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From Diver Dan . . .
Thursday night at Willow Springs - Just because Gerhard, Tom and I ended up surfacing in different zip codes doesn't mean we didn't dive together for the first 45 minutes of the dive. Tom and had several conversations concerning gas management and navigating while underwater along the far wall. Who needs sign language? We also saw one of the eels on the way to the cement mixer. Tom did resemble a marker buoy from afar on the surface with his flashing light. See Tom's report for the rest of the story.
Sun. at Wabank - Bill Hockley, Don Bradley (who will make the Henderson website when he gets his new drysuit), and I hit the balmy 38 deg. water for a Sunday morning dive. Literally ran into Roger Good and Greg Kulp at the platform during our safety stops. Sorry Roger!! Raph Spayd, and Chris Thompson who was diving wet did about 25 minutes. Bryan Palmer and his buddy came out later. Bryan has his new pony set up rigged nicely.
Also out were Mark Nix and Greg Masi. These guys are two of the most experienced divers in the northeast. It's always good to see these guys. Greg was on some deeper trips with Smokey Roberts back in the 1980's.
It's great to see the very experienced divers out along with all the new divers. The new divers enthusiam is catching.
From Dr Deco . . .
Hey, I know this report pales in comparison to Jim and Darth's Florida adventures, but not all vicarious diving is done in paradise. Come along with Mike and me on our recent exploits at Bainbridge. Mike Nast and myself headed to BSC Sunday morning for a relaxing open water dive at Bainbridge. As Jim Brown mentioned, the ice is all gone and now the viz is super. We took a northeast course from the hill and headed out towards the pump house at 90 feet. The viz was the best I've seen in a year- at least 30+ feet. From above the pump house you could see the pipe heading into the house and the entire stairs to the bottom at 120. The skiff on the bottom was clearly visible.
We then headed south in the hole at 110 towards the barn. It was easy to navigate by keeping the 90 ft ridge to our right. We past over the railroad tracks and spotted a lawnmower. Never saw that before. We continued on until we intersected the wall. We turned the dive here and headed up to the ridge. We came to the step van on our return trip and past Jim and Mark on their way out. Back to the deep boat, up the hill to the bullsdozer, off to the Pennsy and the dolphin tower and up to the shallows for a safety stop. 45 minutes bottom time, temp registered at 40 degrees. We stayed fairly warm for the whole dive. Air temps were in the high 50's, set up and breakdown of gear was pleasant.
Head out for some local diving. The viz is great and there are no crowds- easy parking and plenty of space to set up on the picnic tables.
I'm still looking for students for April 5-6th. Any course-open water, advanced, drysuit, nitrox. The Spring Tide is running out of Jersey if anyone wants to do any ocean diving courses.
From Tom Pritchard . . .
The 4 L Dive - I didn't know there was such a thing as a 4 L dive. If one of my OW instructors told me about the possibility of a 4 L dive, I would have dismissed it as an alarmist attempt to get rookie divers to master their skills. I would have been wrong. George Heck, Gerhard Maree, Dan Myers and I headed off to the Quest. I got to lead; I just assumed that meant that the others would follow. I was wrong again. On the way to the mixer I saw the last 2.5 ft of an eel sticking out from under a piece of debris. As I tried to direct Dan to the eel, my light went out, which I ignored. Pointing to an eel with an extinguished light doesn't work well - and your dive buddies figure you're in panic mode. We eventually we got it all sorted out and everyone got to see the 5 ft eel. My light came back on. I could have switched to my $3.98 backup light, but for all the money I paid for my HID (Hell! It's Defective) light, I was waiting for the Sartek rep to meet me at the mixer and fix it right there. (Light out: L#1)
The mixer was fish city. After putzing around a while, I signalled that my air was half gone and we headed back (sort of). We couldn't find the tracks so we took a compass heading, whatever that means. (Lost: L#2). As we swam along the perimeter of the cul de sac, Dan decided that if I wanted to swim to Robesonia, I should do it alone - so he left. I think Dan and Gerhard got separated later and if I knew what happened to George, I'd tell you. The next time I turned around, I was all alone (Lonely: L#3). Later, Gerhard tried to explain the concentric rings of the quarry cul de sac; it sounded like the levels of Dante's Divine Comedy. I was still having light, lost, and lonely problems, when the 4th L kicked in: low on air. (Low Air: L#4). I had known for some time that it was just a matter of time before I'd have to surface swim back to the shack. I figured I'd do it with a little air in my tank. Light in one hand, computer in the other, I started my free ascent at 41 ft. At 29 ft, you guessed it - the light went out. I dumped a dollup of air, kicked gently, fumbling to turn my light off, then on and 10 seconds later I was 31 ft - and with a light no less. I wasn't in Robesonia after all, but I had to swim through Robesonia to get back to the shack. At least they saved me some food. 46 deg, 60'20" under water. Another 25' on the surface.
