Dives--2014

[SeaRat]

I am starting a thread for the open water dives in 2014. Please enter any information you wish to do so. I'm using my dive log format, and my Suunto Cobra dive graph, on at least some of these dives (all that I use the computer on). Here's my first dive in Hagg Lake.

Dive Plan:
This dive was made to see whether Hagg Lake was interesting enough to dive multiple times. The dive was made with full gear, consisting of a full wet suit, twin 45s, my Scuba Deluxe Hybrid regulator as my main and my Scubapro AIR I as the alternate. I had my dive flag float and used it for the entire dive. I had my gloves in the float, and decided to use them when my hands got cold as I descended below the thermocline (which is why I surfaced the first time).

Equipment:
Double 45 tanks with the Healthways SCUBA Deluxe Hybrid regulator and the Scubapro AIR I with computer, full wet suit, scoop fins, Dacor mask with the SeawiscopeEY, knife. I also wore my Para-Sea BC and took my dive float/flag.

Plan:
Submerge and see what is there, and evaluate my regulator.

Observations:
Upon getting to the bottom, I found the depth to be about 10 feet, going down a bit. My hands got cold so I surfaced and put on my gloves, then submerged again. I swam out toward the center of the inlet, and found it dropped off rapidly to about 25 feet. The bottom was mud, and it did not have much life except the occasional snail. I noted snail trails in the mud, but they were fewer than in the Clackamas River. After about 20 minutes I decided to surface to see where I was, then started using my compass that was on my Suunto Cobra computer. That worked very well, and I maintained my route in the inlet going toward the top of the inlet. I was hoping to get into clearer water, but that did not happen. Part of the reason to get wet was just to use the Healthways SCUBA Deluxe Hybrid, and see how it functioned. The modified duckbill worked pretty well to keep water out of the exhalation hose when I was head-down, but I did notice a bit of a "gurgle" noise. That indicated that a bit of water made it up into the hose, but not much. It also leaked air a bit when vertical, but that was due to the sensitivity of the regulator and the exhalation using the original Healthways box with the diaphragm exhalation that is located inside the top box. The breathing was really easy though.

Special Problems and Solutions:
This dive was pretty good; there were no real problems. Hagg Lake is almost an hour drive away, so it's further than the Clackamas River at High Rocks. The Clackamas River is also much more interesting, so this will probably be the last dive I make at Hagg Lake. I may bring the canoe up and look more closely to see if I can find someplace bettor to dive though. Equipment wise, everything functioned well with no major problems other than the rust from a winter of inactivity for diving.

[SeaRat]

Dive Site: High Rocks, Clackamas River, 5-31-2014

Dive Plan:
Enter at normal point above High Rocks, drift downstream, and exit at downstream park. I brought my weight belt and float down to the river, then informed the lifeguards of my dive plan after donning my scuba gear.

Equipment
Standard equipment for me is the wet suit (full with boots and gloves), my Para-Sea BC, then the twin 52s with my Mossback Mk3 regulator. I also dove the SeawiscopeEY on my mask. I always dive a helmet with a snorkel, and my dive float/flag.

Dive Observations:
The river is about two feet below last year's water level. It is lower. I observed the sponge which was more developed than usual this year. The current was pretty strong, especially with the dive flag float. It gave me a strong pull when I went under the rapids. I found the deepest was about 25 feet, although my computer registered 26 feet, near the far side of High Rocks. Under the life guard's stand, it was about 22-23 feet. I found a lure, then just downstream of the life guards stand there was a broken tackle box. I opened it slightly underwater, and something bright almost floated out, so I closed it quickly. At one point when carrying the tackle box I got slightly tangled with my float line. I put the tackle box down, then tried to untangle the line from my tanks. This was not successful, so I simply inverted myself and rolled a bit so that the line rolled off my tanks (it's floating line). The areas of the graph are areas where I was holding onto the bottom, or steel rods that were on the bottom, to make observations. Early, I held onto a rock just past the rapids, then released and went deeper. There, I found a school of red-sided shiners, grabed the bottom and waited. They came back to see me, and got really close when I held my breath. Several were turning to their red sides, indicating that they are about ready to mate. I turned loose and went deeper to see how deep it was (about 27 feet according to the graph), then went up and over a huge boulder in the river. Behind the boulder I spotted a dead salmon, decaying in the eddy of the rock. Just downstream were several large-scale suckers, and a few smaller squawfish (northern pike minnows is their new name). I found another lure, and a golf ball and put them in my BC pocket on the Para-Sea BC, but they fell out later in the dive. I surfaced, found that I was not yet to the trail bridge, and went down again. I surfaced again a few minutes later, saw a fisherman and went down again so that I could pass him underwater, towing my float. When I surfaced for the final time, I was at my exit point. I carefully got out, to the point of sitting down, took off my fins, then my mask and helmet, and called to the fisherman to come over. He did, and I showed him the tackle box. We opened it (I had already opened it when I got out) and I told him that the only thing I wanted out of it was the tool that was a combination knife, pliers, screw driver, etc. So I got the new multi-tool, and he got a tackle box filled with fishing gear (I don't fish much). Perhaps I made a friend for other divers too.

