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From Tom Pritchard . . .
Thursday at Willow
Viz at Willow was down a bit for the Dan Memorial Dive but was back in the 30 ft range the following Thursday. From the middle of the Quest, Gerhard and I could almost see both the bow and stern. In fact, the viz was so good, we actually found the caboose. Jay Bell and George Heck capitalized on the good viz by trailing us from the fire truck to the caboose. With viz at the caboose only 15 ft, Jay dropped over the top of the caboose to surprise us as we emerged from the inside. Too much silliness for Jay, I suppose, who popped to the surface and then rejoined the party to lower the viz even more. After we exited the archway, GMan demonstrated what it means to be left in the dust by stomping his feet in the bottom and rolling around and waving his arms in the silt. I thought he had caught fire and was trying put out the flames. Using this enormous silt cloud as cover, we lost the stalkers and headed to the VW and then off the lines into the bowl. We each ran our wreck reels in anticipation of our first east coast wreck dive this weekend. After shooting a bag to the surface, we did our hang on it and called the dive after 79 minutes, not too bad for a single 100 hp tank. Water is now up to 54 degrees.
Saturday at BSC
With 4-7 ft seas forecast for Sunday, we got blown out. Gerhard Maree, aka G-Man, James Zimmerman, the Z-Man, and I headed to BSC to dispose of our nitrox. Z-Man was our tour guide. Z-Man's ability to lead increases directly with the depth of the dive. At 95 ft, he absolutely rocks. We slid down the bank at Access A, passed the mixer and then to the hole by Z-Man's dead reckoning. It was dark at the bottom but with viz of 25 ft, we could see the whole barn. We retraced our path and came out at the point near Access A. With air to spare, we headed off to do a shallow dive along the perimeter of the quarry, Z-Man once again in the lead. Fifty minutes later we surfaced - on the other side of the quarry. I was too light, so I began what turned into a long term relationship with a three pound rock. We came up again to make sure we didn't slip into Access B by mistake, just in time to be spotted by Cindy and Pat Gross who were on the dock at B looking for our bubbles. Cindy saw us and thought that I was the recipient of a tired diver tow. I was a tired diver by then, but nobody was offering to tow my sad ass back to Access A. 90 minutes after we ended our 46 minute dive to the barn, with James having ear clearing problems and me still lugging that damn rock, we finished circumnavigating Access A - right in the middle of John Gross's AOW night dive. We snuck off before John began introducing us to his class as three Ditzes. So if you want Z-Man to lead, go deep - and don't forget to tell him to slow down. He's a maniac!
Sunday at Dutch Springs
Vern joined Z-Man, G-Man, and me at Dutch Springs on Sunday to suck down the rest of our nitrox from our blown out east coast trip. I was looking forward to seeing the great viz at Dutch and was not disappointed. With Vern acting as our guide, we splashed down at the East end and headed west - well sort of west. We wandered a bit too far north over the empty moonscape in the center of the quarry. Such a waste of 100 ft viz I thought. But it got better, a lot better. Dutch has its share of the normal stuff like a fire truck, a van, several telephone poles, and the obligatory porcelain toilet bowl. Of course, not every toilet bowl in every quarry has assprints from ZMan and your truly embossed on it. Other than the assprints, the really spectacular underwater fare are the LARGE buildings. The pump house with its HUGE pipes and massive facade are incredible to "fly" past. The Sikorsky helicopter suspended in mid-water is a great attraction to swim over, under, around, and through. Through most of the dive G-Man and I did our best to slow Vern's brisk pace; Z-Man looked like he wanted to go even faster. The first dive (68 ft; 84 minutes; 45 degrees) was followed by lunch where we all toasted Cindy with Chinese take-out. Then we stole a "Pritchard for Congress" sign that was unattended on the side of the road and did our second dive (76 ft; 68 minutes). We ended the dive by shooting lift bags from the 60 ft platform and reeling ourselves up to our safety stops. And a good time was had by all.
From "Uptown" Jim Brown . . .
R I don't know where to begin...we covered so much ground in so little time. The pics tell a pretty good story; Palm has all of them on his camera, although I doubt he'll share all of them. To save Darth some work, maybe we'll feature a full-length photo album on The Wet Set later in the week. Be sure to ask Palm to see the "whipping" video, complete with saddles and bridles and more!
The weather cooperated just enough to accommodate a nice beach weekend. Three and one-half hours brought us to Rehoboth Beach and our first stop at Dogfish Head Brewery (www.dogfish.com). For microbrew aficionados, this is a must-go-to! Palm captured the essence of their appetizers we sampled on our way out of town on Sunday; calamari, steamed little-neck clams and wood-grilled tuna skewers; sensational food and spirits for the non-diving divers! Donna and I cruised the boardwalk and beach for bit until the chilly ocean wind (not breeze) pushed us inland. Since the charter was called off and Palm and Sharon had not yet arrived, we headed south along Rt 1 to at least see and touch the SI. Their new bulkhead is part of the marina reconstruction and is really nice! Palm got some pics of us beckoning for the crew and a night dive after much ado about nuttin' at Seacrets. A little time bayside at Seacrets (Rt 1 and 50th) in OC put the finishing touches on the afternoon. Palm and Sharon joined us as the sun dropped a little lower in the sky over the bay. How apropos was our consumption at Seacrets, right below the No Diving sign???!!! Too funny.
