Let’s Play Two!

It’s not often anymore that I get to do two in one day, but with the pending closure of the local hole, it seems that days like these will be the norm…(well without the grilling and prizes and stuff).  Our local dive shop had its annual customer appreciation day, and since the two gentlemen I usually dive with are employed, and I patronize the shop, I felt that I was eligible to get the $2.00 off coupon, and partake in some burgers and brats on the grill!  So we loaded up Rob’s truck at 7:45 at the Hershey Sheetz, and made our way to “O’ Little Town of Bethlehem” with a swiftness. (Rob was driving) None of us purchased memberships this season (heck I never have, Rob and John have previous years, but have seemed to JUST make it, or not make it a worthwhile investment)  So the three of us were standing in line a little while after they opened paying our way in, and getting the little 2015 sticker on our cards.

After going in, we ran back to the pavilion, and unloaded, attempted to get some tables secured down below, but were unable, so we just set up where we were (thoughts of schlepping up and down the hill with those loaded 130’s on my back were un nerving) Thankfully, once more people showed up, tables were found, and  we were in business.  Since John and Rob are affiliated with the shop, they were asked to do some leading and mentoring, which wasn’t a huge problem for them.  The set up for the first dive was John leading (with me as his partner) and Rob mentoring a new-ish diver named Tim. (I think I overheard that he was on his sixth total dive, correct me if I’m wrong) He is also taking his Advanced Open Water next weekend, so where we had planned wasn’t going to be TOO much of a task load for him at this point in the game, seeing that part of that course is a “below 60ft.” plan, and the trolley is about at 70 ft.   The plan was to head out toward the Trolley, let him swim through it if he desired, then assess his gas, and go from there.  John and I continue, with or without them (if necessary, they go back, if not…crane, etc.)  Simple plan with contingencies for all involved!

We dropped in, and slid over the platforms.  I stayed with John, and kept an eye on him watching Rob. It seemed that they were having some early issues, so (as I found out later) Rob decided it was better for he and Tim to go do their own thing, so John and I continued on, past the boat, and along the bottom towards the Trolley. John went in, so I followed.  We came out, and John asked if I wanted to go down the hill (since that wasn’t in the original plan) I agreed, as we swam around the Trolley we noticed a rather large lift bag attached to a rather large cement block.  Wondering if that’s something being placed for the new plane being sunk at some point? (or related to it…we never discussed that afterwards)  Over the hill and down to the ‘Cuda (which is looking pretty bad) John took a left and we decided to not take the DEEP hole route,  and headed towards the “Duece and a Half”  (looked a little weird to me, but ok…maybe I wasn’t as narced as I usually am)(or more narced…tough to tell) We then came up over that slope a little and started along the bottom of another slope towards the Crane. We both went under the Crane, and followed a line to the Silver Comet. We spent no time there since what appeared to be a class was forming on that, so we followed the line up to the platform, and took a bit of a safety stop over the platforms, once we got to the exit point (wrong one, but close enough for Rock and Roll) I lost control and slid up to about five feet, then came back down to 20. John looked at me and just gave me a thumbs up and we were done.

Duration: 43 minutes

Deepest Depth: 89 feet

Coldest Temp: 45º

As usual for Dutch not my best dive, but better than most of what I’ve done there.   I have been messing with my weighting, and at the end of the dive, just couldn’t seem to get to a point where I could stop and blew through my 20ft. Thankfully It wasn’t something I really needed.

