Capt Grumby
Contributor
Well, I may as well get this started, since Shagman and Halftime probably won't be heard from for at least another 12 hrs. They can both add their 2 cents (and the second half of the day) once they log on.
The day started off great. The air was clear, the sun was up and the traffic was light. I arrived at Morrisons at 0730 hoping to be the first soul on site. It's almost surreal to be alone at Morrisons the first thing in the morning. Unfortunantly, there was already a bass boat in the water and a class gearing up to splash early. Lucky for us, they had a short dive window and were only 4 people (including the instructor). As the boat moved down the spring run, Shagman and Halftime showed up. As we geared up for our first dive, we watched as the "UCLA (Upper Corner, Lower Ala.) Search and Rescue" team showed up. I will leave it at this ... I will be very careful and safe anytime I am in their neck of the woods. I have seen the "Keystone Kops" in person!
Once we finished gearing up, we hit the water. The dive plan was the normal scenario, hit the cavern first, turn at 3rds and play around in the basin for the rest of the tank. As we headed down, I made a bee-line for the cavern, quicker than normal, since I was slightly overweighted. Once inside, we did the normal search pattern for the local residents. Watermelon Boy has relocated to the top of the big rock, but the Gnome, Juan Carlos and the Bulldog(?) are still where I last saw them. There are still 4 sand dollars in the cavern, and we repositioned them so they are displayed correctly. Shagman turned the dive at thirds and we departed the cavern (in an orderly single-file line) to the offshoot cavern. Since there was no one else even near the log, the side cavern was as clear as I have ever seen it. It was really my first opportunity to go play around in the top and bottom of it. I was suprised to find that there is actually an airpocket large enough to stick your head out of the water in there! After playing around there for a bit, we headed back to the shore, playing with the "flounder" on the way back in.
After an hour surface interval, where we watched a few other divers come, dive and leave, we hit the water again. It was a slow day at the spring today, and we had the cavern to ourselves the whole time we were there. The free-diver was there, so the silt was slightly stirred up, but much less than when the classes are there. Viz was still optimum for Morrisons. The second dive was almost a mirror image of the first as far as time, temp and viz are concerned.
Once out of the water, it was close enough to lunchtime to make a sour cream and chive run, so we headed to Sallys for chow. After an outstanding lunch, I had to part company to attend to some adult-type obligations, while Shagman and Halftime headed to Vortex for fills, on their way to Cypress.
Gentlemen, thank you for a fine day of diving and company! I will be anxiously waiting for your dive reports and pictures.
Grumby
The day started off great. The air was clear, the sun was up and the traffic was light. I arrived at Morrisons at 0730 hoping to be the first soul on site. It's almost surreal to be alone at Morrisons the first thing in the morning. Unfortunantly, there was already a bass boat in the water and a class gearing up to splash early. Lucky for us, they had a short dive window and were only 4 people (including the instructor). As the boat moved down the spring run, Shagman and Halftime showed up. As we geared up for our first dive, we watched as the "UCLA (Upper Corner, Lower Ala.) Search and Rescue" team showed up. I will leave it at this ... I will be very careful and safe anytime I am in their neck of the woods. I have seen the "Keystone Kops" in person!
Once we finished gearing up, we hit the water. The dive plan was the normal scenario, hit the cavern first, turn at 3rds and play around in the basin for the rest of the tank. As we headed down, I made a bee-line for the cavern, quicker than normal, since I was slightly overweighted. Once inside, we did the normal search pattern for the local residents. Watermelon Boy has relocated to the top of the big rock, but the Gnome, Juan Carlos and the Bulldog(?) are still where I last saw them. There are still 4 sand dollars in the cavern, and we repositioned them so they are displayed correctly. Shagman turned the dive at thirds and we departed the cavern (in an orderly single-file line) to the offshoot cavern. Since there was no one else even near the log, the side cavern was as clear as I have ever seen it. It was really my first opportunity to go play around in the top and bottom of it. I was suprised to find that there is actually an airpocket large enough to stick your head out of the water in there! After playing around there for a bit, we headed back to the shore, playing with the "flounder" on the way back in.
After an hour surface interval, where we watched a few other divers come, dive and leave, we hit the water again. It was a slow day at the spring today, and we had the cavern to ourselves the whole time we were there. The free-diver was there, so the silt was slightly stirred up, but much less than when the classes are there. Viz was still optimum for Morrisons. The second dive was almost a mirror image of the first as far as time, temp and viz are concerned.
Once out of the water, it was close enough to lunchtime to make a sour cream and chive run, so we headed to Sallys for chow. After an outstanding lunch, I had to part company to attend to some adult-type obligations, while Shagman and Halftime headed to Vortex for fills, on their way to Cypress.
Gentlemen, thank you for a fine day of diving and company! I will be anxiously waiting for your dive reports and pictures.
Grumby
....haven't seen you since St Andrews..glad you had a great day at Morrisons and the locals were friendly..
