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From Tom Pritchard. . .
2/17 - The January Green Dive
Viz continues to deteriorate at Willow. We knew it would be bad because we could see algae on the steps before we splashed in. The random clumps of green goo were a bonus. What better time than last night to try to keep six divers together for an hour: Kulp, Eric, Perry, Huckster, GMan and yours truly. To give us a fighting chance of staying together, we did the rope tour to the Quest and the fire truck. We lost Kulp near Bubba, but he found his way back to the food. From the fire truck we took the line to the boat in the bowl, but gave up when the viz dropped to about a foot. We used dead reckoning to find the wall and followed it to the Minnow, thru the school bus, and back to the platform. GMan lingered while I made sure I could reach and turn off each of my tanks in preparation for the upcoming Stated Deco class. No problem. We hadn't seen viz that bad since the Elephant Fertility Festival last summer. We scared the crap out the huge rainbow trout that lives near the dock, slid across the dock, and dined on chilli, bread, and brownies. Another great Thursday! Get Out and Dive!
2/20 - Kulp's 300 Watt Light Bulb and the TNIs Go International
Is there anything more humiliating than being photographed wearing smiley-face boxers over your drysuit or cavorting with an adult blow-up doll at the Chilli Dive? Perhaps. I've decided to come out of the literary closet, so to speak. In addition to subscribing to AWAD, sad to say, I receive a weekly e-newsletter containing chiastic, paxadoxical, and oxymoronic quotes made by famous people. (Feel free to take 5 or 10 minutes to run to the fridge or the loo while Cindy consults Dictionary.com and Vern checks Oxford's unabridged porn dictionary to ensure these words don't violate Smokey's dive reports' high journalistic standards). OK, if you're back, I'll continue. This week's fare includes quotes from a number of famous poets, writers, comedians, including John Keats, Goethe, Henny Youngman, Jackie Gleason - and one diver - yours truly. To save you the shame of reading the entire e-newsletter, I have pasted below my contribution to this week's arcane literary collection.
This week's quote comes from subscriber Tom Pritchard:
The "Thursday Night Irregulars" dive almost every week in a quarry in Richland, Pennsylvania. We change into our gear in a drab and barren building called "The Lobster Shack," which is dimly illuminated by a single light bulb. One day, after replacing the low wattage bulb with a 300-watt bulb, the room became even uglier. In my weekly dive report, I summarized the room's transformation this way:
"Some rooms, like some people, look better in dim light."
Tom Pritchard and his buddies are scuba divers who get together once a week to eat, swap lies, and quarry dive. They've also explored shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean and caves all around the world. They dive as often as time (and spouses) permit.
I'll let you decide whether my quote is chiastic, paradoxical, or oxymoronic. Let's face it: Dive reports aren't just for divers anymore! Get Out and Write!
From Darth Vern . . .
Well since no one else wrote in this week except for Tom, you get the priveledge of reading some more of my written ramblings, about anything dive related.
[1] ANYONE may write and be added to a dive report or even have one of their very own. This is not the personal space of a few select, it is open to any Smokeys diver to add to the collective. Just so things are clear, write in and become famous [i.e. Tom P]
[2] National Gerographic this month has a fantastic story about the Nazi shipwreck "Steuben" entitiled "Ghost Ship Found" [link] Plus it has a very cool multimedia presentation that goes along with it. [link]
[3] Since we are completing some of our "tech" classes to make deeper dives I decided to include some in the dive reports that will be upcoming so other divers can see what we are using this new knowledge and skill for. I can not wait to dive this wreck.
Bow Mariner NOAA Information [link] news story [link] and some pictures [link]
[4] Check out this series of pics from taken of a decommisioned naval vessel being used for target practice. The ship was hit by a single MK48 ADCAP torpedo that was fired from a submerged submarine, the HMAS FARNCOMB (Australia), 12 miles away, below the horizon. [link]
[5] It appears Mt Storm will be a thriving diving metropolis again. New owners are taking over the old shack at the lake. Setting up a resort and putting the air station back in. Rumor is they are opening 1st weekend of April. Camp sites, showers and such.... I see a road trip in the near distant future . . . anyone else interested? It is about a 4 hour drive and some different if not cool diving. Mt. Storm Lake Information: Lake Built: 1962, Altitude: 3244 ft, Max Depth: 128 [link]
Keep on diving and LIVE THE ADVENTURE!!!
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