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Scuba Forum / General / April 2004Dutch Springs changes
Those planning on going to Dutch will see some changes that may or may not be completed by opening day. According to a letter from them, they are expanding the parking lot. This expansion will mean that the front gate will be moved but you will still enter the quarry off of Hanoverville Rd. They are also moving the air fill station to the area where the maintenance garages were, off the side. They plan to build a playground for the kiddies and said that this will probably be located near the t-shirt shop. They are also going to be adding an "Aqua Park", which is stated as 'an area for water surface activity' and will be near the watercraft rental. Season passes and retail tickets are going to be 'computerized' but the front ticket office procedure will remain the same. Admission prices and air fill prices are not going up. I have a feeling that these changes will take some time to complete and that those diving there in the near future will need to be patient... esp with the parking lot situation. :) > Those planning on going to Dutch will see some changes that may or may > not be completed by opening day. According to a letter from them, they [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > and that those diving there in the near future will need to be > patient... esp with the parking lot situation. :) does it get crowded? > does it get crowded? As compared to ?? :) It can get crowded, yes Joe. I'm not one to hang out there, although it's close to my house. It's a popular place for dive shops from PA, NJ, NY and DE to take students and for those who wish to brush up or practice skills. The quarry offers night dives and weekend camping, etc so it can get nuts. It's not a bad quarry at all. The viz is better than most. But it's a quarry. Cold, dark and not much to see at 90 ft. You, of all ppl, certainly understand. Salty left this mess on 15 Mar 2004 22:31:08 -0800 for The Way to clean up: >> does it get crowded? > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >dark and not much to see at 90 ft. You, of all ppl, certainly >understand. Yea, but it can be one goddamned long hike to gear up or strip down, from the showers to the picnic areas. And sometimes, if you are unfortunate in your choice of parking spot, you can get a hernia lugging tanks and stuff. Tao te Carl "It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003 (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif > Yea, but it can be one goddamned long hike to gear up or strip down, from the > showers to the picnic areas. And sometimes, if you are unfortunate in your > choice of parking spot, you can get a hernia lugging tanks and stuff. I went there with a friend many many years ago. The fill station was behind us (we bought enough tanks anyway), and shower? Hmmm... after a fresh water dive, didn't even rinse the gear. But you are right, it can be a LONG tough haul with gear till you get to the water's edge. And in the summer... you will pass out from the heat. > I went there with a friend many many years ago. The fill station was > behind us (we bought enough tanks anyway), and shower? Hmmm... after a > fresh water dive, didn't even rinse the gear. But you are right, it can > be a LONG tough haul with gear till you get to the water's edge. And in > the summer... you will pass out from the heat. I guess it depends on where you park and enter. It sounds like you were on the "hill" if you were near the fill station. I think that walk to the water is actually shorter than if you had parked off to the right side from the front gate and gone down the valley area to enter the water. Either way though, you're right... it's long. Are there any quarries that you have visited that you found to be set up ideally ?? :) Sorry Salty, DS is the only one that I went to. That was in my early days of diving. The dive charter I was on was canceled, so my dive buddy suggested DS. He used to live near there, so off we went. It was a "dive", but not like the wreck diving we wanted to do. We were able to cover most of the "sites" with a single 80 in one dive. There was some surrealistic aspects of it. The way you can gently move your hand over the bottom and watch a 'cloud' of particules 'mushroom' upward and just stay there. Near the oil tanker, there are the dead trees standing upright, it can be 'eerie' looking. Catching a glimpse of those big rainbow trouts is nice. I did a DUI demo day there as assist instructor. Met Dick Long, dove his DUI CF200 (something that I couldn't afford at the time) and had a grand time. BUT, I do all my diving on the wrecks out of LI/NY/NJ. >>I went there with a friend many many years ago. The fill station was >>behind us (we bought enough tanks anyway), and shower? Hmmm... after a [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > there any quarries that you