Hanging on to August!

Wow, hard to believe its August 31^st already!   Where did the summer go?  Usually my wife and I are either up at my in-law’s or at a Penn State football game this weekend, but since the football team played their game in Dublin Ireland, and we had a friend passing through town, we decided to stay home Saturday and Sunday, and take a run up to spend the day in the pool tomorrow.  So the option was given to me to go diving, and who am I to pass up a chance to get wet!  I put a bug in Rob’s ear on Wednesday night, and after running into him Thursday while getting a fill, we decided that it would work!

After spending most of Thursday and Friday cooking for the weekend, I woke up early Saturday to watch the game, then take in a day of college football!   The plan was to meet Rob at the quarry at 10:00 and we were right on schedule!   Not as many people down there as I thought, but a decent amount none the less!  My 130’s and my pony bottle are all up for their annual inspection, so I decided to tear the 130’s apart the other day and use my pony to try to get the air out of it.

We had a pretty loose plan and were soon staring at each other at the tree at 20 feet.  All systems looked good so we kept going.  We swam past the trees and a boat, then over the pipe that leads towards the CAT.  As we were getting close to the CAT Rob turned to me, and looked at me sort of strange, (well more so than usual) and motioned for me to move my arm up. He was messing with something, I thought maybe I had something tangled, he couldn’t seem to fix the problem, but moved my back up light out and pointed, I must have bumped it, and turned it on… So I shut it off, and we kept going down to the Deep Boat.  At the Deep Boat we checked, in, and Rob pointed out towards the wall, I agreed, and we started swimming in that direction. One of my tasks this dive was to attempt to get a little more OFF of the bottom, and I had my good moments, and not so good moments.  We soon passed over the trench, and kept close to the wall until we hit the outcropping of rocks.  I started keeping an eye out for the tripod tree, and soon enough there it was, meaning that the Outhouse was not far away.  Finding and passing the Outhouse, we went over to the big boulder.  We checked in, and turned back, over to the Outhouse, and back over the boulders to the Pump House.  Remembering that he was in a different place, I moved the little lobster back to his usual perch, and Rob did something with one of the rocks.  Rob gave me the option to either go up the hill from there to the Aqua Adventures truck, or back out towards the Deep Boat. I had just looked at my computer and saw we had a pretty decent amount of bottom time left, so pointed towards the Deep Boat.  We passed the Deep Boat again, and started slowly up the hill to the CAT.  We paused at the CAT for a minute, and then kept going up and into the bowl.  We passed the Pennsy, and turned around the back, and followed over the rocks and other bottom debris to the boats.  At the boat with the fuzzy caterpillar, Rob dusted it off, and gave me the thumb up sign, and I agreed.  Since I had the pony, I got the regulator ready, and turned it on, once we were at 20 feet, I switched to my 40%.  I tried changing the gas on my computer, but couldn’t get it to work, so I just gave up. Wasting the time trying to do that made the time go a LOT quicker than the usual safety stop, and I was soon at two minutes.  I could see out of the corner of my eye that Rob was contemplating doing a valve drill, but seemed to abandon that idea.  After the five minutes passed, Rob gave me the OK sign, and we were soon finding our exit point, and we were done!

Deepest Depth: 95 feet

Duration: 46 minutes

Coldest Temp: 37º

Except for not fixing my placement in the water, it was a pretty good dive!  I felt comfortable most of the dive, and didn’t use a whole lot of air.  I wasn’t able to suck my pony bottle down more, so I’ll probably use it again on Wednesday night.  My glove issue from Wednesday seemed to resolve itself, so it was just a temporary mishap.

We packed, and then made our way to PizzAtown for a quick lunch.

Wednesday night starts the last run of evening dives, so get there while you can get them in!   Hard to believe we’re in September starting tomorrow!   See you soon!!

Summer’s Return!

Summer decided to come back so why not celebrate with a BARN RUN!   Hey why not, we haven’t been there yet this year, and who knows how long that it’s going to be standing. Plus the fact that it was so hot, we may as well spend more time in the cooler water!  John, Rob, and I all arrived at the quarry at the same time, so figuring that we were on the same page, made for an easier decision to do this!  Thinking about it, it’s been probably about two years (not consulting my dive reports) since I’ve been out to the barn, so I was really game!