Surface interval started off fun, some people decided to drop all of their junk on our lower table, so we just put our wet cylinders and other wet stuff there, serves them right for moving things.  Burgers and Brats were consumed, as well as some great pretzel salad that Tim made (that stuff with the pretzel base, some whipped cream, and strawberries in strawberry Jell-o!)  Texted my wife to let her know I survived dive one, got a few reminders to hydrate, as I checked out the scenery wandering around Dutch this afternoon, and thought (you never see stuff like this at Bainbridge...what you do see is…well never mind)

After a while the decision was made to dive again, so we put all of that hot gear back on, and went back down the hill. This dive John was tasked with assessing watching Ron lead a dive (that included the student, Tim)(although I wasn’t sure that was the entire premise of the module) this dive also included Ron using a compass to find certain underwater attractions. (Ron’s a Divemaster candidate)  So Ron would lead, Rob and Tim would be in the middle, and John and I would bring up the rear.    We decided that it would be a good idea for us to drop on a platform, but the platform we wanted was in use, so we had to surface swim a little further, to where we wanted to be. We dropped to the platform, and got ready. Everyone gave OK’s so we moved off of the platform. Tim seemed to drop a bit, so we followed him.  Rob went down, and got him back on track, we went a little more, and he kept falling, meanwhile, I felt like my hand was getting wet, so I kept messing with my glove.  I got a “OK?” signal from John and I went to write on my slate, but my big bulky gloves are too bulky to grab my pencil…so I had to work at that for a few seconds, (either I need to use the pencil I can grab, that won’t stay attached, or the one that WILL stay attached that I can’t grab…no win situation)  so I wrote “LEAK”  John thought I wrote L ‘ear’  No problem…I was sort of fine, it wasn’t BSC during January where I was freezing, and it didn’t FEEL like any sort of catastrophic leak, so I kept going, at any rate, Poor Tim was struggling, at one point he just dropped to the bottom, I was lower than everyone so I just dropped down with him (And I’m sure four guys with similar black gear all carrying doubles was confusing to him) he turned around, so  I looked him in the eye and gave him an ‘OK?’  signal, he signaled back “OK”…  Rob turned and came back, and John came down.  He’s new, we all had those same little things at first.  We made it to the bottom of the hill where the Cessna is located, and started up.  At the top of the hill everyone checked in, Rob decided that it was time to take Tim back in, so they peeled off, and John and I continued to follow Ron.  A few fin kicks later we were in front of the Helicopter (which is looking REALLY bad) We swam through it then reconnected outside. I took a big gaze at it, and wondered if it would be here this time next year, or if they’d just get rid of it somewhere.  Ron took his next heading, and we started for the School Bus. A few more fin kicks, and there we were…  Not bad!  (other people were wandering through it….a little too small for my liking, so I just swam outside while Ron and John went through, and I met them outside.  From there we swam along the wall, and just took a nice leisurely swim along the bottom of the wall until we found (again, the wrong) exit point.  John wanted to do a valve drill, so I kept an eye on him, then Ron wanted to do one.  After a few minutes, we were done!

Duration: 41 minutes

Deepest Depth: 61 feet

Coldest Temp:  53º

A better dive than the last one, but with the leak, a little uncomfortable.  Rob tends to think I didn’t seat my neck seal properly, which is probably right since it was a bit of a mess getting set up the second dive…Weekends up there are usually a bit of a pain, since there are a LOT of people milling about.  I think my weighting at the end of the dive was better due to the water in my suit…maybe I’m on to something!  

After everyone was done, more food was put out, and things were finished up.  Some items were given away as door prizes, (I won a SeaCure Mouthpiece!) and everything was packed up.  The long drive home was a reminder of what we have to look forward to unless something drastically changes….ok, try not to dwell on it.

Next time out is Wednesday for the “Last Wednesday Night Dive At Bainbridge EVER” Party, hope you can make it!  It should be a hoot

Getting them in….

I was planning on getting here this weekend anyway, but with what’s happening, it has a little more meaning.  Each time I drive up, I hope that there’s some different news, but there’s just more stuff being sold at a premium.  I don’t need more cylinders, and the gear that they have for sale is either stuff I don’t need or don’t want.  (or pretty ratty) As I drove up to Upper A I saw it was pretty packed, so I looked over the hill, and Lower A was pretty full as well, so I found a lone table in the corner, and figured that we could make do with it. So I parked and unpacked.

