Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great….. ~ Orison Swett Marden
Opportunity….
We were supposed to be on a boat on the calm Atlantic, enjoying the gentle breezes and first warm days of spring. Ahhh…….
Unfortunately rain, cold and 35 knot gusts put a damper on our plans. Not to be deterred, we took advantage of the “opportunity” and immediately changed course for opening day at Dutch Springs 2008. Not our planned destination but a great “opportunity” to get wet, meet up with old friends, and dial in the new wing and doubles. Not a bad plan.
In the manner of all diving, we set forth at O’Dark Thirty. Mark, to the minute on time, as usual. It was cold and raining, and the outlook was bleak, but we were getting wet…one way or another. Up the Parkway we headed and met up with Josh and we were on our way, arriving at Dutch Springs at 8AM and the official opening. The weather had cleared some and it was no longer raining…..things were looking up.
We unloaded the truck and set out looking for familiar faces before gearing up. In addition to myself, Mark O and Josh, aka YBLdiver, on the next table over was Nick, aka Puddles and or Bubblehead, who has a brandy new dry suit without a drop of aquaseal on it, I hardly recognized him….and Ann. She has to be a saint to join us in such gray weather and not even be a diver. Catching up, their youngest got married over the winter and they have a new grandchild on the way. Congrats guys!
And then there was Frnak, aka Darthlobster or even sometimes…..Frank. Watching him unload is an event. He pulls up in a little car and pops the trunk and like a clown car in the circus begins to pull out enough dive gear to fill a dump truck. Absolutely amazing job of packing. Sherwood, my apologies for not knowing your name, is on the next table setting up his gear and behind him pulls Terry. Terry is a lurker on Wreck Valley and NJDive and we really should give him a name, although Terrythelurker will do for now. Bill B. was unable to make it due to some family goings on but we did spot Brandon, aka Mcjangles and some others.
In short time we are greeting Jack, aka our own lovable Spratman. He is getting back in the water after a too long and trying dry spell, and sporting his new Weezles, dry suit and doubles! And he is followed by Tony, aka NJdiverTony and his secret stash of Dogbreath Ale, aka Dog Fish Head Ale whatever…..an opening day tradition now.
Ahhh….social hour is over and its time to dive. I have a new doubles wing to break in and break it does. Upon setting up my tanks Mark immediately asks…..What’s that noise? My inflator is leaking and no amount of coaxing is convincing it to stop. Luckily I brought a single setup just in case and we switch out the inflators and I am ready to go.
Jack still won’t carry my gear, so I set out for the dock on my own and slowly inch into the cold clear water. As we step off the platform and descend I am greeted by 42 F water that for some reason felt much colder and an ice cream headache. I immediately scrunch my eyes and grab my forehead to warm it and upon reaching the bottom and opening my eyes….I am greeted with about 50 foot or more of viz…sweet!
We are taking things slowly, as I want to take this “opportunity” to play with the new wing and Josh is trying out his new dry suit and doubles for the first time and we take a leisurely stroll on the well traveled route to the school bus, honestly seeing all the sights along the way as I never have before. I have never been here with viz like this…I like it, although, according to Mark who was behind me, he only had about 5 foot of viz. Wise a** (wasn’t me…must have been Josh). I had not raised an inch of silt since my ice cream headache landing. We arrive at the bus and except for struggling with the inflator hose which is way too long, the new wing is fine and the doubles are under control.
We continue on out past the new Hellcat, around the boat, over the river and through the woods, around the tanker up the wall and on home in seconds shy of an hour.
We are cold and hungry and some lunch is in order. First though, I give Jack a little assist with some of the more delicate technical parts of his gear…. twice, and he and Tony are now off to run the same circuit and work out the same bugs. Funny how that works out.
Dive two is shorter and involves the trolley and some other sights, along with an exit at the other docks but still a fun little time and it is time for goodbyes and the ride home.
It was great to see everyone and catch up. And there was talk of some shore diving and notes on boat trips and vacations. There are some plans for future weekends and talk of some future trips. I enjoyed the “opportunity” to catch up with everyone and look forward to seeing them again.