We had an absolute blast on this trip!
Fri. Sept. 12th- I overslept & almost missed my 6:00am flight. I made it with 3min. to spare. I can't EVER remember hustling so fast. That afternoon I made it to the resort I had reserved. Fri. Night I met up with Martythehammer & Pirate's Lady's father  Fri night when they arrived.
Sat. Sept. 13th- I went on a couple of short, shallow dives from the resort to refresh my salt water diving skills. No problems there. 

Site: Blue Hole (a small fresh water spring), Max depth: 52ft, Bottom time: 49min.

Site: Castle Reef, Max depth: 62ft, Bottom time: 45min.

I then made may way to the boat (we were on the Pirate's Lady- the same boat I was on 2yrs ago) & met up with the rest of our group. Our little group consisted of Tradewinddiver, Pirate's Lady (who set the trip up), Pirate's Lady's father (Tim), her son (Joey), a friend of her son (Jarod), Martythehammer (Marty) & myself. We all stayed in the bunks in the main salon which worked out rather well for all of us. Tim & Marty were my dive buddies for the most part the entire trip, though Tim had to stop diving about Wed. due to a cold going around the boat (Pirate's Lady also got it & was out of the water for a couple of days). There were 11 other divers on the trip besides our group. It was crowded, but most everyone was civil & things went smoothly the whole time. Sat. afternoon we did a single shallow dive.

Site: Shark Junction (coral heads), Max depth: 47ft, Bottom time: 46min.

It was a site where shark feeding is commonly done by other dive operations. We saw 6-7 reef sharks,& a nurse shark & some groupers.
Sun. Sept.14th- we were south of Grand Bahama. The vis really wasn't spectacular due to the recent storms but it was dive-able (kinda like home). We saw more sharks &, for better or worse, a lot of lionfish. It seems the population around the Bahamas there has exploded recently.

Site: Kubarra Cliffs (coral Heads), Max Depth: 78ft, Bottom time: 41min.

The second site was about the same vis- wise. I had dove the spot before a couple of years ago.

Site:Grouper on the Head, Max Depth: 48 Bottom time: 50 min.

The third site was terrible. Vis was only about 10ft at most. There was also a very heavy current. It made for a rather difficult dive. It was also a short one because Tim, Marty & I kept losing eachother in the low vis.

Site:Miami Rita (old wreck), Max Depth: 36ft Bottom time 23min.

For the night dive we decided to go back to the second site. It was a nice dive, though there was some current that had started up there.

Site: Grouper on the Head (coral Heads), Max depth:48ft, Bottom time: 46min.

Mon. Sept.15th- We traveled down further south past Orange Cay. That morning, the water was like glass.... Absolutely still. It was actually eerie because there was also no sight of land anywhere. It was rather deep diving & for the remainder of the trip there were pretty stout currents to deal with. On the first dive there was a Spotted Drumfish in a shelf that was a treat to watch & Saw more sharks around. There were also some Spotted Moray eels around.

Site: Highlander (a small seamount), Max Depth: 87ft, Bottom time: 29 min.

The second dive was very much the same (deep & lots of critters around). 

Site: KC Hill (a small Seamount) Max Depth: 82ft Bottom time: 43 min.

The third dive was quite different. It was shallow, but had a ripping current. There were no coral heads to say, but there were lots of holes with ledges to look under to find things. After wearing myself out trying to kick against the current, I found it easier to find sandy patches & carefully use my hands to pull myself through the current. We sort of went from "fox hole" to "fox hole" to try to stay out of the current.

Site: Hog Heaven (holes with ledges), Max Depth: 26ft Bottom time: 49 min.

During our surface interval came the best part of the trip. We were just swimming & jumping off the boat having some fun, waiting for dinner when we were visited by a pod of 6- 7 wild dolphins. Everyone grabbed masks, fins, snorkels & cameras. The dolphins proceeded to play with us for about 2 hours. It was a very neat experience. Once in a lifetime. That time made the whole trip in my book. The "dive gods" were smiling on us that day. On the night dive there was still a ripping current. Only 4 of us decided to take up the challenge. We all kept together & were pretty much on top of each other the whole time (looked like a football huddle). Made for some interesting diving. My first time night diving in a strong current. We saw some crabs, lobster, porcupine fish, scallops & such.

Site: Hog Heaven (holes with ledges), Max Depth: 27ft, Bottom time: 41 min.

