Wait, April’s over?!?!

After a layoff for the Easter Holiday, and a weekend of some quick/early yard work, we figured it was about time to get back in the water (Well Todd was in the water last weekend, the rest of us were doing other things, must be nice)  So Todd put the call out on Scared Turtles, and Rob and I volunteered to go with him!   Easiest way to meet was just at Rob’s so 7:00am was the specified time….tough time, but ok...  I went to bed early, I’m not the late night-early riser I once was…We met, packed Rob’s truck and started out to Bethlehem.   After getting there, and securing our space, we ran to Wegman’s for our lunches.

Back to the quarry, and we set up. I had a leaky high pressure hose, and had to change it out (thankfully I had the right parts with me) and we finished setting up. We decided that we’d hit the deeper parts first, then come around the island and figure it out from there… easy enough!   Todd was going to lead this dive, so we went down to the water.

It appeared that several dive classes were there, so we didn’t know what to expect visibility-wise. We finished setting up, and the order was given to drop to 20 feet.  No unexpected bubbles (and NO bubbles from Todd’s MEG) so we were off!   Todd took an interesting course out to the crane, since we usually hit the Trolley first (or slightly to the right of it)  Checking in, all was well, so we headed over to the Trolley. We all went through it, and reconvened at the top of the hill, behind the Trolley. Again everyone was OK, so down the hill we went.  The “Barracuda” looks like it’s getting more rusty and falling apart, but it’s still there.  We turned, and headed over towards the Deuce and a Half, and went up the slight hill. We followed the bottom until we hit the island, and started around the back side of it, taking a nice slow pace, which was actually really relaxing!  At the edge of the island we turned in, and saw a nasty cloud of kicked up bottom (I thought it looked like someone was making snow angels)  So Todd took a wide right around it, as we headed over to the Comet. Rob and Todd went through (well Todd sort of went through, he’s practicing carrying more “bail out” cylinders, and is a tad wide, so he ‘bailed’ on the penetration and went over top) We then wandered up to the platform passing several students coming down to the Comet (most in a vertical position)(I should talk some days), and got out of there pretty fast.  At the platforms, we just slid over, and then found our line to do our safety stop below the exit platform, and we were done!

Deepest Depth: 88 ft.

Duration: 45 Minutes

Coldest Temp: 40º

Not a bad first dive, it was very relaxing!  That trip around the back of the island was really nice and I actually felt really good on this dive, not bad for me this early in the year!  We all had our lunches and contemplated the next dive.  Since I’m not exactly the most accurate navigator, I wasn’t looked upon to lead the next dive, so Rob was charged to lead the beginning, then Todd after a certain point. (since he knew the way)

We dropped in off the same platform, and did our 20ft. check, all systems were go, so we started over towards the platforms, and down past the Comet.  We followed over to the new plane which is starting to look pretty ragged down there with people writing in the filth that’s settled on it. From there Todd took over and we headed over towards the Hellcat. For once the visibility over there was decent, so we were happy about that. I went under the wing and was checking out the propeller area. (since you could actually see it!)  Todd took his next heading and we headed over to the old van. (which is down in between two platforms) I remember seeing that before when we started our dive from the other side of the quarry, and maybe one other time, but didn’t remember the platforms on either side of it. After a trip around that, we followed Todd over to a boat that I honestly don’t remember ever seeing before. (listed on the map as “The Cruiser”!?) ok, new one on me!  (and actually looking at the map I have, that’s about the only thing listed that I don’t think I’ve ever seen except for the “Old Plane” (which is over on the far side of the quarry, and probably not reachable unless you have a scooter, or start on the back side of the quarry) But I know that there are a few other odds and ends on the far side that I’ve never seen …old cars and such) ANYWAY….from that boat we headed over to the school bus and passed that, heading back towards the Comet.  We were all getting cold, so back up to the platforms, and back in to do a safety stop… Rob looks like he was attempting a valve drill, Todd was reading his rebreather display, and I was looking for crayfish….didn’t find any, but I DID mess with a cute little black fish under a rock.  After our safety stop, we popped back out of the water, and we were done!

