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Dive Fest PADI #79 Fest 2009, part 4

We left Blog Cabin a little after 7am and ate breakfast at North Country Cafe again. We lost Adam because he left Saturday night, but we gained Susan during the meal. Kristen and I weren’t too game on diving again so we went to HQ for the final clue while the boys went directly to the site to gear up (PADI #79 for those who are just tuning in). I think at this point [most] everyone wanted us to find it. The clue was “107′ from the platform, 47′ from the first post 22′ from the second post, in 28′ of water… might be slighty covered.” So much for all the effort we put in not disturbing the bottom.

I called Curtis with the clue as Kristen drove us back to the site. They were in the water but hadn’t started their dive yet when we arrived. Shortly after we got there three cars came flying into the site. Paula and three other divers whose names I don’t remember. It took them so long before they all got suited up and in the water that I was surprised they were even trying to search for it. I don’t think anyone can quite fathom how meticulously we combed that site over the entire weekend.

After the four of them were in the water Kristen and I headed up the hill to try to find the boys. The wind made them hard to find, but we eventually saw their bubbles across the way. We could only assume they had found the medallian right away and were continuing on a leisurely dive.

divefest09_15

It felt like an eternity, but we finally saw them swimming back to shore. It took an equally long time for them to get completely out of the water, but Curtis emerged wearing the medallion around his neck.

Instead of going back to HQ and gloating we opted for going back to the cabin to pack up our belongings and take short naps. We stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch on the way back to the campgrounds. They had a new blizzard: Cookie Jar. Oreos, cookie dough and fudge. Mmmm. I got a medium because it was my birthday weekend.

Since we didn’t collect any poker chips over the weekend, we had to sit and watch everyone else win prizes. None of us won a raffle either, but I suppose it was all worth it to have Curtis get the medallion for free fun dives all next year.

What a great way to end the season. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze another dive or two in. Maybe at PADI #79 for old time’s sake…

More pics

PADI #79, Mahnomen II & III, dive 41

Dive: 41
Season Dive: 8
Date: 9/26/09
Site: Padi #79, Mahnomen II & III
Avg/Max Depth: 23/28
Temp: 68
TBT/CBT: 0:33/32:58
Buddies: Ted (Curtis, Kristen, Mike, Adam)

For our night dive we decided it might be fun to give PADI #79 a try. Apparently the medallion was still there and we thought it would be fun to have a go at it. Maybe it would reflect the light and be easier to find.

The temp had dropped so it was a bit chilly. Trying to put on slightly wet gear was kind of cold and miserable. Not to mention I was having some great anxiety since it was my first night dive. I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t think a light could make anything visible for any desirable distance below the surface, and my constantly leaky mask was really starting to wear on me. Seriously, it’s bad. It leaks if I turn my head, raise my eyebrows, look down, equalize, or if it’s been 2:34 minutes since it leaked last. Anyway, I digress.

I was buddied up with Ted again which made me feel a little better since he’s a rescue diver. Actually all the boys are rescue divers, so in all fairness maybe I would have felt good with any of them. Curtis gave Kristen and me an exit plan if we were panicked and needed to abort the dive which was comforting as well. I like to have an option to end my dive without ruining it for whoever my buddy is.

My mask gave me a lot of the trouble throughout the dive which was a pain and caused me a bit of anxiety, but I expected that to happen intermittently throughout the dive. What I did not expect was that diving in the dark would be totally awesome. The visibility was much better than I expected. Seeing everyone’s lights looked really neat. I didn’t see any big fish, but I found a lot of little ones sleeping motionless in the weeds. There were also lots of mudbugs hiding under rocks with their little pinchers going. I can never remember if they are crayfish or crawfish or if it even makes a difference, so I’m going to start calling them mudbugs instead.

Mike and Adam were in the water first. They ran a line off the platform 120 degrees to the fence post so we would have a reference of where to search. Ted and I got lost trying to find the platform, so we resurfaced and surface swam to everyone before descending again. I have no sense of underwater direction, so I just tried to stay at Ted’s side for the dive. We dug through weeds and overturned rocks looking for the medallion. Adam decided to either fix the line or run it a little farther, but he was practically crawling on the bottom while he was doing it. He floundered around and collected so many weeds that he resembled some sort of sea enemy from a Scooby Doo cartoon.

