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Our Santa Rosa NM Dive-In...


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#1 DandyDon

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Posted 26 April 2004 - 08:12 PM

All in all, things went well, it was a qualified success, and I think a good time was had by each. It was funny, though, how easy it was to miss people in a tiny town, in a small parking lot, or even a really tiny sinkhole!

Informal as the weekend was laid out by mutual agreement, here’s the directions I posted for others to avail as desired:

Okay, Jer & I are going up Friday night, and we'll hit the Hole starting at 8am for 2 or 3 dives. If the weather is as nice as it has been lately, we'll take the back road round around the construction and park on the lot right in front of the Hole. Bring a thermos of DeCaf or Hot Chocolate for after diving. Look for a white, extended cab Chevy pickup with a Texas Flag and an Alpha flag:

http://www.lsjunction.com/flag.htm

http://www.boat-ed.c...erequipment.htm

If it's cold, we may take the first entrance and park near Greg’s heater, but it looks promising.

If you're arriving Saturday morning, please try to meet up with us by 11am there, and rent some filled tanks & weights from Stella for the after lunch Perch Lake diving.

We'll plan on lunch at the diner on the corner across from Town Lake - about 12, not later than 12:30pm. Refill your thermos at the convenience store up the street, then - we'll head out to Perch for a diver or two. If you rent 2 tanks, but only do 1 dive, turn them back into Stella, and she'll owe you a fill in the morning. I want to be in bed, napping off the nitrogen load by mid-afternoon or so, as I wouldn't want to be the first grownup to leave the party.

Dinner is a 7pm in the back part of Josephs, order your own, followed by dancing. And remember The Code: "Whatever happens on a Dive Trip stays there." Yeah, right - we'll never tell. 

More fun dives Sunday morning, but don't forget to hydrate well. And, bring a golf ball for the idol...


I worried about this working out: “Hardly anyone involved has ever chowed in a mess hall, but how much can I do…?!” Enough or not, I left it at that, and it worked out okay…

JER & I closed our respective stores early on Friday, headed out over the High Plains & Gullies, and got there without incident this time about sundown, delighted to learn that CYN was already there. In fact, as we unloaded and checked gear, she joined us in our smoking suite with a choice of beers. Talk about your top-notch dive trips buddies!! We did a quick tour of Joseph’s, grabbed a snack, then turned in for early reveille.

Turn out went well Saturday morning, and we were renting tanks and filling my pony by, or about, 8am alright. BB, a veteran of many mess halls, even met us as we pulled into park, and JER & I were soon sharing the joys off warm water down the back of a wet suit with BB & CYN. Next, into The Hole for Dive 1, which quickly turned into a dive into the dark pit. I don’t know if AOW students had been hitting the bottom hard already that morning, or if the haze was left from night dives before, but it was murky. I get a kick out of such challenges, first enjoying a mystic feeling, then stretching to see how well I can do under the conditions, but it was not our first choice. Nonetheless, it was a dive, and we had fun – as much as one can have diving in the five corners area. BB & I both had golf balls, mine personalized but his dedicated to his recently departed Dad, but neither of us found The Idol on the first dive; next time!

JER had encountered an equipment challenge that I think we’ve all experienced if we think back, and I found him looking sheepish on the side when I surfaced: “Got my deflate and inflate buttons confused, and blimped to the surface.” A quick discussion with his buddy CYN, and we decided that even though Padi disagrees with some other agencies and entities, they should go back for a Safety Stop, and they did. After we finally all got back to the pickup, I ran a few diver-to-diver tests by JER, and his mind & reflexes all seemed intact, so we waited & watched for possible change. No more problems.

CM and DF had worried about getting thru Colorado’s winter storms, but we finally found each of them, working with their respective classes and unable to play. My computer almost cleared all Nitro bubbles on the long following Surface Interval, as TG encountered some delays that morning, but she finally arrived with her bubble watching friend, CAT, and they drove right to our pickup with the only Texas & Alpha flags on site.. All right! Two more lovelies to flirt with on the SIs!! We got TG tanked & weighted, introduced her to a warm water back, and were back in the by 11:23am.

Not only murky, but crowded now by all of the students and teachers, we tried to stick together as we descended thru the herds, but soon it was Same Hole, Same Day diving, with everyone just trying to watch for anyone with problems. Down, around, and around, and easy up and out. Back at the pickup, I shared that I never found The Idol, so I just stuck my ball in a crevice. CYN responded that she found one on the floor that made her want to cry in her mask: “R.I.P. Dad – I carried it up and put it with The Idol.” Seemed that BB found the spot, but had dropped his ball, and was sad at not finding it – until he heard CYN’s story!! Super! But TG’s tank was still full…?

