one area. Lots to see today. The bass were huge and friendly. We saw a very interesting octopus, which we both mistook for seaweed. Great dive!
Sorry, playing with new wide-angle lens and second strobe... Pictures Really suck this time

Dive 104

2007-05-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

Date: May 12, 2007
Time: 6:30am/8:30am
Location: Deadman's Reef
Depth (feet): 48/45
Dive Time (minutes): 61/48
Surf (feet): 1-2
Surge (feet): 1-3
Water Temp (Fahrenheit): 50 (but my buddies said it was 52, All I know is that I was cold!)Visibility (feet): 10-20V
isibility Description: Mostly clear below red tide level

Notes and Highlights: Dove with Peter and Kevin (Nice to meet you!) Peter led us to Deadman’s today. Is was a nice swim, save the sharp needles piercing my fingers from the unimaginable cold water (I am such a wuss!). I could not believe the amount of Spanish Shawl’s we saw. Visit Peter’s site for a picture of my 3 ½ blade dive knife and a Spanish Shawl next to it. Awesome Dive!

Dive 103, Diver's Cove

2007-05-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

2007-04-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, Peter and Scott... Here are the pictures I promised. Last Wednesday (4/25/2007), I dove with Peter and Scott at Shaw's Cove, Laguna Beach, CA. Conditions were some of the best that I have seen in months, taking into consideration that I have been doing very little diving as of lately. Visibility was 3'+. But even in mud, you can find things that are unimaginable (But only if you are three guys, dressed in rubber, huddling up next to a wall, 20' below the surface, with your faces no less than 1' from the wall). Regardless of conditions, this dive was fun and we had a blast. Look closely, and you might find a diver in the last picture.

Dive 96

2007-03-05T17:17:00.000-08:00

Date: March 3, 2007
Time: 7:00am
Location: North Crescent
Depth (feet): 33Dive
Time (minutes): 65
Surf (feet): 1
Surge (feet): 1-3
Water Temp (Fahrenheit): 56 (COLDER than I would like)
Visibility (feet): 10-20
Visibility Description: deeper was murkier
Notes and Highlights: Dove with Pete. We were supposed to meet up with Len, and friends, but he was having a few technical difficulties and I, on my way to becoming a new father, had a Baby Care Basics class to attend. So we decided to make our way into the depths our ocean and meet up with Len another time. Surf was minimal and surge was almost none. The only spot we had troubles was near the Spanish Shawls, as Peter also mentioned. Really fun dive! Thanks Pete for getting me back into the water again. And, be sure to visit Pete's Blog to view video.

January 13, 2007 Cresent Bay w/ Len and Scott

2007-01-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

2006-11-19T05:48:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken a few months ago at Diver's Cove in Laguna Beach. Blake, Gary and I had a great dive with a friendly Octopus. (Laguna Beach, CA)

2006-11-11T19:13:00.000-08:00

Some Days are just better than others at Cresent! (Laguna Beach, CA)

2006-11-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

Today, Scott and I went down to Diver's Cove and played around in shallows. Max depth 26'. Here are some pictures from todays dive. Just in case you were wondering, it was COLD! (Laguna Beach, CA)

2006-10-13T06:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more shots from our night out to Treasure Island on October 11, 2006.

2006-10-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

A night out with Peter, Len, Eric and Mike. Conditions were good, so we decided to go Treasure Island. Fun dive over all.
(Laguna Beach, CA)

2006-07-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it is hard to see what is right in front of you.

(Fisherman’s Cove Laguna Beach, CA)

Another Night Video Worth Mentioning

2006-07-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

Another must see video by Peter Corliss.

http://www.28thstreetproductions.com/blog/divelog.html

*Please give all credit for this video to Peter Corliss, unless otherwise stated by Peter Corliss

2006-06-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

Great Video!!! Same dive, different perspectives.

By Peter Corles:
Visit http://www.28thstreetproductions.com/

By Eric Wade:
Visit http://www.wraithsite.com/video.html and click on the link "Diving Shaw's Cove Night 5/29 - 5/31/06

*Please give all the credit for these videos to Peter and Eric.

2006-06-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

Having a good time with Len, Riz, Peter, Mike and Eric at Casino Point, Catalina.

2006-05-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

A ray in the sand at Shaw's Cove in Laguna Beach. Visibility 10'+. Surf was low and Surge, well I am surprised I got this pictures... (Shaw's Cove, Laguna Beach)

2006-05-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

Just having a good time with a few friends. Night Dive, Surf was 3-4', Surge was 2-3' and visibility 5' - 10'+, progressing the deeper we went. (Deadman's Reef, Laguna Beach)

Spanish Shawl

2006-04-29T09:05:00.001-07:00

A Spanish Shawl (Flabellina iodinea) at Shaw's Cove in Laguna Beach, CA.
This picture was taken earlier this morning. Visibility was limited, as it often is during this time of year when it rains; however, there are many things to admire. You just have to look for it. Thanks Len!

2006-03-02T16:24:00.000-08:00

I think vanity has gotten the better of this sheep crab. (Fisherman’s Cove, Laguna Beach)

2006-02-24T09:46:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life requires you to travel alone. A Kellet's Whelk traveling in solitude, approximately 20’ feet deep off the coast of California. (Diver’s Cove, Laguna Beach)

2006-02-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

Eric, an aspiring videographer and good friend, is perched in the background peering into a crevice off the Coast of California. (Divers Cove, Laguna Beach)

2006-02-24T09:33:00.000-08:00

The Eye of a Horn Shark off the coat of California. (Fisherman's Cove in Laguna Beach)

Opening

2006-02-24T09:11:00.000-08:00

It is important to recognize the world around us, and yet it easy to ignore what we do not know. Often times we admire things without understanding why it is that we admire them. Even collectively as a human race, I would assume we only understand a small fraction of the world’s entirety. I created this posting for everyone to read, enjoy, and hopefully become inspired to do something new and different; and, to look deeper into the world around them. I chose the term Mal De Mer because it means Motion or Sea Sickness. I have come to realize that we become sick with new adventure and, like Sea Sickness, we do not begin to enjoy our voyage until our bodies have become accustom to the adventure. Enjoy!