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Well believe it or not, there were divers out this weekend. Saturday was a nice day, but Sunday turned cold and blustery.
Here are the reports!
From Tom Pritchard . . .
(3 X 2 lights) - 5 lights = 1 light = -5 lights
I haven't checked my PADI manual in a while, which Dan Myers would probably consider to be a positive development, but I seem to recall something about diving with a backup light. So when Dan, Gerhard Maree, and I dove last Thursday at Willow, that would give us six lights - right? At least I thought so. Gerhard's UK Model POS (piece of shit) HID light was on holiday being fixed. I can bust of Gerhard's UK light because I also own the POS Model, which I keep in the basement where it doesn't work either. Technically, Gerhard had a backup light, but with no backup for his backup, he had one light. Dan's backup light was "back up" in his truck. I had my Sartek "maybe I'll work and maybe I won't" HID light and my $3.98 backup. After my HID light went out a few times, I switched to my el cheapo light. I really shouldn't diss my el cheapo backup light; after all, of the six lights that either weren't there or weren't working, it was the only one that was working reliably by the end of the dive. Gerhard's light quit after we passed the mixer; Dan's went out near the end of the dive. My HID light would work only when the $3.98 light was on, giving new meaning to redundant systems. Terry Martzell suggested my HID light might be a slave light. I'm more pessimistic - I think it's afraid of the dark. With all of our light woes, not surprisingly, we didn't see many fish and got lost again. But we weren't lost for long before Dan navigated us back to the Quest, where I noticed for the first time in 20 minutes that Gerhard wasn't MIA but kind of lurking in the darkness nearby. In retrospect, Gerhard was more like a stalker than a dive buddy. And a good time was had by all.
With sunset getting later, and Dalight Savings coming soon, you can set up you gear in daylight for a change. It's getting warmer both on land and underwater, now a balmy 46 degrees. So come out and dive Thursday night - and please - bring a dive light so the rest of us can find our way back to the dock.
From Jess Zellers . . .
Just because it's sunny and in the 70's when you decide to go diving is no measure for how it will be when you go diving! Since there were fewer than ten mental patients diving at Bainbridge Sunday to witness this comedy of nature, allow me to paint a picture. Cold, rain, snow, freezing rain, cold, wind, snow, downpour - repeat. Basically northeast quarry diving at it's finest. Greg Kulp and I descended into unbelievable viz, went through blue water (Yes!! blue water at Bainbridge!), down to do the hole. Down there on a prominent piece of silted over boat was etched 'Rick loves Sue'. I wonder went Huck was down there last? We than expertly navigated the usual spots. Bainbridge has flooded! The deep boat is actually a deep dive now. I am told this is pretty close to what 'normal' looks like. I call it flooded! Good run time, awesome dive. And the viz was unbelievable. Now that the water's up that tree with the circle hooks in it makes sense, we stopped to marvel at it for several minutes. Those who made a second dive in the cold, freezing rain and snow are mentally deranged. ... our second dive was good too! The water's 37 and we got in to warm up! There was A fish, Greg was a little behind me don't think he saw it. Two dives and one fish. The abundant and superb viz more than made up for the wildlife.
From Mark Myers . . .
Diver Dan spent the weekend in New Jersey manning the “Azimuth” booth at Beneath the Sea. He says he got to rub elbows with all kinds of “dive notables” such as author Kevin McMurray, and Dr. Bill Hamilton. Dr. Hamilton is one of the world’s leading researchers into decompression sickness. Dan says he got to check out a bunch of new products shown there and will be happy to talk your ear off about it if you want.
I passed up the reported “unlimited” visibility at Bainbridge to run up to Beneath the Sea as well. I spent most of my time walking the floor and checking out new products and potential trip destinations. There are some interesting new developments out of Abysmal in lights, and another drysuit line we might be looking at that offers a compressed neoprene suit much like the DUI suit but at a much less expensive price. I also took the time to meet with a couple of our manufacturer’s reps, and touch base with some we haven’t seen for some time. I have a meeting with the Sherwood rep tonight (Monday) so we’ll see what new items they have. Our Mares rep was here for our sale, and showed us some great new regulator and mask developments. The Proton Ice looks to have the same performance as the Mares Abyss at a fraction of the weight.
Attached is an article from the Wall Street Journal about the “Aqua FM” snorkel. We have one here in the store. Listen to the radio while you are swimming laps!!
From Diver Dan . . .
I was sorry to hear about three of Smokey's Divers Den key people Instructor Dennie Leese, Instructor Bill Siwiec, and Asst. Instructor Paul Good. All have suffered physical ailments from nerve system problems, partial paralysis, severe back pain and a bunch more of ailments. All three guys have had extended or out patient hospital visits recently.
