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PADI #79, Mahnomen II & III, dive 39

September 26, 2009

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.


Filed Under: DivingTagged: blog reader kristen, dive fest, Diving, mahnomen, padi #79

Dive Fest 2009, part 2

September 26, 2009

After finishing up our dive we drove back to HQ to drop off our empty tanks so we would have them by the next morning. There was some live entertainment by a few of the divers that work for MSD. As entertaining as it might have been we opted for dinner instead. Since Gary’s, our favorite pop-by-the-can restaurant, had apparently closed it’s doors we drove around Crosby looking for a tasty looking place. I spotted a restaurant off the main drag called Ya Betcha. It was a nice little place with delicious food and a sign that said “welcome bikers” (no mention of whether or not they welcome back door guests). I’d eat there again.

We were all pretty tired after dinner so we decided to head back to Blog Cabin to hang our stuff to dry and hit the hay. I think we all knew that nothing was going to dry in the rainy condition that the weather was in. Dried wet suits are pipe dreams during Dive Fest. However, I would much rather struggle to put on a soggy suit for the entire weekend then have the water pump be on the fritz. That was unfortunate.

In the morning we were all out of bed by 6:30ish. That’s 6:30AM… Happy Birthday to me indeed. We left the waterless cabin by 7am and opted to try a new place for breakfast. That decision may or may not have to do with Mike and Kristen finding ants in the syrup at our regular haunt. Since North Country Cafe was on the Dive Fest sponsor list and was listed as having “fabulous breakfast” we decided to try our luck there.

We picked a nice round table at the front of the restaurant. The service and the food was good. We even met a nice gentleman who asked us where we were from, then proceeded to tell us about all the gang bangers in our areas and how he used to hear gun shots all the time and even got stabbed in the face *pointed to scar* when he lived in the cities. Yikes. I don’t even think I’ve seen a “gang banger” in real life. Good thing my back was to him because I kept having to face away from him to hide my smile.

Once at HQ we packed up our filled tanks and waited for the next medallion clue. Adam was there waiting for us already, another welcome addition to our quest. Todd gave us the question regarding the dive table. Good thing Ted had a table with him. The question involved finding the minimum surface interval required between two dives, that number would be a hint for the dive site. It took us a bit of speculating since we all have computers and no one remembered how to use the dive table. Todd did coach us a little bit as everyone had cleared out to go dive. We finally figured it out… 1:19 was the answer. As Math Wiz Kristen pointed out, the answer is also 79.

On the way back to PADI #79 I kept having nightmarish visions of all the vehicles that had time to beat us there, but as we pulled down the hill there was no one. There were other people spotted with dive tables, did they not figure it out? Or were they not in it for the medallion? It made no sense. We wasted no time suiting up for the dive.


Filed Under: LifestyleTagged: dive fest, mahnomen, padi #79

PADI #79, Mahnomen II & III, dive 38

September 25, 2009

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.


Filed Under: DivingTagged: blog reader kristen, dive fest, Diving, mahnomen, padi #79

Dive Fest 2009, part 1

September 25, 2009

Dive Fest 2009 started out with a bang. Mike picked me up around 12:30. We headed to Cloud to pick up Curtis and Blog Reader Kristen then stopped for lunch at Bravo Burrito.

I needed to purchase a dive light for a night dive and Curtis and BRK needed tanks filled so we stopped at the MSD in Brainerd. After that we headed to Dive Fest Headquarters for our first set of clues for the medallion (free fun dives) and the first three poker chip mine reveals (free trinkets like Xmas stockings made from dive flags). We thought the festivities kicked off at 5pm but apparently it started at 4:30, right about the time we pulled into the campgrounds.

Ted was already there waiting for us. The clue for the medallion was “Look ma, no men”. I have no idea which pits were revealed since we we decided to go right for the medallion search. From the clue we assumed the dive site was somewhere in Mahnomen. At first we thought maybe it was a site with a female name: Joan, Feigh, etc. But more than the formal hint was revealed. A suggestion was given to brush up on dive table and compass skills for the clues tomorrow. Since the dive table consists of numbers or letters, I asked Curtis if there were any sites in Mahnomen that had numbers in them. There was only one, PADI #79.

When we got to PADI #79 no one was there. Could we be the only ones to decipher the first clue correctly? Are we even in the right spot? Last year we were positive we had the right spot on Friday night and it turned out we were way off, but we still had a good feeling about this one.


Filed Under: LifestyleTagged: blog reader kristen, dive fest, mahnomen, padi #79

Dive Fest 2008, part 4

September 30, 2008

As the theme for the weekend goes, plans changed and we decided to skip the second dive. It was a cold crappy morning and we were all fatigued. We went back to the HQs to turn in the chips before the prize giveaways started. Sweeny made out like a bandit with a free t-shirt, well, a bandit compared to the rest of us who got jack. There were no dive flag Christmas stockings this year… too bad, I really wanted Curtis to win another one. :D

My first dive fest was a lot of fun, even though I only half as many dives as I thought I would. Hopefully next year I’ll be in tip top shape and the weather will be as nice or better!!


Filed Under: LifestyleTagged: dive fest, Diving

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