1/19/06    It's Not Easy Being a Frog
The TNIs were a little thin last night, but George, Joe, Kulp, GM, JZ, and I were joined by the always effervescent Huckster.  Huck brought a cream something or other layer cake with a dive flag laced into the icing - so he can dive with us any time he wants!  I washed down my share of the cake with pork BBQ, complements of Sam Walton.  Huck and Kulp made the round trip to the caboose and back - together, no less.  James Z, GM, and I visited the Mystery Boat, although I have no idea how we got there - I was too busy.  A few weeks ago I decided to bite the bullet and learn how to frog kick.  Last night would be the test.  I must admit: I'm an ugly diver.  While one leg is doing the jitterbug, the other is doing the boogaloo, and somehow this propels me thru the water - slowly.  I don't mind being slow; it fits in nicely with my being late all the time.  I also decided to dump my wimpy-ass split fins in favor of the industry tech standard: the ScubaPro Jet fins.  These dinosaurs have been around since the 60s - and they look it.  The SP Jet Fins are made of thick, heavy black rubber and appear to have been carved out of a truck tire.  I borrowed Vern's too loose fins, did a face plant off the dock, and proceeded to make frogs the world over cringe.  Everyone on the planet who owns fins, or knows someone who owns fins, has tried to give me pointers on the frog kick.  The only description that made any sense was Dan's: bend your legs and extend them as if you were hopping forward.  After an hour of hopping past the Mystery Boat, the school bus, and the Minnow, it was time to get out and rest.  My feet, legs, and ego had gone thru enough, Vern's fins had gone thru enough, and frogs the world over were humiliated enough.  I'm sure that my performance last night accelerated the worldwide decline in the frog population.  Three things are clear: 1) Jet Fins absolutely rock, 2) Learning to frog kick is going to take some time, and 3) It's not easy being a frog.

From 1/22/06

As if we needed an excuse to dive last Sunday, the plan was to help Kulp dispose of some trimix before the "VIP Day."  Because using trimix at Willow is a misdemeanor in Pennsylvania, Kulp,  Gerhard, the always effervescent Huck, and I decided that we should visit "The Hole" at BSC.  As the other three rappelled down the steep slope at Upper A, I used the handicapped access entry and then we made our way down to the deep boat and then to the hole.  It was murky along the rim, but surprisingly clear - and dark as ink - in the hole.  I've seldom seen 15 ft viz in the hole, so I was having a grand old time.  It didn't take long for GM and me to lose Huck and Kulp in the blackness.  We ambled along the wall, so we missed all the good stuff down there; next time, we'll take a heading across the hole.  Just before we left the hole east of the barn, we bumped into this fabulous tree with silt stalactites hanging from every branch.  Really Sharp!  Back at the rim, the question was: Left or Right to get home quickly.  We headed left, which has the more picturesque cliffs along the road.  GM and I burned off most of our deco on the way up, but took a short snort of our 80% O2 just because we could.  Huck, who must have camped down in the hole for a while, had 24 minutes of deco to burn off.   117 ffw; 41 degrees, 61 minutes.  And a good time was had by all.

And 1/256/06

Air
Last night was Willow at it murky best.  Even with 3 ft viz, GM, JZ, T-Bone Jr, Colin McCrackle, and I stayed together as we naved across the bowl and ended up at the fire truck and then the Quest.   I didn't get lost b/c I followed "Colon" and his bright yellow "BananaMan" dry suit.  (I suspect "Colon" got it on sale.  It must have been a Damn Good Sale!)  Viz and Big Bird aside, the theme of last night's dive was air.  First, I spent the better part of 30 minutes cascading tanks and stage bottles to cobble together 1400 psi in my doubles before finally deciding that I needed to carry a stage of "whoknowswhat" O2 mix to do a decent dive.  I decided to breathe the stage down and then switch to my back gas.  Second, I spent the first 35 minutes of my dive wishing wistfully that my dry suit inflator would stop bleeding unwanted air into my suit b/c it was making my buoyancy a lot worse than it normally is.  This problem came home to roost when I swam through the large pipe east of the Quest.  Being plastered against the roof of the pipe made it tough to raise my arm to dump air from my suit, and even tougher to swim through the pipe.  Knowing that 30 cf of air doesn't last long, I had been checking my air pretty often - but not while I was in the pipe.  As I emerged from the pipe, the stage offered its last gasp - then I offered my first gasp and fumbled through all that tech crap I carry to find one of my other two regs.  With that problem solved, I decided to put an end to this foolishness with the dry suit inflator.  I unplugged the inflator hose, knowing that the last 20 minutes of the dive were going to be cold ones, but it was worth it.  With my buoyancy restored, I frogged my way back to the dock and up the icy stairs to the icy platform.  T-Bone Jr., who just got done diving in "Mehico," said he missed the cold, murky waters at Willow while he was away.  Last night's dive should have cured him of that.

And from Keri Buckwalter

The first week of January in very sunny Grand Cayman, the "diving Buckwalters" truly got to dive as a family! Emily (11), who has been a frequent flyer at Smokey's Discover classes, joined us on some excellent shallow resort course dives. Her expectations will be high now; on those couple dives she saw several southern stingrays, an eagle ray, turtles, a large dog snapper, and some huge green morays swimming out in the open, and of course the usual array of beautiful angelfish, parrot fish, tangs, big schools of jacks, etc. 

A highlight for me came at the end of one of our wall dives. We were enjoying a little computer time yet at 50 feet or so, when the dive guide got my attention and pointed out an eagle ray slowly cruising the top of the reef. Knowing I was finishing a deep dive I glanced at my air (plenty) and took off in hot pursuit of a picture, and just to get closer to this graceful creature. It allowed me to follow fairly closely for a bit; when I turned around to share the joy of this close encounter with others, I discovered I was quite alone with my joy, and in spite of the 100 ft. vis, could not see anyone else's bubbles or the boat. Also found that in the chase I had sucked my tank under 500 psi. But the drama pretty much ends there; I backtracked and it wasn't long before I saw bubbles (and managed a safety stop without draining the tank). So that my dive buddy doesn't look bad here, I need to say that he never saw the ray, or me go after it! (And I did get my pictures!) Saw one nurse shark on our very last dive; that made Andy's week. Between the 5 of us, we made 45 dives (14 each Doug and I)...it doesn't get much better than that! Keri Buckwalter

See Keri's full photo album here.

From Mark

Well, it's not as exciting as eagle rays and reef diving, but we did try something new last week in cooperation with Workouts, Inc. (Formerly Golden Meadows). If you have not taken the time to stop in their new work out center up on the hill, you should.  It is VERY nice, and their prices are very competitive with other workout centers in the area.  In their new, nearly three story, lobby is a rock climbing wall - so we decided to try to pull together an "adventure party" for my daughter's 10th birthday.  An hour of rock climbing, and a discover scuba.  6 screaming 10 year old girls, and my son Jack had a ball trying to make it to the top of the wall.  One of the girls challenged me - so of course I did the manly thing in declining - NOT.  

After an hour, we headed for the newly remodeled lobby at the pool for pizza and cake - then into the pool for a Bubble Makers program for the girls.  They had a ball chasing Frisbee's around, and trying to keep a pot of plastic coins from washing off.  

If you're interested, we can set up a similar experience for you!! Workouts charges $100 for the rock wall and pool, and we charge $8 each for the scuba.  Contact Joe if you're interested!!

Keep on diving and LIVE THE ADVENTURE!!!

Hey Look!!

Looking Good!

The New Lobby