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September 3rd, 2007, 07:54 PM
I tried to book us a charter boat to the Oriskany, down in Pensacola, but they said no because my stepdaughter emily is a junior diver; never mind she dives better than her mom who's been 3 times and pushed it to the flight deck every time. hmmm, maybe that's why; the seed doesn't fall far from the tree and the thought of two of em on board at the same time....well, Mermet Springs said come on out and dive, so we did.
Emily brought her nondiving friend Lilly and with full truck load we hit the road early sunday morning and were sinking below the surface by 11:00am. It was an easy dive, a family-friendly dive, with a modest plan to follow the line from one interesting submerged playground to another, staying warm, and going slow.
The viz was ok, about 25 feet mostly, sometimes a bit less, sometimes more. I could see that deeper it darkened and cleared, but the thermocline was a barrier to our 3mm wetsuits and dive plan, so we dropped into it only briefly, just for the goosebumps.
We followed the line backward, entering at the swimming area, dropping onto the bucket and giving ok's all around. Lilly, in life jacket and snorkel gear above us, signalled ok too, and off we went to the School Bus. Kimpi entertained us by pretending to drive, then crashing, and we all filed down the aisle to exit out the back.
Next we visited the petting zoo, where after petting the animals Kimpi and Emily got a phone call on the public phone in the booth. Waving goodbye we swam on and under a platform, then rose up to it and there we found two divers feeding the fish. Bluegill darted everywhere in a rush, while big lazy albino and blue catfish swam like velvet, parting the water as if it stepped aside for them; bluegill swim into water, pushing it aside hurriedly.
The big fish were not good to Emily. She back-pedalled and made the sign of the cross to them, as if they were vampires. The bluegill made her laugh as they came up to inspect her mask. I turned to take some video and signalled Kimpi to swim off along the line and she took off. I then signalled Emily to follow, but she signalled for her mom to return, then looked at me with the problem sign, pointed to her tank. I did not understand and repeated my signal for her to follow her mom. She looked back and forth, not moving and a bluegill filled the screen and I stopped the video and swam to Kimpi.
Her tank was loose from her BC, so I pushed it back in and tightened the strap.
On the next platform an alligator attacked a bulldozer, eating the operater, then suddenly the bulldozer turned and ran over the alligator again and again; the toys shifted hands and we played like children in a sandpile. Then the music played and we stood up, vertical, and danced beneath the sea, in the octopuses garden....
We swam on and found a line that went nowhere. The yellow polypropylene disappeared in the green void. I smiled. I like the green void and turned to follow the line. It sank deeper as it lengthend, as the darkness enveloped us and the chill turned to shivers. Kimpi signalled cold and rose, Emily soon followed, while I continued on. They followed my rising bubbles, showered in the champagne feel of them, buoyed by their lifting, and delighted in popping them with one finger as they rose to meet their division.
I too rose up and joined my wife and stepdaughter, keeping one eye on the bright yellow line below and before long the white blobness of the cockpit of the 727 became visible. At the line on the nose, we dropped down and played around and there, written above the cockpit doorway, was "Skip." Kimpi pointed at it and then me and yes I confess I had long ago scratched my name above the door. I was and am a bit ashamed at this bit of vanity, but at the time it seemed like everyone was doing, the names are everywhere, so I did too.
We entered the door, Emily deflating a bit of air and entering without touching a thing, turning ninety degrees, and gently frog-kicking into the body of the plane. I turned and signalled Ok, she returned it and her mother, Kimpi, signalled she was too cold and turned to exit. Emily and I swam on and up through the old plane, then exited outside about mid-ships, turned and swam outside back to Kimpi, waiting on the cockpit line, up a ways, in the warm water.
We had lost Lilly, but did not worry. We knew we would. Bubble-following on a day with so many divers would not last long, and sure enough she lost track of us. The plan was for her to return to the swim area, but she encountered the staff before she made it back and they required her to exit the water and walk around, rather than swim back without a buddy. Next time Lilly will join us under the water as a certified junior diver.
It was time to end the dive and Kimpi gave the thumbs up, but I signalled wait, let's swim back to shore at 20 feet, rather than just stay on the line and then do a surface swim. All agreed we swam, following the compass course and as the minutes ticked off my computer and found a muddy rocky embankment we stopped to finish the safety stop. We then rose up and did the short swim to the shore, in the swim area, and walked out of the water to greet Lilly who told us of her run-in with the authorities. We smiled and said good going, great dive, we all had fun.