On my way back to my car, I encountered a family of three, husband, wife and teenage son. They were divers, and had seen me exit. So we started talking about dive equipment. The husband was surprised, and said that I was old enough to be his dad; I told him that probably not quite, but I was 68 years old. He said he dove a Mistral, and I said that was a really old regulator. But it was the New Mistral, a regulator that some feel was a failure as a double hose regulator. I asked him how he liked the New Mistral, and he said he liked not having the bubbles in his face, but the hoses were a bit buoyant and it free flowed on the surface. I explained that this was normal for the double hose regulator, and explained my Mossback Mk3, float and my doubles. He said that he had given up doubles a few years back, and we talked for about five minutes. They asked about my entry point, and I mentioned it. Finally, I said I needed to get out of my tanks (they were getting heavy) and I still needed to walk about 60 yards to my car. So we parted, and I got out of my gear, then went down and told the lifeguards I was out. The three-some had just checked out my entry trail, and were headed out when I left.

Special Problems and Solutions:

--This was a good dive, and I was pleased with how my right knee responded to the dive situation. I had pain only once, and that was with one movement upon exit. The knee is doing very well, considering.
--I did not enjoy the float and line; it is always a potential tangle source, and I did get tangled once during the dive. But this is the price of the float/line. It is attached to my Para-Sea BC harness, and so if something happens to me I can easily be found. But it is a compromise, one of those necessary things for a solo diver of my age to use. I also explained this compromise to the couple and their son when we taled after the dive.
--The Mossback Mk3 performed very well, but may need a new exhaust duckbill. I heard a bit of gurgling late in the dive on exhalation. But I really enjoy that regulator.
--The snorkel on my helmet almost came off during the dive. I'll need to put another holder on it higher up on the helmet, or the snorkel my disappear during the dive.

[surflung]

- I like this thread SeaRat. It shows the thinking behind preparing for a dive, what goes through your head WHILE you're diving it, and what you learned or accomplished from it. These two are beautiful log book entries. I recognize the thinking from my own dives but I usually don't get it all written down so completely and eloquently as you do... I usually just make a few equipment notes.
- I have a dive from last weekend that I'd like to try writing about. I'll check the dive computer when I get home and try to get it down for insertion here.

[surflung]

