Descending
Again

PLUS !

Adventures & Training Above and Below the Water!

January 1, 2007 - Annual New Year's Day Dive at BSC Dive (with Chris Mayo)

Despite an adult type celebration for New Year's Eve (the kids were the smart ones, they slept!), I actually carried out my first New Year's resolution - arrive on time for diving.  Chris was already at BSC and I arrived just a few minutes before our 9:00am agreed meeting time.  The shop started filling quickly with Lancaster Scuba divers, enjoying cookies and punch offered by BSC.  Steve was already at Lower A starting the bonfire with wood dampened by Friday's rains.  After an airfill for the planned second dive, Chris and I made our way to Lower A to set up.  The building was open and very toasty by 9:30am.  A small 30,000btu propane heater w/fan absolutely roasted the building with the newly insulated ceiling holding the heat for divers to enjoy.  York Divers arrived around 11:30 with Divers Descent not far behind.

Chris and I hit the water at 10:23am, probably a record for me to gear up and get in (very little bs-ing).  We dropped off the Road to the south in the direction of the stairs, crossed over the pipe and burm and nudged ourselves through the fog just off the bow of the deep cruiser.  I actually brought a light this time which was very helpful in the thick white fog below 85'.  I love this new Princeton Tec Shockwave 3-L.E.D. light.  It runs on four (4) C-cells and has two intensity settings.  We made our way out to the stepvan which was not visible from the rubble pile.  The tanker came next followed by the Barn.  Tibz was disappointed as this was supposed to be his inaugural Barn Run but he was battling sinus congestion and opted for the safer, more comfortable land-based NYD celebration at Lower A.  My camera/strobe was essentially ballast weight today as the fog was so thick it would have looked like Casper the ghost hugging the lens.  Time is taking its toll on the Barn.  It is still intact and upright but the sheet metal sides are disappearing.  We did a careful side-by-side swim through, exiting on the south end.  The swim from the Barn to the south wall was pretty dark and foggy with no references, a fun way to sharpen compass and calmness skills.  We're about 30 minutes run time into the dive when we turned west at the wall and it just opened up; we enjoyed great vis on the run home.  Chris viewed the Chain & Ladder for the first time, laying on the wall at about 74', directly above the Blossom Tree.

Over the next 20 minutes we steadily eased our way up to about 30ffw, off-gassing Chris' seven minute obligation.  I avoided deco entirely with 31% nitrox.  This is a great way to dive the wall, using the visual reference to execute a slow, controlled ascent while enjoying the scenery and getting closer to the exit with every fin kick.  As we crossed the pipe into the Bowl, the dirt started to fly a bit.  We decided to cross the Bowl to avoid the muck, passing the Dolphins and catching a glimpse of York Divers' Christmas Tree.  As we hit the Road, we turned east along the North Wall to swim off a safety stop, crossed over the Road and turned west to return to the Beach at Lower A.  The Lagoon is really spic-n-span now.  This is a great time of year to learn more about the landscape in the dive site to aid in natural navigation when the vis is not so good.

It was a great dive to start the year and a fun tour of the bottom in the fog.  Chris packed up and headed home by noon and I stayed around with Tibz and others enjoying the dive site bs-ing.  Katz arrived about 1:00pm I think and participated in the NYD dive site merriment.  I bailed on the planned second dive, although I offered to accommodate any late comers who wanted to dive.  We had coffee, kielbasa in wine sauce (JB), chili (Lancaster & Hershey), and a few snacks by others.  As the afternoon wore on, a few specs of blue sky sprinkled on the dive site and we enjoyed sitting around the bonfire telling scuba lies.  We were packed up and headed home by 4:30pm.

Here's to a great 2007 season of diving!

10:23am start, 96ffw, 62minutes run time, 31% nitrox

Home | Email |