This past weekend Mark and I attended my colleague’s annual Abalone Camping trip held at Mackerricher State Park just north of Fort Bragg, California (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=436). The weather was forecasting cold, cloudy days but we were camping with some dear friends of ours who are versed in camping and well-prepared, so we knew we’d be just fine. It was chilly – averaging low 50’s during the day with drops to the low 40’s at night. But, surprisingly, our sleeping bags were warm and we did just fine.Waking up early Saturday morning we were anxious to try our hand at Abalone diving. As many might already be aware, California regulations require a special fishing license stamp to be able to catch abalone, and furthermore, you may only hunt for them by free diving (sans tanks, BC, etc). So it is a pretty “primitive” form of diving. We thought we were heading out earlier than the actual departure time but when the time came, about 10 divers walked out the ¼ mile or so boardwalk out to the shoreline, down the cliffs and suited up, so it was a nice size group of people go out with. Wetsuits, fins, masks, snorkels, floats, weight belts (so heavy!), gloves, abalone gauges and bars and we were off.
North Coast diving is quite a bit different from Monterey diving. It is more rugged, more exposed. There is a greater need to time wave intervals and be very aware of your surroundings to prevent yourself from being bashed up against rocks.
Swimming out as a group we swam around rocky outcroppings, past them and continued out into the sea. There was a considerable surge and we had to keep repositioning to avoid having waves crashing on us and possibly moving us too close to the rocks. Visibility was not great, it was hard for me to see my fins as I was floating on the surface, and the vis didn’t clear up as we descended. In the end, about 12 abalone were caught, cleaned, breaded, cooked – a truly wonderful and rustic meal shared with great company.
[Image is not my own]
1 comment:
Sarah, that sounded like a great day! I admire the conditions you all dive in. The rocky shore, waves, and cold water seem like a real challenge. I've never tried abalone, but it must taste great after all that work to catch it. Dive safe, Mem.
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