Deepest Depth:  63 ft.

Duration: 52 minutes

Coldest Temp:  41º

Again, not a bad dive, other than some foot cramps at one point, and about 10-15 minutes before the dive was over, I got this nasty itch between my right eye and my nose, that I could NOT scratch, and it was bugging the hell out of me!  But other than that, I think I did ok!  I seem to have some sort of leak, that I think MAY be the one that’s been in my foot, but since I have a new under garment (that wicks away moisture) it may be pulling more up than I had before….I just looked at my drysuit on the hanger, and I can’t seem to see anything that might be leaking, so I may need to do a leak test on it…so stay tuned on that! 

After packing, we headed back over to Wegman’s for a quick snack, then back home.  Not a bad day, the weather was weird, warm in the morning, then cold in the afternoon, and warm later on.  You didn’t know how to dress.  All I know is when I got back to my house to unpack and hang my gear, I was sweating.

Ok, Not sure when I’ll be out again, I’ll be at a late concert next Saturday afternoon/evening,  so I really don’t feel like attempting to get sleep, and try to get to Dutch Springs to get a table, so I may pass.   But, I will keep you posted one my next adventure, so stay tuned!

Six Months?!?! Holy…..

…Well you know the rest…  Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve been in the water, October 10^th for the Columbus Day Invitational Dives, I had to miss New Year’s Eve because I was stuck out in California for some parade and football game… my wife made me go… (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)  So when I knew that we were going to be able to go this weekend, I was all for it!

Not knowing how many people were going to be arriving at the site, seeing that it was the first official open weekend, Rob thought we should try to get an early start to get a table, then go to Wegman’s for our lunches (which didn’t open until 9:00 anyway)  So that’s what we did.  Being excited, I went through my bags, and made sure that everything was in working order; the computer had a good battery, check, defog bottle filled, check,  Drysuit and undergarments packed, check!  OH, and I got a new undergarment at Beneath the Sea that I was anxious to try out, so I can now retire that old sweat suit I wore forever!   All gear taken up to the garage, and all I had to do was wait…. (and explain to my two new kittens what I was doing)

Rob was picking me up at 6:30. So I was in my garage about 6:25, to move everything to the front, and as I was, I realized that I ALMOST forgot my weight belt…that would have been bad!   The trip was uneventful, and we were able to find plenty of tables for set up.  We unloaded, and decided to start setting up since we still had time to kill to go get our subs.  John and Todd showed up right before we left, so thankfully someone was there to keep an eye on our gear.  After getting our lunch we came back to find Ron and Mindy, so we had a nice contingency of locals. (And we all still miss Bainbridge)

Mindy was doing her first dry suit dive, so this was exciting! I remember when I did mine (at Bainbridge) with Lee Millard, and we, as he put it “dusted off a few platforms”…that was a fun day!  (and I still occasionally dust off platforms) 

We decided, that since it’s been a while for both of us, to keep it conservative, and the fact that the water is cold; we didn’t think more than about 35-40 minutes would be a good idea anyway. So we planned on heading out towards the Trolley, dropping in to see the Deuce and a Half, then follow around the island, and go from there.  I was having some trickle difficulties, but since I had a “cave fill”, we thought that everything might work out as I sucked down the tanks. (and it did)  So we popped in, and dropped down to 20 feet to look for any odd bubbles, and there weren’t any to worry about, so we kept going.  We went out towards the Aqua Park area, past the busted platform, and over to the top of the ridge.  We then swam over to the Trolley, and popped over the hill and over to the Deuce and a Half.  We checked in, and everything was still good, so we headed over towards the island, and just swam around the bottom off of that.  After a while Rob started spotting some of the lines, and we were close to the Cessna, so he turned us, and we headed back around. It really felt good to just get the feel of being under water again, and I was getting back into my comfort zone quicker than I expected.  At about 35 minutes, Rob turned to me and pointed over to the platforms, and I agreed. We did our safety stop on the platforms just swimming back and forth until we were done, then Rob pointed to a line and we headed back in.

