BARBARY COAST DIVERS
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Mendo Weekend - by Dan
The winding down of Ab season brought us again to the "Little House That Could". I met up with Roy and Pete in the Van Damme parking lot as they watched a boat drift aimlessly from one side of the cove to other, thinking they were glad the weren't the poor bastard to come up and find his launch gone. Winds from the SW meant the place looked pretty choppy. Doable ... but why? Surely we could find a more protected cove.
Next spot north that was protected from the SW swells was Motorcycle cove. Hmmm ... now did we really just want to suit up in the house, get a fire going so we could come back to a toasty abode, and stroll across the bluff to grab our limit, or go further north? After long and well thought out deliberations we concluded .. easy's cool. We ain't trying to break no world records. The winds were kicking up a bit, so go in and grab dinner before the afternoon gales hit.
We went down the cliff, and surveyed things from up close. Things were still pretty choppy. Waves were pounding the shoreline even around the washrocks. The entry was a bit rough, we figured the exit was where things could even suck. It was one of those where you probably wouldn't have done it solo .. but. We got in and saw ... viz.. Lots of it. Musta been around 25 ft. Pete and I swam around to the other side of the cove, while Mr. Coto jumped in grabbed his limit 3 ft from shore, then grabbed his speargun. It was fun. Really fun. Anytime you can spot your victim from 20 ft up, when it looked from the surface you'd expect 3 ft of viz, is fun. Pete and I took our time shopping.
Curt and Carol showed up at the usual time, this time without a speeding ticket, and we had another royal pigout with ab prepared with an artichoke pesto sauce, and some other way which eludes me now. Also Roy got a fish to make a tasty fish stew. Appetizers, salads, desserts, wine, beer ... you get the picture (if not, you really need to get your butts up here).
The next day things didn't look so good to burn a tank so Curt, Carol, and I headed to Casper Cove to grab some more ab and spearfish, while Roy and Pete dutifully went back to their wives.
Casper wasn't so bad. I was pretty spoiled from yesterday, but still fun. We scouted and found some nice abbing spots. After that it was just chillin' on the North Coast. Oh, and another great ab feast, one with capers and butter, the other with a sundried tomato sauce.
While at Casper Curt and Carol rescue a sand stranded Club van.
Carol supervises the situation
Monday brought us to mushroom hunting. We were looking for Chantrelles, but only found other kinds. Still, hiking around the North Coast redwoods ain't a shabby way to spend the morning.
Updated 11/15/03