In addition to being stand up quality people on the surface; these guys are some of the area's best divers. Through the good and bad times they have been loyal to Smokey's Divers Den staff and customers . I can't thank Dennie, Bill and Paul enough for the diving knowledge and life experience they so generously passed on to me.
Get well guys !!! We miss you on the dive sites!!
From Uptown Jim Brown . . .
It was a great day to be diving! We beat the weather but endured a brief downpour just as we were packing up to leave around 3pm. The surface weather was warm with intermittent sun and a swift breeze. Scott "The Rock" Steinbaecher, Nate "Lead Weight" Brommer, Chris "I'll Just Follow You" Mayo, Mike "No One Picks On Me" Hostetter and Ron "Skipper" Krout showed up at BSC to enjoy the great vis. Skipper took his 2003 maiden dip at BSC in his Henderson Gold Core but still froze his butt after 20 minutes (Becky made 28 minutes on Sunday big boy!). The crystal ball says a dry suit is in his near future. In Becky's absence, Skipper resurrected the double-stuff dive cookies and treated us to subs. Not to disparage good nutritional habits, he sent us packing with green apples at the end of the day.
Gilligan and Skipper dropped into the pool at the bottom of the steep path and toured the Dozer and Bowl. The rest of us finned up poolside at the end of the road to shorten the surface swim to the deep cruiser downline. Nate discovered it is easier to fin up with his tank resting on The Rock's head; reduces gear fatigue and task loading. We made our way to the deep cruiser barrel, rested, reviewed the dive plan (in Dan's honor) and descended again!
We caught up with lead-weight Nate at the 60' platform to get neutral and comfy. Everyone was aok so off the north side we went to the deep cruiser. The whole boat is in full view as the vis continues to please. Just off the bow we tagged the line to the step van and tanker. This was Rock's and Nate's first trip to the SE of the cruiser (that's 130 degrees in KentKomments). The ride along the ridge of the Hole didn't disappoint as the Hole remains illuminated somewhat and beckons even the marginally curious diver to come hither. We behaved and made our way to the step van, also in full view, and within sight of the silhouette of the upright tanker to the east. I continued to shoot video on this dive adding to Thursday's footage.
After cruising the van and tanker we passed over the tool box and headed SW to the Rock and Blast Shack. The bottom is still open with great clarity between divers. At the Rock we turned to the NW and arrived directly at the Blast Shack, another first for Rock and LW. A quick tour around here and a remedial lesson in sea signs, Rock and LW headed off together to end their dive on the predetermined air pressure (in Dan's honor). Chris and I carried on NW past an old bucket, over the ridge and Pond, past the mid-buoy upline and back to the deep cruiser. A quick check on air gave us enough time to go south to the pump house. The clarity was great and more images were captured on video. We eased back around the ridge to the north and ascended to the dozer to begin our deco off-gassing. The camera kept rolling over the return trip capturing some nice images of the dozer before we hit the exit point and hang. A great way to start the day to 94' for 42 minutes with deco.
Dive #2 took a new route as Chris and I finned up on the beach and cruised through the lagoon along the road to the far reaches of the north wall. The video rolled for most of the trip and we scared just one lonely bass from under a rock. Buoyancy at 5-10' was a new game after going deep all winter. It was fun. We poked our heads up after 25 minutes to find ourselves beyond the birdhouse, a long way from home Toto. More nitrogen was required to complete this dive so off to the south and over the wall to 50-60' started us on our return trip. Chris must have been practicing to compete with Cindy Lu to set a new underwater cruising record; I could hardly keep up with him and fell behind a bit. Mares Volos must rock, in contrast to my garage-sale caliber, Vern-embossed Avanti Quattros. Be careful who you buy used gear from! The wall was a fun tour and offered a 'first time in a long time' look at the lunar landscape. The Bowl was ahead and we paused to film a bass hiding between rocks that Chris spotted from his mach 3 attitude. The camera rolled over the steam shovel and Pennsy, past the dolphins and on to the water tank and winches, just in front of the tunnel. The clarity was excellent in this area but we spied no sea life. Since the water level is way up, the trees are once again hanging in the water on the west wall of the Bowl, a fun return trip to the exit point. We had a good time, got our exercise and logged more time at depth. 64' for 58 minutes, water temp 37F at depth. Thanks for a great diving day guys. Thanks to Skipper for feeding us.
Next dive for me is Sunday, April 6th, noon. I'm making a surface trip to The Barn with the video camera and will film the structure to add to our BSC video footage. The return trip will most likely be along the south wall to capture the chain & ladder, blossom tree and blast shack. Everyone is welcome.
A picture shot by Jim Brown over the weekend. The viz is getting real good!
Keep on Diving and Live The Adventure!!!
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