We then de-geared, logged the dive, had some lunch, and planned the rest of our day.
Thanks Mermet Springs. Over the years you have added some great times, great memories, of diving with my family and this labor day weekend trip was one of the best. Thanks, again.
-skip
Emily brought her nondiving friend Lilly and with full truck load we hit the road early sunday morning and were sinking below the surface by 11:00am. It was an easy dive, a family-friendly dive, with a modest plan to follow the line from one interesting submerged playground to another, staying warm, and going slow.
The viz was ok, about 25 feet mostly, sometimes a bit less, sometimes more. I could see that deeper it darkened and cleared, but the thermocline was a barrier to our 3mm wetsuits and dive plan, so we dropped into it only briefly, just for the goosebumps.
We followed the line backward, entering at the swimming area, dropping onto the bucket and giving ok's all around. Lilly, in life jacket and snorkel gear above us, signalled ok too, and off we went to the School Bus. Kimpi entertained us by pretending to drive, then crashing, and we all filed down the aisle to exit out the back.
Next we visited the petting zoo, where after petting the animals Kimpi and Emily got a phone call on the public phone in the booth. Waving goodbye we swam on and under a platform, then rose up to it and there we found two divers feeding the fish. Bluegill darted everywhere in a rush, while big lazy albino and blue catfish swam like velvet, parting the water as if it stepped aside for them; bluegill swim into water, pushing it aside hurriedly.
The big fish were not good to Emily. She back-pedalled and made the sign of the cross to them, as if they were vampires. The bluegill made her laugh as they came up to inspect her mask. I turned to take some video and signalled Kimpi to swim off along the line and she took off. I then signalled Emily to follow, but she signalled for her mom to return, then looked at me with the problem sign, pointed to her tank. I did not understand and repeated my signal for her to follow her mom. She looked back and forth, not moving and a bluegill filled the screen and I stopped the video and swam to Kimpi.
Her tank was loose from her BC, so I pushed it back in and tightened the strap.
On the next platform an alligator attacked a bulldozer, eating the operater, then suddenly the bulldozer turned and ran over the alligator again and again; the toys shifted hands and we played like children in a sandpile. Then the music played and we stood up, vertical, and danced beneath the sea, in the octopuses garden....
We swam on and found a line that went nowhere. The yellow polypropylene disappeared in the green void. I smiled. I like the green void and turned to follow the line. It sank deeper as it lengthend, as the darkness enveloped us and the chill turned to shivers. Kimpi signalled cold and rose, Emily soon followed, while I continued on. They followed my rising bubbles, showered in the champagne feel of them, buoyed by their lifting, and delighted in popping them with one finger as they rose to meet their division.
I too rose up and joined my wife and stepdaughter, keeping one eye on the bright yellow line below and before long the white blobness of the cockpit of the 727 became visible. At the line on the nose, we dropped down and played around and there, written above the cockpit doorway, was "Skip." Kimpi pointed at it and then me and yes I confess I had long ago scratched my name above the door. I was and am a bit ashamed at this bit of vanity, but at the time it seemed like everyone was doing, the names are everywhere, so I did too.
We entered the door, Emily deflating a bit of air and entering without touching a thing, turning ninety degrees, and gently frog-kicking into the body of the plane. I turned and signalled Ok, she returned it and her mother, Kimpi, signalled she was too cold and turned to exit. Emily and I swam on and up through the old plane, then exited outside about mid-ships, turned and swam outside back to Kimpi, waiting on the cockpit line, up a ways, in the warm water.
We had lost Lilly, but did not worry. We knew we would. Bubble-following on a day with so many divers would not last long, and sure enough she lost track of us. The plan was for her to return to the swim area, but she encountered the staff before she made it back and they required her to exit the water and walk around, rather than swim back without a buddy. Next time Lilly will join us under the water as a certified junior diver.
It was time to end the dive and Kimpi gave the thumbs up, but I signalled wait, let's swim back to shore at 20 feet, rather than just stay on the line and then do a surface swim. All agreed we swam, following the compass course and as the minutes ticked off my computer and found a muddy rocky embankment we stopped to finish the safety stop. We then rose up and did the short swim to the shore, in the swim area, and walked out of the water to greet Lilly who told us of her run-in with the authorities. We smiled and said good going, great dive, we all had fun.
We then de-geared, logged the dive, had some lunch, and planned the rest of our day.
Thanks Mermet Springs. Over the years you have added some great times, great memories, of diving with my family and this labor day weekend trip was one of the best. Thanks, again.
-skip