2nd Annual RMO South Meet, Greet, Dive, and Eat! (Sept 20~21st)
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Tjack
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Great Blue Hole diving shindig. Friday visibility was the best I have seen at the Hole in a long while. You could see the whole thing top to bottom side to side from the platform. Stella was working overtime from Friday afternoon till at least 10pm Saturday night to fill tanks for us and one of the shops who’s compressor at the Travellodge was down.
Friday night dive with Ron (RonFrank) and Dan aka Han Solo (DDavies), as well as Justin (Bigbubbaj) Tino (Winterhawk) Rick (Waterskier) and Spencer (En Bloc) who made it all the way from Fort Collins. Friday night was good with a round or two of drinks at the Adobe. Management only had to ask us to hold it down once.
Saturday morning some of us didn’t make it to the Hole till 10am while others had already done an early morning dive. Saturday’s crew included Tom (Daxter) and his brother Shaun well as Kevin (ABQDiver) who made a rare Saturday appearance in honor of the Scubaboard gathering. Also Don (Dandydon) and his amigo Jer made it as well. Saturday vis. was still good but beginning to silt up with plenty of student groups in the water, not that any of us were stirring it up.
Midday BBQ was excellent especially thanks to Tino’s Mesquite grilled steak sandwiches, and of course the fruit pies imported from Tejas. Plenty of food all round with tons of burgers and brats, home made potato salad a la Rick and more beans than it takes to float a battleship. Tino’s nieces added a little civility as we were trying to keep the language PG.
After another round of diving in the Hole which was getting a little crowded by afternoon, some of us decided to brave the dreaded Perch Lake. With reports of poor vis and an impending storm we made it into the water just in time. Watching the rain on the surface and lightning like someone was shooting a strobe made for an interesting dive. The vis was 10-15 feet around the airplane. Below the thermocline vis was far less with a distinct sulfur smell, cool. After doing a half circle around the 40’ contour it seemed like it would be fun to transept the lake to the car. Well with such low vis at depth I figured rising above the thermocline might be a good idea. The ascent went a little higher than intended and some called the dive at that point due to the lightning. Ron and I continued our dive and surfaced to clearing skies and no rain. Best place to be in bad weather is under the water IMHO.
Saturday Night diving with the Ninjas ie. tech gang Tom, Shaun, Kevin and Ron was a good dive, no other divers in the pool. I wonder what the techies thought of my AAA backup light which was great for reading gauges but not much else. Note to self, replace batteries before diving.
All in all a great time. Someone else will have to fill Robint and myself in on Sundays fun and games as I was out of there. I don't like to dive and drive the same day round these parts. It was great to meet some of the Scubaboard folks whom I only knew from cyberspace up till now, Dandydon, Daxter and En bloc. Hope I didn't forget anyone.
Friday night dive with Ron (RonFrank) and Dan aka Han Solo (DDavies), as well as Justin (Bigbubbaj) Tino (Winterhawk) Rick (Waterskier) and Spencer (En Bloc) who made it all the way from Fort Collins. Friday night was good with a round or two of drinks at the Adobe. Management only had to ask us to hold it down once.
Saturday morning some of us didn’t make it to the Hole till 10am while others had already done an early morning dive. Saturday’s crew included Tom (Daxter) and his brother Shaun well as Kevin (ABQDiver) who made a rare Saturday appearance in honor of the Scubaboard gathering. Also Don (Dandydon) and his amigo Jer made it as well. Saturday vis. was still good but beginning to silt up with plenty of student groups in the water, not that any of us were stirring it up.
Midday BBQ was excellent especially thanks to Tino’s Mesquite grilled steak sandwiches, and of course the fruit pies imported from Tejas. Plenty of food all round with tons of burgers and brats, home made potato salad a la Rick and more beans than it takes to float a battleship. Tino’s nieces added a little civility as we were trying to keep the language PG.
After another round of diving in the Hole which was getting a little crowded by afternoon, some of us decided to brave the dreaded Perch Lake. With reports of poor vis and an impending storm we made it into the water just in time. Watching the rain on the surface and lightning like someone was shooting a strobe made for an interesting dive. The vis was 10-15 feet around the airplane. Below the thermocline vis was far less with a distinct sulfur smell, cool. After doing a half circle around the 40’ contour it seemed like it would be fun to transept the lake to the car. Well with such low vis at depth I figured rising above the thermocline might be a good idea. The ascent went a little higher than intended and some called the dive at that point due to the lightning. Ron and I continued our dive and surfaced to clearing skies and no rain. Best place to be in bad weather is under the water IMHO.
Saturday Night diving with the Ninjas ie. tech gang Tom, Shaun, Kevin and Ron was a good dive, no other divers in the pool. I wonder what the techies thought of my AAA backup light which was great for reading gauges but not much else. Note to self, replace batteries before diving.
All in all a great time. Someone else will have to fill Robint and myself in on Sundays fun and games as I was out of there. I don't like to dive and drive the same day round these parts. It was great to meet some of the Scubaboard folks whom I only knew from cyberspace up till now, Dandydon, Daxter and En bloc. Hope I didn't forget anyone.
I only made it out for Sunday, but it was great seeing everyone as always!
