It’s been a while; June 10th was the last time I
was able to get out. Rob and Todd were
out, but I was having some issues, (mostly mental) so I had to back out at the
last minute. So this was the first opportunity where we were able to hook up
and get to Dutch. Weekends aren’t optimal this time of year, but you take what
you can get. When we arrived, we had a
tough time finding a spot, in the Peninsula area, it was pretty packed (and the
Wounded Warriors were having an event) so we had to improvise. We grabbed one of the plastic tables and
carried it down to the bottom of the hill, then I went up and grabbed my
doubles to “reserve” the table, and we brought our stuff down…I felt like I was
unpacking my car from the grocery store trying to carry everything else in one
trip. Rob thankfully, brought his canopy,
so we were able to shield ourselves from the sun when it was out (and eventual
passing shower over lunch)
It wasn’t horribly hot, but it was hot enough, and we were
sweating getting things set up (and I was trying to remember how to set it up since
it’s been such a long time) As we were
getting things ready, we decided upon a dive plan that wasn’t too overly crazy
to try to get back into the swing of things.
We dropped in off of the platform next to the water park
area, and went to 20 feet to look for anything odd. All things seemed in order so we kept
going. Visibility was “eh” as expected
seeing the number of people, and we made our way past the downed platform and
ended up not too far off from the Trolley.
We swam through, and met up at the back. Rob pointed down the hill and I
agreed. Over the hill, and into more
crappy visibility, it almost felt like a smoky bar at this point. It took a
while, but Rob found the Deuce and a Half, and the visibility over there was
making it feel like we were in Bainbridge.
Up over the ridge, and out past what we thought was the Crane, (tough to
tell in the visibility) and along the bottom of the hill. We made it to the line out to the Comet, and
Rob pointed, so I agreed. We followed
the line, and when we got to the Comet, I decided to follow Rob THROUGH this
time, since I usually swim along the outside….hey nothing wrong with a little
light penetration….So I followed, and reminded myself why I usually don’t go
through, it’s tight in spots. Rob
applauded me when I exited, and I just shrugged. He pointed up the line, so I followed up to
the platforms. People were all over, and
two almost collided with Rob. We were at
about 35 minutes, so we decided to take our safety stop and head in. (well I
sort of bounced through it) and we were done!
Duration: 44 minutes
Deepest Depth: 85 feet
Coldest Temp: 47º
Not too bad of a dive to get the rust out. I had a few mishaps early on getting my spot
in the water, and my safety stop was kind of yo-yo-ish, but otherwise, not
bad. We sat back and had our wonderful
Wegman’s lunch as a short passing shower went by. After about 90 minutes of watching young
girls in bikini’s (don’t get excited, nothing too crazy) we decided that it was
time to go back in.
We dropped in again from the platform next to the water
park, and did our 20 ft. check. Everything again doing what it should and we
were off. Rob took a heading towards the
Comet, then we found the line up the hill to the Cessna, up the hill to the
plane, and as we were approaching the top, I noticed a hole in the side of the
hill and saw something moving, it was a nice size crayfish keeping watch on me,
I tried to put my finger in, and pull him out, but he went in further, so I left
him alone. (but now that I know you’re
there hahahaha!) Over the hill, we checked in and Rob pointed to the line out towards
the School Bus. Visibility was again pretty bad so we just tried to follow the
line. When we found it we went through,
and met on the back side. He was considering the Hell Diver, but with the way
the visibility was, and how bad it usually is over there on a normal day, he
just decided to follow the line to the Firetruck. I wasn’t paying close attention, and almost
ran into the truck when we arrived. From
there we followed the line back to the Bus, then the line back to the Cessna
from the front. Over the hill again,
then down past the other boat on our way to the Comet. At about this time I just happened to look at
my computer to check on my remaining gas, and noticed that we were down for 46
minutes. I realized that I just doubled my dive time for the month of July on
this dive! (and almost spit out my regulator when I started laughing)(ok, it’s
not funny, it’s pathetic!)(but I was probably half narced) At the Comet he pointed up the line, and I
agreed. We swam up and back on the
platform a few times, Rob was working on some breathing control going in and
out of the cross pieces on the platform, I just tried to keep at one
depth. After a few laps, Rob pointed up,
and I said OK, so we did our safety stop, and we were done!
Duration: 64 minutes
Deepest Depth: 64 feet
Coldest Temp: 51º
A lot of swimming around, but it was a comfortable
dive. I think we caught up on some
missed safety stops over the years with the depth changes we did because it
seemed that every time I went to look at my computer, it was in safety stop
mode. But at least this time we weren’t crowded in the water. We packed up, and took another trip to
Wegmans for some post dive snacks, then made the long trip home.
Not sure when we’ll be out again, but we’re hoping. Keep safe!
