Our friend Rod gave a very thorough presentation on scooters, which lasted about 45 minutes. We got into everything - how they are powered, care and maintence, how to operate them safely, and much more. After the presentation we put on wetsuits and masks and scootered around on the surface to get the feel for them. I also did a few "breath hold" dives with the scooter to get a feel for using it underwater. I tried out two different tow-behind type scooters, then tried the type that you actually ride on. It was like riding a giant torpedo with a back rest. Rod's an engineer by trade, so one of his scooters was customized, and included a mounted compass and dive computer, and headlights on either side of the scooter. I told him he needs to patent the thing and sell it!
After deciding that I liked the Farralon Mark III the best, I did a scooter dive in full scuba gear. It normally takes at least 35 minutes to swim around the perimeter of this quarry; With a scooter it took me about 12 minutes! I guess I'm a lead-foot (lead finger? ) underwater, too! HA HA. After a 20 minute dive, I noticed it had started to rain. By the time I surfaced it had really started to storm, so I exited the quarry and we all took shelter. After about 10 or 15minutes, the rain went away and the sun came back out (that's Ohio weather for ya!). After some snacks and a surface interval, I did a second dive, then we called it a day after that.
Karen was a bit concerned about the visibilty, so she opted for a "ride-along" where another diver controlled the scooter and she just held on for the ride. I think our friend Bob enjoyed himself as much as she did- he seemed to like having a her as a passenger!
We stopped at a local farm market on the way home and bought some nice locally grown produce, then dined on some grilled brats and roasted sweet corn, yummy stuff!
All in all, it was one of the coolest dive experiences I've had so far.
Take care all,
Laura
Mishelle
