Wait, June’s Over???

What happened?  It seemed like only yesterday… I was walking out of school on the last day… and had those childhood memories of having the summer off…. Now June’s over?   Yikes! 

Todd posted earlier in the week that he wanted to get out, and Rob and I were right on it!  I was anxious to get back into the water, after the two successful dives on the 13^th.  So we agreed to meet at Rob’s at 7:00am (yes AM) and go up to Bethlehem.

Anyway, today was supposed to be HOT HOT HOT!  So we were hydrating like crazy, and hoping for quick set ups and uneventful trips to and from the water.  When we arrived, they asked if we were a part of any classes, or with a dive shop, and we said “no”  so we were given access to the tents we had last time!   (woo hoo!)  We STILL set Rob’s canopy up, to help keep the sun off of things.  After unloading the truck, we ran to Wegman’s for our lunches.  And as usual, I get the slowest person on the planet making my Chicken Caesar Wrap!  I’ve always said that my luck is usually bad, I mean if I were to win the Powerball, or MegaMillions, I’d end up winning only one of the $50,000,000.00 prizes and not one of the REALLY big ones…  Anyway….

We got back, and started setting our stuff up.  I was using both sets of my doubles today, since the local shops that are still open charge by the “fill” and not by cubic feet, so since my 130’s still had 2,100psi, and my 119’s had 1500psi, I figure I’d use one set for the first dive, and one for the second dive (Since I had to suck the 119’s down anyway, they need viz’d)  Don’t worry, I brought my “40” as a back up for that dive…

Our plan for the first one was to descend and head out towards the Trolley, then down the hill to the “car”, then over to the Deuce and a Half, up the slope, around the island, to the Comet, then up…  Easy plan, fun times!!  We waddled down to the water, and got ready.  All systems go and down to 20 feet.  As we descended, we saw Todd grabbing rocks over by the slope, but weren’t sure what he was doing.  I was making sure all of my bubbles were coming from the right places, and Rob was repositioning his dive computer (he put it on sideways… I think I did that last time)  Pretty soon Todd gave us the OK and we were off!  Visibility was a little questionable, so we were heading out by instinct and Rob’s compass. As we passed the downed platform, we knew we were a little off the mark, and adjusted accordingly.  Todd found the Trolley, and Rob and I soon were near.  The thumbs down was given, and over the slope we went.  Again, the visibility was horrible, and we were feeling our way around until we saw the car.  Rob took his heading, and we continued on.  We were soon at the Deuce and a Half, thanks to Rob’s navigation!   We continued back up the slope and checked in, everything fine, so around the back of the island we went.  This was the best visibility we had so far (and we were guessing that no one was there yet)(thankfully!)  So we took a nice leisurely swim around the back.  We were checking out the weird line run that we noticed the last time.  Still trying to figure out what the person was trying to do?!?!  As we swam around the side of the island, Rob checked in, and we were still good, so out to the Comet we went.  At the end of the Comet, Rob found the line that was on the end of John’s reel, but the “end part” wasn’t there.  So he left it. Rob went through, and Todd and I swam around the boat.  When we reconvened at the front, Rob gave the “up” signal, and we agreed, and went up the rope to the platforms.  Did our safety stop swimming back and forth, then after we were ready, headed up the rope towards the platform, and finished dive one!

Max Depth: 92 feet

Duration: 40 minutes

Coldest Temp: 42º

Not a bad dive at all, a few little tweaks and adjustments for me, but otherwise, it felt pretty good.  Todd shared that he was underweight, so he was scrambling to put rocks in his pockets at the beginning of the dive!  We had a good laugh about that!  We waddled up to our tables, and got out of the gear.  We had our lunches, and I figured I should swap my tanks out.  When we were ready, we started getting back in our gear, and started dive number two!

I was diving the 119’s, and took my aluminum 40 with me just in case. As usual, it took a few minutes for me to get that hooked up, but soon, I was ready to go.  Rob gave the thumbs down, and we were off.  My legs were a little sore, but figured after I got down to depth and into my rhythm, I’d be ok (and I was right)  At 20ft, we all looked ok, so we kept going towards the platform. As we were passing over the platform, I felt myself getting settled, and was feeling good!  We went down the line, and out towards the island. From there we found the plane, and ascended to it.  Rob penetrated, and I just followed along the outside. Still trying to get a little more comfortable.  We looked at each other and Rob pointed off.  We headed out towards the bus, then over to the Hell Cat.  The visibility wasn’t as horrible as we thought due to the MANY students all over the place, Todd looked at me to see how much gas I had, and then pointed out to continue the dive.  Pretty soon we were back near the Comet, and started up the line to the platform. Swimming along the platform, there were a few people doing something so we decided to head back towards the exit.  A few minutes later, we were done!

Max Depth: 60 feet

Duration: 42 minutes

Coldest Temp: 45º

Another good dive in the books.  I had a little bit of trouble here and there, but recovered nicely. A little awkward diving with the pony bottle (haven’t done that in a while) but I figured it out. (and probably should have used it a bit since that needs viz’d)  Rob and Todd seemed to have a good dive (Todd didn’t need anymore rocks) so that was good!   After we packed up we headed back to beautiful Harrisburg, and said our good-bye’s!

I’ll be getting my 130’s filled, and my 119’s checked out, so hopefully, I get everything back in time to go out the next time!

On a different note, check out the newsletter from Ocean Rover’s Scuba from Frederick Maryland: https://mailchi.mp/666686db4203/orsc-june-2017-newsletter-408861?e=f6ae51da69

An old friend of mine (Someone I’ve known my entire life, but just recently found out that we both dive…we continue to miss each other at Beneath the Sea, and now he lives in Florida, so)  anyway, he contacted me and asked if I minded if he sent my Bainbridge pictures to his old dive shop for their newsletter, since a lot of people from there had visited BSC in the past, I said “Sure!  Do you want my write up for it?  So he said yes.    I almost feel like I’ve been published!   Cool stuff!!