Rob showed up shortly after me, and we started getting things ready. As soon as I analyzed my breathing gas, and went to set up my computer, I got the “change battery” message. So I figured, “may as well”, so I got it in, asked for a second opinion, and Rob thought it looked good, so I stuck it back into the bungie mount holder (easier with warm water), but for some reason the code to my transmitter got fouled up (may have been when I was attempting to reset my time and date)  but I got it reset. (Rob knew right where to go) Crisis averted. (I prefer doing that in the quiet of my own home, not when I have a dive in 20 minutes, oh well)

Rob thought that since there were a few classes being held, that it might be a better idea to try to get as far away from the bowl area as possible, and head out past the Outhouse and along the wall, I thought that was a good idea, thinking the same thing as far as things getting kicked up.  Once we were set, we wandered down the steep access, and checked each other, everything looked good, so we descended and found a tree at 20 feet to see if any bubbles were leaking. Nothing to speak of, so we were good to continue. The visibility in this area was already pretty nonexistent, and even following Rob around a tree proved to be a tough thing, we got lost that easily, but we found each other though, and continued on through the nothing-ness.  We finally found a landmark we recognized, and headed to a spot to drop down the slope.  We descended to the Pump House, and Rob tried to find the little lobster that we’ve befriended over the years, he was missing, so apparently someone already claimed him, or hid him where we can’t find him. (I also found out that John was the one that put him there originally, I don’t think I knew that!)  We kept swimming past the rocks, and out along the bottom of the wall.  We were soon passing the Tripod tree, and heading to the Outhouse.  Rob went right, and I went left, and we met behind it.  Rob pointed towards the wall and I agreed, and followed.  We hit about 80 feet, and just took a nice leisurely swim along the bottom of the hill, checking out the twisted corrugated metal in different spots, and old railroad ties here and there. At the rate we were going I thought that maybe we would just start back along at a shallower depth, but Rob gave me the turnaround sign, and I agreed, and followed.  We were mostly above 90 feet at this point, and headed back to the Pump House. We both gave it another quick look, shrugged, and ascended to the line that leads to the CAT for a deep stop. (Rob also wanted to check for a toy car on that, but someone apparently grabbed another souvenir)  After our deep stop, we started back in, through the cruddy visibility to the boat with the fuzzy caterpillar on it. Rob gave it a shake, then gave me the signal to go take our safety stop.  Rob fed a few fish, and I annoyed some while just checking rocks, and we were done!

Duration: 46 minutes

Deepest Depth: 92 feet

Coldest Temp: 36º

A nice leisurely dive on a Saturday to take your mind off of things…well not really, but it sounded nice.   It actually was a nice leisurely dive, but it’s hard to not think of the immediate future of the quarry, and the convenience that it has for everyone.  Anyway, I did a slight change with my weighting from last Wednesday, and used 10 pounds instead of eight; Rob said I looked a little better in the water. I felt a little more comfortable, so I may keep this for a while to see how it works.

After  getting out of the water, we watched the Open Water class get suited up for their next dive, and it was cool to see a little kid getting ready to go, if I only started at that age instead of 11 years ago! (or if I WAS his age 11 years ago, I’d only be about 22-23 by now!)

I have a prior commitment on Wednesday, so I won’t be able to attend, We’ll see about the 15^th, but I will be out on the 16^th (The 16^th is Dutch Springs)  Until, then, I hope you all have fun, and if YOU get to do SNUBA, I hope YOU get to go to 90 feet!   (Ask me about that one)

See ya!

Can I Get a Do Over?

