After a tough week, I’m back in the saddle again on a
Wednesday night. If you want to call
this “my happy place” then so be it, I’m just glad to get out of the house some
nights. I was the first ones at Upper A,
and other than knowing that there were other people signing in, I was wondering
if it WAS Wednesday? But soon enough Rob showed up, then John was close behind.
I was hoping that my gear was all where it was supposed to
be, since I had planned on coming last Wednesday, and needed to cancel at the
last minute, so I didn’t unpack anything from its cases, and just stacked it in
my garage. Since I have a usual “ritual” when it comes to my packing for a “dive
trip”, and I wasn’t able to actually follow it, I had to hope that I didn’t
forget something. (like my weight belt, or even my mat, let alone my regulators
or dry suit) But thankfully everything was where I put it!
Once we were all set up and down at the water, we wondered
where to go, John had an idea, so we figured that we’d let him lead. (usually a
good idea anyways) At 20 feet, we all
had the right bubbles coming from the right places, so we continued. Through trees and under pipes along to the
top edge of the ridge, we swam out towards the Aqua Adventures truck. I had a
minor setback in a cable that was draped down through the trees, I was moving
my fins, but I wasn’t going forward. It took me a few second to realize I wasn’t
catching up to Rob, and figured out I was stuck. I got loose, just as I saw Rob
turn around at the truck to see where my light was, Ok, I’m here! On the other side of the truck, we started
down the cliff, and followed along the bottom of the hill at a slight angle.
The Tripod Tree was soon in view, and then there was the Outhouse. We checked in and continued past the
Outhouse, to the “Volkswagen Rock” (As Rob is now referring to it, because it’s
as big as a VW, I guess?) Past the rock
we swam around in that general area which was kind of misty. We turned, went back past the rock and
Outhouse and towards the edge of the hole. (following my trail) The one line was in view, and we followed
along with that until we were approaching the Deep Boat. Around the back of the Deep Boat, and still
following the edge of the hole we were at the stick with the pretzel jug on it
(That Rob said someone moved) then heading back up to where the CAT is located.
I’m not sure if this was in a predetermined plan, but we were soon back into the
bowl area, and at the bottom of the Dolphin Tower. We started our slow ascent up the tower, and
I saw that a platform was near, knowing that Rob wanted to work on valve
drills, and said he wanted to go to a platform, I figured that was the plan was
at the moment. Rob worked on his drills,
then John took his turn. My foot was cramping,
and I remember the last time I attempted one, I got it backwards, so I figured
I better refrain at this moment in time.
(need to pull my notes out) Everyone was satisfied with their
achievements (I think) so we continued on back towards our exit area. Through some more trees, and along the wall,
we were soon where people like to build things with the rocks, and we finished
our dive.
Duration: 48 minutes
Deepest Depth: 94 ft.
Coldest Temp: 36º
Not a bad dive for me, I’m still not where I want to be at
all times in the water, and things aren’t getting better no matter what I
attempt, so I need to figure out another method. Instead of just using my dry
suit, do I need to use my wing again? Not sure, but something just isn’t
gelling for me, and John said my fins were trailing a bit, so (Maybe I need
some platform work)… I’ll keep you posted on that. Otherwise it was good to get back into the
water to clear my head of some things.
The “dive class” that was set up next to us decided to park
their cars in the lane, so we all had to BACK in to load our gear while they chatted,
and took their pictures. Ok, we were nice about it, we’re all competent drivers,
so…
We ran over to PizzAtown for some much needed sustenance! (and college football!) I know I’ll be out of town this coming
weekend, but hopefully NEXT Wednesday is workable, hope to see you then!
No comments:
Post a Comment