The forecast was awful, but it didn't seem that bad when we left the house in Woodinville. The further south we drove, though, the worse it got, and by the time we arrived at Redondo, it was quite literally pouring cats and dogs. The parking lot looked like a homeless camp, with all the pavilions (but I was awfully glad of the sided tent with the heaters in it, after our dive!). Water was running about a inch deep over the whole lot, and my feet were soaking wet before I ever got them in my dry suit.
Surprisingly, about a dozen or more people showed up to dive, and I think about twenty more must have stopped by and dropped off food, judging from what was on Penelope's tables.
I dove with Peter and Nirupam Nigam, a recent import from SoCal. We went in on the far side of the boat ramp, to do some critter-hunting in the shallows. Entry was EASY (which was not true of our exit later). We were all rewarded with absolutely fabulous visibility -- I don't know what it was, but at least 30 feet and I think more. Critters were out in force, including a nice red octo and a LUMPSUCKER!
We spent a lovely hour photographing and then headed in, standing up near the stairs, where conditions had changed amazingly since our entry. Waves were now rolling in, the water was muddy brown, and Randy Williams was standing at the head of the stairs, shouting, "Don't even try to get out here, the last team got their butts handed to them." So we waded to the boat dock, swam out past the two boats that were leaving, and ducked under the dock and across the boat ramp to get out on the beach on the other side.
Hooray for all the intrepid folk who came out today, and my hat is most definitely off to those who headed in for a second dive!
But I saw the rain! 
