Who Stole the Viz?

Or did the new owners of Bainbridge, sell their visibility to Dutch Springs?   But (as usual) I’m getting ahead of myself)  I was supposed to go to the Pitt-Penn State football game out in Pittsburgh yesterday, but with the crazy heat (and the chance to sell the tickets at no loss) we decided to bag it, so my wife could go hang out in a pool all weekend, and I could go diving!  So I texted Rob, and he was game to go, I just needed a fill.  Since someone that isn’t overly the best person for a Nitrox fill was (purportedly according to the website) working the dive shop,  (at least according to the schedule) Rob said he’d meet me there Saturday morning and do my fill.  When we got there, someone we didn’t expect was working, and it would have been ok to have him do it… no biggie, and thanks for running down to Hershey, Rob!

The plan (since it was Dutch on a Sunday) was to leave from here at 7:00am and try to get tables, then go to Wegmans, for lunch. (hey, it worked last time) Rob was having happy sleep, so he was running a little late, but not a big deal, we got a few good tables.  Once we got the canopy set up, we ran to Wegman’s for our "Danny’s Favorite" subs, and went back over and started getting everything set up.  There as a nice breeze blowing, and it was pleasant putting on the stuff.  The plan was run out towards the Trolley, then over the hill to the hole,  go to the crane, and figure it out from there.  Easy enough plan.

We dropped to 20 ft. and since everything was coming from the right places, we kept going.  Visibility heading over towards the platforms was pretty bad, and by the time we saw them, we were right on top of them, so this was going to be fun!  Rob took his compass heading, and we started swimming along the bottom, we passed by some of the anchors for the water park part of the lake, so Rob figured find the ridge, and just work our way back.  We were soon at the Trolley (which was really tough to see) and Rob gave the down the hill sign, so I agreed.  At about 65-70 feet, Rob had that ‘we aren’t seeing anything so why keep going’ look, so he started back up, and I followed.  We were swimming along the bottom, and over things we hadn’t seen before.  We were soon passing a telephone pole I don’t remember seeing very often,  (Rob said we passed the blast shack, I totally missed that)(Heck I think Rob almost missed the Trolley, originally,  the viz was so cruddy)  So we kept swimming.  The next thing I saw just blew me away. We were at the Tanker truck!  I’m sure Rob heard my surprised sound, and when he turned towards me, I just shrugged, and laughed.  He shrugged, then pointed back in…so I agreed, and followed. We were soon back at the island, but nothing was looking overly familiar as far as the Cessna, so since we were that close, we just surfaced.  Rob found the buoy for it, took a heading, and we started back down. From there we found the line that leads up to it so he started following that.  As we swam , it was starting to get into warmer water, so we just dropped a little to stay cool, and got lost again.  Once we found the wall, we looked for a platform, and bagged the safety stop (since we had a few already) and finished.

Duration:  46 minutes

Deepest Depth:  77 feet

Coldest Temp: 47º

Ok, so we were wet, and not sitting home staring at a TV with a remote trying to find something worthwhile on TV! (Like a Stripes re-run or something)  A lady at the set of tables next to us asked where we went, I responded “I really don’t know, we couldn’t see anything”! (she laughed)

Rob was having a problem with his computer (changing his gas mix to 50% during the dive) so he sent an email to Oceanic while I started my lunch.  While we sat there some friends wandered over and chatted with us for a while, until we had a nice two hour surface interval in the books.  This next dive was going to be all rope led, Rob said he might take a sledge hammer to his compass!

We dropped in at the same spot, and as we were descending, I saw Rob take his computer off, and put it back on, I hate when I put mine on backwards, as well, although the time it DID happen to me, I left it because if I dropped it in Bainbridge, I would have never found it in that bottom muck!  (I learned to read upside down at an old job I worked at....like 25-30 years ago) We checked in at 20-ish, and started out towards the platforms.  At the platforms, we took a left, and headed to the first rope.  We followed the rope down to the Silver Comet (which was pretty much nonexistent in the cruddy viz) and looked for the next rope.  Rob pointed, and I started following.  This was out to one of the mystery boats, which also hooked up with the rope to the Cessna, so we followed that. Up the slope, and we were soon passing over the Cessna. After we got past the plane, Rob pointed to two different ropes, and gave me the choice, so I chose the one to my right.  We followed that into more mucky viz, and were soon back at the Tanker.  This time we weren’t as surprised, and took a lap around it.   After our lap, Rob pointed to the rope we just followed, and we started back.  Soon we were coming up the hill to the Cessna (I was shining my light into a hole that housed a crayfish) and over the Cessna we swam. As we descended back down the hill, Rob pointed out towards the Crane, so I agreed, and we swam along the bottom of the island.  As we got close to the Crane, I saw a large white fish that looked pregnant! Maybe more of those big white fish!  Rob was intrigued by a frog statue on the Crane?  Weird, but OK! Rob pointed back, and we followed back out towards where the Comet is, swam back over that then up the ropes to the platforms.  We took a few laps around those just to practice a little buoyancy and breathing control, then at about 50 minutes, Rob pointed towards the exit, and I agreed, so up to our safety stop.  Five minutes later we just ascended, and ended our dive on the platforms.

Duration: 58 minutes

Deepest Depth:  63 feet

Coldest Temp:  53º

Ok, not a bad end to the day! We saw more, (well sort of) on that dive, and were able to get back in a better disposition.  Rob said he can remember some dives there that were as bad visibility-wise, but I have to admit that I think this was the worst I’ve experienced out here.  After we finished, I wandered over to see my friend Donna who was testing out a rebreather. Her instructor let me try it on (I never tried one before) and I swear that it was lighter than an aluminum 80!   (Lisa would KILL me if I even suggested buying something that expensive!)

After we packed, we wandered over to Wegman’s in search of snacks, beers, and olive bread (the kind with little olives in it, not just an olive oil rub)  But we only found the snacks and beers.  (Sorry MaryJean, we tried!)

Well…hoping to get out again soon, but really can’t promise anything. Penn State Football season is in full swing, and other things on weekends are preventing me from committing, so I’ll be in touch when I can!  I did check, and I am off on Columbus day!  So that tradition will be able to be upheld! (well unless my wife screws that up….)   Thanks to Rob for being available to dive! (and drive!) Stay safe out there!