Diving the Argonaut Double Hose at Lake Wazee
- Lake Wazee is a mining pit near Black River Falls, WI. It was converted to a County Park dedicated to diving and camping. There are dive entry points around it with parking lots, gear benches, and outhouse facilities.
- Sherwood Forest is one of the dive entry points that has a sandy ridge the extends out and slopes down gradually. On the left side starting at 8-15 ft are fish cribs. Then at 20-25 ft there's a platform and culverts to swim thru. And at 38 feet there is a full sized Chris Craft Launch to explore.
- On the right side of the sandy ridge is a steep slope with lots of trees sticking up. This is why they call it Sherwood Forest. Almost straight out from the entry point, the slope levels out at 68 feet deep, where there is a platform. And from there is a series of rocky ledges leading down to a cliff... I think from there you can go down to 200+ feet.
My Equipment...
- Twin 38 cf Aqualung tanks, prototype Argonaut double hose regulator, 3mm BARE wetsuit, 8 lbs weight belt, vintage style mask and fins. Suunto Zoop. Also, I wear a CO2 inflatable "Swim-It" vest in a pouch on my thigh.
My Dive...
- I was attempting to locate SwimJim Bach and Eric P. who were diving deep technical for training purposes. I dove to the right side of the sandy ridge, down the slope until I got to the platform at 68 ft. Then I followed the rope from ledge to ledge down to 119 ft. Looking over that ledge I could not see them or their flashlights... and it was very dark down there. My buoyancy was a little heavy but totally manageable. I came back up and past the platform to the slope and followed it at 38 ft. The slope was actually the sandy ridge and when it had curved down to my 38 ft. depth, I turned left and swam over it. Continuing about 50 yards, I swam right into the Chris Craft Launch... Which I knew was at 38 ft but I didn't think I'd find it that easy. After exploring that, I made another left and headed past the other platform, concrete culverts, and fish cribs to end my dive back where I had started.
Thoughts and Conclusions...
- Going down thru the trees and over the rocky ledges gave me such a neat sense of flying. My simple vintage gear, buoyancy, and dive plan all contributed to a pleasant, just about totally perfect dive.
- While descending from the platform, I was breathing carefully in case any issues came up with my new Argonaut regulator. And I was testing my ability to swim upward against my increasing negative buoyancy. Also, I tested the rope I was following to see if it was strong enough to pull myself up if I got too heavy.
- I've been getting used to a new 3mm wetsuit and realizing my previous suit was only 2mm (I like the buoyancy characteristics of thinner suits). Anyway, the Argonaut dive was about perfect... a little floaty from 0-25 ft. Almost neutral from 25-60 ft. And only slightly heavy from there down to 119ft.
- My Argonaut is the prototype that was tested extensively by SwimJim Bach... Diving deep in the Carribean, Diving COLD in Lake Michigan, and Ice Diving in Fortune Pond. I found it to be VERY easy breathing and comfortable.
- Finally, when I got back to the dive entry point, I pulled the cord on my Swim-It vest and it inflated perfectly. The Swim-It appears to be an airline emergency flotation vest. It packs nicely in it's pouch and wears out of the way on my thigh. When I'm diving vintage with no BCD, I have instant flotation if and when I need it.

Dive Profile...
- I haven't downloaded my SUUNTO to my computer yet but I'll post the profile when I get it downloaded.

[sitkadiver]

I can't download from my computer, but I started this dive near the surface to film some Moon Jellies and went back to the boat to hand my camera off before descending to 120ft to look for a lost anchor; which I did not find.

Max depth was 128ft.
Bottom time was 24 min.

[SeaRat]

Sitkadiver,

I really enjoyed the video. Those moon jellies must be fun to swim through as long as you have a good suit on which covers everything. Thanks.

Here's my last Tuesday's dives.

First Dive

Dive Plan

Dive the twin 42s with the PJ tanks (twin 42s) and observe aquatic life with the SeawiscopeEY.

Observations

I got into the water and swam across the channel across from the island. High Rocks water levels had dropped again since my last dive. I wanted to see whether the log that has been there for a number of years is still just below the island, but found no log. I went downstream across the current and under the rapid, which actually carried me quite fast toward the surface. Swimming head-down, I attained the bottom and driftedi with the current to deeper waters below the lifeguard stand. There I stayed on the bottom for a while, watching the sculpin. They are very territorial fish, and will challenge my gloved finger if I put it in front of them.

I did a little experiment with them, by watching very closely with my Mossback Mk3 double hose regulator, then switching to my octopus single hose regulator. As soon as I blew the bubbles (exhaled), the sculpin I was watching skedaddled. It was immediate. So I tried the experiment twice more with two more sculpins. The second did not react to the single hose regulator's bubbles. The third hesitated, then left. So while not all the little sculpins were spooked, the first one definitely was.

I watched the bottom, and saw about five deep redds (nests for salmon eggs), then continued downstream. I got to a hole that was about 27 feet deep, which is deeper than I remember before. A lamprey eel was in a rock's eddy, and wedged against another rock. This one looked like it was spawned out, so I left it alone to die in peace. There was a carcus of a salmon, and several other dead lampreys too as I headed downstream.

I came under the shadow of the trail bridge above me, and knew I was getting close to the exit point. I looked at my gauge, and saw it was getting low, and so pulled the reserve rod. The tanks equalized at somewhere over 500 psig. This was an experiment too, as I wanted to see what the gauge graph looked like after I pulled the J-valve. It had been just under 300 psig, and then went up to over 500 psig, but this did not show up on the gauge, or the dive profile.

