Tag Archives: Jack Likins

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This weekend brought calmer weather and abalone divers from near and far headed to the Mendonoma Coast. The swells were minimal but the visibility was not good. That didn't stop seekers of red treasure from finding their goal.

Here is a photo from a recent dive. Roger Rude and his dive buddy, Jack Likins, each got a ten+ inch abalone. Roger also speared a Lingcod.

Roger Rude with a ten+ inch Abalone and a Lingcod by Jack Likins (Large)

Rick and I took a walk on the Walk-on-Beach public access trail on The Sea Ranch yesterday, Saturday. We greeted two abalone divers headed back to their truck. They were tired but happy. We saw the trail they used to get down the bluff face. It is steep, very steep. I guess abalone divers must be part mountain goat!

Here is a photo of the iridescent interior of an Abalone shell, taken by Craig Tooley

Abalone shell by AUG Craig Tooley

Thanks to Jack for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To learn more about abalone diving, preparing abalone, and much more, here is a link to Eric Anderson's awesome website: http://www.abaloneten.com/home

To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com

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Roger Rude wrote, "It has been a month since I have ventured into the sea, that is a long stretch for me. It seems like she has been angry, perhaps for the way we have been treating her, throwing tantrums of waves and storms. Today she was at peace, befitting of her name "Pacific", enticing me to come to her and play, explore and rejuvenate my soul.

Abalone season is closed, so I brought my new kayak, a Pedal Mirage Drive Hobie Outback Kayak, along with another for my friend Jack Likins, to test them out, explore new dive sites and perhaps spear a fish for dinner. Conditions were lovely, flat water, sunshine, a beautiful day. I could see the spouts of whales traveling south about a mile off shore. [Below is Jack Likins trying out the new kayak.]

Jack Linkins Kayaking on a pedgal Miracle Drive Hobie Outback Kayak by Rogert Rude

We launched somewhere near Gualala and pedaled our way north. Yes, I said pedal, not paddled. These kayaks are equipped with a unique pedal drive that propels them through the water nearly effortlessly at a speed faster than we could have paddled.

We arrived at the area we wanted to explore and dropped into interspace. The visibility was around 20 feet over a boulder strewed bottom. Very few fish were about probably due to the full moon and a night of feeding. I was looking for a black rock cod for dinner and I found her sleeping in a cave. Dinner provided for I began to explore. In the next fifteen minutes I found not one but two abalone measuring close to 10.5 inches.

A ten inch Abalone will have to wait by Roger Rude

I wear a GoPro camera on my head and I video record my dives so I can review them later, for posting on the Internet and for occasions like this. I surfaced and recorded landmarks above the water, as well as on the bottom, in hopes of relocating these two trophy-sized abalone in April when the season reopens.

Two ten-inch Abalone by Roger Rude

While heading back to our launch sight we were briefly surrounded by half a dozen sea lions porpoising through the water in the other direction. They were moving fast and only briefly slowed down to take a look at us as they past, too fast to get a photo of them. I had heard there was a pod of Orcas in the area and I wondered if this was the source of their frantic pace, but I saw no sign of them.

Another beautiful day in the sea off of the Mendonoma coast, another adventure experienced with the lure of a fruitful one in the future. Standing on shore I shared a beer with my buddy. Once again a terrestrial being looking out at my mistress the sea, my spirit is full and my soul is at peace."

I thank Roger for giving us this look into the world most of us will never see. And thanks also for allowing me to share his photos with you here. Here is a photo of Roger after a very successful abalone dive. The photo was taken by his buddy, Jack Likins. These are two ten+ inch Abalones.

Roger Rude with two ten-inch Abalones by Jack Likins (Small)

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Layered sky above, swaying life below. With the surge from each passing wave, all things not fixed move first to and then fro.

Getting ready for a dive by Roger Rude

Feet up, head down, two kicks and I begin my flight to the bottom in a state of totally alert relaxation.

I glide through the columns of kelp, over rippling sea grass in a crevice, I descend. Around me a menagerie of colorful life forms, fish cleverly camouflaged seem to appear magically. I pass through a silvery wall of small fish as they part around me.

Abalone diver in kelp by Ken Bailey (Small)

To the task at hand - a quest - light on I peer in cracks and holes, illuminating the mysteries they conceal. In the back of one cave an Abalone clings to the ceiling, a large one worth measuring. As it senses my presence it clamps down on its rock perch.

I slide the ten inch gauge around it, feeling the surge of water from a wave above press me into the hole as I measure the shell - just shy of the mark. Nine and seven/eighths of an inch spell reprieve for this Abalone. I'll leave him for another year.

Forty-five seconds have passed and my body reminds me I'm terrestrial; it is time to return for air. As I fly upwards I look at that layered sky above, under the undulating reflective surface of the sea, pressures change, efforts cease as I cross the buoyancy barrier and float to the surface.

As I draw my first breath, I can feel the surge of oxygen infusing every cell in my body. Resting there, I'm in a meditative state, eyes watching the world below, my soul being rejuvenated. I am where I should be, where I need to be.  By Roger Rude.

Roger Rude with a 10.05 Abalone by Jack Likins (Large)

Here is a photo of Roger on a day that he did find a ten inch Abalone - this one measured 10.05 inches, a trophy Abalone.

Thanks to Ken Bailey for the underwater photo - to see much more of Ken's wonderful underwater photography, here is his website: http://www.seadreams.org/

Thanks to Jack Likins for the photo of Roger. And a big thank you to Roger for the photo of the early morning ocean and for this beautiful essay.

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Here you will see Nick, Matt and Hunter Lum after a recent dive for red treasure. Matt is an avid diver. It appears his sons have taken after him in this regard.

Nick, Matt and Hunter Lum after a successful Abalone dive by Jack Likins (Large)

Jack Likins took this photo. He wrote, “My friend, Matt Lum, came from Santa Barbara with his family and a couple of friends and spent the week diving for abalone.”

Roger Rude expressed what it feels like to be in the ocean this past week. He wrote, “Returning to the sea today to refresh my soul in its salty embrace, to fly and soar above the sea floor, to know my place in the universe.”

The beautiful Pacific Ocean, it calls to us with its summertime murmuring. In constant motion, it is home to many wonders, some of which we know well and some yet to be discovered. It’s a place of mystery, a place of danger, and of wonder. We should strive to never take it for granted.

Thanks to Jack for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

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Don Stupfel is 86 years young. He went diving with several friends recently and scored a trophy  Abalone - a ten inch Ab.

Don Stupfel, 86 years young, with a ten inch Abalone by Jack Likins (Large)

Eric Anderson keeps records of everyone who takes a 10 inch Abalone and he believes Don is the oldest person to have accomplished this feat.

Thanks to Jack Likins for this photo and story.

To learn much more about Abalone, here is Eric Anderson's web site: https://sites.google.com/site/abaloneten/