Tues. Sept.16th- We made our way up near Bimini. The reefs seemed to be in better shape than I remember 2yrs ago. We did a deep dive on a wall. Marty & I dropped down deep to try to spot some Hammerheads, but no luck. Got rather Narc'd on that one (Gosh, I hate that feeling).

Site: Krispy Kreme (wall dive), Max Depth: 131ft, Bottom time: 36 min.

The second dive was the shark feeding dive. Afterward the exciting frenzy, I looked around & found a shark's tooth & gave it to Joey to commemorate his first shark feeeding dive. I couldn't find one for poor Jarod, though I tried. Sorry Jarod.

Site: Bull Run (shark feeding dive), Max depth: 58ft, Bottom time: 51min.

The third dive I remember well from 2yrs ago. At that time, all seemed to be rather dead with not much life to see. This time was quite a treat. It looked like the reefs had recovered some & there was plenty to see. There was a large green Moray eel, arrow crabs, & I loved playing with the Sargent Major fishes guarding their nests. I also prevented Marty from getting a "hicky" from a free swimming remora that was following him.

Site: Big Greeny (big "EPCOT" shapped coral head), Max Depth: 36ft, Bottom time: 53 min.

Of course, we stopped in Bimini for a "real" shower & some serious partying. I stayed on the boat with a bad sinus headache. No fun. I called home to my parents & found out that the remnants of Hurriane Ike had passed through my hometown. It did some major damage around the area with high, 100mph winds. I was lucky & the only damamge my property had was a couple of wooden fence slats blown down, which my neighbor repaired. My parents lost power for almost a week. They stored their perishable foods at my house (I had power) to keep from losing it.
Wed. Sept. 17th- We did more dives around Bimini. We saw a couple of spotted Moray eels, a shark & a stonefish. Marty had me to try (& I say try) to navigate back to the boat. I had no idea where we were. I got turned around & went the wrong way. When Marty corrected me, I then took us through a swarm of jellyfish. Neither one of us got stung, but it still wasn't pleasant. We finally made it back & non the less I got all kinds of ribbing about it.  I had warned him that my navigation wasn't the best from the start.

Site: Moray Alley (close coral heads), Max Depth: 51ft, Bottom time: 51min.

The next dive was really short because I lost Marty. Saw a puffer fish  but not much else because of trying to find Marty.

Site: The Strip (a couple of fair sized corals), Max Depth: 40ft, Bottom time: 25 min.

The afternoon & night dives were on one of my favorite spots,... The Hesperus. Lots of stingrays, turtles, eels,oceanic triggers & now, lionfish. So much to see there. Moderate current.

Site: Hesperus (old barge wreck), Max depth: 18ft, Bottom time: 40min.

The night dive was interesting as the current had picked up. There were several turtles sleeping in the area & there were stingrays & lionfish everywhere. It seemed like a poisonous pin cushion just waiting for someone unlucky. Everyone made it back OK though, with lots of very good pictures of sleeping turtles.

Site: Hesperus (Old barge wreck), Max depth: 19ft, Bottom time: 30min.

Thurs. Sept. 18th- We did a night trip back to around Freeport. We did 4 more dives, however, I only made 1 of these. It was a rather deep dive around & inside a wreck. I didn't pay enough attention to my computer & wound up with 3 min. deco. I did the appropriate stop & even though everything seemed kosher, I thought I would be prudent & err on the side of caution & decided to sit out the second dive.

Site: Sea Star (large freighter wreck), Max depth: 94ft Bottom time: 32 min.

The 3rd & 4th dives were within the 24hr no fly time, so I had to sit those out also.Because I didn't dive the last 3 sites, I failed to get the names of them. Perhaps Martythehammer, Tradewinddiver or Pirate's Lady knows what the were & will fill it in. I just chilled out for the day, cleaned, dried & prepped my gear for packing to go home. I did 19 dives total for the week. Not bad in my book. Both Marty & Tim were wonderful dive buddies. I couldn't have asked for better. The comedy during the suface intervals also made the trip quite delightful! Although Marty & Tim tried to help me to prepare for a lecture presnetation for my instructor course while on the boat, I wasn't able to get much done because of the pitchng & rolling of the boat made me queasy when trying to read or write & a lack of computer (I can't read my own hand writing).
Fri.- I was traveling all day & got home about 9:30pm. Glad to be back home.

Did I leave much out guys (TWD, PL, Marty)? Please feel free to add, subtract & such as you'd like.