We’ll get to that part in a sec… Saturday morning, I was having my coffee, half asleep,  minding my own business, and looking at Facebook on my cellphone, while sitting in the kitchen at my mother in law’s (ok, I was trying to ignore the usual conversation while having my coffee, my mother  law telling my wife what’s wrong with her life, and what she needs to do to improve it in order to meet HER standards) and I saw Jim Brown post on Facebook “Thank you BSC for the SCUBA memories since 1998”  so I ‘liked’ it, thinking that maybe it was some anniversary of their opening, or a milestone of his or something. A few minutes later, I see an instant message pop up, and since I don’t have “messenger” installed on my phone. (because it’s a pain at 3:00am when someone sends a drunken group message and my phone starts making weird noises) So I went up to grab my iPad a few minutes later curious to see what it was. When I opened it, it was from Jim and said “Hi Ben. BSC is sold to Waste Management. Ceasing scuba operation on August 23. Damn!”  I almost dropped my iPad!  And what came out of my mouth is something I won’t print here (although it’s perfectly acceptable in my mother in law’s house)(in Italian as well as English)  After about a five minute conversation, I went about my day, shocked to say the least.  Sleep wasn’t easy that night… and the shock is still somewhat mind numbing; It’s just not something you expect.  And after hearing some of the conversation, you have to wonder.

So…After tonight, the current plan is attempting this Saturday, Wednesday the 19^th for the last Wednesday Night Dive, and I think Saturday the 22^nd (to avoid the possibility of an over influx of 80-billion people on the 23^rd which is the last official day)  Since the local dive shop is having their Dutch Springs “event” on the 16^th, I’m not sure anyone will want to go the 15^th, but my options are open. (and I won’t be able to attend on Wednesday the 12^th due to a prior commitment)  So that’s it kids unless something changes, and according to Susie there is some possibility, but it sounds like a political cluster****, and not entirely likely in the near future.

Now back to our story….

Back on track (for the moment), and the first Wednesday (and dive) of August for me, Got a fill Monday, but not of the full strength of Nitrox that I wanted, but as I said after analyzing, not just air.  As I arrived, John was in the shop chatting with Susie and we decided to head on back to the water.  Not long after we arrived Rob showed up, and we were talking to Frank, one of the regulars who was without a partner for the night, so we let him tag along with us. 

Frank dropped his pony bottle and fins down the long road, so we ended up starting there.  Rob paired up with him, and I was with John.  We dropped in and did a quick bubble check at 20 feet.  As everyone seemed to have the right stuff coming from the right places, we got the thumbs down and started…well not so fast, I wasn’t able to go any further.  John looked up at me, and I seemed to be stuck at 20 feet.  I finally started descending, so I gave John the OK, but as I hit about 25 I got stuck again. I finally was able to descend a little more, and got to 40 feet, but no one was to be seen. So I spun around for about two minutes, and swam back and forth, and didn’t see any lights, so I figured that I better ascend.  I saw two patterns of bubbles nearby, and one ascended.  We regrouped, and decided to try it again.  This time it worked, but as usual when you go a second time (at least in my case) you never get 100% comfortable.  So we dropped past a platform, and passed the gear and were soon at the CAT.  We dropped down the hill and went to the Deep Boat. Since we wasted a little time with my issue, and a few people weren’t carrying full cylinders, John opted to not go to the Deep Deep Boat, and followed the ridge out towards the old collapsed building and Toolbox, by the Step Van.  From there, he took a heading and we started out to the Outhouse.  After passing the Outhouse, John was giving me the “keep up” signal, but I was trying to clear a cramp from my left leg (I’m guessing the Bicep’s femoris muscle) and was only using my right leg to swim.  I think I finally got it cleared (but it was sore)  and was able to keep up a little better as we got closer to where the  Pump House was.  John gave the ascend signal, so we all went to the line and did our deep stop out to the CAT.  At the CAT we turned in and went through a very kicked up bowl until we found our safety stop area.  John did a valve drill, and I did my best not to kick Frank, who I saw out of the corner of my eye to my left. Five minutes later we were done.

Duration: 45 minutes

Deepest Depth: 93 feet

Coldest Temp: 36º

As I said, one I wish I could do over.  Not my best dive, again. Just didn’t feel comfortable most of the dive, I think I got to a point where I was getting comfortable when we were closing in on the end of the line, but then I started having trouble once the cramp started. I’m also starting to wonder if I might need to carry a little more weight, since I have been feeling “floaty”.  Maybe I’ll experiment on Saturday if we get out. (and it might be a good idea anyway if I don’t top off my cylinders) We’ll see. 