Deepest Depth: 73 ft

Duration: 45 minutes

Coldest Temp: 38º

Not a bad one to start the day, when I got out of the water I said “Hey, I remembered more than I forgot”!  So we schlepped up the hill and took everything off.  My hands were FREEZING, but my body wasn’t bad… So far so good with the new underwear!!

Everyone else slowly came up and we had a nice little party in between our dives!  John and Todd got more time on their rebreathers, and Mindy had her first dry suit dive! (and according to Ron, did a nice job trim-wise)(but had a leak up her sleeve)  We had our lunch and caught back up with each other.  When the time to go back in came, the rebreather guys (who already had 85 minutes in) opted to stay warm and Mindy opted to stay out, so Ron decided to tag along with Rob and me.

This one was going to be a shallower “line following” kind of dive, to just get back in the water and continue getting comfy, so we bid John and Todd a fond farewell, and got dressed again.  We dropped to about 20 feet and got into some other people’s way, so we swam over to the platforms, and did our check, nothing bad, so we kept going.  Down the line past the Comet, and over towards the mystery boat following the line up to the Cessna (which is starting to look beat up and broken) Over that hill, then following the line to the school bus. Rob swam through, and Ron and I just swam around.  Rob pointed to the next line, and we started over towards the firetruck. (That’s a long-ish swim) We did a few laps around the firetruck, then started back in, past the bus again, and past another one of those old boats.  Rob pointed to the platform, and we did another rolling safety stop up there. After five minutes, we were all getting cold, so we popped back up to the exit and finished dive number two!

Deepest Depth: 60 ft.

Duration: 46 minutes

Coldest Temp: 39º

OK, all back safe and sound, and everything felt pretty good! (Well except the frozen hands…jeez!!) I think everything worked the way it was supposed to, and we all got that first of the year tough one in!

The drive home was a long one due to a very nasty looking accident on 81, but I made it home in record time thanks to Rob’s expert driving abilities! (And no help to the out of state morons that kept him from cruising in the passing lane) 

Not sure when the next trip is going to happen, but just not next weekend due to the Easter holiday. (Which means that the marshmallow peeps will be on sale starting next Monday!!!)  I’ll try to stay in touch!

Number Ten!

Number Ten!    

Wow…. Just looked at last year’s report and realized that this is the TENTH John Weaver Memor….Errr….I mean INVITATIONAL dive at Dutch Springs!  (Let the pigeons loose!)  Hard to believe this has been going on for that long!   When I mentioned that fact to my wife, she said “you’re diving ten years?!?!”    Well heck, I’ve been diving TWELVE years but who’s counting! (thank you Aeris dive log for that fact)  Now that I’m working, I have to check to see if I have days off for certain events, and I was SO glad that I was off today since Columbus Day isn’t a “close everything” holiday!  So when I got my work schedule and saw it, I knew I was in! (although I was skeptical last week when I got my first nasty head cold in who knows how long)

The day was started at the Holiday Inn in Grantville.  Todd and Rob were apparently very anxious to get out, because they were there when I pulled in about 8:10-ish (meeting time was 8:15)  Brian showed up shortly thereafter, and John was close behind.  We consolidated into two vehicles and made the drive to Bethlehem.  Rob was held at gunpoint last week and had his wallet stolen (or something like that…he might have lost it…or one of his grandchildren hid it…we have to see)  so his Dutch Springs card was missing.  He decided that getting his 2017 membership was a better idea, rather than pay the “nominal fee” to replace his current card... ($215.00 Until the end of January!)  So once he got that taken care of, we went back to find more tables than we needed (I think I used three)  After setting up, we talked about a dive plan which pretty much had us going to the Trolley, down into the hole, then back around towards the Island, then depending upon what gas Brian had left (he was diving a single 100) we’d go from there…no biggie!