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YESSSSSS! I made it! There's a new crop of cavern divers just created today. Of course, as the instructor put it, we had just earned our "learner's permit" & that we need to practice, practice, practice our newly learned skills to perfection (looks like I'll be busy for quite a while). I would say the roughest part was the part where we had to run reels in water starting at 20ft deep & ended up at 10ft. We were trying to tie off & secure the line whilst also controlling buoyancy. Going shallow, of course, my buoyancy got light & I tended to want to float off & going deep, I tended to go quite negative, making it difficult to stay off the bottom & not stir up the silt. To top that off my mask kept either fogging up or flooding, so I couldn't see a basted thing the entire exercise. It started to tick me off after a few minutes. Exercise 2, one of the OW Instructors in the class & I teamed up to follow a line course with duct taped masks (blind folded) & doing an air sharing drill. We actually managed to survive it. It wasn't pretty, but we made it. Exercise 3 we did the actual overhead environment. We ran reels through a sunken RV, followed them back trough & out, then went back through with the blacked out masks & air sharing & then took up the reel & wound it all back up, then switched roles. It was a long day, but very educational & rewarding.

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Well, my instructor class just had our 4th session. The academics are going fairly smoothly. We have had one of our "mini exams", which I did decently on & we gave our first classroom lecture presentation last night. Did pretty good on that one also, except for a little nervousness (always harder to do it in front of your peers). Now,... you may ask why I titled this the "jinxed Instructor Course". Well,...... So far we have not been able to get into the pool to do any skills. The first time we went to do our water skills, the pool messed up on scheduling & there was a swim meet in progress when we arrived & it was not anywhere near the end. The instructor was not happy, but let it slide. Last night we finished our presentations & headed over. Just before we arrived, the pool had lost power, so no lights, pumps or anything. Come to find out that the entire block lost power. The instructor was quite upset this time, but nothing that could be done it was beyond anyone's power there to correct. Looks like the powers that be just don't want us to get into the water. Maybe I'll one day finish this course..... if we can ever get into the pool.

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Well, I'm finally going to finish up my Adv. Nitrox & Deco Procedures course. I did the classroom & pool sessions once before about a year & a half ago. At that time I tried to go through the course in my recretional equipment & that proved to be completely NOT user friendly. I tried for almost 30 minutes to sling the stage bottle to my BC & never could do it (my instructor said he did have to give me credit for trying as long as I did). He then talked me into going to doubles. After a nearly disastorus first dive in them (got into a run away descent to 95ft in them), it has taken this long to finally start feeling comfortable in them (1-2/2 yrs & about 50 dives). In that time, a lot of what I had learned had become rather rusty & my buddy I started the course with has since gotten out of diving. We had the first class session last night. I was surprised how quickly everything started to come bak to me. We didn't get to go to the pool because of a scheduling conflict, but will be going in the next class in a couple of days. Hopefully, now I'll get this class finished up & do it without making too big a fool out of myself.

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I just started my SSI OW Instructor course last week. Going to be lots of work for a while. I took the first of 4 mini- exams & scored a 95% (must get at least a 90%). I also completed a pre- test. That one really kicked my tushie. The physics seemed to be my big problem. Just another obsticle to overcome. Give me 2-3 mos. & we'll see where I end up.

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Tues. June 10, 2008- After breakfast we made our first dive on Danger Reef. It was a spot where shark- feeding dives are commonly done. The sharks come at the sound of the boat’s motors. There were probably about a dozen 8-10ft Caribbean reef sharks. Very Cool! I had a maximum depth of 61ft for 42 min. After the dive we moved the boat about ½ mi. to another reef with sharks in tow. The second reef was Amberjack Reef. It was about the same as Danger Reef, sharks & all. I did challenge a grouper for territory & won. I spent most of the dive searching for shark teeth for Rena, but no luck. I did a maximum depth of 58 min for 49 min. The third dive was 3 Peaks Reef. I went with Barb & Trena & I kept Barb company while Trena got busy with the camera. Maximum depth of 54ft for 51 min. After the dive, the partying began. Knowing there was going to be serious drinking, I chose not to drink that day. Later that night, I went back to the boat with the first group & helped everyone get from dinghy to boat. While I was going to the boat myself, Stephanie lost her grip on the boat & I wound up in the drink in my normal clothes. I just swam around to the ladder & climbed out. Nothing but my dignity hurt. Rena & the others got a really big laugh as I came in dripping wet to clean up.  Went on to bed after a hot shower.

