DennisW
Contributor
The diving at Lake Rawlings was a blast. But then again, diving usually is. I had never been there before. I met up with one old friend (Don Burke) and some new ones as well. Chris Malinowski, his buddy (sorry, I can't remember your name), Ken, Dan?, Meg, Chuck, Ed, RadDiver, his wife, and several more. Including one cute young lady that until just a moment ago, I could have said her name. She was with Ken and Dan under the blue canopy. But the old brain is losing cells faster than I can count. There was another young lady there, but I know I never got her name. If I missed someone, I am sorry, it's amazing I remembered this many people.
I buddied with Ed Scott for my first dive. He had not been in the water for a while because of some surgery, but you would never have been able to tell following him around. The man nearly wore me out. I had a short fill on my tank, so I had to surface after 39 minutes with 700 lbs left. Max Depth was 58 darn cold feet of fresh water. Temps at that depth were 59 Degrees F. At the surface it was in the mid to high 70's I never checked the temp at the surface. We saw the computer grave yard, the sail boat, a couple of power boats and some fairly large sun fish (fresh water perch). There was a little guy on the bottom that was very much like a Harlequin Bass you would see in the Carribbean or on the South Florida reefs. Fun dive.
The second dive, I buddied with Don Burke and Ed again. This time we dove the left side of the quarry and followed Don around. More boats, a van, a car, and more fresh water fish. The van had Moonie sitting on top. I think Don and Ed got pictures. I don't have my housing in Virginia, so I didn't take pictures. Max depth, 49 ft, 34 minutes total time. I came up with a bunch of air this time, but I was getting cold. I stayed around 40 - 45 ft the entire dive and the thermocline was around 30 ft.
All in all, my gear check out dives were good. I need a couple of extra pounds with the 5 mm two piece than with my 1/8th inch two piece. My new mask is nice, my new to me Seahawk BC is also really nice. Different than my Sport Classic, but still a nice BC.
Thanks everyone for an enjoyable day. Don, post some pics.
It was really nice to meet some people from the board, but we need a Scubaboard banner or something. It was hard to find you guys.
I buddied with Ed Scott for my first dive. He had not been in the water for a while because of some surgery, but you would never have been able to tell following him around. The man nearly wore me out. I had a short fill on my tank, so I had to surface after 39 minutes with 700 lbs left. Max Depth was 58 darn cold feet of fresh water. Temps at that depth were 59 Degrees F. At the surface it was in the mid to high 70's I never checked the temp at the surface. We saw the computer grave yard, the sail boat, a couple of power boats and some fairly large sun fish (fresh water perch). There was a little guy on the bottom that was very much like a Harlequin Bass you would see in the Carribbean or on the South Florida reefs. Fun dive.
The second dive, I buddied with Don Burke and Ed again. This time we dove the left side of the quarry and followed Don around. More boats, a van, a car, and more fresh water fish. The van had Moonie sitting on top. I think Don and Ed got pictures. I don't have my housing in Virginia, so I didn't take pictures. Max depth, 49 ft, 34 minutes total time. I came up with a bunch of air this time, but I was getting cold. I stayed around 40 - 45 ft the entire dive and the thermocline was around 30 ft.
All in all, my gear check out dives were good. I need a couple of extra pounds with the 5 mm two piece than with my 1/8th inch two piece. My new mask is nice, my new to me Seahawk BC is also really nice. Different than my Sport Classic, but still a nice BC.
Thanks everyone for an enjoyable day. Don, post some pics.
It was really nice to meet some people from the board, but we need a Scubaboard banner or something. It was hard to find you guys.
