A Tale of Two….

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to get out, and I’ve been chomping at the bit to go diving, so when we started talks of going this weekend, I was all for it.  My wife was on an out of town trip to visit a friend who just got two new puppies, and with our two new little residents, I wasn’t really able to go, since we don’t have a good cat-sitter yet. (although I really didn’t want to go… so the cats are a great excuse!)  I shot Rob a note, and we were mulling over Friday or Sunday!  But when Friday got put out, we decided Sunday it is, and we had a guest in John Weaver!  So it was a big party!

We met at Rob’s at 7:00am-ish, and packed his truck full of dive gear. The ride up was spent catching up on every topic known to man!  When we got there, we scouted out some tables, and found a few along the side road, what luck!  After some unpacking and preliminary set up, we ran over to Wegman’s for  our lunches. We came back, and finished setting up in the stifling heat.  Our plan was a similar one,  swim out to the Trolley, drop down the hill, etc.  JUST to get our bearings on a hot day.  When we were done sweating… I mean SETTING up, we waddled down to the water. 

Everything looked good, so we dropped to 20 for our bubble check, and we were  ready to go. (I had a slight bubble coming from my valves, but nothing rough to worry about, maybe an askew O-ring) So we decided to keep going. Out past the boat, and over to the Trolley, we all took a quick trip through it, and reconvened at the top of the hill.  We all gave “ok’s” so we went down the hill to the car.  Swam around that for a few, then over to the Deuce and a Half, and up the hill.  Once we were over the slope, we started along the back of the island.  Nice easy diving.  This is the kind I love.  Nothing too strenuous, and at a nice pace! After going around the front, we noticed that there was a nasty cloud in front of us. The last time we saw something like that, Rob changed direction, but John went into it!  We swam over to the crane, and around that for a few minutes, when we came out of the cloud, we felt like we were in 100ft. visibility! Hahaha!  (ok, maybe 20 ft.)   From there we followed the line over towards the Comet, and Rob and John swam through that, while I just chilled on the outside.  By this time we were getting towards the end of our time, so we followed the bottom of the slope over to the decks, and did our safety stop.  After five minutes, we all gave each other the thumbs up and ended our dive!

Deepest Depth:  86ft.

Duration:  49 minutes

Coldest Temp:  44º

Not a bad dive at all, felt like a mid summer dive of other years (when I was diving every Wednesday and occasional weekends by now)  SO it was time for a nice relaxing surface interval.  We got to enjoy our wonderful Wegman’s subs, and watch the many people wandering about the property, both Aqua Park, and divers. (the place was packed!)  We saw that Todd was with some rebreather people, so we went over and chatted with him, then I ran into Ron on my way to the rest rooms, and told him who I’ve seen so far.  So it was a great weekend for diving!

After about a two hour surface interval, we decided to get dive number two under way.  The plan was to hit the plane, then try to find the copter, and end up at the firetruck, etc.  Not a bad dive two!  So we set up and went down to the water.

After checking things out we went to 20 ft. for our bubble check, and this is where it gets weird for me. As I was trying to get my buoyancy under control, I somehow started descending at an uncontrollable rate, and plopped down at 35 feet, on my back. I rolled over, and tried to get my bearings.  By this time Rob was down checking on me. He gave me an “OK” sign, so I gave him one back, then a “not so OK” sign.  Not entirely sure what I did, but I knew my ears were hurting.  So I tried clearing the best I could, and started putting air in my suit.  Rob and John helped me to the surface, and onto the platform, where I said I wasn’t going to continue.  They called up to Todd, and asked him to help me back to the tables. (no reason for them not to continue)  So they kept going, and Todd helped me back. Once he knew I was ok, (Thanks, Todd!)  he went back to his crew and they went on with their dive.  I just  started putting my gear away, and tried to sort out what happened… and actually, I’m NOT sure?

Deepest Depth:  37ft.

Duration: 2.5 minutes (may be a new record!)