I started up to the surface when I knew I was near the right rocks, and looked up. There were two ducklings and a female duck on the surface. I chuckled into my mouthpiece seeing the two little duck's feet from below (real duck feet) and the hen's feet pushing water between the ducklings. Slowly I surfaced beside them, and they looked at me and then climbed out of the water onto a rock. I went back down, and they entered the water again, so up I came beside them again. This time they swam downstream, and a goose with three goslings headed downstream too. I think I disturbed their nap.

When I exited, I was surprised at how easy it was with the twin 42s. They are much lighter than my twin 45s, and so getting back up to the car was much easier. I had another tank with my Scubair regulator waiting for a second dive.

Second dive

Plan
Swim hard to empty the single 72, and test the pressure at which I feel the automatic reserve feature of the Healthways Scubair regulator.

This dive was done with a single hose regulator, nothing more, and so there is no record of it with a nice graph. But it was a fun dive. I used my Hammerhead unit to swim rather rapidly, and went upstream after getting into an eddy behind the island to where the river came into the head of the pool. I then turned around, and swam downstream, and across the current. There is that funny, weird upwelling current which again gave me problems. So finally I got through it, and swam into deeper water. Then I attempted to go upstream to my entry point, and almost made it except for that danged upwelling current under the rapids. I could not penetrate that upstream. So I allowed myself to drift downstream, then when I got to deep water started again to swim upstream.

At this point, swimming against about a two knot current, I felt my first breathing resistance. I was at about 20 feet depth, and so ascended slowly to see if it still was resisting, and it was, but not quite so bad. Two breaths later, I surfaced and snorkeled to the shore.

I had to climb up the rocks to get out, and on the way talked with one of the lifeguards whom I had briefed on my dive plans before the first dive. Then I got to the car, got out of my dive gear, and found the rest room.

Special Problems and Solutions

--This was my first dive with my Liberator dive mask after taking the corrective lenses out (LDS did it, actually--they were surprised I still had the original lenses). This black silicone mask works very well in current, and without the correction (especially the bifocals), it's much easier to walk on the rocks with the mask still on my face. The SeawiscopeEY fits this mask well, and works better without the corrections anyway. On the second dive, I dove "slick" without the SeawiscopeEY attachment to the mask.

--The Mossback Mk3 regulator is really nice to use, especially with the twin 42s as it sits in the ideal position between my shoulder blades. I have a USD Calypso octopus, and had it on a clip on my BC, but it kept coming out. So after trying unsuccessfully to tuck it into the octopus pocket (I had this designed into the Para-Sea BC) because of my gloved fingers, I simply looped it behind and between my legs. I read a hilarious account by Bill High of him putting a crab between his legs one time, with dire consequences, but the octopus worked well in this position. I should put it into the octopus pocket prior to the dive and without gloves (hard to feel Velcro with gloves on).

--I got tangled in the float line again on the first dive, and could not get it loose. However, when I got into somewhat shallower water, and rolled an opposite direction, the tangle with my scuba came loose. I solved that problem on the second dive by not using the float.

--The Healthways Scubair regulator worked extremely well on the auto reserve. I found out at home when I hooked up my MR-12 with a gauge that it kicked in at about 500 psig. The restrictor orifice cannot be turned off, and works very well. But it does force the diver to the surface. The second stage was the older Healthways style with the metal exhaust tube, and I had taken one of the two mushroom valve out. I did note that in the inverted position (in that upwelling current I mentioned above) it breathed a bit wet, so I'm going to put the second mushroom valve back in and see how it is. The exhaust is smaller, and therefore has more resistance than later versions, but this did not seem to bother me during the dive.

--When the Scubair was first pressurized, it had just the smallest of leaks. So I ignored it and went diving. Later, the leak went away.

[SeaRat]

I had planned to dive twice today, but decided when I got there to only dive once. The weather was hard overcast, and the river current was higher. I studied the currents and finally understood why in the previous dives I had experienced problems going under the rapids. The current patterns have changed from previous years, and the current is heavier going through the rapid in the middle of the river. WhI immediately ere the river used to simply divide around the island, now more is going to the center area and less to the north side of the island. Also, there is now a heavy back-current both upstream of the rapid and downstream, and this results in boils forming on both sides of the rapids.