OP
RonFrank
Contributor
Tom pretty much nailed the trip report from my perspective with the exception of Sunday. We were dragging a bit Sunday morning, and got to the Hole around 10:00am. Hard to burn the candle at both ends, but we were doing our best! Daxter, and Shawn had already done their dive for the day, and departed soon after we arrived! 
I did one dive with Kevin, his Student (forgot her name, very nice woman), and Dan. The vis was not as good as Friday evening, but still rather outstanding with vis not top to bottom, but likely 50 feet, and better at the bottom. One could see from one end to the other at the bottom, so that was 120', but looking towards the surface it was worst, and it was stirred up in spots at the bottom as well.
Dandy and his buddy were on a different schedule as were most of our group. With this type of get together it's difficult to dive as a massive group, and I don't think many were really trying.
Lunch was great with a couple types of Brats, and Bugers, some sides, and plenty of desert! Next time maybe I'll try to wrangle in some Ice cream.. Hmm, wonder how/if that would work with coolers!
Saturday evening was great, with Dinner at the Lake City Diner, followed by a night dive. I still had stuff in both Dan's truck, and TJack's truck after our Perch dive that afternoon, so while Dan was not diving, we drug him along as he had some of my STUFF, and it turned out to be a good thing!
Kevin has really got into photography, and wanted to do a staged setup shot with divers exiting the Hole. We did this before our dive, and lucky Dan became his assistant! :blinking: Tom, Dax, Shawn and myself were fully geared, and I guess I'm ugly or something because Kevin wanted me to hold a light UW, and stay out of the shot!
We had great night dives, and Most folks did a total of six dives over the weekend which is a fairly heavy schedule on top of the driving. Most of us face altitude issues going over a pass to Taos (Tom), or Raton Pass (CO folks), so we try to not push the envelope even if I think most of us are in violation of the rules when we go over the pass. I had a great time, and I think most everyone else did as well.
Looking forward to doing it again next year, but for those that don't know, we hit the Hole from CO many times a year. I think this was my 5th trip in 2008. I look forward another trip maybe early December, and Perch is a REALLY nice dive at that time of year, but cold.
Chow, and thanks everyone who came out. It was fun!
I did one dive with Kevin, his Student (forgot her name, very nice woman), and Dan. The vis was not as good as Friday evening, but still rather outstanding with vis not top to bottom, but likely 50 feet, and better at the bottom. One could see from one end to the other at the bottom, so that was 120', but looking towards the surface it was worst, and it was stirred up in spots at the bottom as well.
Dandy and his buddy were on a different schedule as were most of our group. With this type of get together it's difficult to dive as a massive group, and I don't think many were really trying.
Lunch was great with a couple types of Brats, and Bugers, some sides, and plenty of desert! Next time maybe I'll try to wrangle in some Ice cream.. Hmm, wonder how/if that would work with coolers!
Saturday evening was great, with Dinner at the Lake City Diner, followed by a night dive. I still had stuff in both Dan's truck, and TJack's truck after our Perch dive that afternoon, so while Dan was not diving, we drug him along as he had some of my STUFF, and it turned out to be a good thing!
Kevin has really got into photography, and wanted to do a staged setup shot with divers exiting the Hole. We did this before our dive, and lucky Dan became his assistant! :blinking: Tom, Dax, Shawn and myself were fully geared, and I guess I'm ugly or something because Kevin wanted me to hold a light UW, and stay out of the shot!
We had great night dives, and Most folks did a total of six dives over the weekend which is a fairly heavy schedule on top of the driving. Most of us face altitude issues going over a pass to Taos (Tom), or Raton Pass (CO folks), so we try to not push the envelope even if I think most of us are in violation of the rules when we go over the pass. I had a great time, and I think most everyone else did as well.
Looking forward to doing it again next year, but for those that don't know, we hit the Hole from CO many times a year. I think this was my 5th trip in 2008. I look forward another trip maybe early December, and Perch is a REALLY nice dive at that time of year, but cold.
Chow, and thanks everyone who came out. It was fun!
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Sounds like you guys had a blast this weekend!
- Messages
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Okay, got the dive video edited and loaded if you're interested...?
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Well my wife was right, I really needed to dive. I had a great time and when I got to the office on Monday and the usual s___t was being dumped on me, I sat there with this silly grin on my face. Others have already said it better then I can but it was great to see and dive with everyone.
Some good news on my flooded dive computer. Tonight I put a battery in it and not only did it turn on, it still had all my dives in it. There was no battery in it from Sunday morning until Monday night. I was under the impression that it lost everything after only a couple minutes without a battery. Now that I won't have to buy a new computer I am really smiling
I will post some pictures and video from the event later in the week. Once again, I had a great time and I may not need to eat again 'till Wednesday.
Some good news on my flooded dive computer. Tonight I put a battery in it and not only did it turn on, it still had all my dives in it. There was no battery in it from Sunday morning until Monday night. I was under the impression that it lost everything after only a couple minutes without a battery. Now that I won't have to buy a new computer I am really smiling
I will post some pictures and video from the event later in the week. Once again, I had a great time and I may not need to eat again 'till Wednesday.
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