Weather or Not!! (The Sequel)

Well, after a June filled with beautiful weather, that you didn’t mind setting up in, no major storms to deal with, let alone passing showers…the second week of July was where it “should” be.  There were threats of bad weather, the humidity was horrible, and setting up was filled with toweling off.  (Although the threats of rain subsided early on)  As a result of anticipated weather, tonight was a “wait and see” sort of evening, so we decided to wait and see!  When the call came at 4:00 that “all systems were go” my life changed from “going shopping” to “going diving!” again!  (and some say that prayer doesn’t work!)

Interestingly enough, the Wednesday night “crew” is now more comprised of classes, than just people out for a mid-week dive.  There was an Advanced Open Water class (with guys that Rob knew) and another set of ladies that appeared to be a class of some sort, and what also seemed to be a class down below. (along with a few other assorted people)  As I finished getting things in order, and was about to start suiting up, I noticed that my phone was missing, so I checked my car, nope, then looked around the table I had my gear on again, nope, so I went back to the rest rooms up by the office and it was there…crisis averted, and a minor glitch, but I was soon back to getting set up. (Rob was just warm) 

After getting ready we wandered down to the water with no set schedule, other than getting cooler, and seeing what we could see, so the orders for a 20ft. bubble check were given, and we descended.  With the way this weather HAS been all season, the sinus’s were a little “iffy”  so there was the normal order of keeping those in check.  At the tree, we scanned each other for things that shouldn’t be happening, and all systems were go, so we continued.  The visibility was pretty bad, so finding things wasn’t an easy task.    I tried to stay alongside of Rob, and made sure that my light was in his path so he could focus upon finding the landmarks, which wasn’t easy.  After swimming through the fog, he found the pipe!  So along the pipe, and down towards the CAT which was tough to see, even from about 10 feet. The decision to go deeper was made, and we both started down to the Deep Boat, which wasn’t TOO horrible to find.  At the Deep Boat, Rob pointed to the wall, and I agreed, and over the bottom we swam, passing the usual landmarks along the way.  At the wall we were right by the Pump House, so we continued along the bottom, swimming for what seemed like a longer time. The fog over the deep 110ft. hole was really thick, and I avoided dropping in, Rob probably would have never found me again, who knows what monsters lurk in that foggy deep!   When I started thinking that we passed the Tripod Tree and the Outhouse, Rob turned to me and pointed back, then we saw the Outhouse. We JUST passed it by a few feet, but were right on track.   Following the rocks and boulders, we swam over the rocks, and along the bottom of the wall until we were back at the Pump House. I put the lobster back on his perch and knocked more of the dust off of him, and we started our first ascent.  At 60 feet, we swam back out towards the CAT, and took a left back into the bowl.  Since there are more landmarks there, it was a little easier knowing where you were, the Pennsy, the Dolphin Tower, and a few other things that we passed on the way out, but just missed. (and I knew were close when we DID go through the first time since I saw some of the things I noticed on the way out)  Up by one of the boats, Rob found the Fuzzy Caterpillar re-attached to the other side of the roof, and he gave him a quick shake to rid him of dust.  Back through a few trees and into the bowl again, and it was soon time for our safety stop, so back past the boats, and over to our spot.  Five minutes later, we were just able to stretch those last few minutes, and squeeze a 50 minute dive out of it.

Duration: 50 minutes

Deepest Depth: 92 feet

Coldest Temp: 36º

Pretty much a nice relaxing uneventful dive!  The first several minutes were a little hairy…ok foggy…but once we started seeing the landmarks, things were mostly fine. Rob claimed that he got a little lost towards the end, but he could have fooled me.   As we were putting things away, some nasty thunder was heard in the distance, which helped us to pack a little faster, but nothing seemed to arise while we packed.

After we were done we went to PizzAtown for a little post dive dinner, but in spite of their beer lights all being on, and the ‘OPEN’ sign flashing, they were closed!  The sign on the door said “Closed for Family Vacation July 5, 6, 7, & 8”  So we had to try to remember more places, and I could only think of Mid-Town Pizza in Middletown.  Nice place, good food (fries weren’t as good), beer (Tröegs on draft), but they had waitresses, so you had to be nice, and tip. (and if I didn’t and my wife would find out, I’d get a lecture)

Looks like the weekend isn’t a good option at this point, so that’s most likely out,  so we hope to see you next Wednesday for another mid-week adventure!!