Solo Dive to the Yankee Clipper Jacks

Got to the parking lot and geared up. I decided to take my camera as the ocean was almost flat. As I was walking out, a lifeguard was jogging on the beach and asked me if I were diving solo. I told him I was because it was safer, statistically, citing the DAN study. I also suggested that as an instructor, I dove alone a lot. As a photographer, I preferred being by myself. He responded that they have rules and I suggested that my Solo Diving certification ought to trump their rules. Anyway, he said they might hassle me if I get in the water after 9:45 when they take to the Towers. Good way to start the dive. More fat cocksuckers in red leather chairs ready to run my life for my own good.


I got in the water and swam out to the swim buoy to descend. I was over the cut out I dove last time I solo dived, so I stopped and got some pictures.


Juvenile Green Razorfish

Sharpnose Puffer

Sergeant Major

Yellow Sand Ray


I swam slowly to the East and was feeling pretty smug when it took 18 minutes to use the 400 psi extra in my fill. I'm figuring I'll do a 130 minute dive:  18 + 60 to 1500 psi then 40 to 500 , which gives me 118 plus whatever I make on that last 500 psi. Sounded good in theory, but by the end of the dive I was stretching to make 116 minutes.

Swam East over the 13 foot shelf and stayed East over the sand and to the 3-tiered reef. Once I passed the 3-tiered reef, I angled South and swam to the Jacks.

 Got some shots of this Planehead Filefish,

this Rock Beauty,

 a Sand Diver,

 and this Stoplight Parrotfish.









Swam West on the South side of the Jacks and left the Jacks at 1000 psi. Just made it to the sand before the beach with 350 psi left.


Water temperature was 76 degrees; Dive Time was 116 minutes; consumption rate at an average depth of 18 feet was 27.40 psi/minute; SAC rate was 17.73 psi/minute; and the RMV was 0.46 ft3/minute.

Darryn, Luis and I dive the Yankee Clipper Jacks

I was the first to arrive at the South Beach parking lot, but Luis and Darryn were only minutes behind me. Darryn has a new job on a 200 ft boat out of Papau New Ginea, so he settled up. Says he is leaving Tuesday. We geared up and got in the water. It was another day to leave the camera in the truck.

I walked out to neck deep water, submerged to put my fins on and came up kicking.  We had drifted a good bit North. I struggled and made up about half that distance, then watched Luis and Darryn get their fins on. Water was rough. Current was strong. It occurred to me that this might be a good time to descend where we were and make our way South underwater. So that is sort of what we did. crawled along the 13 foot shelf, pulling myself hand over hand rather than kicking. Had an extra 8 minutes from the fill yesterday and benefitted from the shallow depth. Crossed the shelf in 500 psi, then swam over sand to the 3-tiered reef.  Crossed that and went out on the next sand patch to 25 feet and turned South.

Found a small Gaudy Natacia as we swam along. Hit the Jacks at about 2100 psi. Followed along to the East, but staying on the North side, then crossed over and swam West on the South side. Current and surge were stronger on the South side.  Left the Jacks with 1500 psi.  By the time we hit the reef, Darryn was down to 1100 psi and about 600 at the 13 foot shelf. We shared my air over the 13 ft shelf, then separated when we crossed onto the sand.  I was fighting with the flag reel and Luis took it from me. I swam in by myself, but watched Luis struggling to free the flag line from his tank as he and Darryn rode a wave by me.  I came up in 4 ft of water.  We were South of Tower 1, so I let the current carry me North while I got my fins off and ambled onto the beach.  Exciting Exit.

Water temperature was 76 degrees; Dive Time was 91 minutes; consumption was a hearty 31.18 psi/minute at an average depth of 19 feet; SAC rate was 19.78 at and average depth of 19 feet; RMV was 0.51 ft3/minute.

Diving with Luis on the Yankee Clipper Jacks

I got to the beach first, but Luis was right behind me.  We geared up and got in the water. Surf was rough but not impossible. We got out, swam on the surface to the swim buoy, then descended and began working our way East. Neither of us took a camera, and that was the right call. Visibility was terrible, probably about 3 ft at times and certainly no more than 5 ft.  But it did get better.

We made it out to the Jacks and came up from the North, then followed them East to the end and back again.  I found a large Cowry shell just sitting on the bottom near the Eastern end of the Jacks. We came back on the South side, which created some difficulties with a North current. I got dragged into the Jacks if I didn't fight the pull of the flag. I left the Jacks and headed to the beach with 1200 psi.  I thought I would make 2 hours, but the current picked up as we left the Jacks and the winds picked up a bit, too. I was on fumes as we crossed over onto the sand at the beach and I surfaced to hold the flag rather than fight it any more. The waves were tall:  4-5 ft and from several different directions. Getting out was difficult. I was really glad I had not taken the camera.