In a newly rented 6 mil Farmer John suit, she’d tried to descend with 20#, but couldn’t. After we got split up by the crowd, she’d turned back and waited for us back at the truck. “I’m okay, TG, I’ve got 1200# left, and my pony.” I explained. “Get six more from Stella and I’ll go back with you!”

I held her hand as we descended thru the crowd this time, and we got down okay. I was mindful of my 18 minute SI after a full green load, but I had plans for slow, safe ascents, deco if needed, and was playing it safe. I turned lose of TG on the bottom, pointed my light at the graves, then looked back for her, and around, and up! “No, Don! No fast chases up. Get to her when you can carefully.” She got control halfway up, okay, we met up, and I held on for the rest of the dive, short stops, safety stop, and all. Still had one bubble of yellow when I got out, but felt fine. Everyone had faired well in the 62 degree water, but I was happy that everyone felt like a long lunch before The Lake.

When we got to Perch Lake, I ran into KEV & his bud, who’d been looking for me earlier at The Hole. “KEV, how may Texas & Alpha flags did you see there? Well, it’s good to see you; sorry we missed lunch together. How’s The Lake, and where is that plane, anyway?” They were already removing their dry suits when we arrived, but they stayed to watch us stride in, for some reason? “I think they want to here us scream when we hit water.”

Five divers made it to the plane okay, but CYN & TG quickly decided that 56 degrees was too much and turned back to the dock, (see: http://www.singlediv...st=0 ) and JER the chronic gentleman followed them in, leaving BB & me to look for the car. We found it, the ridge, the current – which was odd feeling for a lake, but the spring runs in, out – before deciding that 50 degrees in the flow was too much even for our preparations.

With gear set to dry hither and yon in the rooms, we five disappeared into the same rooms for Siesta, until someone finally passed the word room to room that we had 15 minutes before we were going to be late at Joseph’s, so we rushed around, and we got there soon enough. CM was dining with her students, but joined us in the bar for a nice chat as we waited for our’s. They had to go back for a night dive, though, and – although we’d invited everyone else in the parking lot, all the other classes had been banned from our party by their instructors. Prudent calls, I suppose, but some fun could have been had? Oh well…

BB & JER got the ladies drinks, I got their suppers, and we compared dive tales from the day, from Cozumel together, from BB & me in Key Largo, and it was still a nice time. General Patton here was the only one to get to sleep sober before midnight, though; you’ll have to ask them about their deals…?

KEV had returned to Albuquerque for the night, planning on coming back early to dive in the morn with his young daughter, PENGUIN FRIEND, and I didn’t want to keep them waiting. The other four went to breakfast, and I returned to The Hole with out needing to buy air again - having three nearly full tanks from a quick trip to The Lake’s plane. I did locate KEV and his charge okay, but then we missed each other at dive time; how we do that amazes me. I thought they’d given up on me and gone in, so I set out to search, and finally – they came in searching for me. More technology needed…

Warm so-longs said here and there, and we split up for our homes until we can do it again. Who knows what will happen next time?

Bottomless Lakes, New Mexico – May 15, 16.

Edited by DandyDon, 26 April 2004 - 08:19 PM.

What would Patton do...? Posted Image

Yeah I know: I've been branded a non-group person - doesn't play well with others. I am so upset. Posted Image Let me know if you want to have some fun, without the drama - I'm good for that.

#2 coppermaus

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Posted 27 April 2004 - 11:05 AM

Good report, Don! Nice to hear what alla y'all were doing over the weekend, since I didn't get to spend much time with you. The night dive did go on for a while, so by the time we all got back to Joseph's ready for some dancing, y'all were already gone :teeth: and nobody was on the dance floor at all. Jessie, who was finishing up her DM cert on her last trip to Santa Rosa, and I got out there and got things rolling, and pretty soon other people were out there shaking it. ;) Kept hoping y'all were coming back, but I s'pose our schedules were just out of sync.

The night dive was interesting - have y'all done any night dives there? The AOW students did well with the exercises, though neutral bouyancy on their first night dive ever was a little challenging. Looking at the glowing red eyes of the crawfish was pretty cool, as they tried to escape the blinding light of our flashlights. It was the first dive I have gotten to lead for my DM cert, so I'm getting into the interesting stuff now and thus pretty close to completion - maybe this fall! Depends on how tough I can be, cuz the bad news is: even with my new wetsuit and hood, I FROZE MY EVERYTHING OFF. After the night dive I was in bad shape, shivering violently, hands frozen, couldn't talk for a while. Not good. Believe me, I'm willing to shred my hair to stay warm, but it still didn't work (staying warm, that is; hair shredding worked fine). I'll have to bring the thermos of hot water next time and see if that carries me through DM cert. Dunno if instructor will ever happen.