We got our usual spots at Upper A, and with the weather being pleasant otherwise, it was a nice time setting up, not too crowded.  Walking down the steep path, we all noticed that someone finally cleared the brush away and you weren’t dodging weeds with large pickers on them to keep from puncturing your dry suit!  Everyone was down, settled, and ready so: 20 feet!

We all looked good, no odd bubbles coming from places they weren’t supposed to be coming from, and we were off. John went through a few trees, past a boat, and over to the pipe, and we were soon staring at the CAT. We all checked in, and everything was still good, so we kept going. We passed someone as we neared the Deep Boat, and were looking for the pipe with the line attached.  John trained his light on it, and we followed that out to the collapsed building and the tool box. I was confused for a second, and thought that the collapsed building was the Barn, but between my usual confusion, and probably being slightly narced, I soon realized where we were when I saw the tool box.  John took us past the Step Van, then we seemed to be a little off course.  We stopped for a second, and then turned, and we were soon at the Tanker.  Passing the Tanker, John found the next set of lines, and we started out to the Barn.  I followed John through it, Rob took no chance of it collapsing and swam outside, which was almost like he was swimming next to me since the walls are almost totally gone.  We met on the outside, and were soon headed to the wall for another long swim.  Rob was thinking that this MAY have been where we were last week when we got lost leaving the Outhouse! Not having benefit of a map prior to the dive, I always seem to forget where things are situated within the quarry, and was surprised when after swimming along a wall, and many boulders that we arrived at the Pump House.  The Lobster was near his usual perch, so I left him alone.  Everyone checked in, and we started up the cliff. At the top, John went into the Aqua Adventures truck, and Rob and I met him at the back.  We followed John again into the bowl, and past the Pennsy. As we swam around the Pennsy, we passed by the old scoop, and Rob saw a vice sitting on it. John and I missed it, but we’ll have to see that next time we’re down. Along through the boats, and we were ready for our safety stop.  About two minutes in several people seemed to be hovering over us, and one seemed to straddle Rob, to tell John something.  I backed away thinking that if it was some sort of problem, John and Rob were more qualified to help than I was, but nothing seemed to be really wrong.  A few minutes later, we were down with the safety stop, and we finished our dive!   I had a slight issue with my left dry glove, my tube got dislodged, and slid into my wrist seal, and my glove puffed up, I tried a few things to relieve it, but it seemed to pop as I ascended, and my hand got wet… I don’t think the glove or wrist seal got damaged, just dislodged somehow. I’ll have to give it a better look in the daylight.

Duration: 51 minutes

Deepest depth: 94 feet

Coldest Temp: 37º

Truthfully, a pretty good dive!  I had some problems trying to stay off the bottom, not sure why all of a sudden that is becoming an issue for me, it could be using the 119’s vs. the 130’s, but it’s hard to tell while at depth.  I need to figure that out soon. (well first get my 130’s viz’d, and see if that really IS the problem, then see what I need to work on)(maybe if we DO get out Sunday, that’s the task!)  But otherwise, I felt pretty good for such a long deep dive, although I could tell that as we kept going, I was breathing a little heavier, and seemed to suck my cylinders down, my consumption wasn’t as good as it had been. 

One interesting part of the evening was thinking that I hit all Wednesdays in August, and there’s only one more month (four more Wednesdays) to get in! (what WILL I do on Wednesday evenings after September?)  College football season starts this weekend, so some weekends will be tougher to get out than others, so I have to make sure I balance my time (and not annoy my wife...well any more than I usually do over the next few months) 

After packing, we made our way out to PizzAtown, and thankfully they had Tröegs in their beer coolers!

That’s it for me I am OUT of here!  As I mentioned, Sunday is a slight possibility, but nothing solid yet.  I’ll keep you posted…if not see you next Wednesday in September!      

