2022.10.31 | Farnsworth Banks and San Clemente Island
The past weekend, Chris and I boarded Bill’s boat, and three of us visited Farnsworth Banks and San Clemente Island. Our original plan was to go to San Clemente, but we had to change to Catalina due to the San Clemente closure. However, shortly after we left San Diego, we discovered that the military had changed San Clemente’s status to open. We decided to make a stop at the Farnsworth Banks and then headed to San Clemente Island.
We left San Diego on the evening of Thursday (10/27) on a smooth ocean and light breeze. The water was flat like a mirror during my watch at midnight, reflecting the silver moonlight. As the city lights of San Diego slowly faded below the horizon, I entered a new world. Occasionally, dolphins came near the boat. Their silhouette was fringed with a layer of luminescence as they glided on the surface. I saw shooting stars one after another against a sea of stars in the black sky. In the morning, we arrived at the east side of Catalina Island.
Chris planned to save the air for San Clemente. Bill and I jumped into the water and dropped down to the pinnacles covered with purple hydro corals. The water had a slight haze but was calm. We toured around the pinnacle and were happy to see the corals thriving as dense patches appeared in front of us, one after another. I wish my lights were bigger and the dive time was longer. It was a joyful dive.
The wind picked up in the early afternoon. Bill let the sail out and shut the engine, leaving only the sound of the water and the wind. In the late afternoon, the wind became strong. The boat was heading the San Clemente at full speed. We arrived on the island in the early evening and anchored at Fishhook.
The next day, we woke up with a beautiful sunrise. Bill motored the boat to the southern tip of the island, where most of the dive sites are. After we anchored at the first site, we noticed a strong current despite the clear deep blue water. It was challenging to get to the anchor line, but at about 60 ft, the current faded. Our first dive was deep. Kelp grows on the top of the terrain, hosting a dense fish population. Colorful gorgonians are thriving at the bottom. Our time in the water was short. On our way back, the current weakened significantly. Our second dive was at a shallower site inside a kelp forest. I only needed to kick out close from the anchor to see the beautiful kelp and fish schools. Bill and Chris did another dive while I stayed on the boat, enjoying the beautiful sunset.
We spent the night on the tip of the island near Twin Peaks. The twilight of the sunken sun turned the island into a black silhouette but painted the sky bright red and orange. As the color slowly faded, the moon and the stars appeared in the dark sky. It felt surreal to be surrounded by the island, wind, and waves at a place I never thought I could spend a night.
The next day, we woke with a cloudy sky. The water around the boat was sapphire blue. It was so clear that we saw the anchor line extending far into a kelp forest’s dark shadow. We decided to explore a new dive site. The site was much shallower, with different structures and sand channels. I was happy to see a seal swimming by but had no luck seeing other large critters. We had a long and peaceful dive.
The island was about to be closed after we finished our dive. The wind picked up a bit, and we freed the boat quickly. We pulled the boat into the home dock a little after midnight and reentered our familiar real world.