Wed. June 11,2008- After breakfast Barb & I did the first dive, as Trena was feeling the alcohol from the night before. Hawksbill Reef was a nice reef. Saw a couple of sharks around. Saw the usual critters. Tried to use my camera, but had it in the wrong mode, so no go. Maximum depth of 24ft for 51 min. The second dive was Shroud wall. Once again I went with Rena & Karen. Saw a couple sharks off the wall. Lots of very large fish around. Maximum depth of 85ft for 35 min. We went  ashore in the afternoon to see some mangroves. Trena & I took one of the kayaks. We used kiddie float rings explored the estuary. Trena & I manage to flip our kayak over twice on the way back (anyone notice that I had a hard time staying out of the water?).  Later that afternoon, we all gathered together for an underwater photo at Hammerhead Gulch Reef, under the watchful eye of a nurse shark.  Finished the dive with Trena & Barb. Maximum depth of 29ft for 70 min.  After Supper, we did our final night dive on Hammerhead Gulch Reef. The company’s other catamaran the Aqua Cat moored nearby for some night diving. I went with Trena & puttered around while she took pictures. I was stalked by a remora trying to get a free ride for a while. He really didn’t like it when I would shine my light on him.

Thurs. June 12, 2008- After breakfast, we did what I considered the best dive of the trip,..... The Blue Hole. It is basically an underwater sink hole that is about 100ft across  & a maximum depth of 200ft. At this time of year, it fills up with 3-4 ft long Black Nose Sharks. No one knows why. Trena & I dropped down to our maximum allowed depth for a recreational diver of 130ft. While going down we spooked a bunch of the sharks up, but when we looked down 70ft below us, there were 100- 200 more sharks at the bottom. We slowly ascended & explored the wall & rim, then some small corals on the rim.. Maximum depth of 131ft & bottom time of 47min.  The last dive of the trip was a very shallow, easy dive on Periwinkle Reef, just out of Nassau. There were lots of fish that we fed small bags of breakfast cereal to. They swarmed us like crazy. I then shadowed Rena for the rest of the dive. Was a nice one with lots of fish & rays around. Maximum depth 23ft for 65 min. We spent the rest of the day getting back to port, packing & went to Nassau’s straw market to shop & a local, popular, watering hole called Senor Frog’s. We got back, finished packing & all went to bed, as some had to catch a very early flight.

Fri. June 13, 2008- The flight of the 7 of us that came down together didn’t leave until 10:30am. We caught a taxi & got through the airport. We arrived in Miami about 11:30, but got delayed by 3hrs because of severe weather in Chicago & the mid west. Once in the air, we found out that we would have to take the long way around (over Tulsa, OK) to get to Chicago & avoid the bad weather. We missed our connection at O’Hare & the last flight to Evansville only had 2 seats available. We drew straws, Beth & Rena won, so the rest of us camped out at O’Hare for the night (not a lot of fun or very comfortable), but with 5 of us, we at least had safety in numbers.

Sat. June 14, 2008- We left on the first flight out to Evansville at 7:15 & touched down about 8:30am. We were tired & dirty, but none the worse for the wear. An interesting end for an interesting trip of Aquatech’s Cat Ppalu “Cat Girls”.

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2008 Cat Ppalu “Cat Girls” Trip

Fri. June 6,2008- I met up at the airport with 6 other ladies going on the trip (there where 5 others who we met up with in Nassau)- Rena Schleter (trip organizer), Karen Stenstrom, Barb Brown, Beth Taylor, Terri Cheviar & Trena Fichter. We caught our flight & after a bit of a layover in Chicago, we landed in Nassau about 6pm EST. We met up with the others- Vicki White & her 2 daughters Maria & .There was also Lisa Stephens & Debra Burke. By the time we got to the resort we were staying at it was suppertime. We went to a nearby bar & grill & had a good meal. Afterward ½ went on to the Atlantis Resort & the rest (including myself) went back to our rooms & to bed, worn out.