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Back to BSC

The milder weather has been making for a pleasant August, but I find it weird that it seems to rain or storm on Wednesday nights, more so than any other night during the week. (maybe I’m just more cognizant of Wednesdays) Anyway, it drizzled a little starting at around 3:00-3:30-ish up in Hershey. About quarter to four, Rob and I got a text from John asking if we were planning on heading to the quarry. I was willing to give it a shot since the weather report made it seem like the rain was moving West to East, and the line of showers didn’t look like an all-night event. I also figured if someone got to the  quarry first, they’d just grab some tables in one of the pavilions…although John DID mention that he had Jane (the tarp)…so I was pretty confident in the weather. 

After I picked up my wife from work and dropped her off at home, I “high tailed” it down to the quarry, only to find that John, Rob and Jim were the only people ahead of me on the sign in sheet, and all three were standing there talking about the trespassers on BSC property.  I had to off load some Powerade, so I was ready to run back to the restrooms, John and Rob went down and grabbed tables in one of the pavilions. (there was a dive class from York Divers in the other one that was just finishing up)  We set up, and as we did, the weather started to get nicer. (The combination of Jane and having a spot in a pavilion made nicer weather an almost certain thing!)  As we were finishing our set-up and walking to the water, a few other people came, and occupied the other pavilion, I also saw a few people setting up in Upper A.  So the hesitant people were coming out slowly.

Rob was diving in a single 120 tonight since his doubles are up for their annual inspection, that gave us a slight reason for a more conservative dive tonight (no Bus Stop runs, according to John) But we still had a decent plan!  Since he was diving his recreational rig tonight, a few modifications were in order, and an item he needed was still on his Tec Rig. Thankfully, I had the part he needed since I was considering not diving with my light last weekend. John left his inner gloves, but Rob soon remedied that!  Good that we all carry extra stuff! (I was worried I forgot an item, or to do something until we hit 20 feet and there wasn’t a flood!)

We walked over to the long road path, and everyone looked good, so we headed to 20 feet.  No unsuspected bubbles and everyone’s gloves seemed to be sealed (colder water than Dutch Springs, so it was easier to notice) so we continued on.  John lead, Rob and I followed.  We were soon at the CAT and checked in. Everyone was good so we continued down to the Deep Boat.  At the Deep Boat, we kept moving, and looked for the line out to the Step Van.   We followed the line, and were soon passing the debris out in that area.  I’m not sure I recall the back doors of the Step Van being blue?  Maybe I wasn’t as narced as I usually get tonight, so that was interesting.  We checked in with each other and everyone seemed alright. John took his heading, and soon we were following the area Rob and I got lost in LAST week (at least it seemed that was where we were) Approaching the Outhouse from this perspective was a different thing than from the side.  When I saw the roof of it “head on” I wasn’t sure what we were seeing, but a quick swim alongside got my brain back to where it needed to be.  We passed it, and took a trip by the big boulder.  John turned, and we were soon following the wall back over our usual path. At the Pump House, I checked, and the Lobster was where he should be. I gave him a quick wave, and noticed that someone is building a little structure with rock on the front of the Pump House.  Rob and John started up the hill, so I followed. We were soon at the Aqua Adventures truck, and John took a swim through it. Rob and I met him at the back, and it appeared that John asked Rob how much gas he had left.  John started through the bowl, and then went past the Pennsy.  After that, we were doing a rather nice wall dive, slowly ascending to about 30 feet.  Rob and John decided to turn, Rob gave me a signal that appeared to mean “go to 20ft” which I took as a “rolling safety stop”, and I guessed right!   When we got to where John wanted to cross over into the Lagoon (which was logical since we could swim back rather than walk back) we had maybe a minute to two minutes to wait.  John gave the signal to go over into the Lagoon, and we both agreed. Safety stop wound down, and over the road we go.  The visibility didn’t look great, but we were at least able to follow each other’s lights or fins.  I had my light trained on Rob’s fins, and still had a tough time following.  Bumping into things and running aground wasn’t fun.  Soon I lost Rob’s fins, and tried to continue hoping to see him in a minute, thinking “we’re all in the Lagoon, if I need to surface to find someone, or the way out, I’m not going to hesitate” I tried to see what depth I was swimming at, and had a tough time even seeing my computer, right up to my mask!  The visibility was THAT BAD!  I ran into some grass, and thought I must be over towards the wall, so since I hadn’t seen anyone for a short time, I decided to surface.    When I looked around, I saw two sets of bubbles maybe about 10 feet apart and 20 feet away from me, so I dropped back down and tried to intercept. That didn’t work, so I figured, I was done.  I surfaced again, and soon saw John’s head break the surface, then Rob’s.  We were done!   Not a BAD surface swim, but enough.