Coldest Temp:  72º

After putting my gear back into its respective bags, I spotted a friend that was there, and went over to chat with Donna for a while. (who was there for some recreational dives, as opposed to training dives!) Rob and John were coming out, so she finished getting her gear squared away, and I went to see them. (and apparently their dive went a little weird as far as navigation, they didn’t find everything they wanted, but it was apparently still a good dive)

After they put their gear away, we went to Wegman’s for a light snack.  While all of this was going on, my ears were sore, especially my right ear, so I kept “clearing it” slightly to ease the pain, after a while it felt like things were bubbling, and possibly the water in my ear was going away. As I drove home, I noticed that the water in the ear was a little red-ish on a tissue, so I thought “uh-oh”!  I sent a picture of it to my wife who showed it to a doctor friend, and he thinks I may have ruptured my ear drum.  SO… off to a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to find out for sure…yay!  

Who knows what this will be, but I’m not expecting to be out diving next weekend.  Enjoy your Fourth!

UPDATE:  NOT a ruptured ear drum!  Possibly a busted blood vessel.  Seeing an ENT soon.

Not Quite a Month…

 Felt like longer, though.  I couldn’t make the last few weekends due to a concert, and a few commitments (kind of like next weekend) So I was happy to be able to sneak out this weekend, although this wasn’t the optimum day because of a few things I had to do, and I will be out of town the rest of the weekend, so thankfully Rob was able to go, and make it a successful day!

Work is almost over, so I won’t be quite as pressed for time until the middle of August.  (and the “Honey Do List that Keeps on Growing” isn’t a cut and dry time frame, so getting out during that time during the week will be easier!)

I met Rob at his house at 7:00-ish, and we made our merry way to Bethlehem. When we got there, there were a FEW tables left, so we were able to unload and secure our space.  We snuck out and grabbed lunch at Wegman’s. When we got back, we assembled our gear.  Rob noticed during the week that Dutch’s website has some “wonky” links, and he couldn’t get the map to come up (so he could get some headings he needed) so he guessed, and was pretty much right (as usual…well most of the time)

We waddled down to the water, and finished our set up. We looked each other over, and felt it was good enough to go see if anything makes any weird noises (or bubbles) at 20 ft.  We descended, and everything seemed good, so we kept going.    We headed out towards the boat, then the Trolley, and as I was swimming along, I noticed that my dive computer was on the wrong wrist, and my slate was on the other wrong wrist…. Well heck, if I had to write something to Rob, he wouldn’t be able to read it since I can’t write worth a darn with my left hand.  (not that he can read it when I use the correct hand) But it was weird looking at the wrong wrist for my computer… oh well overcome, adapt.  It could have been upside down or sideways.  (although that’s easy) We made it to the Trolley, and Rob turned to me and pointed down the slope, I agreed, and down we went.  Rob pointed his light at something, but I didn’t know what it was (and forgot to ask afterwards, so you all will be in suspense) but we were soon at the Monza/Barracuda/Chevelle, and Rob was pointing off to the left, so I agreed.  We were at the Deuce and a Half in a minute, and sliding up the slope.  We headed over towards the island, and Rob pointed “in front of”, or “behind”, I chose behind, and we were swimming around the back,  About this time, I was really noticing that my left hand was getting a little cold and squishy, and started thinking that I had some sort of glove leak (to go along with the other leaks, that I haven’t found yet…ok, I haven’t tried to really find them yet…I’m a slacker, I know) So I just sucked it up, and continued on.  Around the back of the island, I was actually feeling pretty comfortable, and having a nice relaxing dive.  As we turned the corner on the island, Rob just kept going around the front, no biggie, I was still comfy, so.  A little while later we were at the crane, so we pretty much circumnavigated the whole island.  Rob pointed back in, and I agreed. So we swam past the boat, and were soon at the Silver Comet. Rob pointed up the line, and I gave him the thumbs up.  As we got to the platforms, we could see that there were several classes being held on them, so we tried to stay away as much as possible while having our safety stop.  After five minutes Rob looked at me, and I agreed that we should end this one, and we did. (amongst a bunch of students)

Maximum Depth: 83 ft.

Duration: 47 minutes

Coldest Temp:  42º

Not bad for a month layoff, and with all the problems I had (oh, and my mask was a little leaky for most of the dive)  I figured I’d just do it right the next time and everything would be better! (and I mulled over using my wet gloves since I knew we would be doing a shallower dive in warmer water, but Rob suggested checking the O-ring on my dry glove, so we cleaned it and lubed it)  We had our wonderful Wegman’s lunches, and talked to a person that was working with a class next to us for a little while (Rob got the headings he needed, since the man had a map)

We were about ready to go, but realized that we should hold off for a few more minutes, so we took our time setting back up.  When Rob was done, he couldn’t find one of his inner gloves, and decided to use a different pair.  As we started walking towards the water, I saw that it was draped over the top of his tanks, so he quickly changed them back.

