I was at a small quarry this morning doing a pre-dawn dive in my vintage gear. The water has gotten a little cooler here in the mid-west, so I was wearing my black hood, along with my black-framed mask and black double hose. I was on the far side of the quarry about 15 minutes after the dawn broke the horizon, so it was just barely light. Given that I hadn't been to that side of the quarry before, I decided to surface to look around so I could get my bearings. I slowly came up and broke the surface only to be looking directly at a fisherman on the quarry's bank. The look on his face was absolutely priceless. I just gave him a quick wave and went back down. At least a 100 kicks later I was still laughing at the look on his face... it told me that he had no idea what I was.
After I finished diving, my buddy and I walked over to talk to him as I thought it would be polite to say "hi" topside. When we got there the conversation was hilarious. He just stood there and admitted that when I came out of the water, he had no idea what I was..... it wasn't until I waved and he saw my fin as I descended that he realized I was a SCUBA diver. We got into a nice conversation and he mentioned he always wanted to learn how to dive. So, we encouraged him to visit the LDS and explore his options.
I think I will be laughing about this one for a long time. And should I forget, my buddy, Kelly (who will be trying vintage herself in the Spring) has his stance, expression and comment ("WHAT is that?) down pat. I am sure she will keep me laughing about it.
Vintage Diving....the fun just doesn't get old.
