Abalone Day Trip - Apres Dive

One Seven. One Eight. One Nine.

It was a long day, but despite an inauspicious start, a really good day. Lunch at Trinks in Gualala after the dive. We couldn't decide between the Russel and the Cuban, so ordered one of each.

Best sandwiches on the coast.

Back to the Ab Shack to clean and store the gear, then home with three abalone hitchhikers and some good eating.

Sea Ranch Sunshine

Abalone Day Trip - The Dive

Limit Out.

Despite the late start we were in the water by noon, and the sun broke through on cue. Made a newbie error attempting a side entry into the water. Left a fin on the rock as I was putting the other fin on, and a surprise wave washed it away. Never found it. Doug lent me his fins after he got his limit so I had an opportunity to get mine. Swells were higher than expected and visibility less (maybe three feet). Still decent conditions. Limit out [Note to Self: Remember to hold in stomach when triumphantly posing with catch.]

Suiting up with locals Doug and Len.

The descent...

...is relatively easy.

After the dive and tagging the take...

... the ascent was tougher with a full load of abs.
[Note to self - clean lens after exiting water.]


The celebratory beer helped us recover.

Doug picked 3 nines. Len a couple more. I limited out with a one nine, one eight, one seven.Len says "I only took two today for an easier climb out." Exactly. Same reason I took an eight and a barely legal seven to finish the catch and lighten the load.

Abalone Day Trip - The Drive

Plantation Road in the rain

Word was that the swells would be down, the visibility up, and the rain clearing out in the morning. Then the wind and swells would pick up again in the afternoon. With the season closing in two days, this was our last shot until August. I needed to get to Sea Ranch early and intended to leave by 6 AM so we could be in the water by 11. With the drama of the broken Pre', I got a later start than I wanted. Mist rain and fog accompanied me for most of the drive.

Over the bridge
Along the way I had time to contemplate life without a Pre'

Jenner Grade

Rhododendrons among the redwoods.

Abalone season closes Friday for a month

Today is a good day to dive.

Unfortunately, it is a bad day for cell phones. I dropped the Pre.

I dropped the Pre' 12 stories.

It was a nice sunrise, and I thought it would be a great picture to kick off the day trip north to get some abalone. But it was early, and I was under-caffeinated, and... whatever... I watched it fall in slow motion. 12 stories. To gravel. The back and battery flew apart and the screen shattered.

It is seriously dead.

UPDATE: Not quite so seriously as I thought. Unbelievably, I was able to receive calls after snapping the battery and back together. Still useless for anything else as the screen is gone.

Traditional 17th portrait

Traditional 17th hole picture from Lincoln Park. My Pre ran out of juice before the end of the round again, so Bob posted this from his Blackberry.

Updated with Final Scores:

BP - 81
MW - 96
RZ - 97 (Despite a birdie on 11 - with a nine on 18)
AZ - 101 (With a nine on 14 - I guess it runs in the family)

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Closing in on 15

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Big birdie on 14

A juvenile Red Tail Hawk to be precise.

They like the ground hogs at Lincoln.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

13th tee

And my patented corkscrew finish.  Surprisingly this resulted in a slice.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

At the turn

BP 42
RZ 45 
MW 48
AZ 48

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Rick makes it past the ladies tees on 9

Thank god.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Bob's approach on 7

After a gravity assisted 270 yard drive.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Adam shows off for the golf gods...

...with a heroic wind-up.

On his way to a 7 on the sixth hole.

One of three sevens he had on the front.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Rick's approch on 1

That is my tee shot in the distance.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Live blogging Lincoln

Rick, Adam, Bob on Gay Freedom Day 

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Leah graduates from Edison middle school K-8*

Leah casts a giant shadow

The graduation march

Leah gives a great speech

Done Deal

And now on to high school. Unless she skips it altogether and goes straight to the university.

It could happen.

Papa and Leah across the street from her school at 5001 N Sawyer
The very house where Papa lived 80 years ago

The fact that it's a cliche' does not make it any less true "They grow up too fast."

Congrats Leah! We are all very proud.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

*See comments

Checking out of Cozy Cottages and heading back

For some reason, I was not as comfortable in the #4 cottage as in the previous stay in cottage #1.

Rolling.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Chimney finish underway

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Capping the Chimney

Jerry puts the finishing touches on the the chimney cap. The last step before the rock facade.

In The Arachnitorium

This years "Name that Critter" contest. Submit your answer in the comments.

  UPDATE: In the comments, MK identifies this critter as a "Wolf Spider". While certainly true, I think most would agree this is a pretty lame effort at identification. So let us get a bit more granular here. So far we have : Class Arachnida Order Araneae Family Lycosidae - Wolf Spiders Now we need to know the Genus. there may be some help here or here. For Extra Credit, we never did completely identify our last close encounter with Lycosidae at Shag Lake:

Is this guy a different Genus? Or just different coloration within the same genus? What say you?

Still more fishin' ...

Another beautiful day on the lake. Caught a few more blugs and undersized pike. Decided it was not enuf to warrant a fry, so let 'em go.