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Three campsites full of Alacostans made the trek up Highway 128 to Mendocino for the August ab diving trip/camping to Van Damme State Park. A few rain drops fell on early arrivals Susan Carter and John Purnell on Thursday, but by Friday the sun was out, and managed to stay out throughout a beautiful North Coast weekend.
Well, at least conditions were beautiful topside. The sea was reasonably flat, it was warm, and the sun was out, but unfortunately the water visibility could best be described as ``pea soup'' murk...Because of the lack of vis, no tank diving was done, and some divers chose alternative recreational activities, including Hank Collins, who did a lot of kayaking when he wasn't brewing coffee in the bathroom, and Susan and John, who slipped away for lots of hikes in search of gnomes, redwoods, and other mysteries of the north coast...
However, the poor vis didn't stop those who did venture out in the Latex Queen from getting their limits or close to it: even Janet Myers, trying her hand at ab diving for only the second time in her life and the first time in 17 years, got three good size abs...The dive itself went fairly smoothly, other than Rob Vedovi loosing an ab iron when he tried to lose (or was it gain?) some weight, and Kevin Dalley finding his GPS on an abalone; perhaps the abalone was trying to keep the club members from returning to that secret spot?
Well, the abalone lost that particular battle, and with his brothers and sisters ended up on the bbq marinated in new club member's John Lynch's special ``bloody salsa''. All present agreed that the salsa was deliciously enhanced by the actual blood from a kitchen accident that only slightly delayed John's arrival at the campsite, but might have scared his new bride if she had realized how close the blade came to...Other contributors to a typically overly indulgent Saturday night potluck and campfire included Bill and Joanne McDowell and Oliver Edwards and family. All present had a great time discussing relationship toxicity, road biking, ``stupid diving tricks'', the institution of marriage, eating habits of banana slugs, predestiny, whether ice was an acceptable additive to Islay single malts, couples showering together, and other such fun campfire topics...
In other words, we had a great time! If you missed this trip, join us for the next round, as plans are already under way for an ab dive weekend the weekend before Thanksgiving (November 16-18th). Rob is hoping it will also include a search and recovery dive (on tanks) for that ab iron...
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