Oops. I did it again.

[blobbottlebob]

Thanks Rocky for the well wishing.

I honestly never thought that I was in any danger. My biggest concern was that a motor boater would come whipping at me and not see me while I was swimming in. But with the cold weather coming on, there's not many people out after dark.

It really is a wonderful scent - the leaves burning. I can still kind-of smell it. I suppose the closest thing there is one of those pig-roast banana leaf barbeques that you do.

 

[rockbot]

ORIGINAL: blobbottlebob

Thanks Rocky for the well wishing.

I honestly never thought that I was in any danger. My biggest concern was that a motor boater would come whipping at me and not see me while I was swimming in. But with the cold weather coming on, there's not many people out after dark.

It really is a wonderful scent - the leaves burning. I can still kind-of smell it. I suppose the closest thing there is one of those pig-roast banana leaf barbeques that you do.

[][]

 

[Gromit0299]

. 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.

I would have worried too, seeing you go out and not knowing if you had returned or not. But I totally understand the embarrassment factor. At least the authorities were nice and understanding. They were probably really happy to not have to deal with the alternative. []

 

[bostaurus]

Oh my goodness. I am glad the folks around there know you well enough to be concerned about you. I am also glad they did not know you well enough to have your wife's phone number!!

 

[blobbottlebob]

I would have worried too

Thanks for your reply Grommit,
I can sympathize with their concern (and again, its nice that people worried about me) but these people have quite a bit of experience with me diving there. I first met them swimming past their house after a dive years and years ago. They asked what I was doing and I told them. They mentioned that there used to be broken glass in the water in front of their house but they had cleaned it up. I know from the many dives there that there was a lot of broken glass at the bottom. I said "Hold that thought", went under and picked up a broken shard. They were very surprised and asked if I could clean out the broken stuff for them so that no-one would get cut while swimming. I told them it was no problem. After that, they told me to park there anytime and use their house as a launching point. Works for me. I have dove from there many many times. My guess is that it is dozens and dozens, maybe hundreds!!

I do appreciate their concern but if they had taken a look at the time, they would have known that I am generally out longer than that. I'm guessing with the swim, a tank takes between an hour and an hour and a half. He probably called as it gets dark - maybe a half an hour into the tank. If he had just waited, he would have seen me return. But again, I can't complain that they were worried about me (so I should stop.[]

 

[blobbottlebob]

I am also glad they did not know you well enough to have your wife's phone number!!

Thank Melinda. They could have figured it out pretty quickly. They knew my licence plate number on my truck. A quick search leads to my name as the registered owner. Another search through a phone number data base, and whammo, phone calls can be made. I'm very very glad they didn't do that. (It probably would have happened except that I returned fairly early in their investigation).

 

[Gromit0299]

ORIGINAL: blobbottlebob

I would have worried too

Thanks for your reply Grommit,
I can sympathize with their concern (and again, its nice that people worried about me) but these people have quite a bit of experience with me diving there. I first met them swimming past their house after a dive years and years ago. They asked what I was doing and I told them. They mentioned that there used to be broken glass in the water in front of their house but they had cleaned it up. I know from the many dives there that there was a lot of broken glass at the bottom. I said "Hold that thought", went under and picked up a broken shard. They were very surprised and asked if I could clean out the broken stuff for them so that no-one would get cut while swimming. I told them it was no problem. After that, they told me to park there anytime and use their house as a launching point. Works for me. I have dove from there many many times. My guess is that it is dozens and dozens, maybe hundreds!!

I do appreciate their concern but if they had taken a look at the time, they would have known that I am generally out longer than that. I'm guessing with the swim, a tank takes between an hour and an hour and a half. He probably called as it gets dark - maybe a half an hour into the tank. If he had just waited, he would have seen me return. But again, I can't complain that they were worried about me (so I should stop.[]

Hee, yes, you should stop [8D]. My husband is cert PADI and in murky water like that, I would worry (then again, I'm a pretty anxious person anyway), but he also hasn't gone diving in awhile either (he's also gone diving way too close to sharks for my comfort). With it getting darker earlier, and the water being murky, I'm sure things can turn on a dime. You could get disoriented in the dark, or freeze, or get eaten by Nessie. []

 

[ktbi]

Thanks for sharing the story Bob. Do you dive with a buddy? I haven't been diving in many years and I know my wife would have skinned me if I dove without a partner. I'd love to get my gills wet again. There are so many rivers spots here in California that haven't been touched underwater. And most places have gold nuggets just covering the river bottom if you can just get past the Indians.......Ron

 

[GEEMAN]

Trouble maker ! LOL

Glad all is well and looking forward to some pics even if they are commons.

 

[blobbottlebob]

You could get disoriented in the dark, or freeze, or get eaten by Nessie.

Thanks again Gromit for your replies.
I am not complaining that people are worried about me. I just wish they would have given it a bit more time before they called for help (if that makes sense).

I realize that diving in the dark sounds scary AND that you should never take risky behaviour too lightly but here is some of my experience. That tank was my 955th logged tank. Assuming for simpllicity that a tank lasts about an hour, I would have about forty days and nights of continuous bottom time if you stacked all of my tanks back to back. Or putting it another way, if I dove eight hours a day every day of the week without coming up, it would take four months to log as much bottom time. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying that I have a great deal of practice at this. That doesn't mean that I always do the smart thing (because I can and do screw up) but I generally never panic when things go wrong and I have received very good training.

As for getting disoriented in the dark, I have a lot of dives in the dark and in dark murky water. Even if you do get turned around, confused, disjointed, - - - as long as you remain calm and reset your bearings, you should be fine.