Water temperature was 76 degrees; Dive Time 104 minutes; consumption 26.53 psi/minute at 18 feet average depth; SAC rate 17.17 psi/minute on an aluminum 80; RMV 0.44 ft3/minute.

Han Simpson's final Open Water Dive

Han arrived promptly at 8:10 am, packed his bag and was ready to dive. We headed for the South Beach lot.  I wasn't sure if Luis was coming or not, but he showed up a few minutes after we got there.  We geared up and hiked out to the water. Both Luis and I took cameras.  I finned up in neck deep water, but Han started putting his fins on much earlier and also put air in his BCD, so the waves pushed him back towards the beach before he realized what was happening.

After he got his fins on, we swam out past the swim buoy and descended, then slowly headed East towards the Jacks.  It took us about an hour to get to the 3-tiered reef, where I checked Han's gas. He was down to 1000 psi. We turned the dive and headed back to the beach, but we were close to the Jacks.

Han in awful visibility during the dive

Juvenile Highhat

Sand Perch

Star Horseshoe Worm










Han ran out of air and surfaced just after the swim buoy. We swam in on the surface, a little North of Tower 2.

Water temperature was 76 degrees; Dive Time was 78 minutes; actual consumption at an average depth of 17 feet was 25.76 psi/minute; SAC rate was 17 psi/minute; and RMV was 0.44 ft3/minute.

Solo Dive with my New Camera on New Year's Day

Awoke very early and read and napped until 6:00 am.  Went over the camera and housing to make sure everything worked, then packed it in the truck. Packed my dive gear, as well and headed for the beach.

Parked in the South Beach lot about 8:30 am and set up my dive gear.  Walked in the water before anyone was on the Tower, but it was close to 9:00 am and I was getting worried.  Cruised the Algae Patch off Tower 2 and tried to remember how to shoot pictures. Ended up with a lot of out-of-focus shots, but I also got some good shots like the following:

 Banded Coral Shrimp

 Bandtail Puffer

 Christmas Tree Worm

Dusky Jawfish

 Gray Triggerfish

Juvenile Blackear Wrasse

 Juvenile Porkfish














Smooth Trunkfish














Swam out to 20 feet of water on the sand, just before the tiered reef, then headed back.  Maximum depth was 20 feet, but the average depth was only 14 ft.  Dive Time was 115 minutes and I could maybe have stretched that to 120 minutes, but I was in less than 10 feet of water and didn't want to swim  back out, giving the lifeguards a reason to hassle me.

Water temperature was 76 degrees; Consumption at an average depth of 14 feet was 24.28 psi/minute; SAC rate was 17.05 psi/minute; RMV was 0.44 ft3/minute.

Han Makes his Third Open Water Dive

Han made it to the apartment by 8:10 am and we headed to Birch State Park.  Luis got there just in front of us. We all geared up and headed for the water. Decided to swim NE to the Ledge off Tower 17. Didn't quite make it that far North, but we got well North of Tower 16 and ran the ascents in 30 feet of water. Luis held the reel. Han and I buddy breathed and then ascended while buddy breathing. Han did just fine, but was a little slow. The second ascent was the CESA and, again, Han did fine, but he ran out of air at 10-12 feet and was hurrying to the surface. My computer warmed me the ascent rate was too fast, but I checked the computer profile later, and he was well within PADI's 60 ft/min ascent rate.

After the CESA, Han and I descended, picked up Luis and headed for Tower 15. We went slowly to give Luis time for photographs. At a little past 60 minutes, I surfaced to see where we were I didn't recognize the topography, but we were just a little North of Tower 15. Descended, corrected and swam in.

Water temperature was 76; Dive Time was 72 minutes; consumption rate at an average depth of 18 feet was 26.71 psi/minute; SAC rate was 17.28 psi/minute and the RMV was 0.45 ft3/minute.

Solo Dive on the Eastern Ledge off Tower 15

Han was supposed to meet me at the apt at 8:15 this morning and we would go to the beach to finish the two dives he needs to get certified.  He didn't show. He didn't call. He didn't text. I went to the park.

