blobbottlebob
Well-Known Member
(My appologies to anyone who has a Brittany Spears song running through their head).
I went diving late in the day today and drew unwanted attention to myself.
As you know, it gets dark earlier this time of year. I wanted to dive in the morning, but I had an obligation. Then my wife asked me to pick up our son from school. She didn't get home until an hour or so later. I still wanted to rush out to squeeze one tank in. (The opportunites to dive are winding down). When I arrived at the lake, it was already fairly late. There was a pretty sunset coming very soon. No way I was backing out now. I was there. I was ready and I've dived in worse.
Throughout the dive, the ambient light at the bottom gradually decreased. By the end, I could only see slight differences in shades of black between say a rock and the silty bottom. I could, however, see my gages fairly well as they have a luminescence to them. I took my tank down to 500 and called it quits.
It was a nice swim back with calm water and the wonderful fall scent of someone burning leaves along the shoreline. When I approached shore, I immediately saw the trouble. There were emergency flashing lights in the road where I had parked. About a half dozen firemen and a sherif's deouty were waiting for me at shore. Oops.
The very nice people (who let me park at the house) had seen me go out and became worried when I hadn't returned at dusk. They called the police.
I climbed up out of the water and they took my information. I was pleasantly surprised that the firemen very very nice. I appologized several times for making them come out after me. They informed me that they had dragged the body of a diver out of the water from the same property about 15 years ago. I did not know that (and they didn't tell me the name of the person who had died). There were several divers in the group and they asked about what I found and seemed generally pretty knowledgable about bottles. One told me that he had found a hutchinson soda with a paper ticket from a train inside it that dated to the 1890s. Very neat. The sheriff offered to help me with my gear but I told him that I could manage, he didn't need to get all wet and slimey.
Several neighbors had seen the commotion and came out to see if I was allright. (I know many of them from diving there so often). It was nice that everyone was so worried about me, but I do regret that emergency crews were called out (when there could have been a real emergency). Next time, I'll make sure that I have a light with me if I'm out after dark . . .
I went diving late in the day today and drew unwanted attention to myself.
As you know, it gets dark earlier this time of year. I wanted to dive in the morning, but I had an obligation. Then my wife asked me to pick up our son from school. She didn't get home until an hour or so later. I still wanted to rush out to squeeze one tank in. (The opportunites to dive are winding down). When I arrived at the lake, it was already fairly late. There was a pretty sunset coming very soon. No way I was backing out now. I was there. I was ready and I've dived in worse.
Throughout the dive, the ambient light at the bottom gradually decreased. By the end, I could only see slight differences in shades of black between say a rock and the silty bottom. I could, however, see my gages fairly well as they have a luminescence to them. I took my tank down to 500 and called it quits.
It was a nice swim back with calm water and the wonderful fall scent of someone burning leaves along the shoreline. When I approached shore, I immediately saw the trouble. There were emergency flashing lights in the road where I had parked. About a half dozen firemen and a sherif's deouty were waiting for me at shore. Oops.
The very nice people (who let me park at the house) had seen me go out and became worried when I hadn't returned at dusk. They called the police.
I climbed up out of the water and they took my information. I was pleasantly surprised that the firemen very very nice. I appologized several times for making them come out after me. They informed me that they had dragged the body of a diver out of the water from the same property about 15 years ago. I did not know that (and they didn't tell me the name of the person who had died). There were several divers in the group and they asked about what I found and seemed generally pretty knowledgable about bottles. One told me that he had found a hutchinson soda with a paper ticket from a train inside it that dated to the 1890s. Very neat. The sheriff offered to help me with my gear but I told him that I could manage, he didn't need to get all wet and slimey.
Several neighbors had seen the commotion and came out to see if I was allright. (I know many of them from diving there so often). It was nice that everyone was so worried about me, but I do regret that emergency crews were called out (when there could have been a real emergency). Next time, I'll make sure that I have a light with me if I'm out after dark . . .
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