Sat. June7, 2008- Woke up early, got dressed & went to breakfast served at the resort. Met up with Trena & we decided to go on to Atlantis & play at the water park & aquarium. Did a couple slides (no, I didn’t do the big one seen on TV, I’m afraid of heights) & Periodically ran into others in the group & everyone met at 11:00 to catch a taxi & go on to the boat. Once on the boat, we unpacked & the crew took our unused luggage & stored it. The crew Consisted of Des Greyling (captain), Ronnie Wakefield (Engineer/ Captain- in- training)- I had Ronnie as a captain a couple of years ago on a diving sailboat, good to see him again, Stephanie Tester (Dive Master) & Kelsey Grant (cook). We also set up out gear in our assigned spots on the dive deck. Once settled, we ate lunch & the boat launched. In a couple of hours & a couple of safety briefings, we arrived at our first dive site Called Captain Jack’s Reef. It was a shallow, tune- up dive with a maximum depth of 15ft. & bottom time of 50 min. I dove with Vicki & her two daughters on that dive. It was a good dive, but nothing special. After the dive we relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sun. June 8, 2008- We got up at 7:00am & ate a good breakfast. Our first dive was Closemon Reef. Another shallow dive with a maximum of 21ft & a bottom time of 71 min. I was with Vicki & her daughters again. Not too bad a dive. Was getting my buoyancy down pat. Got caught in a current after missing the marker to find the boat, low on air & wound up running out trying to get back (I was just below the surface). Wound up having to get a ride back in the dinghy (how embarrassing). The second dive was on Flatrock Reef. The maximum depth was 21ft with a bottom time of 39 min. Trena flooded her camera on this dive, so I let her use mine for the rest of the week (same camera, different strobe) to learn how it works. Also a nice reef. We ate lunch & most everyone went ashore to feed the lizards of Allen’s Caye. I wasn’t feeling very good (headache) & so took a nap instead. Our third dive was Pillar Wall. I went with Rena & Karen because I wanted to do some deep diving. I had a maximum depth of 98ft with a bottom time of 37 min. After that dive we ate supper & motored back to Flatrock Reef for a dusk/ night dive. Very cool to see the day critters go to bed & the night critters to come out. I used my 10 watt HID canister light for the first time & was it bright!!! That dive was a maximum depth of 21 ft for 51 min.

Mon. June 9, 2008- Arose again at 7:00 & ate breakfast. The first dive was Blacktip Wall. I dove with Rena & Karen again because I wanted to go deep again. I decided to take my canister light with me & a good thing I did. I was able to peer up under ledges & crevices & see some really cool things. I did a maximum depth of 92ft & a bottom time of 29 minutes. Saw lots of lionfishes. They seem to be everywhere now & are not native to the Caribbean. The second morning dive was the Washing Machine. It’s a little hard to explain. It’s a trench in a narrow channel between 2 islands. When the tides are right, it sets up a strong spiraling current that’s a blast to ride. We went through the current & followed the continuing current as it slowly lessened in intensity. You just drift along with the current, no effort at all. The dive was a maximum depth of 55ft for 45min. That afternoon we stopped at a station in the Exuma Water Reserve Park & I got a t-shirt & hand fed wild finches some sugar from my hand & we reserved the beach & fire pit for a bonfire the next evening. After lunch, we made our third dive of the day on Cracked Head Reef. I had a maximum depth of 71ft for 30 min. Nice dive again. After supper, we made another night dive on ParrotFish Reef. Very cool dive with lots of critters around to see. Did see a HUGE sea turtle swim by. Maximum depth of 21ft for 75 min. ( a record time).

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Sorry about the downer all, but I just need to talk about this. Just got some very bad news yesterday. My canine companion, Raven, of 4yrs has terminal Lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes). It has advanced enough that the vet sees no reason to do chemo (plus the nearest place to do it is 3-4 hrs away). To be honest,... I've already broken down a few times since getting the news. It all started about 5 weeks ago when she just wasn't acting right. I checked her over (I'm a former Vet Tech) & found her lymph nodes under her jaws to be very swollen. I took her to the vet & he decided to treat it as an infection to start. She was on antibiotics for about 3 weeks. The glands seemed to be responding some, but not fully. As soon as the antibiotics were finished, the glands started growing again. The vet told me to give it a week & see what happened,.... nothing but more growth. He took a biopsy of one of the lymph nodes late last week & set it to the Veterinary lab & got the results back yesterday. He said the lymphoma was in very advanced stages & that the end will not be very far off. Right now, we are just managing the pain to keep her as comfortable as we can.

