Blue Heron Dive - Aug 31st 2008

Sunday morning started with a radar check and it looked like we would
be able to dive in between storms. Lee decided to skip it and I don't
blame him because the Radar showed Miami was getting pretty beat up.
I arrived to meet up with Marc, Keat and Henry. The weather was
actually nicer than the Saturday. I also found out that Bill and
Susan were showing up and gave them a quick call to see where they
were at since we were gearing up. They had flags and buddies so we
went ahead and planned our dives with out them.

I made adjustments to the harness since it was pretty loose the
previous day. I thought my last dives were with a dry suit but
actually it was back when I gained a lot of weight 2 years ago. (Joan
and I started Weight Watchers in Jan 09 and so far I lost 40lbs! down
from 200 to 160 which is my Army Basic training weight.) Also Marc let
me borrow a 35W HID Frankenstein canister light and I need to add that
to the rig. Today I would also be taking my camera housing which I
had dropped and cracked part of the frame. I didn't think it would
affect the integrity of the seal but better to test before having to
replace the camera, AGAIN.

The group had 2 photographers and we decided to team up 1 photographer
per team. Team 1:Marc and Keat. Team 2:Henry and William. We planned
on some short dives since some were diving the same tanks as the
previous day. This worked out great for me since these were still
shake down dives testing equipment plus diving with photographers
usually means they'll stop to point out stuff that I would normally
miss. We went through GUE EDGE planning part at the bench and
finished up in the waist deep water.

As soon as I went under, I immediately felt very comfortable with
buoyancy, trim, balance, etc. Adjusting the rig to properly fit made
a huge difference and I was smiling right from the start. Henry led
down to tie off the flag and as I watched, I would see Fraken-HIDlight
start to flicker. I gave Henry the Light is F*CK#D signal (point at
light, give middle finger and mouth the word through the regulator).
I deployed the back up scout and turned off/stowed the dead light.
Henry saw the yellow old style scout and handed me the new LED scout
light. I couldn't believe the difference. I put away the yellow
light and continued to dive with the LED knowing that I was going to
buy one. Once we went under the bridge, I started to think a pair of
these LEDs would work great for Joan and I as Primary lights until we
save up from some HID canister lights. I was really impressed with
it. (Actually, I am on my way to buy one at Jupiter Dive Center right
after sending this report)

Today's dive certainly felt like an extension of yesterdays. Henry is
a great team member with excellent communication and team awareness.
We swam around stopping to look at all sorts of crevices for some
pictures and I was able to enjoy peeking into stuff I would normally
swim right over. About half way through the dive, I wanted to switch
to a back up mask that Marc let me try because it was very low
profile. The switch went well (I didn't surface or hit bottom) but
the mask was a little tight around the nose. It was ok for the last
15 mins of the dive and in case of emergency but i'll stick with my
current back up which is a little bigger.

Henry and I continued into the shallow areas and surfaced to chat
about the dive and wait for the rest of the group. That's when I felt
some rubbing/grabbing on my legs and it was Bill Barnes coming to say
hello. How did he recognize my butt after so many years? I probably
don't know :) Later on the surface I also got to see Susan and
their Big Truck...wow that thing is huge.

The dive today confirmed that I am back and ready to go shopping for
new toys. Hope to meet the rest of the SFL-DIR group for a dive soon.
I have been very spoiled by some excellent team diving with Keat, Lee
and Henry over the last 2 days and looking forward to doing some more.

I also talked with Marc about kick starting SFL-DIR monthly meets to
meet the other members and also invite folks that are interested in
joining.

Dive soon,

William

P.S. Camera housing had no leaks and I hope to take it out on the next
coupe of dives. I like to shoot pics and video of divers which will
be a great tool for feedback after dives on things like "Dead Primary
light" or "Switch to Back up Mask" like I did today.