Scooter School!

15 06 2008

Saturday, June 14th, 2008 ~

Well.. there are a couple of our little gang that have recently purchased Gavins, and wanted to learn a bit more about them. A couple of others also joined us for some learning fun as well! Steve ran a little Gavin clinic for us! We arrived at Centeen Park at about noon, to see that there were some Big Ships moored at the pier, so there were ALOT of people there. There were a couple of modern ones, as well as the Pride Of Baltimore II, which is a fully restored old Big Ship… pretty freakin’ amazing!!

We took a bench in the park, and went through the construction of the Gavin, and how to break it down, and put it back together again. We went through a bunch of different skills as well ~ Air sharing while scootering, switching hands, stowing/towing, doing things without letting go of the trigger, as well as many other fun things!

Finally, it was time to dive!! w00t! We scootered out to the channel, and drifted back a bit. We had thought about going to the little island, SW of the park, but decided to mess around a little, then scooter on to the Gaskin. When we reached the wreck, there were plenty of divers that had dropped down from a charter, and they were quite surprised to see 5 members of what appeared to look like some underwater motorcycle gang… We had a little fun scootering around the wreck, then drifted back to the entry point! While playing at the Gaskin, something didn’t feel right. I checked my scooter, and everything seemed fine. I hit the trigger, and realized… DOH! My bolt snap on my tow leash was broken! Not the best fix, but I happened to have an extra double ender attached to my D ring, and saved the day! *phew!* It’s not a tough swim back from the Gaskin, but I kinda like playing with my new friend. A most awesome dive, and I think we all had permagrins on our faces!

Bottom Time ~ 113 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 87′
Water Temp. ~ 61
Vis. ~ Anywhere from 10′ – 35′

Upon further inspection of my bolt snap, it appears that it just slipped through the end… it wasn’t broken at all.. just a bit faulty…

Steve and Jay after the dive…

Steve, Jay and I then went for some grub, and looked pretty funny wheeling the scooters into the hotel room…

Ok.. this one’s blurry, but I still like it…

We watched some GUE expedition footage, then off to sleep!

Sunday, June 15th, 2008 ~

We were up and at ’em early, and met the gang at Dive Tech! We tinkered with gear for a bit, got a couple of fills, and I even picked up the mask straps for the ZD trip!

We went back to Centeen Park, where the Big Ships were still there, and we also saw a couple of other friends, Steve S. and Blake, who were also going out for a scooter dive.

We geared up and planned on going across the channel, to the periwinkle shell bed, and look for an ancient sleigh that had gone through the ice, in horse and carriage times. Apparently the bones are still there too. We debated on going out to the island as well, which isn’t much farther across than our intended destination. We decided to play it by ear, and see what the current was like. We got in, scootered out across the channel, and found the bed of periwinkle shells. We drifted along from here, looking at the tons of old bottles out there. Jay found a really cool big ol’ jug that we all ooh’d and ahh’d over, as well as others we all took a gander at. We never did find the sleigh, which is ok, because it means we just have to go back again to look for it!

We ended up crossing paths with Steve S. and Blake too!

Since scootering the Gaskin is our new favourite pastime, we went back again, and saw more divers that were wide-eyed at these big black water machines…

We then drifted back, and played in the shallows for a bit!

Another most excellent dive!!!

Bottom Time ~ 106 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 100′
Water Temp. ~ 61
Vis. ~ 10′ – 35′

We surfaced at the entry point, where alot of folk greeted us and asked us if we were “scooba divers or a motorcycle gang.”

What an excellent couple of days of learning and experience on the trigger!

Some of the kids playing at the park…