Beach Launching OH MY!

[Peter_C]

After checking the forecasts for days we decided to head out and go scuba diving up the coast in an area known as Mendocino (Coast). The launch site was decided by a group of friends going abalone freediving that we would hang out with after we all returned. Van Damme is the name of the State Beach. (Photos found on the internet, not taken by me, but not sure who to give credit too.)


Well it turns out as we roll in some other friends just happen to be there We then get a text by the other friends saying they bailed. Typically with the boat I prefer to launch in the local river that empties out into a bay known as Albion (River has the same name, as does the community). Far easier and well protected but there is a launching fee of $10. Today we were going to be beach launching for free. The swells were far bigger than the 2-4ft (Around a meter) forecast which is evident by the turbulent water in front of us. There is a breeze blowing, but nothing major. We take the boat off the trailer, and easily haul it down the beach on all four wheels, then start to setup our dive gear, and put on our drysuits. Eventually we head into the water with our scuba gear on so the boat is not heavily loaded.

It just happens that right as we decide to enter a BIG set comes rolling in and the first wave breaks over the bow that we are carrying since we are now just using the two transom mounted wheels. Once the boat is afloat, typically one person will hold the boat as the other puts there scuba tank (Kit) into the boat. During these sets, the boat is going up and down from hip level to chin level, as the wheels bounce off the bottom every time the waves pass. My friend says there is no way he can put his gear into the boat (Damn computer guys that spend 12 hours a day working on their butts!). So I take my gear off, toss it in the boat and start the engine. The waves are still hammering us and occasionally breaking over the bow a little bit. I tell him to hang on and I am going to drag him out to deeper water, then we will pull everything including him onboard. That works well, and after lifting the transom wheels we are on our way to "a" dive site. I turn on the bilge pump and lower the elephant trunk which drains the boat in less than a minute while on plane.

I have a bunch of dive sites marked out on my GPS but we are looking for something protected and hopefully new. As we head South the swells are well over 7ft (More than 2 meters) and it is choppy with a confused swell. Trying to get away from the confused swell I head further offshore into deeper water. In over 160ft (55 meters roughly) the seas are still confused and the swell is pitching us up and down, although these are not breaking swells, my speed is held down to just around planning speed which is 12mph (19km) to keep from slamming our dive gear around. Ironically the place we wind up diving is Albion Bay since it is fairly protected. We saw tons of fish with some Lingcod being quite big at over 3ft (1 meter). JKY you will be proud of me, I found my anchor line without using a reel (Actually I am usually pretty good about finding my anchor line or at least coming up fairly close to the boat, but JKY got a good laugh as we surface swam a loooong ways once, okay twice, or it might be a few more times.)

The boat ride back is uphill, but the seas are now a little calmer. Then we enter the fog bank. Shore disappears as does everything else. I Have GPS, but no radar. Not many boats are out and the ones that are out are small inflatables. We continue on, talking about the possibility of a second dive, but fog is very daunting as finding the boat can be impossible 50ft away. Running line underwater is an option, but there are very few places to come ashore without getting pounded onto mussel covered rocks by overhead waves.

We safely make it back to the beach, put the transom wheels down, and I turn the boat bow out to unload the heavier items. We take turns holding the boat and unloading gear. Again the boat is bouncing off the bottom as the waves pull the boat around. When ready we found a break in the waves, and quickly turned the boat bow in and we attempt to walk it up to dry land. Attempt is the key word as the beach is steep, I wind up on one knee, and the boat weighs more than it should. My friend at this point tells me it took two waves over the bow. Had I known I would have turned the bilge pump back on. With a little more umph added we pull it clear of the surf zone and get the bow high enough for the bilge to drain more than a few gallons of sea water. Carrying our dive gear back to the vehicle we decide to cancel on a second dive as the fog is looming close in. We eat lunch, and I grab the bow wheel dolly heading down to the boat myself. With it now far lighter I am able to drag it half way up the beach before my friend arrives to help. My shoes are full of sand, but I am happy that I can move it alone across a beach. There is still no way I will ever be able to pull it from the water alone though. Two of us can usually do it fairly easily though when the waves are smaller. Had the forecast been accurate it would have been a "piece of cake".

Putting it back on the trailer I tested my new remote controlled electric winch. The boat slid right up into place with only the push of a button

We were then chatting with a Game warden who was watching the beach closely as they do. Eventually he goes "yeah, I am just waiting for those guys to pack up their inflatable so I can arrest them and confiscate their boat and motor, along with all their dive gear" It was a newer Saturn about 3.2 meters or so with a nice 2.5HP outboard. Abalone is a large mollusk that has stringent requirements for taking them. They are a delicacy, and prized by many people selling on the black market for over $100 a pound (125 euros for 453grams). So it turns out these guys went out and took their limit of 6 abalone, except only one guy got in the water which is illegal, and most likely means they are going to sell them, which is also illegal, as they can only be eaten or gifted, not sold for profit.

