Photo by Dr. Bob

Now how did a lover of warm tropical seas end up on a beach in Southern California? It's all Dr. Bob's fault as you will soon see.

It started when he got me involved with Human Powered Submarine Races. As a winner of the '96 non propeller division, he convinced me to go see them. Then I found out my college VPI had a team. I got involved as a sponsor and went to the 2001 races. The 2002 races were in Escondido, California so this summer I headed west following in the footsteps of many hardy pioneers (bypassing those slow wagons and flying Delta.) Bob came down to visit the races wearing his medal and lime green sublime hat. Prior to the trip Bob suggested that I join him in a couple of dives in La Jolla. Try out our latest rebreather modifications and have a pleasant afternoon. I agreed and immediately asked about the water temperature, being convinced that water freezes at somewhere below 65 degrees and is no longer fit for diving (those days are long past). Bob, a normally informative guy, was a bit evasive. It's warming up he said in his most comprehensive email. I was suspicious so I called a couple of dive shops that informed me that the water temperature was at least 67 or 68 at the surface. I gasped.

I could not decide if I would lie to Dr. Bob saying my luggage was lost or to brave it, I did a test. I filled my "wallow" with 68 degree water and soon learned that it was just fine if I did not spend over a hour and a half in it. I could handle it with my normal diving outfit consisting of a bathing suit and a black "t" shirt. I repeatedly complained in e-mails and in phone conversations with Dr. Bob about cold water.. Bob kept saying it would be ok. I talked about wet suits, polar suits etc. The trap was set.

Bob arrived at the sub races with his medal and lime green Sublime hat. We later headed to the beach, filled our oxygen tanks and headed down the steps at La Jolla Shores to join the throngs of divers wearing 4 inch thick wetsuits and waders (not swimmers). Since I did not put on a wetsuit etc, Bob did not either. We enter the water and I was delighted to see my first of many Garibaldi. The water was cool and pleasant.

Bob was diving his world famous FEOR and had his Nikonos. It was the first time I had seen the FEOR in action. It is truly an amazing device for shallow water diving. I was diving my hacked RGU system. Life was good, we were underwater. The kelp waved back and forth with the actions of the gentle surf. Bob was in his element. No bubbles escaped from the FEOR as he pointed out the sea life in this salty ecosystem. I wasn't cold and I was having fun.This was the perfect type of diving for a pure oxygen rebreather like the FEOR. You had to pay little attention to the depth as it was less than 20 feet but full of sea life. Here Bob hides within the kelp.



The other interesting sight was the numerous sea slugs (Dr Bob informs me that they call them Sea Hares---but they don't taste like rabbit and looks like colorful slugs to me---mollusks without an external shell are slugs---no cute little cotton tail present) just off the beach. I like invertebrates cause they usually do not run away when you take their picture. This means all you have to do is hold the camera steady. Sometimes that is a little harder than it sounds when you are in a strong surge. This day there was no wind and the surge was very light....just a few waves tired from their trip across the ocean from Japan.


Bob is right at home in this environment with his Nikonos while I shot away with my little Sony Cybershot in the homemade housing shown here in this picture taken by Dr. Bob. Two approaches to getting the image. Later that evening Eric, Bob's ex-seal diving buddy arrived with his girl friend. Erick made an evening dive and we finished the day telling life stories at dinner at the Crab Catcher on the cliffs overlooking La Jolla. Great times, great food, great people, great fun. I could see that Dr Bob and I going to have fun in Roatan the following week.

Did I get cold....nope not only did I not get cold, I fell asleep floating in the water while Bob took an exercise swim. Did Bob get cold....his arm looked like the Sierra Nevadas with goose bumps on top of goose bumps. His face was as blue as a Celt ready for battle with the Romans. One tough dude. It's easy when you don't get cold, but when you get cold and stick with it, you are tough.