Back to Bethlehem!

After getting my fills Monday night, Rob asked if I was going to be around Friday to run back up. I said I wasn’t sure if I was going out of town that day, but would check. When I got home, I asked the Mrs. and she said we’d be home, so go diving, why not!     It was a crazy week, but thankfully this day got here and I was able to go get wet! (and hopefully stay dry)

Rob picked me up and we made the nice long drive to Wegman’s for our lunch.  After that we timed it right and drove right in. This week the weather was nice, so it was a little more packed, but still not horrible.  We got our gear together, and started talking dive plan.  We’ve been talking about the car that’s just below where the Trolley is located, recently.  I (for some reason…and I don’t know diddly squat about cars) thought it was a Monza.  Rob said that it’s a Barracuda, and that it was listed as a Barracuda on one of the maps we downloaded years back.  This week while tooling about Facebook, and seeing some pictures a friend posted of a bunch of different cars that are scattered around the quarry, he listed it as a Chevelle?!?!  OK, look at some pictures of the cars, definitely not a Monza…but certain views, had it looking like a Chevelle, and certain views had it looking like a ‘Cuda…so the first plan was to run down there and take a look.  Then hit a few of the other sites, and just make sure we have enough gas for a second dive.

We suited up and went into the water, decided to go to 20 feet to check for bubbles, and kept going.  We followed the bottom, and got a little closer to where the Aqua Park is located since we saw one of the old platforms on the ground, so a quick course adjustment and we were back at the Trolley.  Rob looked at me and pointed down, so I agreed.  Down the hill, and over to the car we went.  We looked in every spot that was still there, on the outside, and inside, but couldn’t determine the exact type of car, I noticed on last week’s dive that it was looking pretty beaten up, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that we couldn’t figure it out, so we shrugged, and headed over to the Deuce and a Half. AS we got closer we noticed that someone kicked it up like crazy, there was a serious cloud of crud all around it. Up the slope, and over towards the back of the island, it was still pretty bad, so Rob changed direction, and we went back around front to the crane.  A little trip through that, and over to some of the boats out to the  Silver Comet; Rob looked at me and gave me the “up” signal, and I agreed, so up towards the platform, and into a safety stop.  After a few minutes, we were done!

Deepest Depth: 90 feet

Duration: 35 minutes

Coldest Temp: 44º

Not a bad first dive, a little short, but we stayed conservative to have a decent amount of gas for dive two, not a big problem.  We were taking off our gear and started talking to a gentleman from Buffalo who was with the shop teaching a sidemount class. He was curious about the temp of the water, and was telling us about some of the diving he does.  (But 5 hours to come to Dutch?  Hmmm…) We had our lunch and then started talking about the second dive. Rob wanted to see if he could figure out the “brand” and date of origin that the firetruck had.  So we had a plan to get there and wander about that area on this dive.

Suit back up, and hit 20 feet for any weird bubbles. All systems go, so we headed off towards the direction of the Silver Comet.  We saw the sidemount class as we passed the platforms, and continued on down the rope.  At the Comet, we continued, and found the rope heading up the slope on the island to the Cessna.  Up the hill, and under the wing, and we checked in.  Next we found the rope for the bus.  Out to the bus, and pick up the rope to the firetruck.  The visibility wasn’t quite as good as last week, so it was an odd kind of journey.  At the firetruck, Rob looked in a few places he knew to look for any information, but couldn’t seem to find anything that gave him any indication so he shrugged his shoulders and pointed back towards the bus.  After the bus, he took a heading, and we headed back to the Silver Comet, we swam through the middle of it, and he pointed towards the back of the quarry, so I figured; ‘crane’?  I was right, back over to the crane. After swimming around the crane, he pointed towards the platforms, and we were soon swimming up on to them.  I got a little too close, and tried to make a course correction with my left fin, and got a calf cramp, when I twisted to clear it, I flipped a little, and felt myself rising. I got to about 8 feet and stopped, then tried to make sure had no air in my wing or suit to drop back down, and it wasn’t happening.  With the psi left in my cylinders, I was a little too light to drop back down so my dive was over. Rob was looking up and checking on me, so I gave him an OK, but shook my head no since I couldn’t drop back down, so he finished his safety stop (another minute or two) and joined me at the surface. I wasn’t overly worried since two or three times I glanced at my computer during the dive, we were at safety stop depth) But yeah, I guess when I have that little bit of gas in my cylinders, I should put maybe another two pounds on my belt, I was feeling a little “floaty” towards the end of the dive.  So…note to self;  stick 2 lbs in a pocket when you know you’re sucking the tanks lower than 1000!

Deepest Depth: 60 feet

Duration: 50 minutes

Coldest Temp: 46º

Other than the mishap at the end, not a bad second dive for the most part. After we went up the slope to the Cessna, I wasn’t as comfortable as I was earlier in the dive, and it took a little while to get back into the swing of things and where I wanted to be.  But other than that,  not a bad dive again! Rob put a little hole in his dry glove trying to move zebra mussels from the firetruck to see if he could see anything, he didn’t think those little buggers would bite!

After we packed we hit Wegman’s for a quick snack, and made the long trip home.  Not sure what’s in store for the weeks to come, but since this is pretty much the only game at the moment, we’ll probably be back!   We’ll keep you posted!!

Friday Dive Club!