I geared up and entered the water and swam out to the swim buoy. Before I descended, the lifeguards were on the Tower just setting up. No one hassled me, but I was in the water before they got to the beach. I decided to explore some rather than just head for the Little Coral Knoll.  I headed due East to the Eastern Ledge off Tower 15 to see if there is any deep water there for Han's ascents, should he ever get up before noon.  Deepest waster I found was on the sand, just beyond the reef.  It was about 30 feet.  I did find a lot of little spiral like conch shells and a few of the Gaudy Natica aka Moonsnail shells.  On the way back, I swam over the  Dog Rock, though it took a few moments to recognize and verify it.  Then I followed my trail back to the knee high coral, the smaller rock, the Big Rock and the beach.  Chilly, but not unbearable.

Water temperature was 75 degrees; Dive time was 100 minutes; consumption rate at an average depth of 20 feet was 27.77 psi/minute; SAC rate 17.29 psi/minute; RMV was 0.45 ft3/minute.  

Anna-Kaisa Rantanen and I dive the Yankee Clipper Jacks

I met AK in the South Beach Parking Lot.  We geared up, got in the water and swam on the surface out to the swim buoy.  There appeared to be a South surface current from the North wind, but the current was headed North on the bottom.  We swam East, but the bearing was 300 degrees to adjust for current set.  We ended up right at the Jacks.  Had a nice leisurely swim along the South side of the Jacks and came back most of the way on the North side, but there weren't many fish on the North side, so we crossed over.  Then swam into the beach.  AK had just enough air and I was down to 500 psi when we got there.

Water temperature was 75 degrees; Dive Time was 95 minutes; consumption rate at an average depth of 16 feet was 28.18 psi/minute; SAC rate was 18.98 psi/minute; and RMV was 0.49 ft3/minute.

AK and I dive the Little Coral Knoll

AK and her parents are back from their cruise and she's going to join me diving this morning.  They got to the apartment a few minutes late. I had guessed at the gear she would need and she tried it on, but she only tried on one fin and turns out we had  three 5-6 fins and only one 6 1/2 - 7 1/2 fin. Of course, that one larger fin was the only one she tried on.

We loaded up her gear and drove to the park, geared up at the truck and walked to the beach. We walked out into the water, but AK had trouble putting on her second fin. I tried to move her out into deeper water and get her to descend, but she resisted and wanted to stand in shallow water.  While we're having this discussion, the current is moving us North. So we move back in and stand in shallow water while the waves break over us and she struggles with her fin. I suggest we just go back to the beach, but she just gets more determined. She gets both fins off and discovers that one is smaller than the other. So she puts the small one on first and then the larger and we're off, but we have lost position in the water and need to swim South to get to the swim buoy. We do.

We descend, but I see that we have drifted near to the smaller rock, so we go there and get back on track.  Swim to the knee-high coral and across the sand sea then to the counter-weight and to the knoll. Visibility is getting poorer. Not a lot of life on the knoll and not much sunlight this morning. Looked pretty dull. We go East to the tiny knoll and the comfortable coral, but not a lot of life there, either, and between the lack of sunlight and sand in the water the visibility was terrible. We went back to the knoll and then off to the Porthole Rocks, but no eels there today. No turtles, either. We went back to the knoll and she was down to half a tank so we went back to the smaller rock, up to the Big Rock and West to the beach.

Water temperature was 75 degrees; Dive Time was 73 minutes; consumption rate at an average depth of 17 feet was 27.27 psi/minute; SAC rate was 18.00 psi/minute; and RMV was 0.46 ft3/minute.

Solo Dive on the Little Coral Knoll

I changed the battery in my computer, so it was working just fine.  I got to the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park about 8:40 am and parked a little closer to the gate. I geared up and walked down, but a woman said the gate was locked and it was only 8:53 am, so I waited. Then I also noticed that only one side was locked. The other side was held in place by a pin, but I lifted the pin, opened the gate and went through. Walked to the water and got in.

Swam out to the swim buoy.  Visibility was okay and I could see the Big Rock, so I  descended and swam to it. From there, I went South to the smaller rock, then 130 degrees to the knee high coral, the dead sea rod, and I saw a little green turtle swimming by as I approached the sand sea.  I crossed, found the group of dead rods and went South to the counterweight.  From there, I went  at 130 degrees and tried to compensate for the current.  Found the bare rods, the two rocks North of the Dog Rock and the red and green coral.  I continued on the 130 degree bearing and found the little knoll. Explored a bit to the East, then headed over to the Porthole Rocks, which are about to lose their porthole. Came back and explored to the East some more then I was down to 1000 psi so I headed back the way I came and swam in to the beach. Saw several eels and a large blenny I did not recognize.

I bought a new camera and it's here, but I need to set it up and I really need to get it insured.  

Water temperature was 75 degrees; Dive Time was 104 minutes; consumption rate at an average depth of 18 feet was 17.00 psi/minute; SAC rate was 17.47 psi/minute; RMV was .45 ft3/minute.