Blue Heron Dive - Aug 30th 2008

Thanks again for the great intro back into diving today. It was good
to meet Marc, Keat, Lee and Henry from SFL-DIR along with a group of
friendly divers that Marc invited to join.

Driving down I could see plenty of lightning in the direction of Blue
Heron bridge and I was happy to see that it was blowing away. A
combination of the clouds and early morning made this seem like it
would be a night dive which would have been tough on a little scout
light (non-LED).

I arrived to meet Marc and Keat who arrived first and were already
looking up radar info on the storm but by the time we figured out how
to view it on the cell phones it was already blowing away. The rest
of the group started to show up and we decided to go for it since most
of the black clouds were now in the distance and heading away from us.

We geared up and made our way towards the shallow water on the east
bridge. The team walked me through Equipment checks (GUE EDGE) and I
was playing catch up to make sure my gear set up matched theirs. I
moved the back up mask from the left pocket to the right (Won't be
able to do that with a drysuit since I still have the flat pocket on
there for wetnotes only) and mentioned to the team that I did not have
my lift bag and spool on this dive because I was hoping to keep it to
an extended gear check without much task loading (some people might
call that a "fun" dive).

As we were getting ready to enter after doing the checks I asked what
was GUE EDGE because I didn't realize that's what we had just done.
These guys were great to take a second to explain that's what we just
did and then started to mention what it stood for.

I'll need to update my wetnotes from SADDDD to GUE EDGE

http://www.rueg.org/diving%20articles/gue%20edge.htm

During, "U...Unified Team". I looked around and couldn't see
Henry....so that's where we stopped and I thumbed the dive in less
than 4' of water. Since I was the only one wearing singles, I
volunteered to walk back to the car and yell a bit. HENRY!!! People
setting up pointed to the water and said he was already in. I went
back to the rest of the group and we started a lost diver drill. Marc
had a scooter and would make a run to the dive flags to track him
down. Keat, Lee and I walked over to the other bridge keeping an eye
out for Henry. Marc popped up to tell us he found the flag on the
other side and would go dive with him. Later we clarified the mix
up when we saw Henry at the end of the dive.

Henry...I would start a lost diver drill in McD's if you went to the
bathroom without a buddy. I tend to flip out pretty easily :)

Keat, Lee and I agreed to dive as a 3 person team with Keat in the
lead with the camera, Lee as the flagman and I would stick right next
to Keat since I did not have a canister light only a Scout back up
light. The dive started pretty good and I could feel the current from
the rising tide which made it a little tough to stay in place but gave
me some reverse kick practice. I could tell that I was breathing
heavy and working to stay in position while maneuvering around the
pilings. It took me a good 20 mins to get comfortable and shake off
the rust. Once we were done at the bridge and headed out the sand the
current had stopped and we had more daylight instead of using lights
to see under the bridge and the rust had been shaken off. I really
started to enjoy the dive at that point and my focus went from working
to enjoying.

Keat was working that camera like a pro. I hope he got some good
pictures because that was a lot more than my point and shoot (many
times) technique. Lee and I were glad to see him with a camera cuz it
gave us a chance to catch up. I couldn't figure out how he was moving
some much quicker when I had the single tank set up...I guess I need
to keep working the frog kick to get more power out of it.

We wrapped up the dive and hung out at the surface for a bit to chat
and then put the gear away. I had to run down to Miami to pick up
family at noon and could not make it to the after party for some food.
Overall, a very good intro back into diving and I am looking forward
to diving with Keat and Lee as a team again. These guys made me feel
very comfortable diving as a team with them.

I'll see ya next time...let's see what the weather brings these next
couple of days.

Dive soon,

William