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!