I've had Raven since she was a 4 week old puppy. She's had a long history of medical problems from severe separation anxiety that caused her to eat rocks foreign objects periodically (2 of which needed to be removed from her gut surgically)- I had to put her on a version of "Puppy Prozac" for the separation anxiety , to a heart worm infection (I gave her preventative religiously- it was found out I had gotten a bad lot of preventative), to now this. She's always been a very "clingy" dog that would stay glued to me 27/7 if she could. She has the sweetest temperament, but can be a pain at times with her constant need of attention. Shes also super smart (as most Labs are) & her antics could be very amusing & entertaining. Being single & living alone, she's been a great companion to come home to. I was great to be the ultimate hero in her world, when I walked through the door after a long day at work. Right now I just can't imagine the household with out her. I also have a cat & bird, so I won't be totally alone, but it just won't be the same. I look at her right now, & except for the swellings around her body, there are no real signs of her condition. Her body is failing, but she still has so much puppy (life) in her. You pick up a ball, and she's ready to play fetch in a heartbeat, she still chases birds out of her back yard. Being one of my "babies" she is spoiled rotten, of course.

4 yrs. just doesn't seem long enough to have a companion. But then, we are only lent these pets for a short time. I believe they are sent to us to be example of how to love others unconditionally.

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A great day of diving, to say the least. I can not believe how high the water has risen at the quarry , since I was last there. The highest water temp I saw was 55 degrees, so, it's still quite chilly. When I arrived at Pennyroyal & checked in, I had no diving buddy so waited to see if any prospects showed up. After a few minutes I ran into Stan & Marvin from my LDS. I asked if I could tag along with them. At first Stan was a little reluctant to agree because it was to be Marvin's first time in doubles & that they would probably stay shallow, depending on how Marvin did. I told them I would stay out of the way & just wanted to get in a dive or 2. After a minute Stan thought about it & decided in might be good to have another pair of eyes to keep an eye on Marvin in case he got distracted.

Dive 1.- Max depth: 28ft , Dive time 42 min., Avg. Water temp.51 degrees, Vis about 2- 30ft. We dropped down onto the suspended platform & hung out there for about 15 min to allow Marvin time to adjust to his doubles. As he did that I just hovered right off the platform & worked on my buoyancy control in my doubles. I was able to keep myself between 23 & 25 ft the entire time (I was quite proud of myself on that one). Once Marvin got his bearings & started to feel a little comfortable we took off at about 25ft along the wall towards the shallow end. I was in the lead then, Marvin & then Stan. We made our way to the shallow platform just off the old parking lot ledge to give Marvin a bit of a break. We then toured around going to the helicopter, bus & such, then back to the shallow platform. Marvin started having some issues with his wing ( he had actually rolled his left post valve off when messing around & rolled over on his back, thus cutting off his BC inflater hose). He actually did quite well as he had a secondary bladder & inflater hooked to his primary regulator. At that point we decided to end the dive & we headed back to shore.

Dive 2.- Max. depth 84ft, dive time 28 min., Avg. water temp. 45 degrees, vis about 30ft (a couple of places on the road from the deep had 0 vis where someone had stirred the bottom up). On this dive we once again, we went down to the suspended platform again to give Marvin a little more time to adjust. He seemed quite comfortable, so we descended down the deco ladder to the Blue Dolphin. We then proceeded with going up the road. Marvin was in the lead, then Stan, then myself, bringing up the rear. We made our way to the fire truck & then up over the ledge. As I came over the ledge, I suddenly became very buoyant. I dumped the air in my wing, to no avail. At that point I figured out it was my drysuit, but I didn't know why. I was trying to dump the air but it seemed I couldn't. I had to flair out to slow my ascent. At least it was only from 25ft at that point. When I reached the surface, my suit was like the "Stay Puff Marshmallow Man". My inflater had not stuck, but I had found my exhaust valve had some how gotten shut off. I usually leave it in automatic dump mode (least resistance). So I opened it back up, dumped the air & went back down. About that time, Stan realized I was missing & started to look for me. I dropped down behind him & it took me a couple of minutes to get his attention that I was back. We decided we'd had enough & made our way back along the wall towards the tables. As we got to the end, I got light again (this time due to my tanks being at 1200lbs. (I just needed about 2 more lbs to be perfectly weighted).

The boat sinking (or not,... in this case). About 3pm there were about 7 of us going to do the sinking. (Stan, Marvin, me & a few guys from the quarry). We spent the next 3 hrs filling lift drums & trying to get the boat off the old parking lot ledge. After getting it off, we freed it from the barrels & it sank up to the roof, but no further. We were all too tired to to do any more (I was beginning to get cramps in my legs). So, we tied the boat up where it was & they will eventually put some rocks in it to sink it.

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