Holy Visibility, Batman!?!?

It’s getting towards the end of the Spring diving season, and I’m trying to get in what I can get in.  Being Memorial Day weekend, I’m usually out of town from Friday night onward, but I “accidently” got a concert ticket for tonight (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it) so I wasn’t able to accompany my wife to her mother’s last night to start the holiday weekend.  I’ll be going up in the morning! (and immediately pressed into service grilling, but that’s not a BAD thing)  So of course I shot a note to Rob and asked if he was available this weekend, and by some stretch of luck, he happened to be!  So it’s a good thing!

I got to the quarry a little early since I knew that there were a few classes being held, but thankfully none were set up in Upper A…  Plenty of tables to be had!   So I grabbed one close to the steep access, and set up my gear.  Rob showed up shortly after, and noticed that one of the classes were all former co-workers of his, so he had some fun talking to his friends.  Standing on top of the steep access, we noticed that the visibility at the bottom of the hill looked pretty good, and thought that we might have a good dive.  A few people that were in prior to us getting there were talking to another party, and said that the visibility was decent. We were set up in no time, and wandered down the steep path to get ready to go.

After checking that everything was on, and working, we gave the thumbs down and met at the 20ft. tree.  No bubbles we didn’t want, so we continued.  Past the boats, and the trees, along where the Dolphin tower was located, and we were soon at the pipeline.  Over that and along the right side of it and we were staring at the CAT.  With how my allergies were working on my head this week, I was skeptical if I could continue, but everything cleared as I hoped, and we were soon giving each other the thumbs down at the CAT.    As we started down the slope, Rob pointed to the line that was coming up, and it was the one small spool, and bucket that we usually pass on our way back to the Pump House. I think we were at about 60 feet, and that sits at around 85 feet. So there was approximately about 25 feet of visibility.  We also saw some lights coming over the Deep Boat, and it was Jim, and his friend on their scooters.  We passed the Deep Boat as we descended, and Rob headed towards the edge of the wall along the hole.  It was easy to find the line so we started following that.  We were soon at what’s left of one of the buildings, and the tool box, then the Step Van. (which in this visibility looks like it’s starting to disintegrate.)  Rob turned one of the wheels, and we continued back along the edge of the hole.  I could tell Rob was tempted to drop down (as was I)  but I figured he was looking for a landmark.  I was right, and the landmark was the Deep Deep Boat (which you could see from the top of the hole)  So we dropped down, and swam around that for a few minutes.  Rob pointed up the hill, and I agreed.  So we started up the steps, and then along the bottom towards the CAT. (Rob pointed out the pretzel jug on the stick that I saw last year)  At the CAT, Rob pointed to the line and I agreed. So we went along that as a deep stop until we came to the Aqua Adventures truck.  We swam around the back of that, and over the pipe towards the wall.  We then followed the wall for a few minutes until Rob turned us.  Back along the wall and through some trees, and we were nearing our safety stop.  Rob gave me the “do you want to go over into the Lagoon sign” and I agreed, so we found the 20ft. tree and started our safety stop.  A few minutes into it, I was looking at something below me, and tilted a little more to the right than I wanted, and some air went into my left leg, I started to ascend in a way I didn’t want to ascend, so I flipped over and spent a little time at 12 feet, before coming back down to 20.  Rob gave me a “where were you look?” and I just waved.  After our five minutes were up, Rob pointed over the road, and I agreed. He found a spot that was a little deeper, and we popped over into the Lagoon.  Since there was a class, I figured that the Lagoon would be kicked up, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected.  Rob soon found the pipe, and we did a quick swim through, and then followed over the platform out towards the back wall.  We ascended slightly (I think Rob had a cramp) and then headed in to the beach and we finished our dive!

Duration: 52 minutes

Deepest Depth: 111 Ft.

 Coldest Temp: 36º

Except for the slight mishap on the safety stop, I have to admit that was one of my best dives in recent times!   Nothing to really complain about, everything worked the way I wanted it to work, and I felt pretty comfortable throughout.   Rob seemed to enjoy his dive as well, although admitted a few cramps (I’ve been pretty good in that dept. knock on wood)  Rob was also thrilled that his former co-workers were in a dive class. This was something he tried setting up while he was with the Harrisburg Fire Department, but could never get approved.  With a new Mayor and city council, they were able to get it approved, and this is something that will benefit the city!

