Monterey Scuba Trip September 26/27

 Monterey September 26/27 2020

    During the final weekend of September both Ryan and I headed back to Seaside(Monterey) having been there for the first time together before the year before for a weekend of scuba diving & some beach time. Also this past summer, and the very first weekend that Covid-19 orders eased up in Sacramento CA, I signed up to earn my scuba certification in order to join Ryan in the underwater hobby. 

    The journey started from our base in San Rafael, going strong the first 30 minutes of the drive getting to take the scenic route over the golden gate bridge through San Francisco. Right as we entered the city I double checked that my mask and fins were in the car only to discover they had been left behind. The first hiccup in our travel plans had already begun. We turned back to our Airbnb to grab the gear. 90 minutes later we were back on the road heading to Monterey. With only a quick respite at a drive through Panda Express. Late that night we arrived at a cheap family run motel called the Discovery Inn and crashed for the night.

    The next morning we took our time, and by 9AM headed over to breakwater beach located right on Cannery row. In speaking with other divers we learned that Breakwater beach is the most dived location in the continental United States. Monterey itself is one of the biggest dive hubs in the United States, able to support a handful of dive shops in the area. When we arrived there were about 200 other divers in the water and mingling around the beach in what we were told was a typical Saturday. We saw the whole spectrum of divers, from old pros to a slew of new divers getting their open water certifications. One group of divers in particular getting trained were under the guide of a very intense trainer yelling out to them to keep moving and CRAWL to shore. The water condition was less than ideal with a rough tide to wade through, and windy conditions out in the water. 

    All geared up we waded in only to be thrown back to shore by the fierce tide. In pretty sad shape, and stuck in the tide a spirit guide appeared out of nowhere to help us out. It was none other than one of my instructors Charles, who happened to be at the same dive site as us. He saw the sad state I was in and grabbed my tank and dragged me through the break back out to deeper water while giving Ryan instructions to get himself out through the break. Still shocked by our good luck we exchanged surprised inquiries for the unintentional meetup, rescue, and departed for the dive buoy. Ready to go we both released all the air in the BCs and proceeded to sink about a foot and continue no further. Confused we resurfaced only to realize we did not add enough weight to our BCs. Having dove only in freshwater prior. I forget to calculate the additional buoyancy that saltwater would add to our weight. Having failed before we even got started we had to regroup back at the truck. Being forced to swim back to shore, we trudged up back up the stairs, now completely waterlogged. We added more weight, and right as we were leaving the meter maid stopped us and told us the truck had to be re-parked in another spot or we would get a ticket. While waiting for the truck to be moved I found one of my other dive instructors Charlotte and she gave me more tips for entering into rough surf and some compass navigation refresher lessons. 

    Ready to go for round two, we headed back out. Making it to the buoy without a hitch, we descended into the choppy waters. The dive was chaotic, the ocean current was strong and the visibility poor. We did our best to navigate the route seeing all of one fish, lots of sea stars, anemones, sea urchins and kelp. The ocean was very cold and with navigation very difficult we decided to surface early. Once back onshore we spoke to some of the other divers, we found out we were not the only ones who made the choice to end the dive early. With plenty of the day left we went back to quickly shower and go back out to the pier. 

    

    The Monterey pier is the definition of a tourist trap. With vendors on both the outside of the pier and all along the pier selling mostly cheap trinkets, and looking for any way to part the unsuspecting tourists with their money. One such side vendor was different from the rest, selling high quality, fine handmade Peruvian alpaca sweaters. He used his charm to get Ryan as far as trying on one of the sweaters, flattering him all the way. Resisting his charms we thanked him and moved deeper into the trap, passing by a handful of stores selling trinkets and jewelry, as well as a half dozen seafood restaurants. Deciding to stop into one we ordered basic steak and salmon. Being as I am at this time on the carnivore diet, dining out can become more of a chore than a pleasure. Most restaurants don’t understand the desire for the meat portion of an entrée. When ordering an appetizer it must be very clearly communicated that no frying or breading is desired on the food. This restaurant was one such, having failed to understand the concept brought out everything that was not asked for. For the quality of the food and for the price paid, I do not recommend eating on the pier. Instead I would recommend one of the other much higher quality places found all over Monterey. 

    Leaving the restaurant still hungry we walked past a Trump rally to the nearest McDonald's where I was able to get the meat I desired. Ryan also ordered an ice-cream cone and while walking over to a little grassy park a passerby saw the ice cream cone and exclaimed what a great idea getting an ice cream from McDonalds was, and how he should go get some too. Finding peace we created a little picnic setup in the shade of a tree and read our books for a while. Only after a little while I had us move over to the beach to keep reading while listening to the waves and watching the sunset. Back at the motel we decided to try DMT for the first time together. DMT is the most powerful and fastest acting psychedelic with trips lasting from 5-15 minutes, while completely incapacitating the user. Since the human body actually manufactures DMT in the pituitary glands DMT is completely compatible with the human body and why the drug action is so short in duration. Always taking into account safety, we took turns with our experiences, devoting all our focus and energy to watching over each other, noting that we both looked like peacefully sleeping humans while engaged with the drug. Note whenever doing any type of substance always have someone whom you 100% trust and in a setting you are comfortable in to ensure the most beneficial experience. Both having had very pleasant experiences, we now understood the power of DMT.

    

    The next morning we went to Denny's, and then headed to Point Lobos state park for day two of scuba diving. We had been to point Lobos earlier in the summer, which is where we learned about the dive site in the park. Point Lobos only allows 8 dive teams in the park per day so reservations must be made well in advance for a weekend dive, before being able to dive in the park. Upon arrival we saw none other than the white Ford F-250 with the Lance camper shell aloft on top of it.

    The indicator that our instructors were also at the same place as us by chance for the second time. We saw them as we pulled in and it looked like they and their group were getting their gear together to dive. We greeted them and  they invited us to dive with them and their group. The diving this time was much smoother, the dive site was in a protected cove called Whalers Cove. After swimming through a thick raft of kelp we all descended. Right away I caused Ryan and myself to become separated from the group as I must descend slower due to always suffering from ear squeeze, which causes extreme pressure and pain in the ears and had to be cleared slowly before being able to fully descend. Luckily, we were able to find the group after  a little stumbling  through the kelp forest. The route we took followed the edge of the cove where the current was much stronger, and we swayed through the kelp forest as a unit. Taking the time to look up we were able to see the sunlight illuminate the kelp, which added to the beauty and understanding that we were truly in an underwater forest. Hugging the rocks we were able to see a few species of fish that didn’t seem to mind being touched. There were plenty of sea stars and sea anemone the size of basketballs. There were also solid and broken abalone shells which was a reminder of times past, since the abalone season  was shut down years ago with no hope of opening back up. Right at the end of the dive we separated from the group again, to ascend  and swim back through the thick soup of algae in the cove back to shore. Once back to shore and having cleaned up all our gear we said our goodbyes to our instructors and new dive friends knowing at some point in the future  we will see each other again. Since we were already in the park we decided to stay to relax and get one last view of the pacific ocean. I reversed the truck into a parking spot in order to create a pleasant spot in the truck bed to watch the ocean in. We hung out for a while in peace only getting the odd tourist walking by and commenting on our spot, all of whom were totally oblivious to the second round of DMT we were experiencing.

    Feeling refreshed we had one more task to accomplish. A drive from Monterey to Carmichael to pick up meat from a steer I had purchased earlier that summer. The drive took in total seven hours to make it back to San Rafael. Content with the weekend we were ready for the week ahead.