Duration: 45 minutes

Deepest Depth: 95 ft.

Coldest Temp: 37º

Actually a really good dive! No issues to speak of, and I felt pretty good for the first time in the 119’s! (although I wasn’t overly comfortable in the 130’s at Dutch last weekend) My air consumption looked a little skewed this week, probably because I surface swam face down pretty hard swimming out of the lagoon, but felt pretty good throughout the dive.  Rob ended up with a decent amount in his single, and didn’t seem to have any difficulties.  John came back with more air than he started, so he was good as well!  

We packed, and headed to PizzAtown, where they need to get some more Tröegs in stock! 

That’s it for me, I’m out of here!   I have a commitment this weekend, that will probably prevent me from diving, but I’m not ruling out a little later on Sunday if something (hopefully) changes. (I’ll keep you posted on that)  Five more Wednesday nights left, so get them while you can!

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Double Dutch

One of the local dive shops had a “customer appreciation” sort of event out at Dutch Springs. Since I occasionally use their services, I felt that I was eligible to participate in their little soirée!   Rob told me about it, and gave me $2.00 off coupon from the shop and said “free food” so we were in business!   The Mrs. was out of town today so I didn’t have to feel guilty getting up so early, although the cat wasn’t my biggest fan at 5:45am when I got up! (Hey, I had to give her some meds before I left so…she probably slept the rest of the day, anyway)  I met Rob & John at Sheetz at 6:45 and consumed a double sausage croissant and a hash brown with my large coffee! (tasted better than the energy bars I usually eat when I’m diving that early)  After loading our gear, we set off and headed out to Dutch. 

When we got there we unpacked and checked on the festivities of the day.  We were set up in one of the pavilions behind where the Aqua Park part of the quarry, and what seemed to be miles away from the water.  (but close to the young ladies in bikini’s that were sunbathing)  Not our usual set up under the trees and 20 steps from the water when we’re there during the week. As people arrived we figured out that we would be accompanying the group out to the far regions of the quarry for the first part of THEIR dive, so it was a hurry up and wait sort of scene, thankfully the weather was mild and we weren’t sweltering in our dry suits.

The order was finally given to hit the water!  Once I set up and got my mask and fins on, I just popped out and waited.  (and waited)  We were then informed that we were leading so we dropped down to 20 ft.  One thing I don’t like about Dutch vs. Bainbridge is that there is really no reference when you are descending off of some of the platforms, so I get to depth, then start to rise, then dump some air, and…well…it’s just a thing I need to work out, let’s say that!   After about five minutes, we were still the only ones at depth, so we ascended for a few minutes until things were worked out. Finally we descended, and started out towards the Trolley. John the Navigator lead, and I followed a few feet below  him and Rob.  Once we got to the Trolley, it was a swarm of people trying to get through it, so I followed Rob around the side, and  watched everyone go through (been through it before…not a must do)  After everyone went through, we popped around the back, and  slid down the hill to the “Army Truck” (as it’s listed on my one map)  or the “Duece and a half”  as Rob and John refer to it (or the Duisenberg according to someone else?!?!?!)  Again as we hit depth, the swarm was all over it, so I just followed Rob, and headed off to the side. Once everyone had their chance to see it, I think the order was to head out to the Crane, but I wasn’t sure who all was going with us (we were diving double’s and the majority of the rest were diving single 80’s)  When we got to the Crane, we waited for a few minutes, then figured that everyone went elsewhere, so we kept going. John took his heading, and we swam along the bottom of the Island, and ended up at the Helicopter (ok, what’s LEFT of the helicopter!!)  We took a quick run through that, and started back towards the Silver Comet. Passing the Comet, we then hit the platforms.  As we ascended by them, Rob pointed to some of the “markers” that were for the scavenger hunt. He apparently had his, so I grabbed mine!  After we passed the platforms, we found our exit point, and did our five minute safety stop.  After we were done, we ascended and finished our dive.

