OPENING DAY AT DUTCH SPRINGS 2007
I want to say I dove with the weakest kidneys in the east , but I wont. The guys were really great about letting me dive with them and bringing me back each time even though I had way too much new equipment to adjust and a single tank to their doubles. I will even skip the names to protect the innocent.
Opening Day at Dutch Springs 2007. I had a little over an 1 ½ hr drive and when I left the house the sun was shining. It continued to shine though the first dive and into the second. It was 56 F on land and 43 F in the water. Couldn’t ask for more.
I arrived at Dutch and headed for the peninsula to see who was around. Finding a great group to join I unloaded my gear including my new dry suit and fins and brand spankin’ new wing. Yes, the 94# bungee wings of death have been relegated to a comfy storage space pending I ever hit my head and want to try doubles.
Ernie you would be proud I still didnt use any ankle weights and I skipped the gaiters pending further research.
I peeled 10 lbs off my weight belt, geared up and after a thorough dive briefing I headed to the wrong entry dock.. What can I say,...... I realized it eventually. The guys followed me and we reworked the dive plan . We were doing a wall dive and then looking for the newly sunk boat, turning back on my gas gauge reading. Upon entering the water Nick had some issues with leakage. A few minutes of Frank and Terry adjusting hoses and the problem seemed fixed and he felt comfortable enough to continue, so we walked out and dropped down.
I was less than pleased with my trim through the wall dive but never upended myself and kept my feet in my boots. I could definitely feel the difference in the wing, not feeling the bulk around me was much more comfortable. But I was still struggling with buoyancy. I am also having some trouble reaching around to adjust my valves. Some tweeking is still in order.
We turned to search out the newly sunken boat and there it was. Upon a thorough look/see it was discovered there was a large fish who had already taken up residence and a broom. I was playing with my trim and buoyancy while the rest played with the fish when the broom came floating by and I grabbed it. We replaced it for others to find and played a little longer with the fish who definitely knew he was not in any danger and just stayed teasingly close.
My gauges showed time to go back and we followed the wall around and back. Since the rest still had some air I exited the water and they continued on to look around.
As I changed out my tank I went over what I wanted to try to improve on dive 2.
Nicks dry suit leaked on land as well as in the water and Frank had to wring out his sleeves. So far, I am good, warm and dry every dive. This dry suit diving grows on you.
There are a lot of places in Dutch that I havent seen yet so they chose a site new for me. For dive 2 we were going out to THE HOLE and back. We stepped off the platform on the waterpark side and dropped down. We immediately saw the neatest fish which I think was enormous golden trout. This dive I was much happier with my trim but was still struggling with the buoyancy. I think putting too much air in my wing at a time and then having to dump it not long after and dumping too much air when I do. Patience, not a great virtue of mine, will have to be practiced with this wing.
Navigation to the trolley and then past the 2 ½ ton truck was flawless and we were at the hole with no problems. There must have been “some students there” because “someone” (not me) hit the bottom and a cloud of fine silt was immediately raised. I still managed to hover over the bottom and place my console down for a max depth reading of 104 ft.
And then we headed back. At some point I broke the seal on my mask and it flooded several times on the way back and I never really got it seated right again but I was holding my own with buoyancy and trim and plenty of air for the return. Back past the truck and turn at the trolley and we were 5 minutes from home when it happened.....my forward motion stopped and I started to rise like an elevator, slowly but straight up. I dumped but it wasnt venting fast enough, I went vertical and dumped both wing and suit but not quickly enough. It was too late now and I was at 10 feet and not quite sure why. I could see the boys looking up at me waiting for me to drop back down, but I was afraid I was light at this point and that was why I was at the surface and we were sooo close to the platform..... I decided to swim it at 5 or 10 feet following the guys bubbles for navigation. MISTAKE. Farther than I thought, I should have just dropped back down and I think I made Nick nervous that I had run out of air or something to boot.
I like the new jet fins even though they are a little heavy and will take some getting used to in the finning department but they are brutal to get off. At this point I was prepared to drive home in them, it was like they were crazy glued to my boot. Nick again came to my rescue and after a struggle got them off.
The walk up from the waterpark side is pretty steep and the gravel on the slope slippery. I did slide, and my tank and rig slid around and down I went. Second try was a charm, I do thank them for the steadying arm.
While loading up the car I got an education in where things were located around the quarry. Will be looking for the Redneck Backyard next trip.