Dive: 41
Season Dive: 8
Date: 9/26/09
Site: Padi #79, Mahnomen II & III
Avg/Max Depth: 23/28
Temp: 68
TBT/CBT: 0:33/32:58
Buddies: Ted (Curtis, Kristen, Mike, Adam)

For our night dive we decided it might be fun to give PADI #79 a try. Apparently the medallion was still there and we thought it would be fun to have a go at it. Maybe it would reflect the light and be easier to find.

The temp had dropped so it was a bit chilly. Trying to put on slightly wet gear was kind of cold and miserable. Not to mention I was having some great anxiety since it was my first night dive. I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t think a light could make anything visible for any desirable distance below the surface, and my constantly leaky mask was really starting to wear on me. Seriously, it’s bad. It leaks if I turn my head, raise my eyebrows, look down, equalize, or if it’s been 2:34 minutes since it leaked last. Anyway, I digress.

I was buddied up with Ted again which made me feel a little better since he’s a rescue diver. Actually all the boys are rescue divers, so in all fairness maybe I would have felt good with any of them. Curtis gave Kristen and me an exit plan if we were panicked and needed to abort the dive which was comforting as well. I like to have an option to end my dive without ruining it for whoever my buddy is.

My mask gave me a lot of the trouble throughout the dive which was a pain and caused me a bit of anxiety, but I expected that to happen intermittently throughout the dive. What I did not expect was that diving in the dark would be totally awesome. The visibility was much better than I expected. Seeing everyone’s lights looked really neat. I didn’t see any big fish, but I found a lot of little ones sleeping motionless in the weeds. There were also lots of mudbugs hiding under rocks with their little pinchers going. I can never remember if they are crayfish or crawfish or if it even makes a difference, so I’m going to start calling them mudbugs instead.

Mike and Adam were in the water first. They ran a line off the platform 120 degrees to the fence post so we would have a reference of where to search. Ted and I got lost trying to find the platform, so we resurfaced and surface swam to everyone before descending again. I have no sense of underwater direction, so I just tried to stay at Ted’s side for the dive. We dug through weeds and overturned rocks looking for the medallion. Adam decided to either fix the line or run it a little farther, but he was practically crawling on the bottom while he was doing it. He floundered around and collected so many weeds that he resembled some sort of sea enemy from a Scooby Doo cartoon.

After almost an hour Ted signaled to surface since he spotted all the lights up above. I got excited thinking someone had found the medallion, but that wasn’t the case. Kristen said she was heading back to shore. I probably would have went back down with the rest of them, but I was fed up with my leaky mask so I was more than happy to swim to shore with her. It was so dark outside it made for an interesting time removing and packing up our gear. And a cold time.

We were done packing up by the time the boys returned sans medallion. Broken and defeated we returned to HQ to return the rental tanks and pick up our filled tanks so we’d be ready first thing in the morning to dive again.

Dive: 40
Season Dive: 7
Date: 9/26/09
Site: Padi #79, Mahnomen II & III
Avg/Max Depth: 24/43
Temp: 57
TBT/CBT: 0:57/32:25
Buddies: Curtis, Ted, Mike, Adam

During our surface interval a couple of cars showed up at the site to hunt for the medallion as well. Since the game had been stepped up with the site reveal we wasted no extra time on the surface interval. Kristen decided she needed a break and graciously volunteered to run our tanks into Brainerd for a fill since we had missed the designated pickup time at HQ.

Since we knew our second clue would deal with compass navigation, we started theorizing of what type of landmark they would use. Since there wasn’t anything distinctive at PADI #79 we could only assume our directions would be in relation to one of the platforms. I don’t remember who’s idea it was, but we decided to swim around holding a line. Curtis tied a rope to a submerged 5 gallon pail and placed it smack dab in the middle of the platform, then we spaced ourselves along the line and swam a circle. It was good in theory, but once we started swimming over the wall the tall trees complicated things. I ended up letting go of the rope so I could cover the bottom.

Our search turned up dry so Curtis moved the bucket and we circled again. Nothing. Then we swam in a straight line for a distance and back again. Still nothing. It was rather disappointing to have to return to the surface empty handed for the third time.

Dive: 39
Season Dive: 6
Date: 9/26/09
Site: Padi #79, Mahnomen II & III
Avg/Max Depth: 25/38
Temp: 57
TBT/CBT: 1:05/31:28
Buddies: Ted (Curtis, Kristen, Mike, Adam)

We suited up for another round of medallion hunting quickly, but still no one came to the site. Since no one was there we decided it would be best to split up into three groups to cover the most ground. Curtis and Kristen were to head straight out over the road again (recovering the right side where Mike and Ted got a little of course yesterday), Mike and Adam were covering to the left and Ted and I were heading right.

As far as dives go it was a good one. My mask acted up yet again, so that was irritating and inconvenient, but other than all went well. There was so much to look at. I even spotted a giant snapping turtle lounging on the bottom.

However, we did not find the medallion, and neither did anyone else. We had a short surface interval before trying another tank.

Dive: 38
Season Dive: 6
Date: 9/25/09
Site: Padi #79, Mahnomen II & III
Avg/Max Depth: 25/39
Temp: 57
TBT/CBT: 0:42/30:23
Buddies: Curtis, Kristen (Ted, Mike)

We wasted no coming up with a strategy for the dive. We decided to follow the road to the other side, heading along the wall on the way out, and covering the road on the way back, all the while diving side by side so as not to miss any ground. Curtis, Kristen and I would take the left of the road, Ted and Mike would take the right.

I had issues with my mask leaking the entire dive and remembered that I also had a bad time with it when Kristen and I dove two weeks earlier. It wasn’t just leaking, it would suddenly let in gushes of water. If I didn’t move my head around or equalize or move muscles in my face it would hold out for a bit, but it never quite sealed right. And it’s hard to look for something with a mask full of water.

Unfortunately we didn’t find the medallion. Neither did the other two. Saddened and defeated we assumed we picked the wrong dive site and would have to wait until our next clue at 8:30 the next morning.