After almost an hour Ted signaled to surface since he spotted all the lights up above. I got excited thinking someone had found the medallion, but that wasn’t the case. Kristen said she was heading back to shore. I probably would have went back down with the rest of them, but I was fed up with my leaky mask so I was more than happy to swim to shore with her. It was so dark outside it made for an interesting time removing and packing up our gear. And a cold time.

We were done packing up by the time the boys returned sans medallion. Broken and defeated we returned to HQ to return the rental tanks and pick up our filled tanks so we’d be ready first thing in the morning to dive again.

Dive Fest 2009, part 3

Kristen was just getting back with Ted’s truck full of full tanks when we finished the dive. Fortunately for us the other divers hadn’t found the medallion either. It was about 1pm and we were starting to have hunger pains. Since we only had an hour before the next clue reveal we had to come up with a strategic plan. Kristen volunteered yet again to pick up Subway sandwiches for lunch. I volunteered to sit out the next dive so I could drive back to HQ by my onsie and call in the 2pm clue to the gang[bangers].

The next clue was something along the lines of “from the SE corner of the platform, go 120 degrees, let the fence be your guide.” Todd also reminded us there were two platforms. Having two platforms wasn’t much of an issue, since 120 degrees from the welding platform led smack dab into the shore. Curtis, Kristen, Ted and Adam were already in the water when I got back to the site. Mike sat this dive out as well. I was surprised that no one from HQ arrived at PADI #79 behind me. One of the two “other diver” cars had already left.

To our shock no one from our group found the medallion and the other group of two were just as unsuccessful. We discussed where to go for our night dive when we came to the realization that we had no other decision than to dive PADI #79 again. We drove back to HQ with out empty tanks, then ate dinner at Louie’s Bucket of Bones. After dinner we booked it back to HQ but the tanks weren’t back yet. It was 7pm and starting to get dark, so we grabbed four rental tanks and hightailed it back to PADI #79.

PADI #79, Mahnomen II & III, dive 40

Dive: 40
Season Dive: 7
Date: 9/26/09
Site: Padi #79, Mahnomen II & III
Avg/Max Depth: 24/43
Temp: 57
TBT/CBT: 0:57/32:25
Buddies: Curtis, Ted, Mike, Adam

During our surface interval a couple of cars showed up at the site to hunt for the medallion as well. Since the game had been stepped up with the site reveal we wasted no extra time on the surface interval. Kristen decided she needed a break and graciously volunteered to run our tanks into Brainerd for a fill since we had missed the designated pickup time at HQ.

Since we knew our second clue would deal with compass navigation, we started theorizing of what type of landmark they would use. Since there wasn’t anything distinctive at PADI #79 we could only assume our directions would be in relation to one of the platforms. I don’t remember who’s idea it was, but we decided to swim around holding a line. Curtis tied a rope to a submerged 5 gallon pail and placed it smack dab in the middle of the platform, then we spaced ourselves along the line and swam a circle. It was good in theory, but once we started swimming over the wall the tall trees complicated things. I ended up letting go of the rope so I could cover the bottom.

Our search turned up dry so Curtis moved the bucket and we circled again. Nothing. Then we swam in a straight line for a distance and back again. Still nothing. It was rather disappointing to have to return to the surface empty handed for the third time.

PADI #79, Mahnomen II & III, dive 39

Dive: 39
Season Dive: 6
Date: 9/26/09
Site: Padi #79, Mahnomen II & III
Avg/Max Depth: 25/38
Temp: 57
TBT/CBT: 1:05/31:28
Buddies: Ted (Curtis, Kristen, Mike, Adam)

We suited up for another round of medallion hunting quickly, but still no one came to the site. Since no one was there we decided it would be best to split up into three groups to cover the most ground. Curtis and Kristen were to head straight out over the road again (recovering the right side where Mike and Ted got a little of course yesterday), Mike and Adam were covering to the left and Ted and I were heading right.

As far as dives go it was a good one. My mask acted up yet again, so that was irritating and inconvenient, but other than all went well. There was so much to look at. I even spotted a giant snapping turtle lounging on the bottom.

However, we did not find the medallion, and neither did anyone else. We had a short surface interval before trying another tank.

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