Same deal; we finished our set up, and dropped to 20 feet. I prayed that the dry glove modification worked, and also that the gloves I used were warm enough, Rob looked for bubbles that weren’t supposed to be there.  We were good, so we started down the line towards the Comet. From there he headed over to the new plane, Rob turned to me and gave me an “up into the plane” kind of sign,  or “just keep going” sign. I chose the latter, the plane isn’t overly impressive yet, so…  From there we ended up at the School Bus, Rob swam through it, I swam around, and we then were heading towards the Hell Diver. The visibility was pretty cruddy over there, so we didn’t linger like the last time.  In the direction we were heading, I thought we were visiting the fire truck, but we were soon at the “Secret Wreck” (I think the way Rob explained it later, he was trying to find the van)  Next stop was back at the bus.  From there Rob pointed “back” or “in” and I chose “in” (I was getting cold) So we started back towards the Comet, and up to the platform. More students, so we sort of swam the perimeter for the duration of our safety stop, and pointed back in, and were done!

Maximum Depth: 60 ft.

Duration: 42 minutes

Coldest Temp:  43º

Not bad, everything seemed to work better, but we just got colder sooner. (my hands were freezing, the gloves didn’t leak, but with the moisture in my gloves from the last dive, and using lighter weight gloves, I was cold) (not to mention the dry suit leak I really need to find, and I was just cold) But other than that, another relaxing stress free dive. My mask didn’t leak, and my dive computer and slate were on the right arms, so THAT was a plus!

Not entirely sure when I’ll be out again. Rob has a refresher with a student next weekend, and is hoping that it’s just more than a quick get in, make sure the guy remembers everything, and then leaves (anyone wanna go observe, and do a dive two with him just in case?!)(I mean that IS a crappy long drive to just do ONE dive)  I can’t, my niece’s graduation party is next weekend, and I’m doing a good bunch of the “catering” so I should be there.  I’m also not entirely sure when I’ll be out again on a weekend, but with school being out on the 7^th, I’m on summer vacation, so we can do some weekday diving!  (we’ll let you know)

Ok, until then, safe diving, driving, and anything else I missed!

Wait, April’s over?!?!

After a layoff for the Easter Holiday, and a weekend of some quick/early yard work, we figured it was about time to get back in the water (Well Todd was in the water last weekend, the rest of us were doing other things, must be nice)  So Todd put the call out on Scared Turtles, and Rob and I volunteered to go with him!   Easiest way to meet was just at Rob’s so 7:00am was the specified time….tough time, but ok...  I went to bed early, I’m not the late night-early riser I once was…We met, packed Rob’s truck and started out to Bethlehem.   After getting there, and securing our space, we ran to Wegman’s for our lunches.

Back to the quarry, and we set up. I had a leaky high pressure hose, and had to change it out (thankfully I had the right parts with me) and we finished setting up. We decided that we’d hit the deeper parts first, then come around the island and figure it out from there… easy enough!   Todd was going to lead this dive, so we went down to the water.

It appeared that several dive classes were there, so we didn’t know what to expect visibility-wise. We finished setting up, and the order was given to drop to 20 feet.  No unexpected bubbles (and NO bubbles from Todd’s MEG) so we were off!   Todd took an interesting course out to the crane, since we usually hit the Trolley first (or slightly to the right of it)  Checking in, all was well, so we headed over to the Trolley. We all went through it, and reconvened at the top of the hill, behind the Trolley. Again everyone was OK, so down the hill we went.  The “Barracuda” looks like it’s getting more rusty and falling apart, but it’s still there.  We turned, and headed over towards the Deuce and a Half, and went up the slight hill. We followed the bottom until we hit the island, and started around the back side of it, taking a nice slow pace, which was actually really relaxing!  At the edge of the island we turned in, and saw a nasty cloud of kicked up bottom (I thought it looked like someone was making snow angels)  So Todd took a wide right around it, as we headed over to the Comet. Rob and Todd went through (well Todd sort of went through, he’s practicing carrying more “bail out” cylinders, and is a tad wide, so he ‘bailed’ on the penetration and went over top) We then wandered up to the platform passing several students coming down to the Comet (most in a vertical position)(I should talk some days), and got out of there pretty fast.  At the platforms, we just slid over, and then found our line to do our safety stop below the exit platform, and we were done!