The past few weeks, Rob, Todd and occasionally John have been heading up to Dutch Springs for a couple dives. Wanting to join them, but unable, I’ve been chomping at the bit to get up there, and finally had my chance!  (since there was nothing happening on my end of the world this week)   I know I’ve been saying this for weeks, and I don’t mean to beat a dead (sea) horse, but, the fact that it takes a little more planning to get out to Dutch than it did to go to Bainbridge is starting to take its toll.  (And weekends out in Bethlehem are kind of “first come first serve” so it’s a gamble for space) (off soapbox)

Anyway, so the plan was to meet out in Grantville at 8:00, pile everything into one car and head up to Bethlehem. The weather was sort of wet-ish, so we weren’t sure what to expect since “Jane” wasn’t attending. (yeah, I had a tarp, but it doesn’t have the magic)  So as the ride up was drizzle here and there, we were keeping our fingers crossed, and getting possible game plans for our dry gear in order.  

First stop was Wegman’s though, so we could get our lunch plans settled.  After that, the wait for the gate to open (I guess while they vacuumed the pool to get it ready for us)  9:58am (EARLY!) and they opened the gates!   As we were setting up the man that sits in the little booth watching the water all day approached us and started a little conversation, and I guess since we were nice to him, he offered us use of one of the tents along the bottom of the Peninsula parking area, stating that there’s no one using them today!  What a nice guy!  (and in the tradition of “Jane” since we had something to keep our stuff dry, there was no serious rain to speak of… Ya gotta love “karma”!)

First plan was semi conservative since I’m way out of practice (April 17 was my last dive)  So we figured we’d be ok on this one.  Waddle down to the water and off we went!  

As we started our descent I saw Todd assisting Rob with something, figured something was tangled, so I dropped to 20 feet and waited.  As we got there and checked in, Rob looked at me, gave me his “ok”, then went to add air to his suit, and his inflator popped off.  I was happy that I was able to pop it right back on, and we were good to go. (His assessment later on was that something with his GoPro camera was somehow knocking his inflator hose off, so he decided that the GoPro was a NoGo for this dive!) (although I hear there’s footage of me putting his inflator on)  Since it was our usual dive plan for the first dive to start, we were on our way to the Trolley…and, well with the inflator incident, we got a little off of our plan, and ended up by the crane… so that was a bonus object on this trip!    Quick course correction and we were back on track for the trolley. After a trip through the Trolley, we gave the thumbs down and popped over the hill to the car (which is looking pretty bad these days)  Then over to the “deuce and a half”, and back up over the hill.  We swam around the back of the island, and headed towards the new plane. Rob and Todd took a quick trip through it, I just swam around it… it’s so small I get claustrophobic. I DID notice that it’s getting dirty, and people are writing their graffiti on it.  After the plane we came back in towards the bus, and took a quick trip through that,  then continued back towards the Silver Comet.  Rob and Todd went through I was checking out the bumpers on the side with my light. (trying to see if the light went the whole way through them….the ones I tried, didn’t….zebra mussels probably) Rob pointed over towards the platforms, and we agreed.  As we filed past the platforms, we looked for the proper line to follow to go back to the exit point, and started our safety stop; five minutes later and we were done!

Deepest Depth: 87 feet

Duration: 48 minutes

Coldest Temp: 43º

Not a bad first dive after my lay off, except for the occasional cramping in my foot and calf, I would have totally enjoyed that dive. I wasn’t able to be where I wanted most of the time, but was able to keep moving, and not have any catastrophic incidents.  Everyone else seemed to be alright afterwards, so that was good!    We had our Wegman’s lunch booty, and started discussing the next dive.  Since we were close to the other Peninsula entry, we decided to use that, and take a trip out to the firetruck, by way of the bus, then come back in towards the Hell Cat and take the usual path back in.  Works for me!  

So after a few minutes of set up, Rob making sure that his inflator hose was totally secure this time, and changing his camera set up, we were ready to roll!  Walked down the steep slope into the water, and Rob gave the thumbs down.  My first few minutes were touchy since I was getting a nasty foot cramp (again) and my legs felt a little tired. But once I worked out the kinks, I was better, and moving along at a decent pace.   We were soon at the Bus, and took a quick trip around it, after a minute or so, we went by the van. (which I honestly can’t remember if I’ve ever seen this one or not…)(and no I’m not running through every Dutch Springs dive report to see!) (and just for the giggles of it…I ran a query, and I’ve only done 43 dives there… guessing the “odd” number was because of New Years Eve this…err LAST year)   After the van was the firetruck.  We took a quick trip around that, (I honestly think that the last time I saw this was when I was here with my cousin back in July of 2008 which was actually HIS last dive!)  and were soon over by the Hell Diver, which definitely has seen a LOT of better days, I may have mentioned this before, but that thing is really getting beaten up, and it was beat up when they first sank it, thanks to some morons that  were messing with it!  Rob took some quality footage at that spot, and we continued on towards the school bus again. (I think this is a record for school bus passes)  We then swam over to the Silver Comet again, and Rob wanted to get some footage inside.  We met at the front, and he pointed back into the quarry, so we agreed and followed. We soon passed the other (broken apart) boat and were on our way to the crane.  At the crane we looked at each other and pointed back in, and started up the line (which I got tangled up in…thanks for untangling Todd!) After another safety stop, we were done, and ready to pack up!

Deepest Depth: 63 feet

Duration: 47 minutes

Coldest Temp: 45º

Actually a VERY relaxing dive for me, I felt pretty good (besides the very beginning, and an almost cramp towards the end) the whole dive, and was able to go mostly where I wanted to be.  I actually even held about six minutes of safety stop depth right at the end (and wasn’t going to push it so I started sliding up after a while)  

The weather held out, which was great! Hopefully the next time we have to deal with any potential rain, we have one lucky charm or the other.  We stopped over at Wegman’s for a quick snack, then ran home in the crappy traffic.

Not sure when the next outing will be, looking at MY calendar I know it won’t be next weekend, but if another day works (well after I get a fill) there’s always that possibility!   See you next time, and hopefully it’s not as long!