Dive Plan

This is a drift dive, but also an observation dive. I have the SeawiscopeEY, and hope to see some things that I haven't seen before. I will dive the float, and have gloves due to the water temperature being rather cold. I was also diving my twin 45 steel cylinders with two regulators. My primary regulator was the Dacor R-4/Clipper that I had reconditioned over the winter, test dove and refined until I decided it was ready for open water. The other regulator was my A.I.R. I, with my Cobra integrated decompression meter and a LP line to my Para-Sea BC.

Observations

Upon entering the river upstream of the rapids, I descended to about 15 feet, and found out I hadn't fastened the helmet chin strap when it started coming off. I reached up and took it off, then fastened it to the equipment strap on my Para-Sea BC. Unfortunately, in doing so, I unknowingly released the loop of line from the float, and when I looked the float and line had disappeared. So I surfaced, located the line and float, and then submerged to reconnect the line loop to my equipment strap. I swam under the rapids, and felt the hard pull the rapids had on my float line. It was like my brother, Bill was pulling hard on the line away from where I wanted to go--it was a tough swim. Finally I dropped to about 25 feet, and found a place where I could put my helmet back on, but to do so I'd need to take off a glove and the current was still tugging at my line. I decided not to put the helmet back on. (Later in the dive, I removed the snorkel and stuck i through my mask strap so I'd have it if needed, but never used it.)

Visibility was poor, so this was a very close-up day I observed the claws of one crawdad, with those little worms. The worms are commensal, located on the two main claws of the crawfish. Crawfish have dominant and non-dominant claws (one is larger than the other), and the dominant claw has more worms than the non-dominant claw. These worms adhered on their large end, and extended into the water to grab things out of the water around the claws. They were constantly waving into the water around the claw--interesting behavior, and I'm curious whether it is documented anywhere. The crawdad itself is interesting to watch, as the second set of legs also have claws, but much smaller than the main claws. These claws are not used for walking, but are constantly probing the bottom under the crawdad and whenever they find something, that something goes directly to the crawdad's mouth. The main claws are for ripping and shredding, while the second set are the feeding claws.

I spotted the red-sided shiners, and followed them for a while. They were not in their spawning colors. I saw some a week ago, and a few had changed to their red sides for spawning. But now they did not show that. Can they change that coloration depending on the water temperatures/conditions?

I went downstream further, and noticed a dead lamprey in a crack between the large rocks. Then I noted a tubular structure, which looked like a worm but was not. Further examination showed it was the intestine of a large, very decayed salmon. Beside it were two dead crawfish. If I were investigating, I would wonder why these two crawdads died? Could there have been a toxin in the salmon that they fed on, or a parasite? Who knows, but it was rather suspicious.

I surfaced, figured that I had passed under the bridge without knowing it (too overcast to see the shadow), and was close to my take-out place. I went back down, got to the rocks and looked at very small invertebrates under the rocks. Then I surfaced again, noted that I needed to go downstream some more, and swam to the rocks from the center of the river. At the rocks, I noted some very small fish fry. I followed them around a rock, and into a large crevice between huge rocks. As I looked, they came into focus and were right in front of my face. Each was less than an inch long, maybe only half an inch, and were almost transparent. I could see their stomachs inside their bodies with the SeawiscopeEY down. These light, almost transparent bodies were in stark relief to the very dark backbround of the shadows of the crevice. As I watched, they were feeding on small detritus in the water. I decided to do a small experiment, and took my mouthpice out then replaced it with my A.I.R. I regulator. My first exhalation caused the fry to retreat way back into the crevice, so after a few breaths I put my Dacor R-4/Clipper mouthpiece back into my mouth. The fry came back, and I watched them for another few minutes.

Then, I was getting cold, my middle finger tip was getting numb, and it was time to exit. Exiting is a process when diving solo, with a float, and so I needed to find a place to sit down on the rocks out of water, remove my mask, replace the snorkel into the helmet, and remove my fins. With all this stuff on my equipment strap, I grabbed the float line, pulled the float to me, put the line into the float and grabbed it. I then got to my knees, and found a rock ledge to support my weight without slipping while I stood up. I had about 50 pounds on my back with the scuba, and 22 pounds on my belt, so this is part of my exercise program to get out. I switched hands with my float so as to have my uphill hand available for handholds on the rock, then climbed the 75-100 feet up to the road. The first part of this climb was on rock and dirt trails, then to the paved trail leading up to the parking area.

