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From Dan Myers . . .
Thursday night at Willow Springs
The usual group of irregulars came out to Willow Springs. Surface temp was a balmy 16 degrees. The water stays around 41 degrees. Viz was low. Usually this time of year the viz at Willow Springs is much better. Gerhard Maree and I saw two big perch. George Heck and Jay Bell reported a nice walleye at the truck. When we got out of the water our drysuits and gear turned us into ice sculptures.
After the dive we were treated to Mrs. Bell's lasagna, Jess Zellers bread, and Terry Martzall's home baking. I got one helping of lasagna. I will learn to talk less and eat more. The fire from the worlds largest woodstove warmed everyone up real quick. We'll be out this Thursday. New and experienced divers welcome. Max depth of 45 ft. www.willowspringspark.com C'mon out !!!
Sun. morning at Wabank Aquaculture
After working a full day for UGI (Underground Idiots) I was ready for a good dive. Scott Steinbecker (new blue Henderson drysuit), Nate Brommer (new blue Hnderson drysuit) , Bill Siwiec (new multi colored OS System SARR Custom Shell Drysuit) , Mark Nix (old black drysuit with new dry gloves), Chris Mayo (I'm still farting around trying to figure out which drysuit to buy; today I have a rental for the 14th time Henderson) Don Bradley (I NEED a new Henderson blue drysuit because I look like Sean Connery when I wear one) and me (old black OS System SARR Custom Shell Drysuit) dove at Wabank. Viz. was 20 to 35 ft . Mark and I did the tourist route to all the attractions. We saw a 2 ft catfish on the northeast side of the quarry. I shot some video which came out ok. We did 79 minutes on rebreathers www.divesafe.net .
The reason Mark and I followed lines and hit the sunken attractions is that Jim Brown chose to dive at another location. We had no one to lead us on a thrilling compass heading dive at 30 ft thru mid water with nothing to look at but ourselves and our compass bezels. Yeeeaahhh Baby !!!
Bill and the boys had great dives as well. Water temp. was 39 degrees. Bill "donated" steps and bleachers for the trailer. We no longer place our lives in danger going in and out of the trailer. We missed Cindy who stayed home to look after Josh who wasn't feeling well. Get better Josh !!
Winter diving is for everyone. The divesites aren't crowded, viz is usually better, and it's fun !!! It is the best time for Divemasters and Divemaster candidates to get practical diving experience before the OW check outs get rolling. Lets go guys!!! There's more to Divemastering than the deep end of the pool and the platforms !!!!
Most PADI specialty classes are available over winter. In addition to the obvious winter classes like drysuit and ice diving; you can take almost any other specialty class. Check the classes section for class schedule and instructor contacts.
Let's hope for ice next weekend !!!! Cold water builds character !!!
Yeeeaaahhhh Baby !!!
From Jim Brown . . .
BSC is iced up!
Access B is 75% covered at 4"+. Access A: Lagoon totally covered, 4"+. Bowl and beyond, thick and skim to an inch. Very cool dives today. One with Jim Grim in the a.m. (111' for 40), one with Frank Herring in the p.m. (115' for 42, 6 minutes deco) The vis is spectacular: the Hole is clear but dark, not black. Wheel barrel and lawnmower revisited. Stepvan clear, Blast Shack in clear view - awesome! The Pond was as mystical as I've seen it with the cloud cover gently laying over it, just beneath our dive profile. More to come with pictures!
If you plan to dive BSC, CALL FIRST for dive conditions and access. Steve is monitoring closely and may close the site down for all but ICE certified.
Descending again with exhilaration!
From Kathy Stevens-Jackson . . .
We have been working hard on the details for our next trip. Our travel agent just about has everything finalized. She has been able to book the property we are interested in on Grand Turk. Staying at the Arawak Hotel, 2 morning boat dives a day, unlimited shore diving, and other goodies. The dates are Nov 1-8, 2003.
We are very close to having a contract to sign, so should be able to update our web site and advertise pricing next week. Only have space for 28 people, limited by the number of rooms. We have reserved ALL rooms at this property.
Email Kathy home - work!
From Dennie Leese . . .
It's been awhile since I've gone through the agony of organizing a group trip to an exotic tropical location, so I figured it's about time to do it again. I'm putting together a trip for Summer/Fall 2004 to Isla Mujeres, a small island near Cancun and Cozumel. I have hotel and diving organized so far. The hotel is only a year old and small with only 9 rooms. It's a 5 star joint from what I've seen of it so far. I'm still trying to get a handle on airfare. This will be an 8 day trip from a Saturday to a Saturday. Dates to be announced later. Look for prices to be roughly $1,300 per person, double occupancy which includes roundtrip air, hotel, diving, all taxes and breakfast daily at the hotel. This is just a preliminary heads up, but if you think you'd be interested, shoot me an email. Space will be very limited due to only having 9 rooms in the entire hotel. First come, first dive! I expect to run this trip late summer to early fall of next year. Dates and prices to be announced once everything is firmed up. If you miss it, you'll just have to suffer hearing about it after we get back. Email Dennie for more information!
