New Years Day @ Gilboa
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skyking
Contributor
Jchoby
Contributor
OP
Barracuda2
Contributor
Like fine wine, Ted, just like fine wine
I had a great time; Ber, Jwalko, and I teamed up for a very relaxing cruise around the shallow end. We did a 40 min. dive and I stayed very DRY, Ted. The viz was maybe 30' and the water temp ran from 39 to 41 degrees. My computer battery crapped out on me so that's all the info I have about the dive. After words, we chipped our way out of our gear and headed to the office where Mike's chili ran a-plenty and it was delicious. I showed my Palau video to help warm everybody up and then we had the drawings. Man, it pays to be an instructor at Gilboa; Mike gave away 5K to those instructors who frequent his quarry and signed in for the raffle. Sorry, I can't remember who won the scooter. I think Jchoby took some topside picts. and maybe he'll post them. Notso ken took some video. I don't believe it hit 30 degrees at all today; had the temp been about 10 degrees higher, I think I would have done another dive. All in all, a great way to start out 2009. Happy New Year to all.
jwalko
Contributor
Like fine wine, Ted, just like fine wine
I had a great time; Ber, Jwalko, and I teamed up for a very relaxing cruise around the shallow end. We did a 40 min. dive and I stayed very DRY, Ted. The viz was maybe 30' and the water temp ran from 39 to 41 degrees. My computer battery crapped out on me so that's all the info I have about the dive. After words, we chipped our way out of our gear and headed to the office where Mike's chili ran a-plenty and it was delicious. I showed my Palau video to help warm everybody up and then we had the drawings. Man, it pays to be an instructor at Gilboa; Mike gave away 5K to those instructors who frequent his quarry and signed in for the raffle. Sorry, I can't remember who won the scooter. I think Jchoby took some topside picts. and maybe he'll post them. Notso ken took some video. I don't believe it hit 30 degrees at all today; had the temp been about 10 degrees higher, I think I would have done another dive. All in all, a great way to start out 2009. Happy New Year to all.
I agree...it was a fun day, even if I did "ice" up on the exit. By the time I got from the dock to the picnic table, I had a layer of ice over most of my dry suit. As mentioned, we went to the office to warm up a bit and we were talking about possibly taking a second dive...but when we got back to our gear, everything that should be pliable was stiff as a board. If the wind wasn't enough to make us give up thinking about a second dive, frozen stiff gloves and hood were (lol).
Anyway, even though the air was pretty cold, and it was a bit windy, it was nice to get in a New Year's Day dive. I was surprised how many people were there. There may have been 10-15 in our area, plus another group on the deep side. When i got there this morning, apparently there was another group that dove yesterday (not sure...I'm guessing from what they were talking with Mike about).
It actually wouldn't have been that bad except for the little bit of gusty wind that kept coming up. The water temp at 39-40 degrees was about where it was at the April M&G. All in all...a great time...a bit crazy perhaps...but a great time.
John
Jchoby
Contributor
I took some topside video... I was too lazy to mess with the underwater stuff and its the same old stuff we have seen before....
New Year's Dive 2009 on Vimeo
New Year's Dive 2009 on Vimeo
It was a lot of fun 
I got to try out my new dive parka and I LOVE it! I would have been a much happier camper if my hand warmers had been in the car instead of home on the counter. I don't mind my body getting cold but my hands can't stand air temperatures below about 50 degrees for more than a few minutes without some protection.
We discovered this rabbit has gotten quite fat this winter. I couldn't get my BC cummerbund to fasten while wearing my dry gloves so Ken tried to help me. He had his gloves on as well and just couldn't get the velcro to come together. I noticed Denny didn't have his gloves on yet so I asked him to help. It took a lot of tugging and comments like "Geez, I don't think I'm going to be able to get this together" but he finally managed to get the cummerbund velcro to hold together long enough to get the other strap clipped so I had the BC fastened at my waist. We didn't even attempt the chest strap.
