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From the Thursday Night Irregulars . . .
Dan Memorial Dive (DMD)
On behalf of the Thursday Night Irregulars I would like to extend a warm thanks to everyone who was able to attend the DMD last Thursday. I was surprised that forty plus people could fit into the lobster shack without resorting to coordinated breathing. The obvious highlight of the evening was the Dan memorial videos. The key to watching Dan memorial videos is preparedness and I, like many others, was prepared for the worst. I had my primary hanky and a redundant hanky tucked into my back pocket. Because I knew the lobster shack would pose an overheard environment hazard, I considered bringing a third hanky just in case; at the last minute, however, I opted for a sponge and then grabbed a squeegee on the way out the door. Fortunately, I over packed. As the videos played, the upbeat mood in the room slid a bit, but near the end - right on cue - the clip of Dan doing his high-pitched whine about some poor soul broke the place up.
I won't even try to list everyone who came, but there were a few notables. If Carl and Jean Myers needed a reminder that Dan was truly loved by his friends in the dive community, they certainly got it last Thursday. Apropos of that, seven members of the "Seeker family" made the trek from the Jersey shore for the DMD: Dan Crowell, Jenn Samulski, Gary and Michael Szabo, Marc Weiss, Renee Bickar, and KD Silva. People only make a special effort like that for special events - and the DMD was an special event for a special person. Thanks also to Gary Szabo for producing the second Dan film we watched that night.
Later as I thought about the festivities that night I realized that Dan had brought all these people together on one, otherwise nondescript evening in late April - and that's what Dan always did so well: bring people together. Again, on behalf of the TNIs, thanks for sharing your time, your memories - and your food! Get out and dive!
Tom's Regular Dive Report . . .
With a cast of thousands at Willow last Thursday for the Dan Memorial Dive, it was hard to find fresh silt to kick up - but we persevered. After Liz Zyla and I made it through the gloom to the Quest, I used my DiveRite Quarry brush to clear the sediment from Dan's plaque. I decided we could make a quick jaunt to the mixer before Liz froze her "you know whats" off in her wet suit. Then we stretched the dive by going to the rear of the fire truck to see the Dan plate that Huck and Palm had reinstalled. (If we're going to get Huck and Palm to dive Willow, we may have to periodically uninstall the Dan plate). When Liz literally bounced off the thermocline near the VW's, it was time to change the dive plan. In order to stay shallow, we slogged through the weeds and sprinted past the Minnow to the school bus where the viz, which had been 20 feet in spots, dropped to 3 feet. It appears that more divers visited the school bus than the Quest that night. All in all, a nice dive. 51 minutes; 52 degree water. And a good time was had by all.
From Uptown Jim Brown . . .
We I'm too tired to write a lengthy report - Darth made me swim for miles! Dutch Springs on Saturday was awesome! Sharon, Palm, Darth and I road tripped to Bethlehem for moderate depths augmented by extended vis. Dutch did not disappoint us! 50+ to be sure. A healthy bloom of daphnia obscured the vis beyond 50' laterally, but who was measuring? Gate arrival, check in and ticket scan completed by 8:45am and we were diving by 10:00am! Three dives punctuated the day of bright sun, cool breezes and moderate temps. The water measured a mere 45F but with the vis it sure did not feel like it!
Thanks to Sharon for spearheading the bulk of the grub. I still don't understand why she stole the egg from the deep car; we had plenty to eat! Darth and Palm endured only two dives but Sharon accompanied me on dive #3 to the remainder of the UW features, the tanker being a new destination for me. I think Palm just wanted to show off his lime green stylin' wooly socks so he exchanged dive #3 bottom time for a snooze in the lounger.
We had a ton of fun in the great vis with the friendly palomino trout. Despite the Easter Egg Hunt event, Dutch was remarkably uncrowded. Frank Fisher of West Chester who we met at BSC a while back was there also and says hello! Three dives, bottom time just four minutes shy of three hours and 86ffw max depth. Life is good. We breathed EANx 32% for endurance and it really helped. If you're not nitrox certified, check the Class schedule and sign up! It makes a difference in your diving! After a 6am departure from York, we returned home by 8pm the same day. What a worthwhile trip - stay tuned for another Dutch road trip coming your way!
From Chris Mayo . . .
This Saturday brought another great day of weather and diving at BSC. Scott The Rock, Nate and myself headed to BSC to represent Smokey's while the rest of Smokey's divers went to Dutch. After Nate fine tuned his new Dive Rite backplate we headed in for our first dive. Scott lead us out to the cement mixer over to the dozer and down to the deep boat. From the boat we headed East along the hole for awhile until heading south for the wall. At the south wall we ascended up to 30 ft and followed the wall back to the exit. 106 ft for 43 minutes.
After an hour and a half surface interval we headed in for our next dive. This time I lead the group to the mixer and over to the dozer. This time we headed North around the hole and along the wall. We found a few old tree ornaments that I hung back on a tree to help brighten up the hole. Along the wall we also found the lawn mower. We ascended up the wall to around 20 feet for our return trip hoping to see some fish but there was none. Arriving back at the exit I went head to head with the big bass that hangs around the entrance. 82 feet for 44 minutes.
From Darth Vern . . .
Wow what week it has been!!! I felt truly lucky to be at Diver Dan's Memorial Dive Night. I can only hope that I touch that many lives in my lifetime! Great diving in Willow with Cindy, Mayo and The Rock! On Saturday Dutch was incredible! The VIZ is fabulous. Me and Uptown trekked from the penninsula all the way over to the East end of the quarry and back - a long 75 minute dive, but the viz on that side was even better [not many dive over there]! This Sunday the gang is off to the Surface Interval at Indian River Inlet for our first boat charter of the year and I for one am really looking forward to the start of the charter season. East Coast wreck diving is awesome, if you are interested, BUT unsure of yourself, we have a GREAT beginner charter set-up for July 18th on the Gypsy Blood. There will be plenty of DiveMAsters who are ready to help newer divers to the East Coast. THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE HAVE ASKED FOR, lets get out and dive and REALLY see the adventure. If diving is fun to you, this will take it to a whole new level - TRUST ME!!!!!
Keep On Diving and Live The Adventure!!!
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