RP Resor July 28 2013

Corey and the turtle.  Photo credit y muchas gracias for all the uw shots to Becky Kagan/Liquid Productions.

It's been far too long since I've made it out off New Jersey, so when I heard the Independence was headed out to the Resor I jumped on it.  It was a pleasure to see the regulars, and also Corey Mearns and Becky Kagan.  I had met Becky back in 2005 on a Florida trip and am impressed beyond words with how her career has taken off. 

Seas were relatively flat and the water warm, especially above 30' or so.  Fortune smiled on me last year hunting for artifacts, so (with a twinge of reluctance) I skipped the scallopfest.  The Resor always impresses me with just how much spidge is still on her, and in no time I found a cage lamp, plus a few projects to work on next time.  In the past I've been called Go Long Rob for the 3-4 hour dives I would do, but in the interests of safety I've backed off of that.  It worked in my favor this time since it gave me the opportunity to grab my tool kit and return for the firmly-attached cage light.  After completing dive one I saw that Becky still hadn't gotten in, so with some coordination, and not a bit of luck, we were able to meet up and have her take some shots of the light in situ and me removing it.  It took some banging away with the mallet and a pickle fork but it came free rather easily, and I still had the time to pick up a valve that was lying in the sand (spurned by the other divers but I think it will clean up nicely.)  She and Corey later met up with a friendly and frisky loggerhead turtle, a rare sighting and a real thrill.

PS I still got a few scallops.

Laying out the tools.