Since I donned my dry gloves because my hands were half frozen before gearing up I had to have Ken and Steve practically dress me to dive. John, Denny and I had a nice dive just cruising around. They had me lead so we moseyed around in the shallows because my sinuses were not fit for heading to the tubes with Ken and Steve. I was a little cold but not terribly uncomfortable for the whole dive which is amazing for me. I think that's the longest cold water dive I've ever done. I couldn't believe my dive time was almost double what Ken and Steve did, Ken usually dives twice as long in a wetsuit and he was diving dry for New Years. I may have gotten too fat for my gear but the extra fat layer is indeed warmer :rofl:
We even ran across one of the Koi in the shallows, a big orange and white one with black spots. He was probably as long as my fin and THICK, that was one big goldfish! I was excited because its the first time I've seen one on a dive so I actually got to see something new in the quarry for New Years
I was wishing for a camera when I spotted him hiding along the edge of the quarry in some downed trees.
Even with the post-dive ice-up it was a good time! I couldn't quite feel my thumbs or a couple of fingers after I got out so I had to have the guys undress me because I couldn't operate the releases on my gear wearing the dry gloves. I had a nice frost layer on my drysuit by the time they got my gear off and I was ready to remove the suit.
Ken said he was going to the bath house to change as I was stripping down to my long undies while standing on a rug behind my car. I told him if I was 10 years older and had as much sense as he has I would probably do the same but for now I'll continue to peel out of my warm drysuit undies while standing in the cold and wind
Thanks for a great time everyone!
Ber :lilbunny:
I got to try out my new dive parka and I LOVE it! I would have been a much happier camper if my hand warmers had been in the car instead of home on the counter. I don't mind my body getting cold but my hands can't stand air temperatures below about 50 degrees for more than a few minutes without some protection.We discovered this rabbit has gotten quite fat this winter. I couldn't get my BC cummerbund to fasten while wearing my dry gloves so Ken tried to help me. He had his gloves on as well and just couldn't get the velcro to come together. I noticed Denny didn't have his gloves on yet so I asked him to help. It took a lot of tugging and comments like "Geez, I don't think I'm going to be able to get this together" but he finally managed to get the cummerbund velcro to hold together long enough to get the other strap clipped so I had the BC fastened at my waist. We didn't even attempt the chest strap.
Since I donned my dry gloves because my hands were half frozen before gearing up I had to have Ken and Steve practically dress me to dive. John, Denny and I had a nice dive just cruising around. They had me lead so we moseyed around in the shallows because my sinuses were not fit for heading to the tubes with Ken and Steve. I was a little cold but not terribly uncomfortable for the whole dive which is amazing for me. I think that's the longest cold water dive I've ever done. I couldn't believe my dive time was almost double what Ken and Steve did, Ken usually dives twice as long in a wetsuit and he was diving dry for New Years. I may have gotten too fat for my gear but the extra fat layer is indeed warmer :rofl:
We even ran across one of the Koi in the shallows, a big orange and white one with black spots. He was probably as long as my fin and THICK, that was one big goldfish! I was excited because its the first time I've seen one on a dive so I actually got to see something new in the quarry for New Years
I was wishing for a camera when I spotted him hiding along the edge of the quarry in some downed trees.Even with the post-dive ice-up it was a good time! I couldn't quite feel my thumbs or a couple of fingers after I got out so I had to have the guys undress me because I couldn't operate the releases on my gear wearing the dry gloves. I had a nice frost layer on my drysuit by the time they got my gear off and I was ready to remove the suit.
Ken said he was going to the bath house to change as I was stripping down to my long undies while standing on a rug behind my car. I told him if I was 10 years older and had as much sense as he has I would probably do the same but for now I'll continue to peel out of my warm drysuit undies while standing in the cold and wind
Thanks for a great time everyone!
Ber :lilbunny:
tiggrr
Contributor
There's koi in there??
Huh. Learn somethin new every day.
Sound like a good time and you have some great dive buds there Rabbit.
Huh. Learn somethin new every day.
Sound like a good time and you have some great dive buds there Rabbit.
wb416
Contributor
I'll see if I can find my Koi pics from 2000... I used to have some on the Gilboa website when I ran it... not sure if its still there or not.
[BTW: A shout-out to the current webmaster for Gilboa.... I've only met them once, but have to say they've done a great job with the website... much more professional than I was able to do the past 4-5 years, and just the thing that Mike deserves!]
wb416
Contributor
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