Looks like I'm late for my dive report...looks like y'all got it covered pretty well. My dive buddy and I tried our new 7mils out Saturday morning desceding during that MASSIVE dust storm. The waves/wind made it extremely difficult for us to work out boyancy...that combined with my new !@#$%^ dive flag made descending no fun at all. With 3" vis (yeah, that's inches not feet) I lost my dive buddy TWICE in a 12 minute dive. Our first 45 degree water dive was disappointing to say the least... but NOT TO BE DISCOURAGED! Oh, and at somepoint during that dive, I involuntarilly donated my snorkel to the lake god. :-(
So we joined the camp crew Saturday evening, and I have to second everything Timeliner said; man those guys now how to put on a spread...probably the best brisket and pork loin I've ever had. King Aurthur never had a spread that big. Great people, Great (big) bon fire (that didn't burn the park down...but should have). I met more people than I can remember...Well planned, well organized, fun folks. I was suprised when we got there to learn that it was more of a social/camping event than diving event, but there were a few die hard divers out there that got wet. It was a good time to get out under the stars and meet and greet. I can't wait to do it again.
Sunday morning, we too woke up by the geese alarm clock; they flew so close over the tent, we could hear the wind on their wings as they honked over. With Saturday's discouraging dive behind us, we came up with a much better dive plan, and I rengineered the setup for dive flag, and now it' ooh, so nice...(No line to get tangled in), and big thanks to Allen for the tip to toss our extra weights in the tube in case we needed to pick up more weight while working out our boyancy (that's a tiddy little storage compartment in there) . There were lots of boats out Saturday morning dropping more of those siezmic gizmos; I was glad to have the dive flag, although when a batch of local fishermen showed up (several hours after we'd dried off) I wondered if the "attraction" wouldn't have been a problem. Water temp on Sunday morning was the same as Saturday, with vis around 3' at 35'. We found old motor parts, a sunken boat and a dive platform over where Timeliner called the Amusement Park. This dive was FAR more enjoyable...and comfortable.
I can't thank timeliner, texDiveGuy, UnderwaterDan, and the rest of the gang out there for the tips, advice, pointers, intel, and guidance for two rookies. Sunday's success was a direct result of what we learned in our first dive, and the advice we took away from you guys.
We finished Sunday morning by loaning a spare full tank to a brave young man that completed his open water cert in that 45 degree merk...
Todd at ScubaToys...if you're reading here; the Pinnacle suit worked out great and you're right... I never got cold. I even figured out how to get in and out of it...all I had to do was to remember what it was like being shoved through a birth canal... after that; getting my head in and out of that hood was a piece of cake.
Anyone interested in a combination camping/dive reduex the weekend of March 24?
