Friday night didn’t look too good around Elba when the rain fell so hard that I almost had to pull over. By the time I got to Vortex the rain had stopped. Unloading the truck was the usual sweaty task and I worked up a powerful appetite. Off to Sally’s and the usual hamburger steak with onions but no gravy and a sweet potato really hit the spot. I didn’t have any trouble sleeping.
Saturday morning I awoke to a hard and steady rain. This was alright with me because it cooled things off and made for a pleasant morning. Seven of the ten open water students showed up at nine am. We made sure paperwork was all up to date and planned our dives. Then off to the water we went. The cold water actually felt good after sweating in wetsuits. There were only a few other divers in the water so the students enjoyed Vortex as it should be done. In clear water we explored the place from top to bottom. This has been an outstanding class and for Steve and me it was easy money.
By ten thirty or so the crowd rolled in and the occupancy increased dramatically along with the silt. By time the other students came at one pm the visibility had reduced noticably.
We lit the charcoal at six and started cooking sausages from Andalusia, Elba, and Evergreen. This after scuba session where folks talk and dine and get to know each other is the most valuable part of a dive trip. Wendell brought about half a cow so we had lots of leftovers for lunch on Sunday. I reminded myself that leftover T-bone steak is right tasty.
I did the classroom portion of the Photography class for one of the advanced students and Bersie and me went over and compared pictures of the Oriskany trip on our laptops. The bottle of newly discovered Ten Canes rum from Trinidad gradually disappeared. When I finally hit the sack at around eleven I don’t think that I moved until next morning when the alarm clock sounded.
The normal hustle and bustle of Sunday morning was done in a more hot and humid environment than the previous day. We got the students into the water in record time and it turned out that was a good thing. When we came up we found a greyhound bus full of divers unloading their stuff.
We stood in the shade and walked compass reciprocals until we got them right and then watched in amusement as the new divers ran their headings. The compass can be such a humbling tool.
After the students finished some of the staff folks wanted to do a cave dive but LuLu and I headed for Morrison for a cool dip in a different hole. There were lots of folks there but not many divers. Flow from the hole came swift and we passed several divers hanging on the ledge looking in with small flashlights. They seemed happy when our HIDs lit up the room. I looked for fossils and Lulu just explored. We saw eels and catfish of every size. I found some nice sand dollar pieces and one fossilized tube of some sort. I always enjoy the cave at Morrison. We also explored the river run.
All-in-all it was a highly successful weekend. We certifiedeight new open water divers, three new Junior Open Water folks, four underwater photographers and havefive Advanced Open Water divers well on their way to completing requirements. We shared lots of work, lots of fun, lots of food, lots of conversation. A greater weekend could never be imagined.
Saturday morning I awoke to a hard and steady rain. This was alright with me because it cooled things off and made for a pleasant morning. Seven of the ten open water students showed up at nine am. We made sure paperwork was all up to date and planned our dives. Then off to the water we went. The cold water actually felt good after sweating in wetsuits. There were only a few other divers in the water so the students enjoyed Vortex as it should be done. In clear water we explored the place from top to bottom. This has been an outstanding class and for Steve and me it was easy money.
By ten thirty or so the crowd rolled in and the occupancy increased dramatically along with the silt. By time the other students came at one pm the visibility had reduced noticably.
We lit the charcoal at six and started cooking sausages from Andalusia, Elba, and Evergreen. This after scuba session where folks talk and dine and get to know each other is the most valuable part of a dive trip. Wendell brought about half a cow so we had lots of leftovers for lunch on Sunday. I reminded myself that leftover T-bone steak is right tasty.
I did the classroom portion of the Photography class for one of the advanced students and Bersie and me went over and compared pictures of the Oriskany trip on our laptops. The bottle of newly discovered Ten Canes rum from Trinidad gradually disappeared. When I finally hit the sack at around eleven I don’t think that I moved until next morning when the alarm clock sounded.
The normal hustle and bustle of Sunday morning was done in a more hot and humid environment than the previous day. We got the students into the water in record time and it turned out that was a good thing. When we came up we found a greyhound bus full of divers unloading their stuff.
We stood in the shade and walked compass reciprocals until we got them right and then watched in amusement as the new divers ran their headings. The compass can be such a humbling tool.
After the students finished some of the staff folks wanted to do a cave dive but LuLu and I headed for Morrison for a cool dip in a different hole. There were lots of folks there but not many divers. Flow from the hole came swift and we passed several divers hanging on the ledge looking in with small flashlights. They seemed happy when our HIDs lit up the room. I looked for fossils and Lulu just explored. We saw eels and catfish of every size. I found some nice sand dollar pieces and one fossilized tube of some sort. I always enjoy the cave at Morrison. We also explored the river run.
All-in-all it was a highly successful weekend. We certifiedeight new open water divers, three new Junior Open Water folks, four underwater photographers and havefive Advanced Open Water divers well on their way to completing requirements. We shared lots of work, lots of fun, lots of food, lots of conversation. A greater weekend could never be imagined.
