Today I decided to get a little nostalgic....the first part is from 2006....
My FIRST Wednesday Night Dive
(This is a reprint from
a story that ran on July 19, 2006)
I’ve made a commitment to myself to dive more this summer,
Jeff said something like “Yeah right, I’ll believe it when I see it” and then
mumbled something to the effect of “you warm water wimp” So I’m finally
starting to hold up my end of the bargain. Two weeks ago, I accompanied Jeff
and Matt Brown on Matt’s dive 3 & 4 of his certification where I broke in
the 7mm (which has been hanging on its hook since I purchased it LAST
summer…well, make that last spring, along with the hood and gloves I bought at
the 2005 Splash party, to take advantage of the low low prices and friendly
service you’ve come to expect at DDS) and broke in my brand spanking new Nitrox
specialty! (Yeah baby VooDoo gas!) So since I had more time on my hands I
checked if anyone was diving soon, and th
subject of Wednesday came up...”Alright, I’ll give it a shot!” Rent the
tank, pack the dive bag (in the semi darkness of my basement due to the power
outage Tuesday night) and set everything out to run to Bainbridge after work.
(work never seemed so long…shame I can’t get overtime for my perception of how
long the day went!) Anyway, got home, tossed everything into the car (well
except the tank which was ever so GENTLY laid into the trunk) and started the
rather quick drive to the quarry.
Checked in and went back to Upper A and set up my kit. I met
Rick and Rob whom Jeff set me up with for the evening, and started talking dive
plan. Being three of us that have followed on a lot of dives, one of us had to
lead, Rob volunteered.
While setting up, Rob found that his tank sprung a leak
(dang purple “O” rings!) so rather than risk a flame out on re-entry, he set
off to the shop to have it repaired and his tank refilled. Rick and I cooled
our heels and waited for Rob to return, which he did after making it back down
the road in record time! We set up only to find Rob had another leak, this one
in his dry suit inflator hose, so a quick repair and we were ready to squeeze
into our wetsuits. Down the road and after a quick safety check… thumbs down and
we’re off.
Rob led, and lead he did! The frustration of his equipment
issues took over and I think he would have left Justin trying to catch his
breath. We learned a new signal in those first 10 minutes, kind of a
combination of the PennDot worker “slow down” motion and a hound dog panting.
(thankfully, Rick works in Cardiology, but we didn’t need his services at
depth) Rob got the message and kept it slow the rest of the dive. (Hey, I
needed my cardio workout anyway!) I was afraid to look back and check if Rick
was following me because my neck may have snapped from the “prop wash” coming
off Rob’s fins. Rob commented later that he was at 52 feet while I was at 51, I
had to stay at least a foot or two above him to avoid swimming INTO the
current!
We didn’t find the Pennsy, but we did find a boat.
(According to Rob we at LEAST found the quarry)
We took a short break to get our bearings and finished out
the dive at around 20-25 feet, weaving in and out of the trees.
I think I made some strides with the 7mm, when we stopped I
had a half decent hover happening and I didn’t shoot to the surface at all this
time. (That’s a lot of neoprene to wrangle) In the “issue” dept. for me, I
didn’t get to achieve, with my mask, what me, Tupperware and a Walrus have in common.
(We all like a tight seal) So I was clearing my mask a lot. Other than that not
a bad dive at all!
Interesting thing to note, my last 3 dives have all
increased my personal depth limits by 1 foot each! (Dive one July 1st, 49 feet,
dive two July 1st, 50 feet, and July 19th, 51 feet!) At this pace I’ll be ready
to take my “Advanced” in approximately 30-40 dives! (mmmmm…NO!)
We packed up, went to Little Italy and munched. Now I’m on a
168 hour surface interval if the wife lets me go again next Wednesday (or
unless I can get out this weekend, that is)
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!
(Stats on that dive:
Duration 28 minutes, Deepest Depth 51 Feet, Coldest Temp 58º)
The LAST Wednesday
Night Dive (August 19, 2015)
Well it’s finally here.