have visited that you found to be set up > ideally ?? :) > Sorry Salty, DS is the only one that I went to. That was in my early > days of diving. The dive charter I was on was canceled, so my dive buddy [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > the time) and had a grand time. > BUT, I do all my diving on the wrecks out of LI/NY/NJ. Then you're familar with the Dina Dee from Bellmar... The Mohawk, Shark River Inlet, etc ?? :) > >>I went there with a friend many many years ago. The fill station was > >>behind us (we bought enough tanks anyway), and shower? Hmmm... after a [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > there any quarries that you have visited that you found to be set up > > ideally ?? :) > Then you're familar with the Dina Dee from Bellmar... The Mohawk, > Shark River Inlet, etc ?? :) Most of the diving I do is out of LI (I live in Suffolk County). The stuff of the Jersey coast have been the Algol, Stolt (still one of my all time favs), Resor (tremendous night diving), and a few others. TonyP left this mess on Tue, 16 Mar 2004 22:55:51 GMT for The Way to clean up: >> Yea, but it can be one goddamned long hike to gear up or strip down, from the >> showers to the picnic areas. And sometimes, if you are unfortunate in your [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >be a LONG tough haul with gear till you get to the water's edge. And in >the summer... you will pass out from the heat. I meant "shower" in a more prosaic term. That's the only place with privacy enough to strip out of a wetsuit and wet bathing suit and into street clothes. When you have an hour drive home, that can be important. Tao te Carl "It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003 (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif > I meant "shower" in a more prosaic term. That's the only place with privacy > enough to strip out of a wetsuit and wet bathing suit and into street clothes. > When you have an hour drive home, that can be important. I understood what you meant. I went during the summer. Take off the wetsuit and I was dry in a few minutes (had bathing suit under wet suit). The drive for me was about 1.5hrs. > I meant "shower" in a more prosaic term. That's the only place with privacy > enough to strip out of a wetsuit and wet bathing suit and into street clothes. > When you have an hour drive home, that can be important. If all you're looking for is "privacy", a portable one could be created with a few pieces of PVC pipe and appropriate connectors... Just don't glue eveything together so that you can disassemble it... Use a tarp for a curtain around it or possibly some cheap shower curtains... If you also want a fresh water shower, it's easy enough to carry a fresh water container on the top of an SUV or truck and rig a hose with some sort of sprayer for a shower head... There are even DC powered pumps that can make it such that you don't need to rely on gravity for the flow of the water... If you want a warm shower, there are even portable propane water heaters that are sold in the camping supply stores... Grumman-581 left this mess on Sat, 20 Mar 2004 10:45:20 -0600 for The Way to clean up: >> I meant "shower" in a more prosaic term. That's the only place with >privacy [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >warm shower, there are even portable propane water heaters that are sold in >the camping supply stores... Yea, or I could just buy one of those "tents" from Leisuro-Pro....but the changing area at DS is heated :) Tao te Carl "It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003 (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif > Grumman-581 left this mess on Sat, 20 Mar 2004 10:45:20 -0600 for The Way to > clean up: [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question > here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif Here is an alternative that works for me. http://www.robes4you.com/change.html Also good for keeping warm between dives. No assembly, no batteries required. I have had mine for about 5 years. It seems to get borrowed a lot so get Barb to embroider your name on it. Well made too. R Benner left this mess on Sun, 21 Mar 2004 16:26:21 -0500 for The Way to clean up: >> Grumman-581 left this mess on Sat, 20 Mar 2004 10:45:20 -0600 for The Way >to [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] >required. I have had mine for about 5 years. It seems to get borrowed a lot >so get Barb to embroider your name on it. Well made too. Y'know, I saw something similar in the L-P catalog about a year ago. Tao te Carl "It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003 (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif > > Grumman-581 left this mess on Sat, 20 Mar 2004 10:45:20 -0600 for The Way > to [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] > required. I have had mine for about 5 years. It seems to get borrowed a lot > so get Barb to