Day Two of Dutch Marathon Weekend
Day Two and another eye to look over my “issues”. I arrived and brought coffee, Nick and Frank (DarthLobster) were already there and GenX and a few of the guys from the new PA Board pulled in next to us. I promised GenX not to say anything about their tank issues so I wont. (PM Me) NESS pulled in with a troop of students, all smiles and Ernie arrived, but no Rookman Flag, we will have to wait a little longer.
Ernie surprised me and took well to my fin straps but I had to guard my retractor with my life. A few more tweaks of the gear and somehow my retractor went missing and we were ready to dive.
Today Nick was going to do some skills for his Dive Master and Ernie was going to practice a few skills and watch me and Frank was going to relax and dive along.
I cant believe that Ernie likes Frank better than me!!!!! NOT FAIR!!!!! Frank got to be the dive dummy and I had to hover. NOT FAIR!!!!! We went out to the trolley and Frank got to get lost and remove his dry suit hose and I got to hover. NOT FAIR!!!!! Then we went to the Deuce and a half and Frank got to turn upside down and get caught and I got to hover. NOT FAIR!!!!! And then we headed back in and Frank got to do stuff to Nick and I got to hover. NOT FAIR!!!!!
There were plenty of stories and jokes and Nicks suit leaked profusely during the surface interval. As we were winding down Frank noticed that air was escaping from somewhere on my rig. (Nice catch) Turned out to be a problem with my inflator and possibly the O ring but it was quickly fixed and I was diving again. Thank you gentlemen, I almost got to bee Nicks first real save..
On dive 2 we headed out to the trolley and then over to the Chevelle or Corvair or some kind of car where Frank was gong to get to be OOA and buddy breathe with Nick. Guess what I got to do? NOT FAIR!!!!!
The drill did its job and got the boys thinking, it is a great deal of multi tasking mid water column, but they did get the hang of it and up they went, with Ernie and I behind them. When they got to the surface NICK TOWED FRANK IN!!!!!!! I cant believe he got to do that too. NOT FAIR!!!! Frank is sunning himself like some oversized kiddie raft while Nick tows him to shore and I am doing a 3 minute HOVER!!! Life is not fair.
Ernie and I swam over to the trolley buoys and dropped down for a nice relaxing dive back in. The water was still a little nippy but the viz was great so it really was enjoyable.
Once back on the platform I removed the backs of my fins in one fell motion (thank you Tom), stepped on each fin to dislodge my boot (these puppies have some suction, Mark you would have been proud) and then almost drowned picking them up, much to Ernies amusement.
Quite the productive week end. Thank you to everyone.
**NOTE - Still slow on first buoyancy catching (read Dirt Dart) but trim felt much better. Still feels heavy at depth but some hard to hold stops even though not light.