We’ll get to that part in a sec… Saturday morning, I was
having my coffee, half asleep, minding
my own business, and looking at Facebook on my cellphone, while sitting in the
kitchen at my mother in law’s (ok, I was trying to ignore the usual
conversation while having my coffee, my mother law telling my wife what’s wrong with her
life, and what she needs to do to improve it in order to meet HER standards)
and I saw Jim Brown post on Facebook “Thank you BSC for the SCUBA memories
since 1998” so I ‘liked’ it, thinking
that maybe it was some anniversary of their opening, or a milestone of his or
something. A few minutes later, I see an instant message pop up, and since I
don’t have “messenger” installed on my phone. (because it’s a pain at 3:00am
when someone sends a drunken group message and my phone starts making weird
noises) So I went up to grab my iPad a few minutes later curious to see what it
was. When I opened it, it was from Jim and said “Hi Ben. BSC
is sold to Waste Management. Ceasing scuba operation on August 23. Damn!” I almost dropped my iPad! And what came out of my mouth is something I
won’t print here (although it’s perfectly acceptable in my mother in law’s
house)(in Italian as well as English)
After about a five minute conversation, I went about my day, shocked to
say the least. Sleep wasn’t easy that
night… and the shock is still somewhat mind numbing; It’s just not something
you expect. And after hearing some of
the conversation, you have to wonder.
So…After tonight, the current plan is
attempting this Saturday, Wednesday the 19th for the last Wednesday
Night Dive, and I think Saturday the 22nd (to avoid the possibility
of an over influx of 80-billion people on the 23rd which is the last
official day) Since the local dive shop
is having their Dutch Springs “event” on the 16th, I’m not sure
anyone will want to go the 15th, but my options are open. (and I won’t
be able to attend on Wednesday the 12th due to a prior
commitment) So that’s it kids unless
something changes, and according to Susie there is some possibility, but it
sounds like a political cluster****, and not entirely likely in the near
future.
Now back to our story….
Back on track (for the moment), and the first Wednesday (and
dive) of August for me, Got a fill Monday, but not of the full strength of Nitrox
that I wanted, but as I said after analyzing, not just air. As I arrived, John was in the shop chatting
with Susie and we decided to head on back to the water. Not long after we arrived Rob showed up, and
we were talking to Frank, one of the regulars who was without a partner for the
night, so we let him tag along with us.
Frank dropped his pony bottle and fins down the long road,
so we ended up starting there. Rob
paired up with him, and I was with John.
We dropped in and did a quick bubble check at 20 feet. As everyone seemed to have the right stuff
coming from the right places, we got the thumbs down and started…well not so
fast, I wasn’t able to go any further.
John looked up at me, and I seemed to be stuck at 20 feet. I finally started descending, so I gave John
the OK, but as I hit about 25 I got stuck again. I finally was able to descend
a little more, and got to 40 feet, but no one was to be seen. So I spun around
for about two minutes, and swam back and forth, and didn’t see any lights, so I
figured that I better ascend. I saw two
patterns of bubbles nearby, and one ascended.
We regrouped, and decided to try it again. This time it worked, but as usual when you go
a second time (at least in my case) you never get 100% comfortable. So we dropped past a platform, and passed the
gear and were soon at the CAT. We
dropped down the hill and went to the Deep Boat. Since we wasted a little time
with my issue, and a few people weren’t carrying full cylinders, John opted to
not go to the Deep Deep Boat, and followed the ridge out towards the old
collapsed building and Toolbox, by the Step Van. From there, he took a heading and we started
out to the Outhouse. After passing the
Outhouse, John was giving me the “keep up” signal, but I was trying to clear a
cramp from my left leg (I’m guessing the Bicep’s femoris muscle) and was only
using my right leg to swim. I think I
finally got it cleared (but it was sore)
and was able to keep up a little better as we got closer to where
the Pump House was. John gave the ascend signal, so we all went
to the line and did our deep stop out to the CAT. At the CAT we turned in and went through a
very kicked up bowl until we found our safety stop area. John did a valve drill, and I did my best not
to kick Frank, who I saw out of the corner of my eye to my left. Five minutes
later we were done.
Duration: 45 minutes
Deepest Depth: 93 feet
Coldest Temp: 36º
As I said, one I wish I could do over. Not my best dive, again. Just didn’t feel comfortable
most of the dive, I think I got to a point where I was getting comfortable when
we were closing in on the end of the line, but then I started having trouble
once the cramp started. I’m also starting to wonder if I might need to carry a
little more weight, since I have been feeling “floaty”. Maybe I’ll experiment on Saturday if we get
out. (and it might be a good idea anyway if I don’t top off my cylinders) We’ll
see.
We went to PizzAtown for a quick dinner to celebrate Rob’s birthday,
and were joined by some old friends who happened to be coming by (Jeff and
Annette) it was good to see them, and share a couple cold ones! (although their pizza looked entirely TOO
healthy for my taste)
Well…the countdown begins, just going to try to see what we
can get in before things cease to exist, and hope that something might change
in the near future. Ok, it’s nice that we’re getting our membership fee’s back,
but I’d rather be diving.
See you soon….
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