First Annual Camp/Dive Outing
Camping and Diving at Lake Rawlings, Va.
Our camping/diving trip started out 6AM on Saturday. Nelson and Tina Coble took their truck and towed the diving trailer and we took our suburban pulling our pop-up. We arrived at Lake Rawlings to find the Clines and the Mendenhalls already there. The Clines had their tent, tables and campfire already organized. The Mendenhalls had their motor home set up. (Tina declared she would like one just like it for her and Nelson.) They had arrived Friday evening to a wonderfully cool night, sleeping with the windows and tent flaps open. Mike Irwin, John Stanley, and Robert Inge brought up the rear and set their site as we set up ours. Robert Inge had the coolest tent ever. It was a cot with a tent on top of it. His own personal tent that was small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Mike and John’s tent slept about 8 I think, so Robert’s looked very small next to theirs.
After we set up camp, we suited up and headed for the water. Bob and I, Nelson and Tina paired up and descended down to 13 feet. Unfortunately, Tina woke up with sinus issues and was not able to go below ten feet. They swam around at that depth for ten minutes and then surfaced. Bob and I continued on. I finally got to see the boat the movie was filmed on from below, instead of from above snorkeling. Lake Rawlings is where it all started for me. I got certified in snorkeling there with RC Coley. We dove on to see the computers, the basketball court and the lawn ornaments, and on through the school bus. We then went on to the ridge and dropped down to 39 feet where we encountered the thermal cline. Temps dropped considerably. After we did our safety stop, we surfaced to find Nelson and Tina, and Bob and Nelson went on to continue diving and we girls headed back to the camp. Tina was done due to her sinuses, and I was done due to being too cold to get back in the water. The air temp wasn’t warm enough get the chill off.
That didn’t stop the other divers though.
After lunch, the crew, minus Tina and I went for their second dive. We took a nap. There’s nothing like an afternoon nap in the breeze of a camper.
Dinner was had at our campsite. We cooked chicken, hamburgers, and brats, with baked beans. We had cookies for dessert at that time. Dwayne befriended two marines from Fayetteville, and they joined us for dinner. They crew suited up for their night dive. Hannah was the only girl to brave the dark and the cold and go on the night dive. The rest of us walked to the dock and watched the lights, as the divers dropped down and dove. It is always so cool to see the underwater fireflies dance in the nightfall.
After the night dive, when all the divers (seems John Stanley crossed paths with another group underwater and got separated from our group and surfaced 30 minutes after everyone else. Seems his night tour was more extensive than ours.) We then retired to the Cline’s campsite where there was a blazing campfire. We had our raffle, and gave out prizes. Then the roasting of the marshmallows and the s’more assembly began. It was discussed that we would have more camping/diving events next year. Robert Inge also suggested that this not be our last dive event. We should have a dry suit diving event for the winter months. Sounds good to us, how about you all?
We had to be out of the camp by 9AM if we weren’t diving on Sunday, so we were all up early, broke camp, and six of us went to breakfast on the way out of town. Before we left the dive facility, they gave us a tour of their cabins, so that we can incorporate our certification trips using their facility. The cabins sleep 6 and have bathrooms, kitchens and decks, with A/C and heat. We can have those who would rather not sleep in tents use the cabins. We brought back fliers and info about their facility.
About 20 miles down 85 as we were following Mike and John, they suddenly u-turned and headed back. Seems they left ratchet straps on the trees for their clothes lines. Good thing they went back, they called later to say they also left the top of their tent there.
We stopped at exit 152 on 85 on the way up and on the way back. It’s amazing how 100 miles drops the price of the gas and increases the availability. Gas was $3.67/gal. Filled up and headed home. As you can see we had a great time and we are looking forward to an encore performance.
