“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”
~ Dr Seuss
I arrived at Dutch Springs at 8AM and unloaded my gear on the peninsula and parked up in the upper lot. On my way back, I stopped at the Wreck Valley campsite and said hello to the guys. Hambleto, Benham, BingBing and Terry were just finishing up their morning coffee.
Eventually, I was called back to the peninsula to join in the discussion already in progress with my dive buddies and we kicked back and talked for about an hour. But soon the promise of diving and good weather and decent visibility got me kitted up and in the water in record time…..I am doing that a lot lately.
I was trying out my new tank and gingerly stepped off the platform to check my weighting. My mask immediately fogged up as I sank. I thought about it for a moment…..but I didn’t think the new tank was the cause of the problem….. So I flooded, cleared and headed out.
About 50 yards out, my mask fogged again, I flooded and cleared and as I looked down through my freshly cleared mask, on the ledge below me I spotted a diver…just laying there, slightly crumpled on the bottom…I didn’t think my new tank caused that either…..so I went down to investigate. I shook him gently but he didn’t move. His regulator was still in his mouth and a slight stream of bubbles emanated from it. I immediately rolled him over, no small task, this was not one of the little skinny newbies here, I held his reg in place and started up with him. My heart was pounding as I tapped air into his BC, I was afraid I was going to send him to the top like a Macys Parade balloon but we arrived topside intact, albeit a little quickly. I immediately completed inflating his BC and checked for breathing but I couldn’t feel anything now so I started breaths as I towed him to the dock.
Apparently there is no rest for the weary because after I got him to the group on the dock I heard splashing and thrashing and I turned to see this diver in the midst of a full blown panic attack arms flailing unable to catch his breath. Could this be the missing dive buddy? I immediately set out shouting “Inflate your BC….Stop struggling…Inflate your BC” but he wasn’t listening. As I got closer I dropped down, came up behind him and clamped onto his tank and inflated his BC and towed him to the dock also.
The group was impressed but Ernie wanted to see what I would have done if I couldn’t sneak up behind Mr. Panicky like I did. So, I showed him and we moved on.
Jeesh, I just got in the water…what else could go wrong. I dropped down, my mask fogged on cue, I did the flood and clear thing, again, and headed out once more and this time I got about 100 yards and started looking for mydive buddy Josh. We were in about 50 feet of water but it was so silted up it was hard to see. It had to be from the numerous classes going on. There are a lot of bottom crawlers out there. Finally out of the clouds of silt appears Josh and he is frantically signaling me with what looks like the out of air sign. I couldn’t believe it, we were only in the water a short time, what happened to his air? I immediately held out my octo and grabbed his webbing. He gave me the OK sign, I thumbed up, he nodded and up we went. What a day!
I again headed out and soon found myself lost in a cloud of silt once more. This was not going to work, I couldn’t see a thing, I couldn’t even tell if my mask was fogged up. I made a few turns and headed back when suddenly there, again on the bottom, was a dark mound looking suspiciously like a diver. This was ridiculous, would it never end? OH NO!!! It was Josh…. I shook him, he moved slightly but was otherwise unresponsive. I immediately grabbed hold of him and holding his regulator in place headed up with him. Much faster than I had planned but we were up. I floated him and started breathing as I towed him to shore. About half way in, he sat up! I couldn’t believe it! “Let me take you in” I admonished him, but he refused and grabbed his inflator and descended. I immediately followed after him in case there was another problem. If there was going to be one, it seemed today was the day. And sure enough, my mask fogged. This was getting old. We were about half way to the platform total chaos broke loose. My regulator failed and as I reached out to Josh, so did his! And then his safe air went berserk and all that was left was my little yellow Sherwood octopus. I immediately offered it to Josh signing him “2 breaths”, but I still didn’t let go juuust in case. He did give it back, and I again grabbed his webbing and we headed up, passing that little baby back and forth between us. Talk about task loading…..
I needed coffee….this was just too much….was there no one there but me? WTF
Josh and I peeled off our gear and headed up to the snack bar for some refreshment and snacks. We then sat under the trees and again the conversation turned to diving. We discussed some local accidents that had happened this past dive season, an assortment of mistakes and strange occurrences had wrecked havoc on the dive community this year. Some had good outcomes, some not so good. Heck, one of them was mine on the Northeast Sailer. Things do happen.