Once packed up we headed home, but this time with me at the steering wheel. I tend to drive faster than most towing or not and since the road has a lot of slow speed curves I had to drive very smooth, but fast-ish to keep my friend from getting too car sick. There was hardly any vehicle traffic, and I had mostly open road. Easy ride home. Our ladies and another female friend enjoy a Thai dinner with us to top the evening off.

Even though conditions weren't great, the company was, and our coast is always an enjoyable place to be.

[spartacus]

Nice write up Peter.

Computer guys eh... no use to man nor beast!

[apshutt]

So all in all a good adventure. )

[kerny]

Nice write up Peter BTW...

If you are contemplating going into the Abalone black market business and need any help with antisocial game wardens may I suggest an outfit that could be of assistance they are based in Midlands England and I do believe that they want to expand their business interests across the pond.

They go by the name of .... "The Peaky Blinders" if your are genuinely interested send Rocknrolla or tony t a p.m. on here I'm sure that they could be of assistance

[Pikey Dave]

There's a song that features the "Mendocino Highway" but I'm buggered if I can remember what it is. Nice write up, I've never eaten Abalone, what's it like?

[prairie tuber]

Fun times! Reminds me of some late October beach launches on Lake Winnipeg, less the snow flurries.

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Peter_C

JKY you will be proud of me, I found my anchor line without using a reel

More jealous than proud. I've lost the anchor line a few times myself.

(Actually I am usually pretty good about finding my anchor line or at least coming up fairly close to the boat, but JKY got a good laugh as we surface swam a loooong ways once, okay twice, or it might be a few more times.)

Well, as I recall, it was more Jeff laughing at you guys; I think you were too far away for me to see.

The boat ride back is uphill, but the seas are now a little calmer. Then we enter the fog bank. Shore disappears as does everything else.

Wise move. Jeff and Carol generally give me grief over it, but I won't dive in fog. Too many potential problems, from losing the boat, to losing other divers, to getting run over by other boats (either divers or anchored boat), to losing orientation in transit. Always another day to get wet.

Great report, Pete, thanks. You should throw that on BA_Diving; Not enough reports showing up there.

jky

[apshutt]

Diving in fog must be terrible! You can hardly see what's around you on the boat never mind when you under the water!

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

There's a song that features the "Mendocino Highway" but I'm buggered if I can remember what it is. Nice write up, I've never eaten Abalone, what's it like?

Willy Nelson, Mendocino County Line (I suspect it's a different Mendocino, but not really sure.)

Abalone is... different. The texture is much like clam, conch, or calamari steaks: It can be like eating Goodyears, or when properly tenderized (read: beat to crap), a near-melt-in-your-mouth experience. The flavor is sort of a cross between clam and well, I'm not really sure. Most people that try it say it is a very unique taste. It is a mild, very slightly aquatic flavor, that I can't really describe or even come up with an analog.

There are abalone farms here (western US), and I think in Australia, So Africa, and Japan. It may be available in Europe, but it's going to be expensive. Here in California, farmed abalone runs about $50 to $90 a pound, in the shell (assuming you can find it.) Farmed abs are generally 3 or 4 inches across, whereas legal, sport caught abalone are 7" or larger.)

jky

[jyasaki]

Update: I guess it IS the same Mendocino County. A quick search on Wikipedia shows only one Mendocino County in the US. I find it kind of surprising that Willie Nelson would have written about California (unless it was an ode to growing dope or something.)

Apshutt: the bigger problem is that when you surface and are not sure where you are in relation to the boat (happens to me quite a bit in low vis), you then have no idea whatsoever which way to go to get back to it. Can be avoided by using a reel, but as a photographer, I have enough to keep my hands busy without having to worry about a spool and a few hundred feet of string.


jky

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Update: I guess it IS the same Mendocino County. A quick search on Wikipedia shows only one Mendocino County in the US. I find it kind of surprising that Willie Nelson ......

jky

That's the one


.....sh1t happens.......

[Peter_C]

Originally Posted by spartacus

Nice write up Peter.

Computer guys eh... no use to man nor beast!

Nope, I work on a computer too Owning a house that needs restoration, that is in the woods, means I get to do lots of physical work, especially now, when I am working on it full time +.

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

There's a song that features the "Mendocino Highway" but I'm buggered if I can remember what it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgFGMkNgZ3w

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Nice write up, I've never eaten Abalone, what's it like?

It tastes better going down than coming up! I am allergic to abalone, although it is a great way to clear the intestines.

The texture is kinda rubbery even if it is well pounded. The taste is more about the sauce/spices that is put on it. Abalone is kinda tasteless really. It has a small fishy taste to it though. Often it is breaded and fried. Sometimes it is made into a ceviche.

