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From Tom Pritchard . . .
Willow Dive Preport - The TNIs, in their continuing efforts to attract divers to Willow Springs Park, contacted the Weather Wizards at "We Guess A Lot" (WGAL) to see if they, with Super Doppler Radar, could forecast when the quarry viz would clear this Spring. After explaining that water visibility is not accompanied by lightning, the chief WeatherWiz admitted that Super Doppler Radar can't forecast water visibility. In fact, Super Doppler Radar can't forecast a clear day - unless it's accompanied by lightning or tornadic activity. When the "We Guess A Lot" Storm Staff doesn't have a storm to forecast, they use a Ouija board, which explains their stunning lack of accuracy, if not their hubris. Since the TNIs don't have a Ouija board, we can't forecast the weather any better than the WGAL Weather Wizards, but we can make a reasonable prediction about the viz at Willow. For the last two years, Spring Clearance began the first week of April and, at its best, the viz was better than 30 feet. The good viz lasted less than 2 weeks. It's an incredible transformation in the quarry, given that the viz has been less than 5 ft within the last month. If you've never seen ALL of the cement mixer at once or the full length of the school bus or fire truck, it literally takes your breath away (perhaps a poor choice of words). The Official TNI Viz Forecast: Above average the first 2 weeks of April, peaking on the 7th at 35 ft. Don't miss Spring Clearance at Willow.
3/31 - If Willow is going to clean up its act by April 1st, it better hurry. On March 31st the TNI's dove in some of the worst viz this season, at least along the ropes. Gerhard and I, with Terry Parsons, headed out planning to work on skills for this weekend's deco class. I decided that I deserved one dive with my new rig before Saturday - and this was my one dive. While I struggled to get my gear sorted out and descend, I lost track of the line to the platform, but fumbled along knowing that the line was below me and that I'd hit it on my way down. Wrong! After missing the platform I suffered an additional indignity: I couldn't find the platform, even though there were two divers with two HIDs light on it. Oh, I could have found it if I poked around a while, but G and T were down there waiting, so I bit the bullet - I surfaced, swam to the buoy, and dropped down the line. On my way down I passed GMan ascending on his lift line. I shot my bag, ascended and retrieved it, and then we headed out to the Quest. We turned the dive on air before we made it to the mixer and came back to the school bus where we deployed jon lines and practiced turning off valves and stuff. Back at the platform, I practiced removing my stage and dropping it on the fly and finally surfaced on my liftbag/wreck reel. I identified a few trouble spots with my new gear and will be better off Saturday and Sunday for it. Quarries, either Willow or Bainbridge, are the place where you should break in and get comfortable with new gear before you hit the wrecks. Quarries are also good places to tune up your skills before you hit the Caribbean. With a monsoon predicted for Saturday, Gerhard, TDI Instructor Alex, and I will be wetter and hopefully more miserable on the surface than during the check out dives. Some of the smarter students like Huck and Rock decided to postpone their check out dives in the hope that Spring will arrive soon.
From John Gross . . .
On Saturday Pete, Jeff, Kristi and I went to Dutch Springs for their opening weekend. It rained hard all the way to Dutch and it continued to rain the entire time we were there. We changed into our dry suits in the changing room and went to the dive site. I used my Sea Doo scooter and it worked like a charm. If you haven’t tired one you really need to. The shop has one for you to try. Jeff led the dive and we went from the platforms to the crane, trolley and boat. Viz was about 50 feet and the water temp was around 39 degrees. Air temp was 44 degrees. We exited after a 3-minute safety stop. We all decided not to do another dive and while we were loading our gear we saw Tom Pritchard and Gerhard Maree at the waters edge. This was a very relaxing uneventful dive.
From Wild Bill . . .
What a great time troop 38 had at Golden Meadows. Congratulations to. Dennis Nolt ,Brian Lehman, Ryan Thomas, Sean Mackenzie, Nate Rhine, Aaron Miller, Andrew Nolt, Eric Nolt. And yes Mark Buehler who is a member at golden Meadows , saw the activity and fun every one was having and decided to join us, Nice work to all that attended. Thank You Vern for your help in Dive mastering this event .
From Darth Vern . . .
Tom Pritchard found a great article on motion sickness! Tom on a roll as only Tom can be, sent me the following:
The Top Ten Reason Why You Should Dive at Willow on Thursdays.
10. Every dive is a night dive.
9. You can't get lost - unless you dive with one of the TNIs.
8. You can gain weight until your dry suit fits like your wet suit - and nobody will care.
7. You can't see your pot belly or your saddle bags in the poor viz.
6. Your buoyancy will be better at Willow because you can use the algae for floatation.
5. You can hang out with people even more annoying than your spouse.
4. If you do anything stupid, nobody outside of Central Pennsylvania will read about it in the weekly dive report.
3. Our menu will make you appreciate eating at the local homeless shelter.
2. You can strip naked and run around the Lobster Shack - and nobody will notice.
1. You can get away from Vern, because he never dives at Willow.
Keep on diving and LIVE THE ADVENTURE!!!
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