Deepest Depth: 88 ft.

Duration: 45 Minutes

Coldest Temp: 40º

Not a bad first dive, it was very relaxing!  That trip around the back of the island was really nice and I actually felt really good on this dive, not bad for me this early in the year!  We all had our lunches and contemplated the next dive.  Since I’m not exactly the most accurate navigator, I wasn’t looked upon to lead the next dive, so Rob was charged to lead the beginning, then Todd after a certain point. (since he knew the way)

We dropped in off the same platform, and did our 20ft. check, all systems were go, so we started over towards the platforms, and down past the Comet.  We followed over to the new plane which is starting to look pretty ragged down there with people writing in the filth that’s settled on it. From there Todd took over and we headed over towards the Hellcat. For once the visibility over there was decent, so we were happy about that. I went under the wing and was checking out the propeller area. (since you could actually see it!)  Todd took his next heading and we headed over to the old van. (which is down in between two platforms) I remember seeing that before when we started our dive from the other side of the quarry, and maybe one other time, but didn’t remember the platforms on either side of it. After a trip around that, we followed Todd over to a boat that I honestly don’t remember ever seeing before. (listed on the map as “The Cruiser”!?) ok, new one on me!  (and actually looking at the map I have, that’s about the only thing listed that I don’t think I’ve ever seen except for the “Old Plane” (which is over on the far side of the quarry, and probably not reachable unless you have a scooter, or start on the back side of the quarry) But I know that there are a few other odds and ends on the far side that I’ve never seen …old cars and such) ANYWAY….from that boat we headed over to the school bus and passed that, heading back towards the Comet.  We were all getting cold, so back up to the platforms, and back in to do a safety stop… Rob looks like he was attempting a valve drill, Todd was reading his rebreather display, and I was looking for crayfish….didn’t find any, but I DID mess with a cute little black fish under a rock.  After our safety stop, we popped back out of the water, and we were done!

Deepest Depth:  63 ft.

Duration: 52 minutes

Coldest Temp:  41º

Again, not a bad dive, other than some foot cramps at one point, and about 10-15 minutes before the dive was over, I got this nasty itch between my right eye and my nose, that I could NOT scratch, and it was bugging the hell out of me!  But other than that, I think I did ok!  I seem to have some sort of leak, that I think MAY be the one that’s been in my foot, but since I have a new under garment (that wicks away moisture) it may be pulling more up than I had before….I just looked at my drysuit on the hanger, and I can’t seem to see anything that might be leaking, so I may need to do a leak test on it…so stay tuned on that! 

After packing, we headed back over to Wegman’s for a quick snack, then back home.  Not a bad day, the weather was weird, warm in the morning, then cold in the afternoon, and warm later on.  You didn’t know how to dress.  All I know is when I got back to my house to unpack and hang my gear, I was sweating.

Ok, Not sure when I’ll be out again, I’ll be at a late concert next Saturday afternoon/evening,  so I really don’t feel like attempting to get sleep, and try to get to Dutch Springs to get a table, so I may pass.   But, I will keep you posted one my next adventure, so stay tuned!

Six Months?!?! Holy…..

…Well you know the rest…  Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve been in the water, October 10^th for the Columbus Day Invitational Dives, I had to miss New Year’s Eve because I was stuck out in California for some parade and football game… my wife made me go… (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)  So when I knew that we were going to be able to go this weekend, I was all for it!