The funniest thing is camping during abalone season, as you can hear from one end of the campgrounds to the other all the pounding of the meat. Thump, thump, thump, whack, whack, whack...

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

Fun times! Reminds me of some late October beach launches on Lake Winnipeg, less the snow flurries.

We launched out of Albion last winter and the ride out to the coast was white from the frost. The dock was completely frozen. Fortunately we only get snow about once every 25 years.

Originally Posted by jyasaki

More jealous than proud. I've lost the anchor line a few times myself.

Sometimes I just don't care if I loose the anchor line. Other times it is good to surface near the boat. Still I prefer to re-find the anchor line. Kinda hard though when vis is 20ft or less. I have found clipping a strobe to a DAN sausage at the end of the chain helps me to spot it

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Well, as I recall, it was more Jeff laughing at you guys; I think you were too far away for me to see.

LOL I could have actually gotten us pretty close to the boat, but my dive buddy was very low on gas. *Sigh* Unfortunately it happens a little to often.

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Wise move. Jeff and Carol generally give me grief over it, but I won't dive in fog. Too many potential problems, from losing the boat, to losing other divers, to getting run over by other boats (either divers or anchored boat), to losing orientation in transit. Always another day to get wet.

I am pretty quick to call a dive, and often it is from shore.

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Great report, Pete, thanks. You should throw that on BA_Diving; Not enough reports showing up there.

jky

Stories on BA seem to not be appreciated. If you noticed I quite posting on it about a year or two ago. Sometimes I send direct emails though.

Originally Posted by apshutt

Diving in fog must be terrible! You can hardly see what's around you on the boat never mind when you under the water!

You don't notice the fog underwater. More than a few times we have surfaced to very limited vis. It can be eery on a beach dive, and scary in hindsight.

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Apshutt: the bigger problem is that when you surface and are not sure where you are in relation to the boat (happens to me quite a bit in low vis), you then have no idea whatsoever which way to go to get back to it. Can be avoided by using a reel, but as a photographer, I have enough to keep my hands busy without having to worry about a spool and a few hundred feet of string.


jky

We did one dive at a site South of Albion (Jim named it "Hall of Walls"), and descended when the fog bank was miles offshore, and surfaced to fog so thick we couldn't see 50 yards. We headed back to Albion and ate lunch. The fog never really cleared, and since we really wanted to do a second dive (Vis was awesome with over 50ft, see note above about frozen docks), so we weighed our options. The decision was made to run line inside Albion Bay. Vis was decent at about 30ft, and when we were pretty close to the end of my 400ft reel, we got slammed hard by strong surge. It was right as we were watching a 2ft octopus free swimming. At that point the vis dropped to about 15ft, and it scared me enough to turn the dive at a pretty good clip back to the boat. Must have been some kind of rogue wave as it was powerful! The surge moved us probably 15ft sideways, and I later found out my dive buddy hit a rock pretty hard. When we got to the surface it was totally calm again. Of course the fog was present, but not thick as we could see the bridge.

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Peter_C

The texture is kinda rubbery even if it is well pounded. The taste is more about the sauce/spices that is put on it. Abalone is kinda tasteless really. It has a small fishy taste to it though. Often it is breaded and fried. Sometimes it is made into a ceviche.

Disagree with the first. Well tenderized, it will be plastic-fork-cuttable.

As to the sauces and lack of flavor, abalone sushi highlights the flavor. I've had that prepared a couple of a couple of ways: tenderized, and sliced thin, with a few incisions to break the slab down a bit. The first is like normal fish sushi, the latter has a bit of snap to it.

The funniest thing is camping during abalone season, as you can hear from one end of the campgrounds to the other all the pounding of the meat. Thump, thump, thump, whack, whack, whack...

Abalone symphony.

I have found clipping a strobe to a DAN sausage at the end of the chain helps me to spot it [anchor line]

I've tried that; I find that unless there's a pretty heavy top layer in the water, the strobe is not very very visible during the day. It's great on night dives though (I just use a strobe attached about 10 feet off the bottom - no sausage.)

LOL I could have actually gotten us pretty close to the boat, but my dive buddy was very low on gas.

He had 200 cf of gas, didn't he?

We did one dive at a site South of Albion (Jim named it "Hall of Walls"), [snip] Vis was decent at about 30ft,

30 feet inside the bay at Albion is really good, what with the tidal river dumping in there every 12 hours.

Hall of Walls, eh? Do you have numbers for the site (not that I'll get back there before next April...)?


jky

[Peter_C]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Disagree with the first. Well tenderized, it will be plastic-fork-cuttable.

Abelone is often described as having a tofu texture. To me that is rubbery even if it can be cut with a fork.

Originally Posted by jyasaki

He had 200 cf of gas, didn't he?

