rumrunn6

a buddy & I would dive at night after work for several years. we had a favorite spot. it was a protected cove avrg depth 30 feet within the cove. we always stayed in the cove. the sides of the cove had cliffs with homes w/ lights. we always knew where we were. some fun highlights included schools of squid, my buddy turning off his light & gesturing for me to do the same. once both lights were out he started swirling his hands making tiny bioluminescent critters light up in swirling masses. then I did the same. & there we were, the 2 of us, no lights, swirling our hands & feet in darkness disturbing the glowing critters. it was pretty unique. we also dove at night during storms. it was difficult to talk to each other at the surface & even see ea. other due to the swells between us, but once we descended it was all calm. another fun highlight was tank sharing. he had a larger tank & rather than us quitting when I ran out of air he wanted to buddy breath on his tank (he had a 2 regulator "octopus") to a certain point then I would go on my own tank so we would both run out at the same time. everything was fine until I had to go back on my own tank. I kept reaching for my regulator but repeatedly couldn't find it. at about the point I almost gave up & surfaced I found it, cleared the regulator & started breathing. while we always had the rule of staying together on one occasion I don't remember why, while I was at the surface he descended, indicating for me to wait for him. this is over 25 yrs ago so my memory on the point is weak. but I do remember his light, glow stick & strobe (we each wore night strobes) disappeared into the darkness. or maybe on that dive we didn't have the strobes? regardless I lost sight of him. I didn't go after him but after a few seconds he re-emerged from the darkness as he rose toward me again. this was before cell phones so I would stop at a phone booth, confirm to Wife where we were & that we would be under water soon. then as soon as we could, hit the same phone booth to let her know we were out & headed home. I'd say our dives were approx. between the hours of 7-9pm. we must have made 20+ night dives over 1 or 2 summers, mixed in w/ other daytime dives. I dove w/ a camera & flashes & also attached a light so I could see enough to focus with. unfortunately we lost touch when he also got married to a woman who dove. I guess one could say she stole my dive buddy. haha no worries, it's all good

I sometimes think those dives contribute to my joy riding at night & even in storms, all covered up except for lights & cameras. cycling like that, has many similarities to night diving. but probably a lot safer!