Up at 6AM. Much of the set up was handled on Friday, so as the dive store staff was checked in and properly outfitted as DUI DOG Rally Crew, it was right into the briefing. Among the crew were several hard working, familiar faces, which is always great to see. With all of the experienced crew shoulder to shoulder with Mermet’s hard working staff we’re sure to give people a tremendous drysuit experience. The key today is to get everyone into the water as quickly as possible. 90+F and a DUI drysuit is quite common in north Florida caves, and sharing the inside “how-to” secrets makes for a more comfortable dive. Bob, Danny, and Cheryl from Odyssey SCUBA came through again at this demo. As always, one of the hardest working shops on the DOG tour, you are amazing. Not only have you kept things rolling smoothly at several events this year, but also you’re always smiling no matter what extreme weather befalls us! Exactly how Bob manages to find a hot cup of coffee no matter where we are, and in the middle of the woods, I’ll never know.

Seafood Specialties came through again with another great dinner this year. All told, I think we managed to feed just over 120 people. While Faith got things started with the evening presentation, I managed to grab a few bites of food before the Diversitea Trivia began. Quincy’s science experiment with the McCaw unit didn’t seem to pan out, sadly. He was hoping to create some glow-in-the-dark foam by dumping the contents of a handful of chem light sticks into the reservoir. We managed to give away a bunch of prizes, and hopefully inspire a few divers to check out the places their DUI makes diving effortless.

Given that we’d somehow managed to consume 2 days worth of food in 1 day, Faith and I were off once again to Paducah and the Super Walmart. The shopping is actually quite easy, taking only about 15 minutes. However, getting checked out at the cashier took 35 more minutes, and the usual comments. Yeah, yeah…lots of food. Yeah, we’re having a party…yes you can come…if you’re a SCUBA diver.

Finally, a shower and bed at 11PM.