No he dives single HP130's per my requirement, but he may have only had an HP100 that day. I was in a single tank also.

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Hall of Walls, eh? Do you have numbers for the site (not that I'll get back there before next April...)?

Sure. The site is pretty cool and has steep walls all around with a shallow reef above. If I remember the top came up to 15ft from the surface, and dropped to over 90ft. Run your plotter around the area for safe anchorage, as the swells could put a standing wave over the top. More inshore the urchin boats seem to do pretty well.

Hall of Walls N 39* 12.747' W 123* 46.749'
Colby Reef N 39* 14.983' W 123* 47.797'
Ice Cream Cone N 39* 15.459' W 123* 47.275'
Bull Rock N 39* 13.528' W 123* 45.932'

Along with any spot you happen to pull up to and want to dive. Off of Russian Gulch there are a couple of pinnacles also just on the North side of the cove past the opening. No numbers as it is covered in kelp often. Your plotter should have the topography and they are easy to find. My sonar went from 100'+ to 35' in less than 20 ft

[jyasaki]

Thanks, Pete. I've dove Colby and Bull Rock. Bull often has a pretty good current running, so, although it's a quick run from Albion, it's not for inexperienced divers.

The site we dove that day your buddies decided to exercise their legs (New Years, wasn't it?) was chosen for the same "big relief on the sonar" kind of thing. Jeff checked it out, I didn't - a drop off from something like 30 feet to over a hundred. Interestingly, we've been back there a couple of times, and couldn't find the drop off again.

jky

[Robert31]

May I ask, why would they be arrested for taking 6 abalone if only 1 bloke did the dive? Can you only get 1 each? seems odd, but it is California. Frank Zappa did mention 'Emindacino beano' in one track, 'Titties and Beers' from memory.

[jyasaki]

Regs state that abalone must be taken by the person holding the license. Wardens sit on hills (as Pete stated) and watch for violations, of which there are many:

Limit is 3 per person per day, 3 in posession (at any time); don't recall the yearly limit, but it's either 18 or 24. First 3 legal abs constitute being done for the day - no "hi-grading" (which is trading a legal ab for a larger legal ab. Done as they are haemophiliacs, and will die from a small cut inflicted while removing them from the rock.)

Violations:

Someone collecting abs for someone else.

Not tagging your abalone as soon as you hit the surface (or beach if shore diving.) Stopping to light a cigarette or to break out lunch will be deemed a violation.

Too small of a shell - must be 7" somewhere across the shell, not counting external growth (barnacles, worm tubes, etc.)

Too many abalone.

Hi Graded abalone.

Using an incorrect tool (no sharp edges, less than 36" long, a defined max amount of curve, don't remember what else.) Done to minimize cutting the abs.

Not having a gauge capable of measuring the minimum size. (I've heard of guys diving with 9" gauges and taking only those that gauge to that, but still being cited for not being able to measure 7". No good reason for this one, as far as I can tell.)

Not replacing a too-small abalone on the rock from which it was taken (generally enforced as "if it doesn't gauge legal, and you toss it back in the water, you're in violation.)

Removing an abalone from its shell without being ready to prepare it for consumption. A warden told me that the general way they look at it is "If you're cleaning an abalone, the oil should already be hot." I think they've eased up on this one from years ago.

Probably a bunch more I'm forgetting about, but these are the more common ones.

jky

Edit, as I was stupid and forgot to include it earlier:

Pete hinted at it, but to clarify:

Wardens have discretion in determining how malicious a violation was; if they feel it is warranted, they have the legal right to confiscate any equipment used to take or transport illegal abalone. This includes dive gear used while taking (generally applied to any violation beyond a single count), kayaks/boats used to bring the abalone back, coolers used to hold the abalone, and vehicles used to transport them from the dive site.

Bottom line: The wardens take this stuff seriously, and so should the divers (unless they have really deep pockets and don't care.)

[jonp]

We head out for abalone or lobsters a couple of times a week where I live, our bag limit is two, must admit they are very overrated unless you find one with a pearl so we mainly give them away.

Just like your part of the world they fetch a very high price which attracts poachers who also lose all their gear often including the tow vehicle too.

The harder to get to places hold the biggest abbs, so getting smashed over breaking rocks losing masks and tearing wetsuits is all part of the thrill. Must admit at 50 Im now becoming a little more cautious, especially as i do this with my kids.

Yesterday we had glassy flat looking conditions but the ground swells over the shallow reef stopped us entering. In these two pics less than 1km apart you can see how flat the water looks with the humpback compared to where it peaked up on the reef we wanted to free-dive.

Jon

[stray]

You should have surfed that one.

[jonp]

Originally Posted by stray

You should have surfed that one.

Broke most bones in my body from surfing and motor bikes (including my neck) over the years which is all catching up with me now, so no more surfing for me

Jon