After we finished packing we went to PizzAtown, for some lunch!  I will be out of town for another concert next weekend, and not able to get out, so my next time should be the first Wednesday night of the season, I can hardly believe we’re at that point already!   Times flies when you start getting old!

So enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend, be careful grilling. (and driving home after a few cold frothy ones) I will see you on June 3^rd!

A Day Late, and a Dollar Short...

Usually,  I'm right on the ball with these, but I had a prior commitment, I needed to leave town for, so I had to just put some notes down, and get into the car... I tweaked it last night before I went to bed (and a few glasses of wine later so....)

I wasn’t expecting to be able to go this weekend, but circumstances made it possible, and knowing that there’s another 99.9% chance I won’t get out next weekend, I thought it would be a nice opportunity.   I talked to Rob, and he was looking for a diversion to his week, so it worked out.   I woke up nice and early, and expected to see sunshine, but was wrong.   It was cloudy and dreary. In fact a few times on my way to Bainbridge, there was drizzle on my windshield.   When I got there, no one was in the lot like last week, so it wasn’t a timing issue, and I was able to be social in the office while checking in.   Got back to Upper A and a few of the people that seem to surface on Wednesday were doing what they usually do, clogging up the parking situation, nice to know they’re consistent, and apparently rehearsing for the coming season!   Rob was soon to arrive, and we got our stuff together.

 

The plan was pretty much to just make it back, but see what we could find between the time we descended, and finished our dive. (i.e. see where some of the people that we saw diving didn’t kick up…not that I don’t do that myself, but I’d at least like to see what I can see before I kick it up)   Set up was nice and easy, and the fact that it wasn’t TOO hot out made it a little more pleasant to get ready.   For once I was first finished setting up, so I beat Rob down the hill by about a second.  

 

After our pre-dive check, we descended to 20 ft.   At 20 ft. no unwanted bubbles appeared, so we were good to go. Through the trees and past the Dolphin tower (where I got a nasty ice-cream headache) and the Pennsy to the pipe.   Over the pipe and to the hill before the CAT. Rob checked in and pointed down and right, so I agreed.   With the weather the way it has been, sinuses and allergies were taking their toll, and it was a very slow descent. The right ear was taking it’s good old sweet time clearing, but it did, and we were able to continue deeper.   At the bottom of the hill we were soon by the Deep Boat. Rob checked in again, and pointed further out. Seeing where his light was scanning, I knew he was looking for the pipe with the line attached, so I tried to help. We looked for a while but couldn’t find it, so Rob turned us, and we headed back to the wall, under the Pump House.  Passing the 110 ft. Trench, (I was tempted to dip into it a little,but didn't want to get to far away from Rob, so I just looked at the cool fog with my light) we went over the rocks, and through the small trees to the Tripod Tree, which meant that the Outhouse was soon in view.  We passed the Outhouse, and went to the big boulder, and did a quick lap around that.  Rob stayed a little more to the right of the Outhouse when we went back past it, and followed along the edge of the deep hole.  We FINALLY found the pipe, but it was too late to do what Rob wanted to do, so we just came back towards the Deep Boat, and back along the edge of the deep hole to the trees.  We were soon passing the big gear and the bucket (and the “Deep Christmas Tree” as I now christened it) and we're now following along the wall heading to where the Aqua Adventures truck was.  We ascended, and Rob pointed along the line. We followed that to the CAT, as a deep stop, then back in along to the wall, and did a nice swim down the wall. After a few Minutes, Rob pointed back in, and we headed to where the Dolphin Tower and Pennsy were again.   About this time we were at 35 minutes, so we started over to where the boats were.  After we went past the boats. Rob gave me the UP signal and I agreed, so we headed to our safety stop. Five minutes later, we were done!

 

Duration: 48 minutes

Deepest Depth: 94 ft.

Coldest Temp: 36º

 

Not a bad dive!   Water is still a little cold, so we sort of kept it shorter than we wanted, but we got to see most of what we wanted to see.   (Barring Robs idea when we were looking for the pipe with the line attached) I tried keeping a little more off the bottom this week, and what I did worked out better, so that’s a good thing.  The water is getting a little warmer, but it's still cold down there.  Visibility was decent in some of the deeper places and kicked up where we expected it to be, so no major surprises there.

After we packed we took a nice trip to PizzAtown for lunch, and I had to get out of dodge early to make a family event out of town. As I said there's a really good chance I won't be out next weekend, so I'll hopefully see you the following weekend!