And one of the things that needed to happen was a dive. The plan was to go out to the platform, over to the school bus, out to the plane, over to the Comet and up to the platform and out on the other side of the peninsula. OK let’s get going.
I had switched masks and as we descended….clearness…no fog…..a beautiful thing…… and no bodies strewn about…..sweet.
We passed the platforms and made it all the way out to the school bus. After a quick trip through the bus Josh started out for the plane but I was signaling him to slow down. My little fins were having problems keeping up with the Mario Andretti of divers here. I caught up and we were finning along when I caught a strange movement out of the corner of my eye. I blinked quickly because I couldn’t believe it, it looked exactly like a diver having a grande mal seizure!!! Would this day never end!! I immediately went over and grabbed hold, working diligently to keep us level in the water column, while holding the regulator in place and riding out this bucking bronco of a seizure. When it finally ended I headed on up to deal with this topside. When we breached the water and were inflated I started swimming for shore, seizure boy in tow. The spotters in the tower spotted us and immediately went into action, like ants they were running to their stations, shouting orders. I was tired and lost deep in concentration, towing my little heart out. Ernie, on the other hand was wildly signaling the spotters he was OK and yelling back at them…..what team work!! He told me I looked just like a professional…everyone thought so….so determined…so convincingly serious. I was a little proud…and a little embarrassed, I am after all quite humble….
I swam back out to the group and continued on to the boat called the Comet. Upon reaching the Comet, my dive buddy, Dale Earnhardt Jr. AKA Josh and I had to hover for a few minutes to let the rest of the group catch up. While we did, I was momentarily distracted by a large fish, hanging enticingly close and blowing me fish kisses. He begged to be poked. Josh moves much too quickly, it must make him suck down his air really fast, cause right there on the Comet it happened again. At first I thought it was a petit mal seizure, but quickly realized, he was out of air, AGAIN. He grabbed the regulator from my mouth and began to drain my tank. I quickly recovered with my trusty octo. This time we got him back on his own air supply and without further delay, headed for the platforms and dry land.
Without further interruption we hit the far dock and as everyone arrived we counted heads. As we were standing there, we realized, Ernie was alone! No buddy! Sh** Like a well oiled team, we sprung into action. Josh started searching the surface for bubbles, while another member headed up to contact EMS and another headed for higher ground hoping to get a better view. Despite Joshes attempt to suck my tank dry I still had the most gas left and Josh and I were about to head out to the Comet…I didn’t remember seeing Ernie with a dive buddy after the Comet and that particular attraction had some overhead and tight penetrations. A good place to start. We had a plan and it was in motion. A quick interview of Ernie revealed one small fact….Ernie did not loose his dive buddy on the Comet….hmmmm
What now? I didn’t remember seeing Ernie leave the school bus with a dive buddy either…ohhh nooo!!!! It has been a long time since then….this was not a rescue…..this was going to be a body recovery……
I immediately tied off a spool underneath the dock and began to make sweeps over the soft silty bottom. This was a challenge as the slightest touch of the line or myself absolutely destroyed visibility. I was working diligently keeping the cloud of bottom matter to a minimum when some inconsiderate clown churned up the entire area! (I think it was Ernie but I don’t want to say anything, cause if its true...that would have just been mean of him) I was now working blind, sweeping side to side and feeling my way along.
Suddenly, Josh tapped me on the shoulder, he had hit pay dirt and found what we were looking for, we could go home! Thank goodness.
As we packed up our gear we were again lost in diving conversation. Nothing unusual for a group of divers at Dutch. And eventually the conversation turned to good natured kidding. Nothing unusual for a group of divers anywhere. It was brought to my attention that some of you out there think I make up things in my dive reports. Let me set the record straight. I do not. Everything is true. Every last bit of it, It is reported as seen through my eyes, but its all true.
Even the events of today….. my Rescue Certification check out dives…………And yes, I was so professional and convincing in my rescues that I did have the staff at Dutch believing there was a real life problem there for a while.
I am almost a Rescue Diver…imagine that.
