A Grotto is an internal organization of the National Speleological Society (NSS). They generally function as the local NSS chapter/club. Many Grottos however, operate in areas outside of their local area, with many operating in several states. ...Wikipedia
Probably not what I am looking for
A Grotto is any natural or manmade cave near water or flooded or liable to flood at high tide that is associated with historic or pre-historic human use…… Wikipedia
More like it.
Hudson Grotto. I have not an idea on god’s green earth what a grotto is……and yet I offer to spearhead a social at one…….
So I Google….. I get several definitions, some sorting through is required, and one question lingers……
Hmmmm….. so is there coffee?
Much coordination and buffoonery goes into planning this event. People hem and haw regarding the merits of diving the cold waters. Who knew this grotto defies the laws of nature…. The bottom is spring fed and 72F and according to everything I have ever learned….. heat rises and therefore the warm water should extend to the surface right? Sorry must have hit my head and forgot where this was…..
We now approach the date and have been adopted by Scuba West Dive shop and have diving passes, a grill, a scuba cake and prizes. Much thanks to them and to Boats (Todd) who helped with all this.
We also have our divers who include a pair getting up 5 hours early and waiting patiently in the parking lot to begin, our foreign national who is unsure if she is bringing Ketchup or is expected to whip up a batch of catsup, Pinky of Pinky and the Brain fame adding chocolate doughnuts and begging to dive Sherpa the event, a Halcyon backplate and wing bringing sausage kabobs and one diver who refuses to leave Arizona and attend a social until it gets warmer here. Gotta love Florida, its’ never dull.
I awaken early morning with a booming headache but know I have to pull it together and get moving. Three hours later I have it under control and am on my way.
I arrive at Scuba West and sign in and Pinky grabs my tanks and tosses them into a cart heading for the water and hauls up my gear tote leaving me to carry my coffee and an inflator hose. I could get used to this.
When I arrive at the pavilion, there are chocolate doughnuts to go with my coffee, a grill is at the ready with coolers lined up next to it and a row of tables laden with plates, condiments and a really cool cake in the image of a beach. Saaaweet! I have to plan stuff more often.
Everyone is getting ready to dive and I begin to set up my gear. There is one small problem. I am 3 feet too short for the gear table. I assemble my gear, add the inflator hose, climb into my drysuit with just shorts and wool socks when I feel a gear issue erupt. My redundant buoyancy corral management system has disengaged. I seek out MissD for immediate assistance and the first of quotables for the day is uttered. After several minutes of silence and lack of movement I hear “Oh! I thought you wanted me to look down your pants”. Heads snap up and in a moment laughter erupts. This will be in my dive report.
I make my way over to my rig and slide an arm into the harness. I cannot jump up high enough to catch my other arm and drag a chair over for assistance. I hear a murmur from EANdiver… something to the effect of “this has emergency room written all over it”….. and slide into my harness. I jump down from the chair now hanging from my rig and pull it forward hoping not to be flattened face first as it plummets towards me. Life is good and I survive. But they definitely need to cut the legs off that thing.
As I pass by FlyingVisit, she is getting a bit of assistance gearing up and all heads snap up as we hear Boats proclaim “I’m not sticking ANYTHING between her legs!” Laughter again erupts as his face reddens and someone else hands Maz her crotch strap. Another one for the report for sure.
We make our way towards the water and climb in. A little help from Skim and my errant mask is there and I am ready to conquer the quest for poker chips. Chips have been laid along the walls of the grotto for finding and turning in for prizes. Super little touch and thanks again to Scuba West and Boats.
We descend the line and make our way into the cool dark waters, 61F to be exact. There is a platform at about 20 feet and we regroup, adjust our buoyancy and head on down to a line that runs the perimeter of the cavern at about 30 feet. Following this along there are ragged limestone walls, settled with silt and in the larger of the indentations sit amusing little oddities to gawk at as you pass by. A tree is with large branches is perched in one corner and we follow past it as it sits hauntingly still with branches outstretched waiting to snang anything that comes too close. As we move along I spy a chip and grab it and place it in my drysuit pocket. After this I move outward a bit to allow others to peer about and find some chips too.
After the first traverse we follow on down to about 60 feet and repeat the traverse with new and different outcroppings and ledges dispersed along the walls. There are Buddhas and gnomes, deer other little ditties in these alcove like indentations also. And you muse as you pass and see each one.
Below this level the grotto goes deeper to about 100 feet and has a well like indentation going even farther down. We don’t continue on as the wetsuit clad divers are starting to chill now and so we go on up to what we hope is sunshine and the smell of chicken on the grill.
As we remove our fins and prepare to climb out of the water the local residents swim all around us. There are catfish….. really big ones and snapping turtles, one is going undercover with a full coating of flowing green algae covering his shell. Many smaller fish dart in and out …..this is a poking heaven.
We arrive at the pavilion and Mc Loving has arrived freshly out of work, minus his gear…. Oops….. and we are joined by a new face Spectre and his sidekick Beanie. She spends the afternoon feeding hotdogs to the turtles and bread and icing to the fish in that kind of child wonder and fun that makes you smile. We all take a turn going over to watch.
Lunch is grand and my thanks to everyone who helped. Pinky’s wife makes excellent pasta salad and MissD the chicken was great. There were hotdogs and hamburgers and HAL does make a tasty kabob.
We sit and eat and talk and laugh and the time goes all too quickly. A group plans one more round in the water and in they go as the rest of us sit and continue to chat. Our 2:00 or 2:30 planned departure extends toward 4:00 as we slowly load up and prepare to leave.
We will do this again. And my thanks to everyone who helped with this and made me look good. And to Pinky who had lugged my gear in the beginning of the day…. I have to tell you as I was carrying my tanks to the lot, he offered to take them, but I said no, I have ‘em….. he was carrying his purse and 2 tissues, he had enough to handle……. His legend will live on. Takes all the pressure off of me.