embroider your name on it. Well made too. You can get it (adult version) slightly cheaper at leisurepro... http://s1059kxm.leisurepro.com/webapp/commerce/command/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=73 201&prmenbr=946 > Yea, but it can be one goddamned long hike to gear up or strip down, from the > showers to the picnic areas. And sometimes, if you are unfortunate in your > choice of parking spot, you can get a hernia lugging tanks and stuff. Si. As I said to Tony, it depends on which parking area you choose... the upper section or the section off to the other side that goes downhill. We always park on the upper section. We have the advantage of having the LDS that hub used to work for right there and so we can always spread out a blanket there next to their tables and borrow space on their gas grill to cook something for lunch. Parking there is also closer to the bathrooms / change rooms / showers. However, parking there means that you face that steep hill to enter and exit the water. I dress in the parking lot, don my gear and walk down the hill. Then after the dive, I walk back up again with my tank, etc still on my back. I'd rather do that than try to carry my gear to the water edge to suit up there. The section off to the right is very nice and that's actually the area that I always went to before I met hub. Parking close there now is unheard of and the picnic areas / camping areas on that side are widely used. If I were over on that side, I'd be tempted to drive to the bathrooms / change rooms / showers. It is a bit of a hike indeed. But... it doesn't compare to the hike that one has to get to the bathrooms / change rooms / showers at Bainbridge. It's over a mile there and so everyone drives. Thank goodness they have porta-potties nearer to the dive entry sites, as awful as they might be...and then again, many of us have been known to 'find a tree and get to pee' there. When I first started going to Dutch, they didn't have the bathroom - shower area. > Tao te Carl > "It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003 > > (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question > here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif This is true. If you're diving as part of an LDS group, often they'll send a scout van ahead with the really heavy stuff. That's a nice touch, when you've planned ahead like that. For the casual "trunk diver", that's not an option. I like DS, but it's not perfect. Usually, I dive off the peninsula or the "dock", whatever they call that area. Salty left this mess on 17 Mar 2004 05:30:37 -0800 for The Way to clean up: >> Yea, but it can be one goddamned long hike to gear up or strip down, from the >> showers to the picnic areas. And sometimes, if you are unfortunate in your [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] >> (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question >> here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif Tao te Carl "It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003 (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif > This is true. If you're diving as part of an LDS group, often they'll send a > scout van ahead with the really heavy stuff. That's a nice touch, when you've > planned ahead like that. For the casual "trunk diver", that's not an option. Yes... I agree. But, you see, we're always 'trunk divers' there too because hub stopped working for the LDS some 12 yrs ago. They still let us use their bbq grill and their space. And if we wanted, they would probably still bring up tanks for us... for a fee of course. :) > I like DS, but it's not perfect. Usually, I dive off the peninsula or the > "dock", whatever they call that area. I'm not sure what you mean. I think you are referring to the area that, when you drive into the quarry, veers off to the right and goes downhill. Each side... to the right or to the left... has 'docks'. > Salty left this mess on 17 Mar 2004 05:30:37 -0800 for The Way to clean up: > > [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question > here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif babette7401@hotmail.com (Salty) pounded away at his keyboard resulting in: : And if we wanted, they :would probably still bring up tanks for us... for a fee of course. :) For a fee, wouldn't they do that for anyone? Dan Bracuk If at first you don't succeed, you run the risk of failure. The Best of rec.scuba http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/RecScuba/ > babette7401@hotmail.com (Salty) pounded away at his keyboard resulting > in: > : And if we wanted, they > :would probably still bring up tanks for us... for a fee of course. :) > > For a fee, wouldn't they do that for anyone? I'm sure. My point was that we weren't being favored by the LDS and that we were, by De's standards... 