+1Originally Posted by nswef
+1
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
www.silententry.wordpress.com
Have you seen some big ones? There's always stories about catfish at the bottom of lakes that can swallow a person whole. I've thankfully never seen one that big from my kayaks! Or is it their whiskers that bug you? Catfish creep me out and I don't really like the taste of them either.
Float On: My "Happy Place" is on my little kayak in the coves of Table Rock Lake.
The biggest I've seen are 3-4 ft long ones. It's just the look of them, especially when I see them head-on. I saw one on Sunday, as it was on the platform, put its whiskers down and start feeling for food. It was kind of neat to watch in a gross way. LOL.
Dive buddy on Sunday and I had a good laugh when one came really close to me and I went a few feet up on the buoy line. I'd told him I really hated catfish as this was my first time diving with him, but he really got it when he looked up and saw me upnthere with catfish below me. I agree it's very silly, but I'll have to get over it. I can laugh at it, though.
I like catfish dead! Thin sliced, breaded and deep fried with Cajun spices. Yum.
On the conquering fears thing, at the beginning of April, going down to 45ft was scary. Now going 85 ft down to a wreck on the bottom of Lake Huron is nothing! I mean, it's serious being a deeper dive, but it doesn't create undue stress in me.
I'm at 96 dives now and may hit 100 this weekend!
It's Dunkin Punkin time again! Underwater pumpkin carving event with my dive shop is Sunday, which is also the last day the quarry is open for the season. I practiced on Sunday with two friends, as I have my first place win last year to defend! I'm going as Annie Oakley! I tried to carve a pumpkin into my target, but it didn't turn out well!
Cute pic of Dante the Dive Shop Dog helping me analyze a tank.
Pic of me and buddy before we got into the water Saturday.
So cute! Both you and the dog. Nice.
Dante is the shop owner's dog and is at the shop weekdays. He's a soft coated Wheaten terrier. He loves giving kisses and will come running if you tell "steak!"
I keep you in mind when I am debating about doing something. You were so nervous about this and look at you now! 96 dives! Enjoying them! Thank you for continuing to post.
Nswef, it's been quite a journey so far! Glad you're enjoying my posts. It's fun showing off my pics.
Dunkin Punkin (as I call the underwater pumpkin carving) was last Sunday. I won for the second year in a row! I went as Annie Oakley. I carved a star into my pumpkin with a couple of holes for "bullet holes" on either side of the star. Pumpkin was very buoyant and thick walled. Took me about 20 minutes just to cut the top off (everything has to be done underwater). Buddy had to help hold pumpkin down and had to loan me his longer knife as mine was too short!
I won a regulator set worth a bit under $600. The best part is that I was going to buy it anyway! I'm going to take my sidemount class next summer. That's for longer/deeper dives in the future. Sidemount is where you have a tank on each side of you. Many people will do two connected tanks on their back, but that can weigh more than 100 lbs and my bad knees/sciatica would not be able to take that weight. Sidemount is great as it's best if you put your tanks on in the water. They just clip to your harness. The tanks are totally independent (you breathe them down evenly). If I'm diving at the quarry, you just wheel your tanks down to the water's edge. For boat diving, you put one tank on, jump in the water, and then put the other one on. The other tank would be hanging in the water, clipped to a rope.
I tried sidemount at a gear tryout day at our local quarry over the summer. It was great fun! The time allotted was 20 minutes, but it was good enough to get a good try at it. Felt very stable. After that, I kept an eye out online and bought my side mount harness used for a good deal.
The big milestone on Sunday was my 100th dive! I had quite the entourage on it - both instructors, two regular buddies, and a friend from Ohio who had come out for the event. I did another dive with Ohio friend earlier in the day. I hadn't dived with her since my first post-certification dives last October, when I was very nervous. She was astonished at how far I've come. My logbook page from the 100th dive is a keeper. Everyone signed it and wrote messages of congratulations.
Carving pumpkin. You can see the star
I like this one with the fish (bluegill)
Instructor got this pic on my 100th dive
This is what sidemount looks like. I'm on the left, Ohio friend is on the right. I was showing her the Tasmanian devil-faced cement shark on the old rock crusher in the quarry.
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