Gilboa Cost??

[RPanick]

I almost forgot, the absolute positively essential upgrade to the quary. Real bathrooms and showers in a nice heated private room. No more holding your breath and wondering what died in there that is making the flies so happy.

BTW, has anyone considered a mask and regulator with maybe a pony bottle for use in the porta johns? Would that help, particularly in the middle of the summer?

My god I've got it, that's finally a use for those Spare Airs. A spare air and a mask you could possibly survive in there. I bet you could get five or more minutes in there with one of those 3 cu ft units. Of course the 1.7 cu ft is smaller and would probably be more comfortable to use when on short trips or you need both hands free.

Ah man I expect I'll get lots of flame from this one, after all any time anyone mentions Spare Air its good for a thread that lasts for months. And I'm postive that someone will come up with some reason that they aren't any good for use in the out house. I can see the argument now, you need at least a 30 pony bottle slung over your shoulder. Otherwise you could run out of air before you get out the door. I'm sorry, I absoultely refuse to even discuss doubles, I know they give you redundancy but its too tight in there already.

 

[spectrum]

I almost forgot, the absolute positively essential upgrade to the quary. Real bathrooms and showers in a nice heated private room. No more holding your breath and wondering what died in there that is making the flies so happy.

Speaking only for the mens side of course that was a real disappointment. I've been to dozens of campgrounds and those showers just aren't ready for prime time.

BTW, has anyone considered a mask and regulator with maybe a pony bottle for use in the porta johns? Would that help, particularly in the middle of the summer?

I think a hookah system would be more user friendly . Perhaps with a rich nitrox blend to enhance off gassing.

 

[wb416]

Glad you liked it. I was feeling a bit sarcastic last night. Hopefully we can get some others to add some ideas to it and have some fun.

But whatever you do, don't show it to Mike, I'm not sure he has a sense of humor and lord knows what might happen.

Mike actually has a great sense of humour and has pulled some damn good pranks.

 

[Randy43068]

Mike actually has a great sense of humour and has pulled some damn good pranks.

True! He can be pretty ornery!

Personally, I like the guy and I like what he has done with the quarry. Sure, it's not prefect, but he's working on it.

Lets face it, that area between the quarry and river is pretty small. I'm sure there are better ways to manage the space and allow him to make the maximum amount of money while serving the needs of as many divers has possible, and I'll bet he's got some good ideas about how to do that. No matter how he does it, somone will not be happy.

Lets not forget that Mike is there to make money. This is NOT a hobby for him, it's a business and so far he's doing a pretty damn good job of it.

 

[RPanick]

Now there's an interesting thread, what pranks have you seen Mike pull. It might ruin the reputation he's worked so hard to achieve.

Don't get me wrong, I actually do appreciate the place, it has been slowly getting better over the years, and Mike gets all the credit for that. When you get out of the hectic summer months he seems to be quite a bit more relaxed.

 

[Notso_Ken]

BTW, has anyone considered a mask and regulator with maybe a pony bottle for use in the porta johns? Would that help, particularly in the middle of the summer?

My god I've got it, that's finally a use for those Spare Airs. A spare air and a mask you could possibly survive in there. I bet you could get five or more minutes in there with one of those 3 cu ft units. Of course the 1.7 cu ft is smaller and would probably be more comfortable to use when on short trips or you need both hands free.

Well, maybe sometimes a spare air'll do ya for that. But on other occassions, not even close!


Ken

 

[idivetrain]

Hey, I was at Gilboa this weekend and so was tecman. Kinda crazy that you have to pay to park in someones lot that you already paid to enter, huh!!! If they are not careful they are going to price themselves out of people. I normally go to Portage. Great easy entry and no hassle!!

 

[northen diver]

Hey, I was at Gilboa this weekend and so was tecman. Kinda crazy that you have to pay to park in someones lot that you already paid to enter, huh!!! If they are not careful they are going to price themselves out of people. I normally go to Portage. Great easy entry and no hassle!!

I only live 1/2 hour from Gilboa, so I go up on a Monday or Fridays to Gilboa to avoid the crowds and if I go on a weekend or to camp, I go to Portage. Jeff Rice runs a nice place also. 10 dollars to dive and EASY access to the water. If I go with out the wife and kids, I REALLY enjoy the volleyball games with the college women in thier swim suits........

 

[trucker girl]

Went to Gilboa this past weekend and Jody had said that now you have to pay 4 dollars per person if you drive back to the docks and drop off your gear. If you dont want to pay the 4 dollars per person, you can WALK your gear back to the dive table from the main parking lot. She said people were abusing the "previlege" by dumping their gear in the camp sites instead of the dive tables. So now, its 19 dollars per person to dive there, unless you want to walk your gear from the main parking lot. She said nobody has really complained about this??

A few days after they started this up last summer, I called up there. I didn't want to be in the group that complains about it but never talks to them. And the main problem, from what I could gather, is that A. those of us who parked in the main lot didn't KNOW we were supposed to keep our gear (and ourselves) on the tables and B. the parking/camping area is for camping. So if you're paying for parking, you're paying to take up space in the camping area. If you're parking in the main lot, you're not camping, so stay out. Even if someone else had a tent set up, you weren't supposed to use it if you were not paying to be in the camping area.

You don't have to like the policy, but it is what it is.

I didn't even know that you were supposed to put your gear on the tables and not at the sites.

Exactly the problem. I was contributing to the problem and didn't even know it.

Is it still $15 during the week?

I don't think most folks know what you're asking here, and I haven't been recently enough to answer accurately. Most of these folks ONLY go on weekends. I've always been a week-day diver, and on week days, they never had a crowd, so they never charged to park back there. That was one of the perks of going during the week. I don't know if they changed the "during the week" policy of allowing you to park back there for free. You'll have to call and ask.

For what it's worth, if it were me I would put parking where the camping is and put in plenty of TABLES for gear and gearing up. There aren't that many camp sites and it isn't some kind of premier place to camp. It's a dive site and the camp sites are literally in the way of diving. If I really felt the need to have camping, I'd move it out of the way of the diving...maybe where the parking is now. You don't need to be by the water to sleep but being by the water sure makes diving more convenient. IMO, it doesn't work now because it's exactly backwards.

Ah- the joys of making suggestions. I think the problem is that there are a million things that could be done to "fix" the problems, but actually doing them (financially and time-wise) and actually getting rid of all the bugs in the system (no matter what you do- unless Mike makes it free, people are going to complain) is probably a bigger task than any of us back seat drivers can fathom.

I think it's a great place. And compared to the other dive sites around, I'll pay my camping tax and be happy about it. I can see how it can add up, but that's the way it is. Like it or leave it- go to Portage or Natural Springs. No thanks.

Comes down to this. They aren't running a charity up there. There is no reason for them to run the place (and take on the liabilities and put out the money for improvements and herd the kittens) if they aren't going to make a living at it. So if I have to pay more to use the camping area, that's a decision I have to make. Pay $19 or go somewhere else and get less of a dive site. Portage ain't that far away and it ain't a bad dive site. Still, I prefer Gilboa.

 

[idivetrain]

Thats too funny, all the guys seem to enjoy the "college scenery". I am at Portage almost every weekend over the summer. Love Jeff Rice, he is what completes that quarry. Maybe I'll run in to you sometime over there.
Shelly