Dave's DOG Blog

Thursday

Having never been to Haigh Quarry before, we got the grand tour from Tina, and did our best to figure out where to put the huge DOG Tents, so as not to damage underground sprinkler lines, and to avoid causing a traffic jam in the parking lot. Ultimately, we opted for the grassy knoll beside the Air Station…thus giving us plenty of room, and assuring that Christine (Diver’s Alert Network) had an unobstructed view of the water. Set up went very quickly, and the tents finally went up with ease…mostly due to the 25-30mph winds that picked up each tent. Leak testing gloves, turning suits, waxing zippers all progressed very rapidly. I think we’ve had plenty of practice so far this year, and it is starting to show.

Friday

With a day this perfect, and an as-yet unexplored brand new dive site, the call of the quarry was irresistible. We had the quarry to ourselves, with only a few PSD teams in the water. DAN’s Scott Smith and Christine McTaggart were very easily convinced and we were very quickly suited up for a 45 minute tour of the quarry depths. Capping off the great dive was my first ever sighting of a Paddlefish while on SCUBA. Somehow I’ve missed seeing them at Gilboa and Mermet (last year) and I can now check that box on my list of cool stuff that must be seen underwater. Mola Mola (Sunfish) Whale and White Sharks are still left at the top of the list given Susan and Faith’s personal accounts of amazing encounters.

Unfortunately, I lost a bet today and had to pay up for a round of ice cream. Who would have thought that people would so readily know the difference between Sorbet and Sherbet. Perhaps there’s a Diversitea Trivia question there for future events!