Other than my “wander through Bainbridge” you haven’t heard
from me in a LONG time. July 2nd to be exact (after my little
mishap) After that, I was told to not
dive for a while, then I just couldn’t get my schedule to mesh with anyone, and
I thought that on a frozen New Years Eve, it wouldn’t be a good idea for that
to be my first time back in the water after about six months. Then came this season, and not being able to
get together until now!
I’ve been putting bugs into Rob’s ear about getting out, and
since “school is out for summer” week
days are usually the best time for me to get out. Rob was able to get a day
off, and John was ready to take a break from yard work, so we decided to head
up to Dutch Springs. As the day got
closer, I started sorting through my dive gear, and made sure that batteries
worked, and o-rings were lubed, and the “stuff” started making its way up to my
garage. I had a full set of 119’s ready to go, so I THINK I had it all!
After a little running around yesterday, I packed my car,
put some PowerAde in the fridge, and read myself to sleep. I had my alarm set
early, so I was sure to get up at the proper time, have my coffee, and
breakfast while wishing Lisa a nice day at work, as I left the house around
7:30. I forgot that the rush hour
traffic would be holding me up a bit (haven’t needed to drive in it for several
years now) but it was like riding a bike (although I think I hit every red
light on the way. Got to Rob’s and
packed my gear into his car, and shortly after, John showed up and did the
same.
The traffic wasn’t horrible out to Bethlehem, but it was
enough. We went to Wegman’s because we
didn’t think there’d be a problem getting a table and got our lunches. (Chicken
Caesar Wraps! New and GOOD!) When we got
to the quarry, since it was drizzling a little, we asked if we could use the
tent, and they said “sure”! So we didn’t
get wet while we set up. It took a
little while remembering where everything went, but I think I had it all set up
properly when everyone was ready to go.
Into my dry suit and gear, and strap on the tanks. Everyone had it ready, so we walked down to
the platforms. I was a little nervous
since this was the longest that I’ve been out of the water since I started
diving, but once I got my fins and mask on, ducked my head under water and checked
my regulators, it all started to come back to me. After everyone was ready, the signal was
given to descend to 20 feet. I met John
down there, and we exchanged “ok’s” and looked for Rob…no Rob?!?! We looked up, and it seemed like he was dealing
with something, but shortly started to descend.
When he got to 20 feet, he showed John that his dry suit inflator hose
wasn’t connected, and couldn’t find it.
Some things are totally automatic, and if you miss it, well…it happens
after a short lay off. John helped him
find it, and connected it, and we were soon off.
This was supposed to be a nice relaxing leisurely dive so I
can get my brain back into dive mode. So
I followed John, and Rob kept an eye on me. We hit the platforms, and took a
quick look at each other, and exchanged “ok’s” again and kept going. We passed the one boat, and soon swam by the
crane. We kept going, then headed out
along the wall looking for the plane.
John has a new compass, and the numbers are smaller than his previous
one, so he was going 30º rather than 60º and we didn’t get to the plane. No biggie…we’ve seen it. We DID find the school bus, and I decided
that I should go full force and penetrate it! (I was feeling good after about
10 minutes!) So why not! We swam through, and checked in outside.
Everything was good so we kept going. We
were soon at the Comet, and since I was “feeling my oats” I decided to penetrate THAT as well!! Woo hoo, I was living life! As I swam through
it, I remember why I usually didn’t… the places to squeeze through are tight,
and I kept bumping myself. I saw a
little thing and picked it up, not knowing what it was, but accidentally dropped
it when I hit my head moving into the next room of the boat. (We later figured out that it was a part of
John’s reel. Shame I dropped it. We’ll
probably find it when we go the next time) Out of the Comet, we looked at the
line and knew we were close to 30-something minutes, so we headed up the line
and hung out on the platforms for a little while. John attempted a valve drill, and had some
issues with it, knocking his dry glove off.
I just changed regulators to make sure they worked ok, and that I could
still do that, but my primary started free flowing, Rob just looked at both of
us and hoped we didn’t kill ourselves.
After our safety stop, we gave the thumbs up, and headed back in. Dive one, sloppy, but successful and in the
books!
Max Depth: 64 feet
Duration: 42 minutes
Temp: 43º
Not a bad first dive, for my 11 month layoff, and John and
Rob’s six month! A little rust, but
overall a good dive! I felt comfortable after being down about 10 minutes, so I
was happy. We had our wonderful Wegman’s
lunches, and then decided that it was time to give it another go!
We set everything back up, and remembered to attach the
right hoses, and make sure we were all ready to go! The order was given to descend, and this time
everyone made it to 20ft. We all felt
good, so we kept going. This time we figured that we’d head out towards the
Trolley, and maybe drop down to the Deuce and a Half before taking a nice
leisurely stroll around the back of the island.
We got close to the Trolley, and decided to penetrate. Afterwards, we swam along the rim of the
hole, and popped over a bit to see the truck.
We then ascended back up, and followed the back of the island at a nice
comfortable pace. We saw someone’s line
running project (Rob thinks that maybe it was done late last year, and to
possibly find the plane) and kept swimming.
Once we got around the island, we headed back towards the Comet, we didn’t
penetrate, but just swam by (if we knew that the part that I dropped was John’s
at that time, I’m sure we would have tried to recover it) We were getting close to 30-something
minutes, so we headed up to the platforms and just did a nice safety stop. After we were done, we headed back, and
finished our dive.
Max Depth: 85 feet
Duration: 41 minutes
Temp: 42º
Ok! Not bad for my
first day back in a while. During the second dive, I actually felt like I knew
what I was doing! So I think I can keep
diving, and enjoy myself again! Packing
up was the usual mess, wet stuff, dry-ish stuff etc. but everything got into Rob’s truck, and we
headed to Wegman’s for our post-dive celebration! (munchies and a good beer!) When we finished, John did some extreme beer
shopping, and we left to the crazy rush hour traffic.
All in all a great day!
The three of us worked out some cobwebs, and felt like we all had
fun! Hopefully, we can keep this up and
get out there more than we all did last year.
Again, and I know I sound like a broken record, but I really miss the
convenience of Bainbridge, and how often we were able to dive there. Rob said that if it were still open, we’d
probably have at least 20 dives in already…and he’s right!
Ok, so since my cylinders are pretty much in need of a
visual, I’m not sure when I’ll get back out, but I’ll be sure to let you know!
Safe diving , people!
Welcome to 2018!!!
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