We got ready and went to the water.  Once everyone was set up, we dropped to 20 feet and did a bubble check ( although Todd had no bubbles, he was diving his Megalodon  Rebreather)  Everyone was good so we kept going.  I REALLY kept going because I think I’m now over weighted (lost some weight, didn’t adjust my lead)  and since the viz wasn’t  “pristine”  I hit the bottom before I knew it.  OK…add some air to the wing and the suit, and try to not mess up the viz anymore than it was already.  We made it past the boat, then over to the Trolley. A few went through, I decided to try to get my buoyancy back to something respectable, so I did just that.  At the back of the Trolley, John gave the  thumbs down to head down the hill, and we went.  We made it to the car, and everyone checked in. John pointed off into the distance and we followed.  The next five or six minutes reminded me of the dives over the “hole” at Bainbridge… very wispy, and very surreal… wish I had some Pink Floyd playing! (The middle part of Echoes would have worked) After not really seeing anything, John started up one of the slopes until we were back into decent-ish viz.  After we all checked in, we headed over to the Deuce and a Half (or the Deusenberg if you’re a certain person we won’t mention)  and then continued on over towards the island. We saw the Crane, but continued past and headed towards the boat and the Silver Comet.   John pointed to the line, and we all agreed.  Todd is still getting used to his rebreather, so we did our safety stop on the platforms. After five minutes, we pointed to the line that leads to the exit, and  we ended the dive.

Duration: 52 minutes

Deepest Depth: 90 feet

Coldest Temp: 45º

Good dive, other than my weighting issues.  I decided that I wouldn’t remove any weight, and just see if the next one would be any better…It wasn’t a bad dive for me, just awkward. (and low)  We put our gear down, and had our wonderful Wegman’s lunch!  We realized that since Brian hasn’t been in the water for about two years, that it was time for him to see the new Jet that replaced the helicopter…so that was on the list for the next dive.  60-odd minutes later and we were getting our gear back together.

We waddled down to the water, and did the 20 ft. check once we were all ready.  John was leading again, so we just followed.  Over and down to the Comet, (a few went through it) and from there we headed to the Jet.  When we got to the Jet, it looked like Todd was having some issue, but as we found out later, he was just testing things with his new “toy”.  We all ascended to the Jet, and a few went through.  I thought John was having a cramp issue, but he was just trying to sit on the wing to greet everyone when they exited the Jet.  Fun stuff!   Next stop was the Bus.  So we started over to that, and hit it like we knew what we were doing (well John did, we were just following)  After the bus, we started over to the Helldiver. The visibility was really crappy, when we got near the plane, I was having a hard time figuring out what we were looking at until I was right on top of it (the back end)  We swam around that for a minute or two, then John headed back to the wall.  We followed that until we were close to the exit point.  We did our safety stop in space, and after everyone was ready, we ascended.

Duration: 56 Minutes

Deepest Depth: 62 Feet

Coldest Temp: 53º

Second dive felt a LOT better than the first.  Thankfully, my buoyancy issues were (kinda) resolved, and I actually felt like I knew what I was doing.  So two good dives in the books for everyone! Brian didn’t look like he was off for two years, so his retention rate was pretty gosh darned good!  Todd got more time on his “Meg” so it was a good day for everyone!

After we packed our gear we headed back to Wegman’s for the post dive “snack” (and I had to pick up a fruit tray for my wife)  Traffic back to the Holiday Inn was crazy…tough to realize that so many people are working on such a wonderful holiday!  Shame on those employers!   (Christopher Columbus discovered America ferrkrissake!!!)

We parted ways only to encounter cruddy traffic on the way home. 

Tough to figure when the next outing will be, but you can bet you’ll hear about it!   So until next time!

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!