I had big plans for the summer.  Most were for my own selfish.. self.  But one thing I held on to was getting Watson to swim.

On Labor Day weekend, we took a trip to Dutch Springs, my new favorite weekend trip for scuba.  Karen and I made a dive in the morning and Watson met us in the afternoon.

We took Watson to the Aqua Park.  The water in the park is about 50 feet deep - enough to make any first time swimmer a bit uneasy, but I will say that Mr. Watson handled it like a pro.  Short of looking like a ‘fish out of water’… in the water, he did fine.  He even tried swimming ‘freestyle’.  We’re still working on that part.

GW mustered up the courage to climb the iceberg and jump off, and it may not have been graceful…. but he did it.  In the picture below I’m sure Watson is saying “I swim, I’m a swimmer, I’m swimming…”

And now my first ever guest entry from Mr. Watson himself.

“I met up with Keith and Karen at the Lehigh Valley Dive Center. The young lady who helped us betrayed some apprehension when I announced my height and weight as 6’4” and 160 pounds, but she was able to scare up a suitable suit. Thus armed, we headed back to Dutch Springs and I set to the task of suiting up. After allowing the image of my wetsuited self to be recorded for posterity on the digital camera, I summoned up every ounce of manly courage, fixed a careless smile on my face, and plunged into 50 feet of water. And what do you know? As advertised, I bobbed up and down like…well, like a bobber.
There followed several joyful hours of climbing on and jumping from the giant inflatable iceberg and sliding board, as well as a moderately successful attempt at snorkeling. I am a bit doubtful about scuba diving, the logistics of which make the Apollo mission look like a trip to the Wawa, but all in all Dutch Springs was a gas, I’m grateful to Keith and Karen for finally dragging me up there, and I’m ready for a return trip.”

We got to dutch early on Sunday and made two quick and familiar dives. We were offered a tour of a few attractions that we hadn’t seen before, and we just filled our tanks so we figured - why not?

Dive Master Kevin took us to another ramp to enter the water and we surface swam to the platform and Kevin navigated us to the School Bus, which we proceeded to enter and look around. We took a short swim to the fire truck and then a long tour back to the dock along the edge of the quarry.

Great sights all along the way.

Attached is an updated map of where we have been in the quarry.

This past weekend was week two of SCUBA this summer! Tons of stuff has happened, and I can’t write it all here, so I’ll try to point out the most exciting things.

First of all - Karen has completed her Open Water certification. Yay, Karen. Send her an e-mail and congratulate her.

SCUBA adventures have been at Dutch Springs in Bethlehem Pa. www.dutchsprings.com

On Saturday, Karen and I ventured out to see the submerged airplane. We descended to the plans, took a trip around the island and back to the plane… here are a few photos.   There is a hidden message in the picture on the right.  Click to get a larger view.  I swear I had nothing to do with this!!!

OK - Now we’ll get the cameraman in a photo. This is a pic of Karen and I sitting on the tail of the Helicopter. The lighting is a bit weak at 50 feet below the surface.

Last wednesday we took an advanced class in SCUBA.  For me it was learning to use a drysuit.  We started by setting up our gear and then learning how to ‘don the suit’.  Once the suit is on, that sucker is really tight.  My question was “What happens if you get an air bubble at your feet? do you float to the surface upside down?”  Dave, our instructor said “Sometimes that happens”.  I knew he was holding something back.

When we finally got in the water, Ben was teaching us the drysuit skills.  This is typically how our lessons go.  We know nothing before we get there, and just jump in the deep end and start our lesson.

Dave hasn’t lost any gear yet, so I guess his teaching works.

The first skill was a forward somersault, and it was easy.  Then Ben told us he was going to have us hold on to a handle at the bottom of the pool while he filled our drysuit up with air.  Then when he gave us the ok, we would let go and try our forward somersault while trying to remove the air from the suit.  This is a skill I did not master on the first try.  I almost made the full somersault, but ended up floating at the surface with my drysuit mostly inflated - looking like the Michelin man.

Take 2 was more successful.