We went to Huntington Mine pit to do our open water portion of the Rescue Diver Certification this past weekend. I could not take any photos while the class was going on but here is a link to some video and photos of the other dives we did between the classes:
Nice job on the camera.. 8). Those were some excellent pictures of that lunker northern.
My buddy Chad and I dove Hunington on Sunday afternoon, the best part of the dive was when we dove on the north side of the lake. We too encountered a rather large northern. Chad had caught a 20 lb, 4' northern in an area lake the previous year, and based on the size of this northern, he guesses that it was approximately 15 lbs. It was just laying in the sand at about 25' and was it "dark". We easily approached it for a picture, getting within 2' of it. After about a minute or two, it swam about 10' away and laided back on the bottom. Too bad the camera batteries went dead.
Were you guys buzzed by a flying diver? ;D
We did a fly-by with the tow sled to two divers on the North side between the boat launch and Gilligans Plunge. That was probably Art smoking by you at about 10 MPH. Small World! 8) We estimated the Northern that we photographed to be in the 15 pound range. 6 photos with the external flash and he finally woke up after that. The last shot of him was a head on shot from 12" away but that photo would not "insert" into the youtube movie/slideshow. I will try to add that to this thread as an image.
;D My favorite part was the terrier!
That was Shooters Springer "Neo". I will let Nate tell the tale about that dog being the first K9 to receive a PADI Rescue Diver (honorary) Certification. It was amusing! ;D
In one portion of our training we were discussing ways to get a line to a struggling diver in the water. I jokingly said that I could loop the rope through my dog's collar and throw the tennis ball past the struggling diver so he could grab the rope. When we had our drill Neo just happened to be there waiting for somebody to throw something I looped the rope through his collar and chucked a rock, out past the struggling diver. At this point the struggling diver was now face down in the water and unable to grab the rope. I then grabbed a rock and threw on the opposite side of the diver. Neo made a loop snagging the first stage of the facedown in diver. I then called him in as I gently pulled the diver to shore. 8) We couldn't have rehearsed it any better! The Distressed diver was probably 20 to 30 yards offshore. By the time, somebody had a mask snorkel and fins on, the distressed diver was already halfway back. All in a days work for a public safety diver. I would like to duplicate this scenario in a thin ice situation.
Here are 4 Photos from the weekend. The first one is Shooter in Arts boat with Neo in the foreground waiting for me to throw something. The second one is of Art getting the tow sled ready for some of the most exciting diving I have ever done. The third one is Shooter showing how excited he is to try the tow sled. The fourth one is a head shot of Mr Big.