I could feel it in my bones. This was the day; it had to be. I had everything I needed to make it this time - a buddy who knew the way there, tons of gas and the frickin' determination to end this travesty. It would be Hole in the Wall or bust.
Señor Schneble and I swam out in what should have been great conditions but encountered enough surface chop to drop pretty early. After some initial tomfoolery with navigation, we motored up Middle Reef and made a hard left at the end. I was actually surprised how quickly and easily we found it this way :) There weren't a ton of fish around but I saw the largest Monterey dorid I've seen so far. We had gotten there pretty quickly but decided to head back as SS was close to turnaround pressure. A nice, relaxed return and a mediocre valve drill later, I managed a relatively slow and stable ascent to the surface.
-> 1hr 13min, 75ft, 48F
It wasn't really a memorable dive by Pt Lobos standards but finally getting to Hole in the Wall was pretty satisfying. My manifold was a little looser than I thought it should be so now I have one more thing to play around with along with figuring out the 1st stage issues.
- U