The last Wednesday night… Hard to believe that after all of these years
this is all over. It was really fun
while it lasted! I loved the mid-week
diversion that you got for those four months, and dreaded the eight month
layoff when it was over and done with for the season, I can only imagine how I’ll
feel now with it ending six weeks earlier, and being done for good!
A few different “shops” (dive groups, what have you) were having “farewell” tours tonight, and the Scared Turtles were right there with them! I think we were represented almost all of the Wednesday nights by at least ONE of our members (well of the current members in good standing, that is) and tonight was John, Rob, and me out in full force! We didn’t have as many people at Upper A, which was nice because it gave us all a better chance to mess with Ron.
The plan was once we got through the murky bowl area, to
drop down and head out to the outhouse, come back towards the ledge and follow
that in, come up and finish back in the bowl. Or something fun like that.
We all wandered down the steep access, and the orders for a
20 ft. bubble check were given. I was hoping that my leak from my second dive Sunday
was just something I neglected to do, and it seemed like it was, so at the
tree, I felt like I was dry on the inside.
“OK’s” were handed out all around, and we started on our journey. As we started through the nothing-ness, I
somehow got stuck on a tree, so the lighted “ok” wasn’t returned in time, so as
I got free, I saw Rob turning, and was able to give him the “all is fine”
signal. John was going through things,
and I wasn’t recognizing anything, (who could in that visibility) Rob also
admitted that he didn’t see anything that he remembered. John said that once he
‘bumped’ into the pipe, he knew where he was. (knocked a little sense into him)
(of direction, I guess) I saw the pipe,
so I followed John under it (well I bounced under it) We were soon passing where the Aqua
Adventures truck should be, and the signal to go down the hill was given. We were soon alighting on the Pump House, and
starting along the bottom of the wall.
The visibility here was a little better (although the fog over the 110
ft. Trench was inviting)(cue Careful with that Axe, Eugene!)(Google it Rob) Along the bottom of the wall until the Tripod
tree was in view which meant only one thing; Outhouse! John went by and gave it a quick shake, as did
Rob, a few more boards fell. I shook one of the boards, and surmised that thing
is going to stay standing for the next millennium! So I just cleaned a little dust off the top,
and turned to follow the rest of the crew.
John was taking a heading, and we were soon passing the Volkswagen rock
and swimming into the nothing-ness towards the wall. Several fin kicks later, we were going past a
few trees. (or through them) John took a heading and soon we were looking at
the “other” Toolbox (I peeked into it) and soon the Tanker. Passing the Tanker, John looked down into the
hole and said he saw Huck mulling about,
so he gave him an “OK”, and it was returned.
We followed the ridge until we saw the line, then followed that for what
seemed like a good half hour. (it really wasn’t) We were soon at the pipes that the line was
attached to, then passing the Deep Boat.
We started up the slope, and as we got nearer to the CAT John’s light
went out. I was wondering if he turned
it out for some reason, but when I saw a different beam, I knew that his
primary light must have somehow given up.
We took a little break at the CAT, then continued up and into the murky
bowl, through the trees, and along the walls. (I bumped into a few) A few minutes later we were at our safety stop
depth, and just hanging out watching (and messing with) fish. I wonder what the
fish will do when they have no one to play with? Oh well, not my concern after this
weekend. Five minutes later we get the
all clear, and we’re heading for our exit spot and we’re done!
Duration: 44 minutes
Deepest Depth: 93 feet
Coldest Temp: 36º
Other than light issues, masks leaking, getting stuck on
trees, sinus issues, and cruddy viz, it was a pretty good dive overall! I think the worst part of it is the viz in
the bowl area, but the mask leaking was a common thing that we all shared, and
probably the biggest annoyance. (John’s mask clearing bursts in the light was
something to behold as we swam along the ledge) But there IS something about
snorting quarry water that I won’t miss! Hahaha! (ok, yeah I will!)
After packing it up we took a drive down to PizzAtown for a
beer and quick snack. We’ll be back
for one more on Saturday (well if we can get these steel cans filled up) Then there’s some dive classes on Sunday, not
sure if I’ll make it for those, but Saturday should work for me. Hard to believe I probably only get one more
in this cold dark hole.
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