Duration:  59 Minutes

Deepest Depth: 78 feet

Coldest Temp: 46º

Not a great dive, I felt a little off kilter most of the dive, and never really got comfortable, so I only semi-enjoyed it.  Also, as I took off my gloves, I realized that my right one leaked, and thought that I should have used my wet gloves since the water here isn’t quite as cold as Bainbridge… I just thought that was a “sign” so I pulled my 7mm’s out of my box to use the next dive.  My sweatshirt was also soaked, so I pulled that off, and put on my cut off sweatshirt…I didn’t leak, but I think I was sweating so much that it got wet…Rob said “you get that way when dealing with students”  So no problem…

After everyone was back up to the pavilion, lunch was grilled and served.  Our plan for the second dive was to try to find the rest of the markers for the scavenger hunt, and just tool around the platforms and what-nots. 

We went back to the water, and Rob, John and I dropped down to our 20 ft. bubble check. Rob had a little glove leak issue at first, but resolved it.  We started to the platforms, and looked around for the errant markers; the one we THOUGHT was under the platform, ended up being a dead fish. We made it down to about 55 feet, and lost John.  Rob and I started heading to where we thought he was at the surface, and saw him.  So we ascended. As we ascended, we saw John descending again, Rob kept me on the surface long enough to tell me that he was having a nasty leak in his glove and was bailing, but to go back down and keep going with John. I made sure he was OK to get back to the platform, and descended to where John was at the platform.  When I got there, John gave me a “where’s Rob?” kind of look, so I tried to get my pencil and write on my slate. The pencil wasn’t cooperating, so John handed me HIS pencil. I tried writing “Rob bailed, has a leak” on his slate, but it came out garbled…so I kept his pencil and wrote it on MY slate. This time he got it and we kept going.  Under the platform, and out past the dead fish we went again. I followed John for a while, and we weren’t seeing anything. The visibility wasn’t great, so I was glad I had my light with me. We kept swimming, and kept seeing nothing.  John looked at me and shrugged, I agreed, so we pressed on. After a little while I happened to see a line running across our path, and a little higher than us. I tapped John and pointed. He shrugged, and we started following the line. Soon we were at the crane, and he gave me a very puzzled look.  We turned, and kept following the bottom. Some of what we saw was foreign to us, and when John saw some lines bobbing up and down, figured that we were under the Aqua Park. I had no clue where we were (nothing we don’t know) and thought we were at an entirely different part of the quarry.  Soon we were at a wall (that I thought was the island) and John motioned that we should ascend for our safety stop.  When I looked up I saw an entry platform and though “ok!” Five minutes later we finished. John turned over a “clay pigeon” that was another local dive shop's prize markers, and we were done with dive number two!

Duration: 50 minutes

Deepest Depth: 60 feet

Coldest Temp: 49º

From a “technique” standpoint, a much better dive than the first one, but from a sightseeing perspective, one to forget!  I never realized that Dutch had so many points of nothing!  This was almost as bad as when I did a few dives with my cousin back in 2008, and the first dive where we saw squat!  (Ok, I was leading the dive, so no big revelation there!) I told John, when my wife and I have a bad day doing something she always says “At least we were together”...this one wasn’t really ever good enough for that!   We found Rob back at the platform. Once he resolved his glove issue, he took a guy who wasn’t totally certified, and did some platform stuff with him.  Good deal for that guy!  (and Rob got to play a little more in the water)

After everyone was done, more grilling was done, and the prizes were awarded.  I won some new spring straps! Rob won another pair of shears!   Good enough!   We finished, and waited for John’s wife to come pick him up, then headed back to Hershey.  We’re planning on getting back out on Wednesday. The summer is slowly going away, so get them in while you can!