So the next time an instructor says to a class of rookie divers, "What do you do if find yourself alone, at night, lost, low on air, in a mid-water ascent, and your light goes out?" Don't say it'll never happen; the 4L dive happened last night. Shit in your pants is not the answer either. I shit in my pants last night and it didn't help a bit; I still had to walk the walk. Practice your skills and dive smart, which makes me 1 for 2 last night
From Brian Palmer . . .
Well I was out at Wabank this Sunday with my college buddy Steve Mooney From York. It was his first time over at Wabank. I ran into good old Don Bradley he was out diving, always great to see him, and Diver Dan.
We started out by gearing up I was using my new 40 CUFT pony and Aqualung Reg, I was able to buy at the Smokey's sale*** works great stands even with the 95 that I have Highly suggest getting a 40 for anyone looking for a pony!!
Then it was of in to the big blue pool. We went down to the platform and checked our buoyancy as it had been a while since Steve had dove with a Drysuit, no big problems just a few minor ones, settled them and it was down to the Ms Peaches, took a looksy till Steve and I were satisfied that was the deepest part of the dive all day I had 103' and 39 degrees.
Then it was up to the USS hound dog for a look and at the rock wall. from there we back tracked and back to the U69 and then to the other side of the quarry to the Wabank tug, on to the Sea Runner and finally to the loafer "the Sailboat". Then we went up to the fish pens and took a look and then did a dive back along the quarry wall at 12-20 feet which also worked as our Safety stop, well at least a 10+ minute one.
All in all it was a 59 minute run time and came out with some air left over to!! It was a great way to enjoy the weather this weekend that we were so fortunate to have an to go out and dive it !! I am always looking for dive buddies so either ask me if you see me out diving or shoot Cindy an email at the shop and she can get in touch with me.
((Note From Mark Myers – this one doesn’t tell a particularly good story, but we generally include items like this so we can all learn from others experience. For the record, we will be checking Mark’s regulator on Wednesday, as this should NOT have happened. This story, however, is a good example of dealing well with what should not happen))
From Mark Muenzen . . .
I would like to tell you both about an experience that Jim Brown and I had diving at BSC yesterday. As Jim and I geared up, we briefly discussed his regular dive plan of following the road out, past the Pensy, the dozer, then going past the deep boat, following the rim of the bowl to the Blasting shack, and then following the south wall of the quarry past the tunnel where we would finally arrive back at the exit site. As we progressed, everything seemed to be in order. We passed the Pensy and visibility was better than i could have ever imagined (20-30ft). We continued past the Dozer and then past the deep boat. Just after passing the deep boat, I took a breath off my reg and noticed that it sounded like it was still flowing as I exhaled. I took another breath and my reg went into a total free-flow. I quickly grabbed Jim's fin. Needless to say, I was very anxious to have this happen at about 85-90 ft. Jim quickly gave me his back-up reg and tried to stop the free-flow on mine, all the while talking through his reg to tell me that we were fine, that there was no need to panic, and that we were not going to surface faster than safely possible. Despite Jim's effort, my reg would not stop flowing. Jim guided us back to the line that is just past the deep boat attached to the bottom where we began our ascent. The dive ended up totaling out at 94 feet for 30 min with the last 10 being quite possibly the scariest and most thought provoking of my entire life.
I would first like to thank Jim for keeping his cool in a situation that had the potential to go very wrong. I would also like to thank Smokey's for hiring the best possible instructors. Time and time again they have shown me how to enjoy diving while doing it in a safe and controlled manner. Jim's reaction to a potentially deadly situation is proof of Smokey's serious commitment to safe diving.
From Jim Brown . . .