From Jim Brown AGAIN . . .
Jim Grim, Frank Herring and I dove ICE at BSC Sunday. It was fantastic. Jim arrived for the morning dive and Frank came later in the day for my dive #2. Steve left the shop to check out the conditions before we could head down to the access. Steve's assessment was that the ice is almost closed but he allowed us to enter along the road. Ed also warned us to look out for the gifts from the new goose arrivals, $hit everywhere!
Jim and I geared up and broke our way into the water off the road. The Bowl is completely frozen so the Pennsy and dolphins were out of the question. We agreed on a plan while Jim readied the video cam and off we went. We cruised the ridge around toward the dozer and dropped down the pipe to the stairs which were in oh so awesome plain view. The true Deep Boat came into view at the bottom of the second stairs. Our course continued through the Hole a short way and we turned south over the ridge to the Deep Boat. The entire boat is in view and the bottom is right at 88' - the water level is up as the tunnel is closer to disappearing. Jim was shooting video on and off so I had to cruise along slowly. We continued south under the two 60' platforms to the pump house at 78'. The house was in clear view and the interior was clean as a whistle. The vis has finally shaped up like winter diving should be! We turned the dive here back to our right and along the wall to the dozer. This is where we witnessed the first sign of the new guests at the quarry - there was goose $hit everywhere around the dozer, too funny. Obviously goose $hit is negatively buoyant. I wonder what PADI says about that? Jim ascended the line to the platform and ice to check our ceiling - solid as ice. We headed for the exit from the dozer and made a leisurely swim along the wall and back before getting back to the surface. What a great time, 111' for 40 minutes.
Frank Herring and I used the same entry/exit for our p.m. dive. We hit the stairs and cruised right over the deep boat at 115'. The Hole is dark but clear so you can see what's going on. Where's the L.O.G. when you need it most? Frank drifted a bit in the other direction and I learned that he spotted a dust-covered fin, yellow and black, with initials KIA on top. It's in great shape and was left at the dive shop in the L&F. We continued through the Hole at 115' but hugged the south ridge as we searched for the wheel barrel and lawnmower. Sure enough, the wheel barrel appeared first followed by the lawnmower. These will be good pics if we can get them before the good winter vis leaves us. We ascended the ridge to the step van and tanker at 90'. I took us WSW across the open floor directly to the blast shack. It was so clear here. Our return led us right over the pond with the cloud cover laying low and almost even with the ridge of the pond. I rolled over and gave Frank a "holy $shit do you see this vis" arm and leg seizure sign! It was exhilarating! Upon arrival at the deep boat we compared gauges. I was already at five minutes deco and Frank had accumulated three. We followed our normal exit route slowly up the slope to the dozer and around the ridge to the north wall and out exit. We cruised the north wall for my remaining three minutes of deco obligation and returned using the time for our safety stop. Another enriching, nitrogen-loading adventure with great vis, 115' for 42 minutes, six minutes deco.
In other news, there was a rock slide on Sunday, January 19th in the parking lot at lower A, instructors' parking section (see pics). Two of the boulders will need to be drilled and blasted while the rest will be scooped up and relocated. What does that tell you about the dangers of scuba instruction; such a high-risk pursuit!
Last, Access B has a revised access gangplank. With record-low water levels, Steve added a couple of steps and landing to the vertical wall at B to which the gangplank is now attached. You can see from the photos that the slope is much more agreeable to divers loaded with gear. Notice the water level is almost back up to the bottom of the ladder at B.
Descending again,
From Darth Vern . . .
ICE ICE BABY - I know someone had to say it in this report!!! We are ice diving this weekend. Dennie is giving the class either Thursday or Friday night of this week and students must do 3 dives over Saturday and Sunday WOO-HOO!!!!! Ice happens rarely, so if this rocks your boat as it does mine, now is the time!!!!
Just to prove I am not the only one to get all excited around all the gear at the dive shop. I took my wife and daughters into the shop on Friday. My wife Patty is getting certified in Feb and then we are heading to Key Largo for her check-outs [along with 3rd wheel Jim Brown] so we needed to get her some gear. So when I put my 1 year old daughter Jordan down on the floor, she let out a loud yell, and took her first 5 steps in a row. Now that is diving excitement.
Keep on diving and LIVE THE ADVENTURE!!!
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