I arrived at Dutch Springs at 8AM and unloaded my gear on the peninsula and parked up in the upper lot. On my way back, I stopped at the Wreck Valley campsite and said hello to the guys. Hambleto, Benham, BingBing and Terry were just finishing up their morning coffee.
Eventually, I was called back to the peninsula to join in the discussion already in progress with my dive buddies and we kicked back and talked for about an hour. But soon the promise of diving and good weather and decent visibility got me kitted up and in the water in record time…..I am doing that a lot lately.
I was trying out my new tank and gingerly stepped off the platform to check my weighting. My mask immediately fogged up as I sank. I thought about it for a moment…..but I didn’t think the new tank was the cause of the problem….. So I flooded, cleared and headed out.
About 50 yards out, my mask fogged again, I flooded and cleared and as I looked down through my freshly cleared mask, on the ledge below me I spotted a diver…just laying there, slightly crumpled on the bottom…I didn’t think my new tank caused that either…..so I went down to investigate. I shook him gently but he didn’t move. His regulator was still in his mouth and a slight stream of bubbles emanated from it. I immediately rolled him over, no small task, this was not one of the little skinny newbies here, I held his reg in place and started up with him. My heart was pounding as I tapped air into his BC, I was afraid I was going to send him to the top like a Macys Parade balloon but we arrived topside intact, albeit a little quickly. I immediately completed inflating his BC and checked for breathing but I couldn’t feel anything now so I started breaths as I towed him to the dock.
Apparently there is no rest for the weary because after I got him to the group on the dock I heard splashing and thrashing and I turned to see this diver in the midst of a full blown panic attack arms flailing unable to catch his breath. Could this be the missing dive buddy? I immediately set out shouting “Inflate your BC….Stop struggling…Inflate your BC” but he wasn’t listening. As I got closer I dropped down, came up behind him and clamped onto his tank and inflated his BC and towed him to the dock also.
The group was impressed but Ernie wanted to see what I would have done if I couldn’t sneak up behind Mr. Panicky like I did. So, I showed him and we moved on.
Jeesh, I just got in the water…what else could go wrong. I dropped down, my mask fogged on cue, I did the flood and clear thing, again, and headed out once more and this time I got about 100 yards and started looking for mydive buddy Josh. We were in about 50 feet of water but it was so silted up it was hard to see. It had to be from the numerous classes going on. There are a lot of bottom crawlers out there. Finally out of the clouds of silt appears Josh and he is frantically signaling me with what looks like the out of air sign. I couldn’t believe it, we were only in the water a short time, what happened to his air? I immediately held out my octo and grabbed his webbing. He gave me the OK sign, I thumbed up, he nodded and up we went. What a day!
I again headed out and soon found myself lost in a cloud of silt once more. This was not going to work, I couldn’t see a thing, I couldn’t even tell if my mask was fogged up. I made a few turns and headed back when suddenly there, again on the bottom, was a dark mound looking suspiciously like a diver. This was ridiculous, would it never end? OH NO!!! It was Josh…. I shook him, he moved slightly but was otherwise unresponsive. I immediately grabbed hold of him and holding his regulator in place headed up with him. Much faster than I had planned but we were up. I floated him and started breathing as I towed him to shore. About half way in, he sat up! I couldn’t believe it! “Let me take you in” I admonished him, but he refused and grabbed his inflator and descended. I immediately followed after him in case there was another problem. If there was going to be one, it seemed today was the day. And sure enough, my mask fogged. This was getting old. We were about half way to the platform total chaos broke loose. My regulator failed and as I reached out to Josh, so did his! And then his safe air went berserk and all that was left was my little yellow Sherwood octopus. I immediately offered it to Josh signing him “2 breaths”, but I still didn’t let go juuust in case. He did give it back, and I again grabbed his webbing and we headed up, passing that little baby back and forth between us. Talk about task loading…..
I needed coffee….this was just too much….was there no one there but me? WTF
Josh and I peeled off our gear and headed up to the snack bar for some refreshment and snacks. We then sat under the trees and again the conversation turned to diving. We discussed some local accidents that had happened this past dive season, an assortment of mistakes and strange occurrences had wrecked havoc on the dive community this year. Some had good outcomes, some not so good. Heck, one of them was mine on the Northeast Sailer. Things do happen.
