any bay area ABALONE divers?

[vash]

i know the season ended a few weeks ago, but i thought of giving it a try next season. any insights? do you have to be a great swimmer?

[juanbenae]

yes great swimmer, and have big balls. it is so expensive because its so dangerous. i know some guys that do it and they have seen sharks on a couple of occassions, and have been ripped off by seals once or twice.

[Stanley]

It's very dangerous, even very experienced divers die out there. Just this past season 6 drivers have died or have been lost at sea in the waters off the Mendocino Coast. Here's a news article about the most recent http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041129/NEWS/411290327/1116/SEARCH02

It's all up to you, but for me the water around here is just too unpredictable to be safe in.

[juanbenae]

cliff, i could hook you up with the guys i know if you want to get the skinny from them.

fish and game is very attentive to the catch too. there have been problems with viet nam folk poaching, using scuba gear, taking too young of specimens, more than allowed, and selling to resturants without the proper licenses.

[vash]

mmmm. i talked to a few people and they said that they go during low tide. one lady told me that the last time she went she was in waist deep water. maybe i should think hard about this.

toby, that is some funny schit about the vietnamese people. my ab almost got stolen from the office freezer. i got my suspects....

[bob tilton]

being half vietnamese (or to americans VietMANese) but not an abaloney thief - i'll chime in. back in the 3rd grade i use to go camping with my frend's family to the ocean. his father and his friends would go diving and "catch" plenty of abaloney - they were not vietnamese . it use to be great fun. always thought these guys had huge balls to go into the ocean and do what they did. i know they loved it.

[vash]

naw, the ab suspect was my friend, and he is chinese like myself. sorta funny actually. he said he thought it was in the freezer way too long. i put i there this morning. we joked that there were way too many seafood eaters for the ab to stay put until morning. i took it home.

we should get together next season and try it. i may hire a guide the first time out. ab party with beer at my house if i hook up..!!!