Welcome to May!

Well, we’re getting closer to summer, and the Wednesday night diving season is just a few short weeks away!!  We woke up this morning to news of a new Princess in England!  I woke up to my own princess at the top of the steps trying to wake me up, so I had to drag my butt out of bed and give the cat some water.  My wife, knowing that I was getting up early was smart to decide to sleep in our upstairs guest room, and power sleep she did!

Last week I left you with the dilemma that the neck seal on my dry suit ripped, and needed to be replaced. As usual, I stressed over the need to make a change to fix something, and that it would be a tough thing since I’ve never done it before.  Rob sent me a link to the video that was online to fix it, and I studied the pamphlet that came with it.  Rob said it looked pretty easy compared to what he had to do with his DUI suit a few years back, but as my wife says “I could screw up a one car funeral”  so I was worried that I’d have a catastrophic leak, and sink to the depths of the quarry, never to see the light of day again, leaving my wife and my cat all of my worldly possessions, and the stress of what to call May second from here on out at either my “Memorial” dive, or golf tournament.  But alas, I must have done it right because I am here to tell you about it!   (ok, enough drama for one day)

Anyway,  I arrived at the quarry only to find Rob’s truck already there. I looked at my clock and it was about quarter of, so I wasn’t late.  He got a quick start today!  So we ran back to Upper A because there were the makings of a rather large looking dive class in the shop, and we thought tables might be at a premium in a few minutes. It wasn’t quite THAT bad, but there were a lot of people there.  The instructors apologized in advance for the ruckus they would be creating, but we didn’t mind, and are actually used to it at this point in time.  We set up, and got everything in order, and waddled down to the water.

After making sure that my neck seal didn’t leak at two feet, I was satisfied that unless something just gave up during the dive, I was good to go. We dropped to 20ft. and did a quick bubble check. All bubbles were acceptable, so we continued on.  We swam through the trees, past the Dolphin Tower, and Pennsy, then over to the pipe, Rob kept going at the pipe, which was probably a good idea since there was some kicked up viz headed towards to where the CAT was. He followed the edge of the wall over to just before the Aqua Adventures truck and pointed down. We started down the hill at the Pump House, and were soon at 85 feet.  We headed out to the right and towards the Outhouse, passing the 110ft. Trench which I noticed had a rather nice haze, as I made a slightly lower pass above it.  I caught back up to Rob as we were nearing the Tripod Tree, and soon passing the Outhouse.  We passed the outhouse and checked out the large boulder. Rob gave me a turn signal, and I agreed.  He headed out a little more to the right and followed along the edge of the deep hole. We were soon at the big scoop, and passing the pipes which meant we were close to the Deep Boat.  (which was off to our left)  We continued along the edge, and Rob made a signal to go down to the Deep Deep Boat at the steps, so I agreed.  I started following him down, and got my foot tangled in one of the steps trying to get a little further out from them.  I soon was following back down the steps, and meeting Rob at the boat.  He gave me the turn signal once again, and I agreed, so we went back up the steps, and stayed a little more to the right of the CAT.  At the CAT we found the line that went to the Aqua Adventures truck and followed that for our deep stop.  At the truck, we came back in, and followed over the pipe and through the trees until we got to the Pennsy. We went back through the trees, and around to where the big spool is located, then past the Dolphin Tower.  Rob gave me a “what’s next?” kind of look since we  pretty much saw everything we wanted to see, so we started over towards the wall, then up to our safety stop. Five minutes later we started back up and finished our dive.

Duration: 43 minutes

Deepest Depth: 108 ft. (Rob had 113, he went a little deeper at the Deep Deep Boat)

Coldest Temp: 36º (getting warmer?)

Great dive!  As I said earlier, my new neck seal held up, and I didn’t have any leaks. I used my new inner glove system, and those worked again as well; my hands were pretty warm.  I guess that means I may try to tackle my wrist seals this week! (One thing at a time)    Rob was trying his replacement computer, which seemed to work fine, so all of the changes were good!  We got back up to the top of the hill just as the class was getting ready to go into the water. One of the guys at the table next to us broke his mask strap, and Rob had one that fit. (stupid snorkel tore it)

We packed up and made our way out to PizzAtown for a quick lunch! Rob’s going to do some yard work, and I’ll do whatever’s on my Honey Do List!     There’s a possibility we may get out next week, nothing totally definite, but we’ll keep you posted!  Have a great week!