We went to PizzAtown for a quick dinner to celebrate Rob’s birthday, and were joined by some old friends who happened to be coming by (Jeff and Annette) it was good to see them, and share a couple cold ones!  (although their pizza looked entirely TOO healthy for my taste)

Well…the countdown begins, just going to try to see what we can get in before things cease to exist, and hope that something might change in the near future. Ok, it’s nice that we’re getting our membership fee’s back, but I’d rather be diving.

See you soon….

ALMOST a Barn Run!

Ok, it’s been a while ( I know, only two weeks, but…) so I had to remember things. Not too bad, though.  It IS the time of year when things get warm, and you sort of wish you decided to do that 3mm/single tank/Lagoon dive while you were setting up, but I guess it could have been worse. (and God knows it has been)  But alas, my 3mm is too big on me, and I haven’t gotten a new one yet, so that suggestion went to the wayside.  Ok, it’s been humid lately,  and the fact that I was sweating like the proverbial pig while I was packing my car only proved that tonight was going to be a moist one!  (and I’m glad that I wasn’t able to wash my under garments after my last dive due to heading out of town the next day)(don’t worry, I hung them before I left so they at least aired out) But that’s enough of the complaining about the weather…

Back to the quarry for the last Wednesday of July, hard to believe that we’ve gone through two months of it already and only have nine more weeks left, get them while you can!  Rob is still working off of his single, so it was a no brainer to assign him to our “guest” diver tonight, Jim! (who was diving in a wetsuit and single as well)  John got stuck with me since I had my doubles (but a lighter fill than normal due to the recent  compressor issues) The plan was basically for me to stay with John, and Rob and Jim stay together in case one or both needed to finish earlier.  John gave us his thoughts for where to go, and we all agreed.

We dropped in at the bottom of the steep access, and met at the tree for our bubble check, nothing seemed wrong, so we continued through the murky visibility, through trees, and under pipes until we found ourselves at the Aqua Adventures truck.  We checked in, and everyone was still good, so we started down the hill. At about 80 feet, we started following the wall, and were soon at the Tripod Tree, which meant that the Outhouse was soon to appear.   At the Outhouse another check was performed, and we were all still good to go. John continued past the big boulder (The “Volkswagen Rock”, go read the 6/17/2015 report if you aren’t sure why) and over the vast nothingness of the bottom of the quarry.  At one point Rob tagged John and said that they were going to head back, so they got the “OK” and John and I continued on. We were soon at a toolbox that neither one of us remembers seeing before (although thinking about it later on, realized that it IS on the map) and then at a toolbox that we knew, not far from that. (The “new” toolbox is midway between the toolbox we know, and the barn) Passing that tool box, and the collapsed building (and step van) we soon found the line that follows the edge of the deep hole towards the Deep Boat.  As we were swimming along, I noticed that the gunk on the line was coming off of it, and that the line was getting closer to me; my reel got snagged and I was pulling it, so I unsnagged it. (John said he just thought I was cleaning it off, I’m not that efficient) We were soon passing the Deep Boat, and John gave the signal to start heading up the slope, so I agreed. We were soon passing the CAT, and following the line back to the Aqua Adventures truck for a deep stop, then heading back in through the trees and boats until we found our safety stop area. Five minutes later, we headed back to the exit and completed our dive.

Duration: 48 minutes

Deepest Depth: 93 feet

Coldest Temp 36º

Not a horrible dive considering the little lay off I had, but not perfect. Stayed a little closer to the bottom than I wanted, and felt like my feet were very floaty this trip, but otherwise, I made it back in one piece with everything I took with me, so that’s a positive!   After packing we were ready to go see what kinds of beers that PizzAtown had for us, and had our dinner. 

This weekend is another bust for me, but unless something changes, next Wednesday looks like another fun evening, so I’ll see you then!