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From Uptown Jim Brown . . .
Updates for last two weekends:
Playing a little dive tale catch up from April 3rd: Palm, CaveMan, Sharon, Flow and Handsome hit the skids for a dip in the pool. Frank Herring (York) and Dennis Boyle (Camp Hill) joined us as well. This was Dennis' first run in a dry suit after certification so we took extra care with him. Frank agreed to escort Dennis back to the exit after we spent some time on weighting and hovering at the dozer. Dennis did make a brief visit to the deep boat but turned the dive there. Thanks Frank for being a willing DM on a fun dive! Frank and Mike (York) did a second dive on their own but Mike's freeflow problems ended that dive early.
Chris and I continued on our plan and took Sharon on the abbreviated Fun Run, past the dozer and deep boat then SE to the Blast Shack. The vis below the dozer was spectacular and opened up all over the bottom SE of the deep boat. This was Sharon's first encounter with the BSC turtle. Despite all you hear and read about not interacting with marine life in such a way that disturbs their normal routine, I took a wild ride on the back of this little beauty. We dipped and dived and careened around boulders finally coming to rest at the pumphouse. I dropped the turtle here until we meet again. Sharon and Mayo can add their two cents but I'd bet mine that this was a first for them!
We ascended the south wall into the Bowl coming back into the first algae bloom of the season (surface to 45'). Vis dropped to 3' and made following my lead through the trees a bit challenging. We lost Chris somewhere along the west wall but met up with him at the exit. I left Sharon in 10' of water at the exit after our SS and headed back to the dozer to retrieve Dennis' weight pocket. I should have known Frank would stop and pick it up on his way back with Dennis.
All in all a great dive to 90' for 52 minutes, 40F. Dennis did a great job of getting readjusted in his rig after I extracted a little weight at the dozer. His attitude and buoyancy improved and he looked much more comfortable. Despite the usual growing pains in a dry suit, Dennis assures us he'll be back in the water with us soon.
Dive two was "led" by Palm, Sharon and I fell way behind (note pic of Palm trying to be more "Brit-like" during our surface interval!). Flow kept up pretty well. I'll be kind to Bryan at this point since I was pretty hard on him at the dive site. Hey, you dive with this gang and anything goes, especially if you're a NASCAR diver leader! We hit the stairs, another first for Sharon, then exited the hole to the step van. Sharon and I turned the dive here for air management and began a slow swimming ascent in open water back to the exit. My compass did the job and dropped us right at the base of the road for easy egress. I was impressed with Sharon's composure and buoyancy control in OW as we slowly and gradually ascended to make the most of her remaining air. She's joy to have on the dive site and a pleasure to dive with. Her skills are impressive and growing with every dive! Another foray into the deep to 113' for 31 minutes, 40F. Nice!
Last weekend I stayed dry as I visited my parents in New York State for the Easter holiday. This is essentially unremarkable as all of you would likely agree, except for the fact that mom and dad have a virtual wildlife preserve in their back yard. They feed red and gray squirrels, turkey and deer just outside their kitchen window. I thought the pics may be of interest to some of you; how often do you see this? I saw it three mornings in a row over coffee!
Can't wait to get back in the water - OW class with Wild Bill this weekend but will likely get in a fun dive on Sunday afternoon. Thanks for reading and see you on the dive site! Remember Wednesday evening diving at BSC - watch the website (www.divebsc.com) for details. makes fun of my "nav skills"
Keep on diving and LIVE THE ADVENTURE!!!
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