Finally, I was there and met a gal who had watched me diving and exiting. We talked for a while, then I went to the car. As I was getting out of the gear, several young people came by and one talked with my for a few minutes. She was in a Portland State University environmental degree, and knew what I was talking about when I told her about observing insect nymphs under the rocks. Their class had just completed a project involving looking at insect nymphs in the waters. I told her about my dive in Hagg Lake, which was essentially dead below about ten feet, and she asked what was the reason. I didn't know, and she suggested that the oxygen levels were low in that part of the lake. Apparently, they are looking at draining the lake to try to get rid of that oxygen-poor water.

Special Problems and Solutions

--I didn't connect that neck strap on my helmet; that's a first. I need to double-check that next time.
--The float is a continuing problem, and I think I'll replace the line with a longer one. I have a section of tubular nylon on the end that I attach to, which doesn't float. I needed a longer line last year, and that was my solution. I think that is contributing to my getting tangled in the line, so I'll replace it with a longer polypropylene line that floats. That should help the situation.
--The Dacor R-4/Clipper regulator is pretty good, but not as good as my Mossback Mk3. All my work last winter on this regulator proved worthwhile, as it is a viable working regulator. The hoses are yellow reproduction UDS hoses on the Dacor mouthpiece, and are not really long enough. I had detuned it a bit with the Dial-a-Breath feature so it would not free flow, and that was a great way of ensuring it is tuned the way I like it. I have no non-return mushroom valve in the intake wagonwheel, as it is smaller than the USD valve, and therefore the breathing is great. But I needed to really work with it last winter to get the levers set correctly to get this breathing, which probably hurt this regulator in the Navy Experimental Diving Unit tests, as they don't do anything to the regulators when they test them. This regulator never did pass the Navy EDU tests.

[JES]

Thank you SeaRat, Surflung, and Sitkadiver for sharing your dives with us.

I wish I had some 2014 dives to share. Regretfully, a second recent foot surgery within seven months of the first one has forced me to remain on dry land for a while.

Hopefully more Vintage Scuba members will share their experiences so that we can share in their adventures as well.

[Linda]

Joe, I hope you recover quickly and can get back in the water soon!

[SeaRat]

Jun 15, 2014 20:20:26 GMT -8 JES said:

Thank you SeaRat, Surflung, and Sitkadiver for sharing your dives with us.

I wish I had some 2014 dives to share. Regretfully, a second recent foot surgery within seven months of the first one has forced me to remain on dry land for a while.

Hopefully more Vintage Scuba members will share their experiences so that we can share in their adventures as well.

Joe,

Hopefully, your surgery will be healed and you will be up and diving soon. In the meantime, get some good books to read. I'd like to recommend:

The Fireside Diver, An Anthology of Diving Adventure by More Than 20 of the Best Writers On & Under the Sea
Edited by Bonnie Cardone
Aqua Quest Publications, Inc.
New York
1992

So sit by your fireplace, or someplace comfortable, read and enjoy. I'll continue to post my dives as I do them. My next will probably be next week.

John

[SeaRat]

Dive: High Rocks on the Clackamas River, Oregon

Dive Plan:

To dive the river, at the usual spot, then go downstream into the deeper hole. I would simply be observing with the SeawiscopeEY, and enjoying the dive.

Observations:
I dove without my gloves for the first time, and I actually wish I had the gloves as the water temperature was cooler than I thought (57 degrees F). I dove my float, and took more care to handle the line rather than simply let it trail me (which is why I think I got tangled in earlier dives). This actually worked pretty well. I found a fishing plug about six inches long, put it into my BC pocket, and continued down.

I decided to go around a couple of times, and went upstream to the area where the current circled around to the rapid, then went downstream again. I bottomed out at about 26 feet, and watched a crawdad for a while. I again see these worms on its claw (it only had one main claw), but not on the other claws). I swam to the far side of the river, and explored the cliff area where people usually jump off (no one was there yet when I began). I also examined the sand around rocks for life, and under rocks (where many insect larva reside).

I only saw one red-side shiner, several large-scale suckers, and a couple of northern pike minnows. I did not see much fry, but did see a couple of fingerlings of either salmon or steelhead. I found a couple of golf balls in the debris, but the current dragged me away. I swam back, towing the float behind me, and got four balls.

I surfaced to get my bearings, and found I was close to the bridge. So I descended again, and almost got vertigo going down as I lost sight of both the surface and bottom because of the river's depth (24 or so feet). The current had twisted my body on descent, so it was difficult to determine where I was until I sighted the bottom. I got to the bottom and just stayed there until I could determine the current direction (I hadn't oriented myself to my compass when on the surface).