We set out in search of the I'll-know-it-when-I-see-it seafood joint. Higgins Seafood did not disappoint with exceptional hard-shell crabs, shrimp and more beer. Of course the OC boardwalk was next. First the coaster, then the something-or-other that upended all of us capped off by the tilt-a-whirl. Sharon and Donna got their money's worth out of the crab dinner as they held their bellies after all three shake ups! A dress-up photo opp, Bryan and Sharon whipping it and hot fudge sundays lit up the evening. Back to Seacrets for a nightcap and cramped quarters in their three-year-old nightclub and something about a sweaty bald guy. The band was loud and rapping but pleasing a crowd of many with balloons and confetti everywhere. We learned that even a giant stride from the car on land can be dangerous. Palm refused to document the pile in the parking lot but my Teva grazed it's perimeter.....just enough to elicit and "oooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww" from the ranks. It was gross for sure!
We returned to the SI for a moonshot, well, a photo at night under the moon, you know, the moon, right up there, just ahead (don't ask). After a great night's rest at C-Lu's choice hotel, we chowed at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. The southern states don't have anything on Lula from Tennessee. She was very sweet and accommodating when we needed coffee oh so desperately. After a return stroll to the beach, two brief stops at outlets (for the girls) and grub and spirits at Dogfish Head, we returned to York to say aaaaaahhhhhhh, that was a great weekend. Missing out on the SI charter was a bummer but dive travel continues to please us. Never sell a trip short, you never know what fun you'll have. And if you ever need to know where the moon is, its right up there, just ahead!
Can't wait for North Carolina wreck diving, departing Thursday, May 14th! In the meantime, hope to see you at BSC on Wednesday, May 5th, for the first hump day dive of the season! Gates open 5:30-6:30pm for entrance.
From Bryan Palmer . . .
I arrived at Sharon's humble abode a little bit earlier than expected. I probably would have been better arriving later, as we didn't get on the road till an hour and a half after originally planned, but you know, it's a woman perrogative. Did I mention that Sharon took preparing to dive to an all new level that I had seen, having to paint her toe nails so she could go diving!!! Once she had completed part of her dive plan we hit the road and headed for the beach, one or two u-turns later we arrived with a voice message on my cell phone saying that our dive was Blown Out!!! I also had a message from JB saying that he and Donna were at a bar called 'Secrets', and that we would be enjoying ourselves if we were sitting where they were . A quick call back to Jim and a stop at the hotel to sign in and we were on our merry way to soak up a few cocktails.
What great timing, we met Jim and Donna walking out to get another layer of clothing as we were walking in. Now you have to see this place! Basically imagine a playground for grown-ups, in the summer they have floats that the waitress's come out and get your orders and bring them back to you, it's about seven bars rolled into one with a night club. It's impossible to not have a great time there!
After a brief time spent holding the bar up we headed off to find the "unknown crab house", about 3 1/2 hours later, and several crab and shrimp fuller, we decided to head to the amusement park on the boardwalk. OK OK, I know I am not the best at giving directions on land especially when driving, but you know when someone, no names mentioned Jim, has to point out the moon, up there ahead, that you have to wonder how bad your navigational skills really are, I wonder if Jim has to be that detailed with Vern. What a great moon that was Jim , thanks for pointing it out, I would have never found it without your guidance! So, after a ride on the Ocean City's version of the Sidewinder we headed for the board walk. We wanted to do something to remember this weekend, and what better way than a group picture. While waiting, we decided to treat ourselves to ice cream and a trip to the arcade, Jim found the Imitation Terminator game, Sharon and I found the horse racing game, oh did I mention Sharon ended up with quite a following watching from the rear. Back to the Western Photoshop for a few more laughs, then a return to the amusements for a ride on a completely inverting pirate ship, and the 360 degree rotating, spinning chairs .
Well back to Secrets for some more fun times, about 2 hours later we decided to head out. A quick stop at the Surface Interval on the way back to the hotel to see where everyone was? But to our sore eyes we had no hint of anyone around. Morning came too quickly I felt, Sharon and I met Jim and Donna at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, actually brunch. After some discussion we decided to head to Rehoboth down to the beach for a little bit and take in some of the shops. Even though we didn't go diving Jim & I felt just as tired from going shopping at the outlets with the "girls", ok maybe I did, I don;t want to speak for the two of us on that one. From there we headed to the Dogfish Brewery near the main strip of Rehoboth where we were all kind of "peckish", so we feasted on some great calamari and Tuna Slivers.
From Darth Vern . . .
Well, not many people writing this week. The first charter of the year getting blown out SUCKS, BUT viz at Dutch Springs is absolutley rocking. It was just as good as a boat ride any day! Viz had to be 70 ft on Sunday. Truly beautiful conditions to go diving in. A little cold this weekend at 45 but well worth the drive. PLUS I got introduced to Wegman's by Gerhard and that place is the place to eat!!!! Anything you could think of at your fingertips!!! Be on the look-out for the stolen [er found] "Pritchard" sign - gotta find a good place for it first.
Don't forget this Wed Nite diving is starting at BSC. Call the shop for more details!!!!
Keep on diving and LIVE THE ADVENTURE!!!
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