Not knowing how many people were going to be arriving at the site, seeing that it was the first official open weekend, Rob thought we should try to get an early start to get a table, then go to Wegman’s for our lunches (which didn’t open until 9:00 anyway)  So that’s what we did.  Being excited, I went through my bags, and made sure that everything was in working order; the computer had a good battery, check, defog bottle filled, check,  Drysuit and undergarments packed, check!  OH, and I got a new undergarment at Beneath the Sea that I was anxious to try out, so I can now retire that old sweat suit I wore forever!   All gear taken up to the garage, and all I had to do was wait…. (and explain to my two new kittens what I was doing)

Rob was picking me up at 6:30. So I was in my garage about 6:25, to move everything to the front, and as I was, I realized that I ALMOST forgot my weight belt…that would have been bad!   The trip was uneventful, and we were able to find plenty of tables for set up.  We unloaded, and decided to start setting up since we still had time to kill to go get our subs.  John and Todd showed up right before we left, so thankfully someone was there to keep an eye on our gear.  After getting our lunch we came back to find Ron and Mindy, so we had a nice contingency of locals. (And we all still miss Bainbridge)

Mindy was doing her first dry suit dive, so this was exciting! I remember when I did mine (at Bainbridge) with Lee Millard, and we, as he put it “dusted off a few platforms”…that was a fun day!  (and I still occasionally dust off platforms) 

We decided, that since it’s been a while for both of us, to keep it conservative, and the fact that the water is cold; we didn’t think more than about 35-40 minutes would be a good idea anyway. So we planned on heading out towards the Trolley, dropping in to see the Deuce and a Half, then follow around the island, and go from there.  I was having some trickle difficulties, but since I had a “cave fill”, we thought that everything might work out as I sucked down the tanks. (and it did)  So we popped in, and dropped down to 20 feet to look for any odd bubbles, and there weren’t any to worry about, so we kept going.  We went out towards the Aqua Park area, past the busted platform, and over to the top of the ridge.  We then swam over to the Trolley, and popped over the hill and over to the Deuce and a Half.  We checked in, and everything was still good, so we headed over towards the island, and just swam around the bottom off of that.  After a while Rob started spotting some of the lines, and we were close to the Cessna, so he turned us, and we headed back around. It really felt good to just get the feel of being under water again, and I was getting back into my comfort zone quicker than I expected.  At about 35 minutes, Rob turned to me and pointed over to the platforms, and I agreed. We did our safety stop on the platforms just swimming back and forth until we were done, then Rob pointed to a line and we headed back in.

Deepest Depth: 73 ft

Duration: 45 minutes

Coldest Temp: 38º

Not a bad one to start the day, when I got out of the water I said “Hey, I remembered more than I forgot”!  So we schlepped up the hill and took everything off.  My hands were FREEZING, but my body wasn’t bad… So far so good with the new underwear!!

Everyone else slowly came up and we had a nice little party in between our dives!  John and Todd got more time on their rebreathers, and Mindy had her first dry suit dive! (and according to Ron, did a nice job trim-wise)(but had a leak up her sleeve)  We had our lunch and caught back up with each other.  When the time to go back in came, the rebreather guys (who already had 85 minutes in) opted to stay warm and Mindy opted to stay out, so Ron decided to tag along with Rob and me.

This one was going to be a shallower “line following” kind of dive, to just get back in the water and continue getting comfy, so we bid John and Todd a fond farewell, and got dressed again.  We dropped to about 20 feet and got into some other people’s way, so we swam over to the platforms, and did our check, nothing bad, so we kept going.  Down the line past the Comet, and over towards the mystery boat following the line up to the Cessna (which is starting to look beat up and broken) Over that hill, then following the line to the school bus. Rob swam through, and Ron and I just swam around.  Rob pointed to the next line, and we started over towards the firetruck. (That’s a long-ish swim) We did a few laps around the firetruck, then started back in, past the bus again, and past another one of those old boats.  Rob pointed to the platform, and we did another rolling safety stop up there. After five minutes, we were all getting cold, so we popped back up to the exit and finished dive number two!

Deepest Depth: 60 ft.

Duration: 46 minutes

Coldest Temp: 39º

OK, all back safe and sound, and everything felt pretty good! (Well except the frozen hands…jeez!!) I think everything worked the way it was supposed to, and we all got that first of the year tough one in!

The drive home was a long one due to a very nasty looking accident on 81, but I made it home in record time thanks to Rob’s expert driving abilities! (And no help to the out of state morons that kept him from cruising in the passing lane) 

Not sure when the next trip is going to happen, but just not next weekend due to the Easter holiday. (Which means that the marshmallow peeps will be on sale starting next Monday!!!)  I’ll try to stay in touch!