I swam to the north side of the river, then went under the bridge. I noted that my Mossback Mk3 was leaking air on exhalation, and experimented with my orientation. When I was in normal swimming position, it leaked slightly. When I went upright, it stopped; same if I turned on my right side. So my exhalation duckbill is a bit short.

I headed for the area I had seen the small fry on my last set of dives, and was looking for that crevice when suddenly there was an explosive sound right next to me. I thought perhaps an O-ring had given way, and I was loosing my air supply (from the twin 52s with the cross-over manifold). Then I noticed a large rock near my right hand on the bottom, and a mud plumb. I heard another bang, and another rock came down to the bottom. Someone was throwing rocks at me! And the first one was really huge (about a foot in diameter), making a large concussion when it hit. This hasn't happened to me since I was diving in the Little North Fork of the North Santiam River in the 1960s, but then I was at 20 feet depth, and the rock was dropped off a bridge. Here I was only about five feet underwater, and the concussion sounded like an explosion. I moved off quite quickly downstream, and surfaced about 75 feet away (far enough to be out of throwing range of whomever was throwing large rocks). I surfaced, and started getting out of my fins. The fisherman, a guy in his 20s without a shirt, was sitting where I had experienced the rock concussion. I said it was not nice to throw rocks, and he said "Thank you for moving." Wow! Well, that guy wasn't getting the $10 fishing plug I had found (I sometimes give away fishing gear I find).

Special Problems and Ideas:
--I told the lifeguards above after my second dive that this guy had thrown rocks at me while I was underwater. The lifeguard's response: "What a jerk!" He could not do anything, and I didn't feel like confronting the guy with about 70 pounds of gear on (no balsa wood tanks on my back).
--Minding the line prevented any tangles today with the float line.
--I really love the SeawiscopeEY for observing small things.
--Take my gloves for the next dive; probably need them until August this year.
--The Mossback Mk3 is a wonderful regulator, and I'm really enjoying using the Suunto Cobra dive computer. The graph really reminds me of what I've done on the dive.

John

[diverdon]

Wow, John! What a jerk indeed. I hope that guy contributes well to your future gear collection. Like his whole rod and reel. Guys like that need a kick in the you know what as well as a little bad juju (karma).
Glad you're able to get out and dive! Keep up the posts too.

Don

[surflung]

4th of July Vintage Dive

- With a house full of holiday guests, my son from Colorado says, "Hey Dad, let's go diving!". Pretty soon I was sweating like a pig putting together dive gear for FOUR DIVERS.
- We piled it all in the cars and drove to the public beach where the visibility is 20+ feet. Strapped on our tanks and double hoses with just masks and fins... No wet suits.
- I towed the float and tried to keep an eye on three enthusiastic young men swimming off in all directions. It's fun to know that I introduced all three of them to diving with my Vintage gear over the past few years. AND... I have enough gear to outfit four guys! AND... They all still want to go diving with an old fart like me!
- We dove beyond the weed line 16-25 feet deep... Went about 25 minutes until the first one ran out of air with one of my 38s. Then the second one ran out with one of my 50s as we were swimming in. Didn't bother them at all of course... Because they're VINTAGE Divers!

[diverdon]

Nice! (except the pig part:-)

Don

[sitkadiver]

Jul 7, 2014 6:55:45 GMT -8 surflung said:

4th of July Vintage Dive
View Attachment
- With a house full of holiday guests, my son from Colorado says, "Hey Dad, let's go diving!". Pretty soon I was sweating like a pig putting together dive gear for FOUR DIVERS.
- We piled it all in the cars and drove to the public beach where the visibility is 20+ feet. Strapped on our tanks and double hoses with just masks and fins... No wet suits.
- I towed the float and tried to keep an eye on three enthusiastic young men swimming off in all directions. It's fun to know that I introduced all three of them to diving with my Vintage gear over the past few years. AND... I have enough gear to outfit four guys! AND... They all still want to go diving with an old fart like me!
- We dove beyond the weed line 16-25 feet deep... Went about 25 minutes until the first one ran out of air with one of my 38s. Then the second one ran out with one of my 50s as we were swimming in. Didn't bother them at all of course... Because they're VINTAGE Divers!

"Hey Dad, Let's go diving" - You raised him right Sir.

Thanks for the great dive report