Hello again
So another dive adventure…I went home to visit family and also had someone interested in scuba. I decided I would bring their open water book and all my gear so they could have an idea of what all we use and show them the functionality of each piece. She loved trying on all the gear and even lifted the tank to get the full effect.
Even this small exposure to diving was enough to set the wheels in motion and when I left her house I immediately sought out a place to get in the water. I grew up very close to a river in Louisiana so I had plenty of places to choose from but I was thinking something with a little less crazy current and maybe more than -4ft viz.. There is a campground off the river called “The Bluff” and down the road from this are some old sand pits… perfect. I drove down the old back roads pulled off on a 4-wheeler path and geared up. I used my fins to knock down spider webs and move aside branches and I only got hung up on my tank once ducking under a limb (which may or may not be a word used in place of “barbed wire fence”) on the way to the sand pit.
I finally reached a place around the pond I could manage to get in and out relatively easy and was only sad because I had to do walk in instead of the giant stride or roll off. That water was cold and it took everything in me to make myself walk all the way in. After getting in though it was really nice. The viz was a good 15-20 I saw several catfish ,bass, brim, and a few white perch that looked quite tasty! It was definitely a satisfying peaceful dive.
About 40 min in I had just about covered the perimeter and was heading to the exit when I felt “the bump” . At first, I was like “ oh that’s nothing you must of hit a branch” I looked around but didn’t see anything I would have ran into. Hmm..just keep swimming. Pause.. Do you ever get that feeling when you are walking in the dark maybe to take the trash out and on the way back you start to feel like something is watching you and if you don’t hurry up its going to grab you so you take off running back to the house?! No?..just me?! Ok anyways. ..so I’m swimming (maybe a little faster) and then I kind of start laughing because I have let myself get scared of nothing. As im thinking this a freaking huge alligator gar swims inches in front of my face. It came out of nowhere and it scared the actual pee out of me! UGH!! Those are ugly, scary, dinosaur fish! If you have not seen one up close you are lucky! If you never see one while diving You Are Blessed! Really ive swam with sharks, barracuda, and even the alligator that lived under my Uncle Joe’s house boat. That is the most scared I have ever been of any marine life.
So I got to share a little about diving with a friend, I got to quench my thirst for diving myself, I had another new dive experience, and I learned “sand pits are a great place to bring your spear”. I have some great gar ball recipes 😊
-50 BAR for when you swim past the scary fish...5 min safety stop...
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