And one of the things that needed to happen was a dive. The plan was to go out to the platform, over to the school bus, out to the plane, over to the Comet and up to the platform and out on the other side of the peninsula. OK let’s get going.
I had switched masks and as we descended….clearness…no fog…..a beautiful thing…… and no bodies strewn about…..sweet.
We passed the platforms and made it all the way out to the school bus. After a quick trip through the bus Josh started out for the plane but I was signaling him to slow down. My little fins were having problems keeping up with the Mario Andretti of divers here. I caught up and we were finning along when I caught a strange movement out of the corner of my eye. I blinked quickly because I couldn’t believe it, it looked exactly like a diver having a grande mal seizure!!! Would this day never end!! I immediately went over and grabbed hold, working diligently to keep us level in the water column, while holding the regulator in place and riding out this bucking bronco of a seizure. When it finally ended I headed on up to deal with this topside. When we breached the water and were inflated I started swimming for shore, seizure boy in tow. The spotters in the tower spotted us and immediately went into action, like ants they were running to their stations, shouting orders. I was tired and lost deep in concentration, towing my little heart out. Ernie, on the other hand was wildly signaling the spotters he was OK and yelling back at them…..what team work!! He told me I looked just like a professional…everyone thought so….so determined…so convincingly serious. I was a little proud…and a little embarrassed, I am after all quite humble….
I swam back out to the group and continued on to the boat called the Comet. Upon reaching the Comet, my dive buddy, Dale Earnhardt Jr. AKA Josh and I had to hover for a few minutes to let the rest of the group catch up. While we did, I was momentarily distracted by a large fish, hanging enticingly close and blowing me fish kisses. He begged to be poked. Josh moves much too quickly, it must make him suck down his air really fast, cause right there on the Comet it happened again. At first I thought it was a petit mal seizure, but quickly realized, he was out of air, AGAIN. He grabbed the regulator from my mouth and began to drain my tank. I quickly recovered with my trusty octo. This time we got him back on his own air supply and without further delay, headed for the platforms and dry land.
Without further interruption we hit the far dock and as everyone arrived we counted heads. As we were standing there, we realized, Ernie was alone! No buddy! Sh** Like a well oiled team, we sprung into action. Josh started searching the surface for bubbles, while another member headed up to contact EMS and another headed for higher ground hoping to get a better view. Despite Joshes attempt to suck my tank dry I still had the most gas left and Josh and I were about to head out to the Comet…I didn’t remember seeing Ernie with a dive buddy after the Comet and that particular attraction had some overhead and tight penetrations. A good place to start. We had a plan and it was in motion. A quick interview of Ernie revealed one small fact….Ernie did not loose his dive buddy on the Comet….hmmmm
What now? I didn’t remember seeing Ernie leave the school bus with a dive buddy either…ohhh nooo!!!! It has been a long time since then….this was not a rescue…..this was going to be a body recovery……
I immediately tied off a spool underneath the dock and began to make sweeps over the soft silty bottom. This was a challenge as the slightest touch of the line or myself absolutely destroyed visibility. I was working diligently keeping the cloud of bottom matter to a minimum when some inconsiderate clown churned up the entire area! (I think it was Ernie but I don’t want to say anything, cause if its true...that would have just been mean of him) I was now working blind, sweeping side to side and feeling my way along.
Suddenly, Josh tapped me on the shoulder, he had hit pay dirt and found what we were looking for, we could go home! Thank goodness.
As we packed up our gear we were again lost in diving conversation. Nothing unusual for a group of divers at Dutch. And eventually the conversation turned to good natured kidding. Nothing unusual for a group of divers anywhere. It was brought to my attention that some of you out there think I make up things in my dive reports. Let me set the record straight. I do not. Everything is true. Every last bit of it, It is reported as seen through my eyes, but its all true.
Even the events of today….. my Rescue Certification check out dives…………And yes, I was so professional and convincing in my rescues that I did have the staff at Dutch believing there was a real life problem there for a while.
I am almost a Rescue Diver…imagine that.