7-2-08 Gloria

We got out to the Gloria today for 2 dives. We were greeted with a 4'-5' ground swell on the way out which continued until midmorning and then it flattened out. We hooked the wreck in the bow on the first try and the pool was open. The surface vis was about 20'-30' but as we descended it became dark and silty. The vis on the bottom was only 10' at best. It seemed as though some areas were brighter with better vis and others were darker and no vis. The bottom temp was 46 degrees and the temp at 20' was 50 degrees. It was a cold one. Given the ground swell there was little or no swell on the bottom and almost no current. We speared two flounders, one 8lbs and 28" long and one 5.5lbs and 25.5" long and also a few sea bass. There were definately quite a few flounders on this wreck and since the water temp was so cold they were slow to move about and thus easy to spear. There were quite a few lobsters but they were all small. This wreck is quite large and due to the lack of visibility, I utlized my line reel to navigate to the boilers and back to the bow. My line reel got jammed midway back and I spent the rest of my dive collecting the line. I almost never use my reel and navigate based on memory and I think I'll go back to that since these reels waste too much time. All in all it was a great day to take a break from the beach and go out diving. Kim Dixon

5-23-08 Double East

WOW!!! What a great first day of diving for the season. We left the dock at 7am to a choppy 3'-4' seas and headed to the Double East. My first dive of the season was a typical "work out the kinks". I utilized new dry suit underwear and it made me very buoyant so as soon as I jumped in the water, I pulled myself down the anchor line and the first thing I did when I got to the bottom was grab some muscles to add weight. The visibility was about 15'-20' and the bottom temperature was about 50 degrees. There were lots of fish: sea bass, ling cod and large black fish. Once I reached the bouncy surface I had quite a battle with the dive latter and finally made it on board. The seas calmed down considerably during the surface interval. During my second dive, Capt. Bill was gracious enough to lend me his double mini's (45's) to see how comfortable they were. The were great, snug to your body and negatively weighted. This dive was so calming and relaxing, and it is why I love this sport so much. Its just you, the fish, the sound of your breath and weightlessness. I loaded up on muscles during this dive for the weekend barbeque. There were quite a few bugs brought up and of course sea bass. This was my first time diving on the Tuna Seizure and I have to say that their professionalism was outstanding. The boat was beautiful and spacious. The crew was very helpful and friendly. Due to life circumstances I thought that I would not ever be able to dive again. This was a big day for me and I hope to be out diving a lot this summer. Thanks to N.E. Scuba Supply and the Tuna Seizure for a memorable day of diving. I'll post some pictures once I figure out how to do it. Kim Dixon