It's official, Spring has arrived at BSC. What a great day we had yesterday. Mark Muenzen, Mike Hostetter and Becky Tallman took a dip in The Bowl while Tim Moody and gang conducted dry suit and OW class. Kent Hirsch and Mike Nast did one tour of the bottom as well.
Ok, I'll mention it here and not say another word: the vis is WIDE OPEN at BSC. We had 100% daylight at 90'. The clarity is awesome. If you want to see the bottom of Access A, including The Hole, NOW is the time to go before the anticipated April algae bloom. This vis, clarity and brightness is virtually unprecedented!
Mark and I started the day from the steep path to the Dozer and on to the Deep Cruiser. We were doing just fine, soaking up the vis at 90' on our way to the Step Van, when I got a decidedly urgent tug on my fin. Mark's new Mares reg was heaving air, "a lot too much" for Mark to continue the dive. I handed over my octo, we hugged and looked lovingly into each other's eyes and I turned off his air. We made certain our suits were venting so we didn't get a free ride to the top and I turned his air back on. No good, still flowing. Off goes the air. Well, we got a little negative and dropped over the ridge of The Hole a few feet and I signaled to Mark to add some air to his suit. Well, duh, it would have been easier for him to do so if his air was turned on. Hey John, didn't you teach Mark how to orally inflate his dry suit? Ok, we got that straightened out.
Let me say I was very impressed by Mark's poise, control and actions during this event (it was a good thing for my health too!). He did all the right things, stayed in control and worked closely (a little too close) with me to get safely to the surface; a testament to his personal character and scuba training, John. So, with octo in service, we turned arm-in-arm back to the upline on the middle buoy, east of the deep cruiser, to avoid an OW ascent. Up we went, very slowly and in control. I switched to my 30 ft3 pony on the way up as my main was getting low. At our 20' hang, Mark spent 5 minutes breathing off his reg, oh sure, any reg will breath at 20'! Ok, Cindy, what the heck did you sell him anyway?! :o) You owe him a free air fill Cindy, and a reg checkup!
We got 30 minutes of run time to 90' with tremendous experience for Mark and renewed training for me. So, is the Buddy System the best (and only) way to dive? The dialog continues but today it was good for Mark. I think today's dive reinforces good and proper training, redundant air on every dive, especially deep dives in cold water, and most importantly, getting out and diving! There's no substitute for experience and practice! Mark, let's go diving, any time!
Mike and Becky arrived and the four of us suited up for a quick swim to the Christmas Tree. The Pennsy was in full view but a little messy with the classes going on. We untied the tree, removed ornaments and the stand and dragged all back to the exit. It was about 28 minutes worth in the pool but it was plenty for Becky who is still diving wet. We'll get the ornaments and stand back to Theta and the three lead weights back to Jim.
Donna and Stephanie showed up to hike around BSC and enjoy the beautiful day. They took some pics too. Be sure to visit www.divebsc.com Photo Gallery to check up on the latest pictures. You'll see the Tunnel is now under water, and the ladder at Access B has three rungs in the water - testaments to the rising water level.
From Bob Hannah . . .
Bill, Bob and Ralph did a 50 minute dive in 46 degree water Saturday. The surface temperature was wonderful. Bill contributed Shrimp, Bob brought Indian Carrot soup, Ralph brought Bread and Rolls plus the all important propane.
Our next dive will be April 5 at Dutch Springs. Ralph and Bob are Smokey Dive Masters. We are encouraging Divers with little post certification dive experience or divers that have not been in the water for a while to come join us. Diving is life, the rest is just details! As your comfort level increases, we hope your curiosity will also.
If you are concerned about the water temperature, Dutch Springs has that information on their Web Site along with driving directions, maps, and pictures. Ralph and I brought our wives there last fall, and they had a great time. The VIZ is usually excellent. There is plenty of stuff to look at.
Ralph and Bob are even debating buying a season pass. We have season passes at Willow, and have gone diving there three times already this year.
From Darth Vern . . .
I will be posting the story and pics from a recent trip Me, Patty and Jim [3rd wheel] Brown took to Key Largo, within the next day or so!!! I have a ton of pics to go through and resize!!!
KRAZY KLUB
We will be at BSC this Thursday Morning at 8:30am. Call the shop if you are interested!!!! So far it is Darth, Cindy, Jim and Mayo!!!
Keep on diving and LIVE THE ADVENTURE!!!
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