July Already?

Wow, talk about a summer flying by!  That was always something that people said that made me laugh when you were either at work, or a July 4^th party.  Ok, Summer TECHNICALLY just got started (Summer Solstice is June 20^th) So that phrase along with “wow, the summer is half over” just never made sense to me.  But what can you do.  If anything, we at the very least, got our July “dive” in, so we’re good for that (well if you’re trying to keep track of the “at least one dive per month every year” philosophy…which never seems to go 12 months in a row, anyway) My first dive of July was going to be questionable since I had to have a test run, thanks to my doctor, I wasn’t entirely sure that I’d be able to make it, but thankfully I did, and my appointment went quicker than expected, so I was the first one at Upper A.  A few more people were there tonight apart from our own crew, unlike last week.

Rob showed up soon after me, then John. The weather was again decent, so set up wasn’t the grueling sweat fest that usually accompanies this time of year, but I’m sure those days are coming.  As we all closed our dry suit zippers, Rob noticed that the battery in his dive computer was dead, so he had to quickly change it.  A few minutes later we were back on track, and shuffling down the steep access.  We decided upon our plan right before we left. John wanted to attempt a similar dive as we did last Wednesday, except with a different compass heading, then come back along the bottom of the wall. That wasn’t a bad thing, so we all agreed.

We dropped to 20ft. to see if anyone had any weird leaks, and we were good, so we continued through the horrible viz over trees and pipes until we got to the Aqua Adventures truck. (Rob said that he was working on not getting stuck in trees…kind of like me two weeks ago) We all checked in, and John got out his compass.  He took his heading, and we all started down the cliff towards the Pump House.  (I noticed that the little lobster was back further again, but since we weren’t stopping there, I couldn’t put him on his look out)  We continued over the 110’ trench which was VERY foggy, and out towards the edge of the hole.  At the hole, we started following the line, and kept an eye on the area just below. (which seemed to be a little better visibility-wise from where we were) We were soon at the Step Van and Tool Box, and checked in again with each other.  John pointed to the right this time towards the wall and we all agreed.  At the wall, we took a right and followed the bottom of it. We were soon at the Outhouse, which didn’t look the same from the last time I saw it, it could have been the angle of approach, or just my surprise in seeing it (I wasn’t expecting to see it)  At first I thought “is there another one?” but when we passed it, and I saw the tripod tree, I knew that it was THE one.  (narced?  Possibly.)  It’s also looking a little shaky, so keep posted for that! We followed back over the usual parts of the bottom of the wall, and were soon back by the Pump House. We kept going along the bottom, then started up towards the CAT.  At the CAT we headed back in towards the bowl, and passed the Pennsy and some boats (one of which my reel got caught on) and started up to our safety stop.  The visibility in this area was really bad. I could barely see John on my left, and could only see Rob when he moved his light. After five minutes, we all started to the exit, and finished our dive. (noticing a rather large catfish swimming about)

Duration: 45 minutes

Deepest Depth: 95 ft.

Coldest Temp 36º

Another good dive, and another dive where I kept mostly off of the bottom. Over the foggy part of the trench, I was tempted to drop in, but stayed with everyone, I was able to adjust a little better as we got closer to the bottom, and didn’t feel as uncomfortable as I did last week, so;  progress!  Coming back past the Outhouse, I was going over rocks (that I couldn’t see that great until I was right on them) and hit bottom a few times, but for the most part was fine. Rob said he was starting to get cold, probably because he was getting warm when he was changing his computer battery, and wondered why it had to do that once he was IN his dry suit (figures, right?  Kind of like my glove issue a little while back)  John said his hands were cold as I could see with him trying to get air into them here and there.  I was cold, but not of the annoying kind. (and that new inner glove system, I’ve been using is pretty good)

After we packed, we headed to PizzAtown, where the owners daughter thought we were out golfing (do we LOOK like golfers?)  and his young son was impressed that we do it without the “tube with the ball in it”, and use “oxygen” tanks!  

Not sure if anyone will be around for the “Holiday” weekend, but we’re all pretty sure that next Wednesday is on the schedule!  Hope to see you then! (get them while you can!)