Hello from Brooklyn

[timhack]

Hey there everyone. I have been visiting SB.com for a while now, trying to learn some things and pick up some advice from more experienced divers. I just recently signed up so I could join the community. Maybe as I gain more experience I can share what I know with others and return the favor. I am hoping I can meet some divers near me and spend more time in the water.

 

[cannon fodder]

Hi Tim,

I tried the waters off of Brooklyn in the fall with a friend from ow class, it was a bit "over our heads" but we are itching to get more experience and try again. We went with Dive Boat Karen 2 Home Page . I live on the UES of Manhatten, if you are thinking of getting wet this spring and sharing a car out to Dutch Springs send me a pm.

Derek

 

[KapitanSparrow]

Hey. I would be interested in joining a group that's not too advanced. What's in Dutch Springs?

 

[cannon fodder]

Hi Kapitan,

Dutch Springs, Dutch Springs is a flooded quarry near Bethlehem, PA. I did my OW there. It is a scuba park with under water platforms for training, cars/boats/planes that have been submerged at varying depths as diving attractions. Dutch Springs rents tanks and weights and has changing rooms and a sandwich shop. It is an easier environment to dive than New York harbor.

It would be nice to get a group together for easier local NYC area dives.

Derek

 

[KapitanSparrow]

Hi Derek,

I'm game for Dutch Springs. It would be a nice way to ease into cold water diving for me. So far I've done only warm waters of Caribbean and body fat was all I ever needed to stay warm. How's the visibility? I imagine a light source is a must.

Maciek

 

[cannon fodder]

Hi Maciek,

Visibility was about 20 to 25 feet during my 4 dives there at 40 max. We did not need lights, but it wasn't the Caribbean by any stretch of the imagination. I do not know if lights would be more useful at deeper depths. We wore 7mm farmer john's, we also had hoods and gloves, but did not need them. Again, the deeper you go, the colder it gets, I could feel it getting significantly colder going from the 25 foot platform to a 40 foot sunken boat. I will PM you my e-mail and we can talk about it.

I also tried a boat dive off of the Rockaways with a friend from OW class that did not turn out well. She lost her mask and I nearly lost my weight belt, the cold dark swells are very intimidating. On the other hand, her friend jumped in and soloed a couple of dives with no problem, he found an anchor and recovered it. He sold it to the marina supervisor for $40.00 when we got back in.

Regards,

Derek

 

[KapitanSparrow]

Definitely shoot me your email and let's talk about it. This will give me a good reason to visit the Leisure Pro shop and spend too much money on gear ;-) What time of the year did you dive in Dutch Springs?

 

[cannon fodder]

I just responded to your e-mail before reading this, but we went to Dutch Springs in early September of 2012.

 

[timhack]

Dutch Springs sounds great. I will take you up on that. There is a chance my wife may not be able to dive this year so I will need a buddy. So what was over your head about diving near Brooklyn? Were you near Coney Island? I have heard the waters near New York are cold, dark, have poor visibility and nasty currents. Is that what you experienced? I will check out the Karen 2. Was the dive through a local dive shop or direct with the boat? Their website dates are from 2011 so it looks like they don't update it often.

---------- Post added January 31st, 2013 at 01:53 AM ----------

I went to Dutch Springs last year in August. Visibility was great. We were only there for a couple of hours and dove the ladder truck, which sits at about 60'. It was great but the extra layers of neoprene in the farmer john/shorty presented some buoyancy challenges. I needed a lot of weight just to get down but was ok once I figured out my weighting. It was fun. We should definitely get a group together this summer. I rented my tanks, weights and wetsuit from Lehigh Valley Dive Center.

 

[cannon fodder]

Hi Tim,

Yes, we were off of Coney Island. A friend of an OW class mate has a friend who dives off of New York and Long Island on a regular basis. She managed to get used inivited on a trip last October. This would be our first post certification dive in green opaque water, with 4 foot swells and a 6 foot back flip off of the side of the boat as an entry. We both got in and waited for the more experienced diver to get in and take us down. You could not see your fins, or even your legs from the surface and we waited there bobing up and down in the swell for the guy to get his dry suit on and join us. My friend said that she was getting nervious when a wave came along and took her mask off. At the same time my weight belt started to slip. By the time the dry suit diver got in the water he had to remove my weight belt from around my fins. That's what was over our heads, lack of experience and confidence to deal with the conditions.

The dry suit guy got in two solo dives, and found an anchor on the bottom. He seemed like a kid jumping into the shallow end of a swimming pool with no hesitation. I would love to be able to dive the local waters with that kind of skill and confidence.

As far as the Karen 2's website goes, I get the impression that Capt. Bob had it set up and then never looked at it again. I was told to arrange everything over the phone; he does not "willingly" do e-mail. On the other hand Capt. Bob is a NYPD scuba instructor, with the persona to match. I am sure he would get along great with some of the crusty old time purists on the board here.

And, finally, yes it would be great to get a group together to try Dutch Springs and work on skills and practice diving in order to get to that point. I did my first 5 dives in the Carribean about a month ago and feel like quite a bit more confident, know that I know that I can "do" it.

Regards,

Derek