Fortune Dive Report June 24th
Jun 29, 2023 12:43:06 GMT -8
SeaRat, broxton coalition, and 3 more like this
Post by surflung on Jun 29, 2023 12:43:06 GMT -8
Fortune Dive Report June 24th
- After an 8 hour drive, we arrived at Fortune Pond Thursday afternoon the 22nd. It was about 95 degrees and beautiful weather but awfully hot. I was late taking my pain meds from a couple of tooth extractions so I swallowed that with a little water and we sweated like crazy getting suited up. A young guy drove up and asked if he could dive with us and we said yes... of course. Ron was already in the water. And we got in a short dive for being fairly pooped from driving all day. I was a little light headed from the heat and meds.
- We got pizza from "Kermits" which is a little bar and grill in what looks like a differnt town on top of the hill.
- Friday morning dawned sunny and calm. Ron already had one dive done by the time Rich and I got to the Pond. Our Tech diver friend Eric was just surfacing from two hours diving with his re-breather. We visited a little than We set up and did a two man scooter dive... I put the UV-26 in 3rd speed and dragged us both half way around the Pond and back... About 30 minutes with depths down to 80 feet along the cliffs. These are cool dives because the ride back is along the north edge which has neat topography at 15-50 feet depths. So, we get our 3 minute safety stop done enroute with zero boredom. 2nd dive I did a solo scooter dive all around the lake starting on the south edge following a depth of about 60 feet and finishing the last half shallow for another gradual safety stop. 3rd dive was also scooter... This time I was flying formation with Ron and His scooter (DPV). So, we got in 3 dives Friday.
- Saturday we started with a deep dive. I dove my Twin 48s and a white hosed DA AquaMaster. We began to swim down at an angle angle down near the entry and got to 128 feet deep before angling back upward and starting back. This is diving along edges of cliffs and long terraced roads... Feels like flying. I wore my horse collar BCD with oral inflation. This managed my descent and ascent with very little effort. Toward the end of the dive, Rich started getting way ahead of me and I got out of breath trying to keep up. So I swam to shore and rested awhile. Next we did a couple of dives near our entry point to get Ron's amazing theme outfits filmed underwater. I think we got good video of him in his one piece Cousteau wetsuit (black w/yellow stripes) and yellow UDS tank system. He said that was the most comfortable dive he has had in a long time. Next dive was the Thunderball red suit.
- The last dive was another Scooter DPV dive with Ron all around the lake at 15-30 feet depths and slow speed. LOts to see that we usually don't see when we go deep. It got real dark and we realized it was raining and storming on the surface. So when we got out we stayed in our suits to pack up and leave our bless-ed Fortune Pond once again.
- Total of 8 great dives in 2 days... NOt bad for old farts. Rich used two sets of Twin 50s. I used 3 sets of Twin 38s, 1 set of Twin 48s, a steel 50, a steel 48, and a single 38. I think we did two dives on the same set of doubles at least once... Scooter dives are so relaxing we usually finish with more than enough air for another dive. Ron dove Twin 38s, Twin Voit white 50s, his yellow UDS, his silver RAID (ABS)... WE used a wide array of double hose regulators.
- Lots of fun. Next Trip to Fortune is July 27-29. Here are some pics...
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- After an 8 hour drive, we arrived at Fortune Pond Thursday afternoon the 22nd. It was about 95 degrees and beautiful weather but awfully hot. I was late taking my pain meds from a couple of tooth extractions so I swallowed that with a little water and we sweated like crazy getting suited up. A young guy drove up and asked if he could dive with us and we said yes... of course. Ron was already in the water. And we got in a short dive for being fairly pooped from driving all day. I was a little light headed from the heat and meds.
- We got pizza from "Kermits" which is a little bar and grill in what looks like a differnt town on top of the hill.
- Friday morning dawned sunny and calm. Ron already had one dive done by the time Rich and I got to the Pond. Our Tech diver friend Eric was just surfacing from two hours diving with his re-breather. We visited a little than We set up and did a two man scooter dive... I put the UV-26 in 3rd speed and dragged us both half way around the Pond and back... About 30 minutes with depths down to 80 feet along the cliffs. These are cool dives because the ride back is along the north edge which has neat topography at 15-50 feet depths. So, we get our 3 minute safety stop done enroute with zero boredom. 2nd dive I did a solo scooter dive all around the lake starting on the south edge following a depth of about 60 feet and finishing the last half shallow for another gradual safety stop. 3rd dive was also scooter... This time I was flying formation with Ron and His scooter (DPV). So, we got in 3 dives Friday.
- Saturday we started with a deep dive. I dove my Twin 48s and a white hosed DA AquaMaster. We began to swim down at an angle angle down near the entry and got to 128 feet deep before angling back upward and starting back. This is diving along edges of cliffs and long terraced roads... Feels like flying. I wore my horse collar BCD with oral inflation. This managed my descent and ascent with very little effort. Toward the end of the dive, Rich started getting way ahead of me and I got out of breath trying to keep up. So I swam to shore and rested awhile. Next we did a couple of dives near our entry point to get Ron's amazing theme outfits filmed underwater. I think we got good video of him in his one piece Cousteau wetsuit (black w/yellow stripes) and yellow UDS tank system. He said that was the most comfortable dive he has had in a long time. Next dive was the Thunderball red suit.
- The last dive was another Scooter DPV dive with Ron all around the lake at 15-30 feet depths and slow speed. LOts to see that we usually don't see when we go deep. It got real dark and we realized it was raining and storming on the surface. So when we got out we stayed in our suits to pack up and leave our bless-ed Fortune Pond once again.
- Total of 8 great dives in 2 days... NOt bad for old farts. Rich used two sets of Twin 50s. I used 3 sets of Twin 38s, 1 set of Twin 48s, a steel 50, a steel 48, and a single 38. I think we did two dives on the same set of doubles at least once... Scooter dives are so relaxing we usually finish with more than enough air for another dive. Ron dove Twin 38s, Twin Voit white 50s, his yellow UDS, his silver RAID (ABS)... WE used a wide array of double hose regulators.
- Lots of fun. Next Trip to Fortune is July 27-29. Here are some pics...
. you guys are well organized, impressive to make that trek. where was swimjim and the great chilli deco warmup between dives? 