After getting cold I decided not to get back in the water on Sunday at all, instead getting some surface requirements done, like watching the meandering bubbles of AOW students doing navigation exercises in Park Lake. As a result I missed all the excitement of the woman getting carried off in the ambulance - were y'all around when that happened? I heard that some people were doing rescue exercises and told everyone at the Blue Hole to ignore any cries for help, so when this lady came to the surface screaming, everyone thought she was acting and ignored her for a while. Bad practice!

Anyway, good trip overall. It was really great to meet you, Don! And Jerry and Gar, and Cyn, TG and Cathy. Too bad we didn't get to cut the rug all up, but it was fun to talk with everyone and put names with faces and voices (and accents :teeth:) And the icing on the cake was spending Sunday night and most of yesterday at a hot springs in the Sangre de Cristo mountains on the way home. Finally got warmed up again! :teeth: If I'd had a tank I would've gone diving in the hot spring, but even the snorkeling was fun. Now that's my kind of temperature!

:D
coppermaus

#3 WreckWench

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Posted 27 April 2004 - 01:11 PM

Depends on how tough I can be, cuz the bad news is: even with my new wetsuit and hood, I FROZE MY EVERYTHING OFF. After the night dive I was in bad shape, shivering violently, hands frozen, couldn't talk for a while. Not good. Believe me, I'm willing to shred my hair to stay warm, but it still didn't work (staying warm, that is; hair shredding worked fine).

Hey girl...can't let you freeze to death! I'll have to have you try some of the new stuff from our new corporate sponsor...check out www.HighTideGear.com and you'll get a glimpse of some GREAT accessories designed for keeping you warm. I know they work...they keep me warm so I know they are great!!! More to follow soon!!! -ww

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#4 zendiver

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Posted 27 April 2004 - 01:41 PM

FANTASTIC trip report Don....I wish I could have been there....

-ZD
[color=blue]Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body;
But rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--"WOW--What a ride!"

#5 jjrichardson

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Posted 27 April 2004 - 01:46 PM

OK, now I understand what happened to you.
It was good to meet you too.
Glad you could make it. More dives = more fun.
Jerry

#6 coppermaus

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Posted 27 April 2004 - 01:51 PM

Hey girl...can't let you freeze to death!  I'll have to have you try some of the new stuff from our new corporate sponsor...check out www.HighTideGear.com and you'll get a glimpse of some GREAT accessories designed for keeping you warm. I know they work...they keep me warm so I know they are great!!! More to follow soon!!!  -ww

Thanks for the info, WW. I'll ck it out. Right now I'm thinking I should've listened to Lubold and CT's advice to go dry. Doh!
coppermaus

#7 jextract

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Posted 27 April 2004 - 02:42 PM

Great report, you guys! Thanks so much for sharing!!
"Because I accept the definition, does not mean I accept the defined." -- ScubaHawk
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#8 DandyDon

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Posted 27 April 2004 - 03:16 PM

I think I forgot to mention how nice the weather was Saturday & Sunday - which was a wonderful surprise after the previous storm had shut down hiways in Colorado with snow & ice, as well as in New Mexico from blowing sand. Could not have been more beautiful over the weekend...!


Coppermaus, since you were cold in that lovely weather, in the 62 degree hole - you really need to get a dry suit. Everyone is different with thermal needs, women burn less air generally therefore create less heat, and good divers burn less and create less, so - it'll just get worse.
What would Patton do...? Posted Image

Yeah I know: I've been branded a non-group person - doesn't play well with others. I am so upset. Posted Image Let me know if you want to have some fun, without the drama - I'm good for that.

#9 Walter

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Posted 27 April 2004 - 03:26 PM

I'm sorry I missed it. It sounds like everyone had fun.

'Maus,

I would have waited up to dance with ya.
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#10 Blublood

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Posted 27 April 2004 - 06:31 PM

Walter....Always the gentleman :dance: it was nice meeting everyone sorry we left eary cooper but TG Cat and I waited around for you and figured you werent coming. As I had to drive over the pass in the morning and wasnt going to be diving the night was mine and I was ready to go.....LOL....It's been awhile since I could honestly say that. Anyway, was a good time I sincerely thank Cyn for finding my golfball...I was telling the story about losing it and she pops up and says she found it a 85 feet and read it so took it to the golfball idol and put it in. WAY TO GO CYN!!!! Gotta love it. she had no idea it was mine. Something specia about divers...

Hey Jer....Great pic! Looks just like you....Folks, Doesn't he look like he should be, with a thick German acccent, saying "You're papppers please" ...Doen't he????
Well he does in in person also.

Good time by all and looking forward to diving with more and more of you EVERY chance I get!
“There is no more unhappy thing than a man who has accomplished all his ends in life.â€




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