The weekend turned out to be totally fantastic! We went to Vortex with a group of students and made the most of some wonderful weather. The haute cuisine at Sally’s on Friday night hit the spot and a couple of Bud Lights “drafted” out of a bottle into frosted mugs proved totally refreshing after the long day at work and the long drive down.
We awoke early Saturday morning and another weekend of diving adventure started. The open water students did a fantastic job. Parysa, an aspiring diver, had read her entire book and answered all the questions at the end of every chapter. We took her on a resort course adventure around the springs and fed some fish. It was early and the fish hadn’t been fed all night so they came in droves. She had a fantastic time.
Folks who just came down to dive wanted to go to Morrison so Rick and I carried a group while Niki and MM worked with their students. We lucked out and got to Morrison just before three large classes went in. The water still clear, our folks had a great time. I rode down with Rick and discovered that I left my wetsuit at Vortex. Not to be one who would pass up a dive I donned swimsuit and dive gear and surprisingly enough had a great dive. I actually didn’t get cold until after I got out. I found several nice fossils including a piece of coral that the variety hasn’t been around for millions of years. We ran into PerroneFord trying out some new gear.
We went back to Vortex for the Stress and Rescue dives in the afternoon and Rick started to set up for the level 2 students. Seven candidates endured the grueling rescue experience and all did well but worked up a powerful hunger.
We lit the charcoal at five-thirty and put on about eight packages of sausages. SuprBugMan showed up and helped with the cooking. You know, every one of those sausages was totally devoured within an hour. The grill filled with all kinds of food; steaks and onions and chicken and peppers and pork chops. The now famous Saturday night barbecue was yet another outstanding success.
Sunday was another early start. The rescue candidates performed two scenarios and successfully saved their victims. The level two students located and salvaged some precious lead bullion. The open water students were even more relaxed and did all their skills without flaw. Parysa made her second resort course dive and stroked some eels as they devoured her Vienna’s and the staff even had time for some pleasure dives.
Vortex Spring dropped their entry fees to $19.00 and that still includes an air fill. Eduardo is working to dredge sand from the second and third restrictions in the cave and has increased flow. He had a mud wall collapse and left the water a little murky but it seems to be clearing rapidly. After he is finished cavers will be able to go past the restriction without side mounts.
Doc continues his juvenile efforts to take money from the dive operation. He has signs posted downtown offering free diving on “his” property. Some divers take him up on it but the majority is glad to pay for the convenience of the facilities. Some jerks are using it to dive for free and then using the bathrooms and facilities of the spring. I guess he’s trying to ruin their business and cause them to miss a payment so he can foreclose. The restriction of alcohol and enforcement of the rules of behavior have all but cut out the fights and noise. Shane says he will gradually phase in alcohol as the riff-raff stays away. They do enforce keeping swimmers out of the dive area and things are really nice there right now.
All-in-all this was one of our most pleasant training weekends in quite a while. An outstanding bunch of students, outstanding weather, and a relaxed atmosphere left us with a feeling of total success.
We awoke early Saturday morning and another weekend of diving adventure started. The open water students did a fantastic job. Parysa, an aspiring diver, had read her entire book and answered all the questions at the end of every chapter. We took her on a resort course adventure around the springs and fed some fish. It was early and the fish hadn’t been fed all night so they came in droves. She had a fantastic time.
Folks who just came down to dive wanted to go to Morrison so Rick and I carried a group while Niki and MM worked with their students. We lucked out and got to Morrison just before three large classes went in. The water still clear, our folks had a great time. I rode down with Rick and discovered that I left my wetsuit at Vortex. Not to be one who would pass up a dive I donned swimsuit and dive gear and surprisingly enough had a great dive. I actually didn’t get cold until after I got out. I found several nice fossils including a piece of coral that the variety hasn’t been around for millions of years. We ran into PerroneFord trying out some new gear.
We went back to Vortex for the Stress and Rescue dives in the afternoon and Rick started to set up for the level 2 students. Seven candidates endured the grueling rescue experience and all did well but worked up a powerful hunger.
We lit the charcoal at five-thirty and put on about eight packages of sausages. SuprBugMan showed up and helped with the cooking. You know, every one of those sausages was totally devoured within an hour. The grill filled with all kinds of food; steaks and onions and chicken and peppers and pork chops. The now famous Saturday night barbecue was yet another outstanding success.
Sunday was another early start. The rescue candidates performed two scenarios and successfully saved their victims. The level two students located and salvaged some precious lead bullion. The open water students were even more relaxed and did all their skills without flaw. Parysa made her second resort course dive and stroked some eels as they devoured her Vienna’s and the staff even had time for some pleasure dives.
Vortex Spring dropped their entry fees to $19.00 and that still includes an air fill. Eduardo is working to dredge sand from the second and third restrictions in the cave and has increased flow. He had a mud wall collapse and left the water a little murky but it seems to be clearing rapidly. After he is finished cavers will be able to go past the restriction without side mounts.
Doc continues his juvenile efforts to take money from the dive operation. He has signs posted downtown offering free diving on “his” property. Some divers take him up on it but the majority is glad to pay for the convenience of the facilities. Some jerks are using it to dive for free and then using the bathrooms and facilities of the spring. I guess he’s trying to ruin their business and cause them to miss a payment so he can foreclose. The restriction of alcohol and enforcement of the rules of behavior have all but cut out the fights and noise. Shane says he will gradually phase in alcohol as the riff-raff stays away. They do enforce keeping swimmers out of the dive area and things are really nice there right now.
All-in-all this was one of our most pleasant training weekends in quite a while. An outstanding bunch of students, outstanding weather, and a relaxed atmosphere left us with a feeling of total success.
