So according to my computer, I dove 150m (450ft) for about 84 minutes. Funny thing is that the dive seemed to have started while I was at the car, parked on the best parking spot at Crescent, the one right next to the stairs. No way I was not gonna dive today and a defective computer was not going to deter me. No. Freaking. Way. 

So I had been monitoring the dive reports and the surf forecast for a week. I almost ditched work on Thursday to go diving, but I ended not going (diving, I did "go" to work). Now it had been 7 months since I had not gone underwater. No local dive since early April and no tropical dive destination in 2025, instead we went to Peru and hiked to Machu Picchu, trading 90ftsw for 17,000ft asl. Anyway, conditions looked great. Dive reports were having everyone fantasizing about 25ft visibility and wave energy was forecasted to be the lowest I had ever seen. So last night, I packed my car, so that I would have no excuse to not move my lazy ass and go diving.   

It almost did not work.   

Woke up this morning to a thick fog inland. Sunburst kelp pictures have the tendency to suck big times when there's no sun. So I waited. I ended up at the beach at around 9:30am. Got a terrible parking spot up the circle. Went down the beach to check the surf and wave patterns, 2-3ft max, long luls. Should be fine. Went back up the street to find out that the parking spot in front of the stairs was now vacant. Ran back up the street, almost got beaten by a white Corvette but made it and parked. I was already exhausted.   

I waited almost one hour for the sun to show up but it did not, so I ended up gearing up. That's when I started noticing issues. Now I know my reg is way past due for a check, but I was not expecting my fin straps to look so bad. Looks like the 7 month storage in the garage did a number on the elastic straps and they looked like they were ready to give up. Decided to pack a spare pair of straps in my BC just in case. Then I turned on my computer, which I had just checked the battery early in the morning before leaving the house and that's when it decided to start the dive. At 450ft. With 32% Nitrox. Of course the alarm went on right away. Incessant. Annoying. I tried to splash fresh water on the damn thing but it still said it was diving. It finally shut up and I decided to go diving anyway, it's not like I need a computer for a 30ft dive... Mmmm....   

I had hoped that once I hit depth, the damn thing would start working again. It did not. Of course. It was still counting time though, so at least I'd get that. I made a mental note that I started the dive at 33 minutes; I surfaced at 84. Barely.   

Conditions were not that great after all. Since I did not have a computer, I decided to play it safe and dove the periphery of the reef going South-West towards Seal Rock. I had 3,500psi (230bar) so I was not too worried about air consumption. Temperature was OK, around 60F (16°C) and my Chinese wet suit was keeping me sufficiently warm. I did not see anything out of the ordinary. A couple of bugs, lots of sargo, kelp bass and sheephead congregating in some areas and a few Spanish Shawls. Not a lot of pictures, all Tv 1/125s with flash on. At 2,000psi I was starting to get a wee bit cold, so I decided to turn around. The current was not as weak as I had thought it would be. It was supposed to be high tide, I was expecting calm. It was not. I got disoriented a couple of times, once bad enough to decide to surface, thinking my compass had also given up. It had not. It was working fine, my navigation, as usual, was sketchy. I started getting cramps. Bad ones. After surfacing to get my bearings, I had realized I was pretty far from the beach, so getting cramps at 30ft and still having to go all that way suddendy made the whole solo-diving thing a bit silly. Fighting the pain, may air went from 2,000psi to 1,000psi in about a minute. I was struggling. I decided to hang on a kelp pod to relax, trying to get rid of the pain. It worked. I was able to resume the slow way back to the beach. Navigation got screwed up again, I had to surface, but at least I was getting close. I made it back to the beach in one piece, equipment and all. Contrary to the computer, the fin strapped survived.   

My 15 years old Suunto Vyper is now sitting in a glass of hot water with a few drops of vinegar to attempt a resurrection while my ~30 years old Suunto Solution Alpha has already been checked and is ready to dive tomorrow for the SOCDC Halloween Underwater Pumpkin Carving contest. I do not carve, but I do take pictures. Hopefully without cramps this time.

     

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