The last two shots are not quite in focus, but they capture the actual visual experience of the dive rather well. Slightly murky water with dark skies overhead kept me squinting, attempting to see better and more. Cold, cold water too . . . though I was wearing a 4/3 surfing wetsuit, not fully zipped, and shouldn't complain. Proper gear makes for longer dives . . . . I need to find that good 6/5 surfing wetsuit, I guess.
Larger context:
Yesterday, I slipped off the kayak into the water off Mendocino for a short free dive. I intended to play with (and shoot photos inside) a surge channel between a rock and a small island off Van Damme State Beach, but the surging of the swell circling around the island and then being squeezed into that channel shot me out precipitously. After the such second cannon blast, I moved into quieter waters just to the side of the surge channel and took a few shots there. I've often swam into such channels -- there's a great one on the east point of Lovers Point in Pacific Grove, for example -- but this particular one had a combination of seeming innocuousness and irresistible force that I will be back to try again. Often, I've found the largest sea anemones in such channels.