'trunk divers'. > But it's a quarry. Cold, > dark and not much to see at 90 ft. sounds like fun :) > > But it's a quarry. Cold, > > dark and not much to see at 90 ft. > sounds like fun :) After what John Francis has said, I thought you would like it. :) Hey... ya know Dutch Springs could probably use a Christmas tree sinking. I don't think they do that. Maybe you help them get the tradition started. If ya do, I'll be sure to show up... with hot chocolate, tea, coffee and some body warming foods like roast beef in gravy and meatball sandwiches. And I'll be sure to accidentally forget my dive gear at home. LOL I've turned into a warm water weenie. > After what John Francis has said, I thought you would like it. :) > Hey... ya know Dutch Springs could probably use a Christmas tree [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > gravy and meatball sandwiches. And I'll be sure to accidentally forget > my dive gear at home. LOL I've turned into a warm water weenie. I wonder what the winter temp is there. I know that at the bottom in the deep end, it hovers in the 40's. TonyP left this mess on Wed, 17 Mar 2004 13:37:24 GMT for The Way to clean up: >> After what John Francis has said, I thought you would like it. :) >> Hey... ya know Dutch Springs could probably use a Christmas tree [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >I wonder what the winter temp is there. I know that at the bottom in the >deep end, it hovers in the 40's. It never really gets much warmer or colder, Tony. THere;s a chart at the website...http://www.dutchsprings.com/about.html#temps That's the average annual water temp at the surface. *That* varies quite a bit, but once you drop down below the thermocline, you are looking at mid-fifties as shallow as 25' even in the summer. It is, after all, a spring. Tao te Carl "It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003 (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif > It never really gets much warmer or colder, Tony. THere;s a chart at the > website...http://www.dutchsprings.com/about.html#temps > > That's the average annual water temp at the surface. *That* varies quite a bit, > but once you drop down below the thermocline, you are looking at mid-fifties as > shallow as 25' even in the summer. It is, after all, a spring. I know that the first time I dove there with a wetsuit, we went out to the 'car' wreck at 90'. Dropped thru the thermo, and did the temp drop!! After a few minutes at the bottom (looking at basically nothing) I couldn't wait to get to the 'warmer' water. The surface water temp was 72 at the time. Ahhh.... nice and refreshing. DS is a great place for training and trying out 'stuff'. UW nav or nite diving (or both) is good there. But, nothing beats diving the Oregon, San Diego, Stolt, Arundo, Oil wreck (in the mud hole 175'), Kenosha, G&D, Resor, etc.... TonyP left this mess on Wed, 17 Mar 2004 18:17:48 GMT for The Way to clean up: >> It never really gets much warmer or colder, Tony. THere;s a chart at the >> website...http://www.dutchsprings.com/about.html#temps [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >San Diego, Stolt, Arundo, Oil wreck (in the mud hole 175'), Kenosha, >G&D, Resor, etc.... Yea, of course. On the other hand, I don't have to charter my car to get to DS :) Tao te Carl "It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003 (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif > TonyP left this mess on Wed, 17 Mar 2004 18:17:48 GMT for The Way to clean up: >>I know that the first time I dove there with a wetsuit, we went out to [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Yea, of course. On the other hand, I don't have to charter my car to get to DS I live about 20mins from the dock. We charter the boat for the entire dive season. Instead of me heading to warmer clearer waters (been there, done that), I prefer the wreck diving here. Besides, there aren't any lobsters in DS. :p TonyP left this mess on Thu, 18 Mar 2004 15:20:39 GMT for The Way to clean up: >>TonyP left this mess on Wed, 17 Mar 2004 18:17:48 GMT for The Way to clean up: >>>I know that the first time I dove there with a wetsuit, we went out to [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >done that), I prefer the wreck diving here. Besides, there aren't any >lobsters in DS. :p Damn. I hate when someone points out an irrefutable fact.... Yea.....well....um, I don't have to worry about an oil slick clogging up my reg? Yea. Weak. I know. Tao te Carl "It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003 (Kudos to Cap'n Jim Wyatt for this link) BEFORE you ask a dumb-a.s question here...http://www.speakeasy.org/~neilco/bart.gif > TonyP left this mess on Thu, 18 Mar 2004 15:20:39 GMT for The Way to clean up: >>I live about 20mins from the dock. We charter the boat for the entire [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Yea. Weak. I know. Nah... no oil on most of the wrecks. Although the Oil Wreck (in the Mud Hole) is leaking... |
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