Happy Wednesday Thursday Morning. I believe that fall has sprung! It’s been cool mornings, maybe cool afternoons or maybe warmer afternoons. Warmer as in warmer than the morning! We also have the beautiful foliage coming around plus the leaves falling off the trees. I believe Fall is here. Now, bring back summer!
Summer means diving weather/conditions!! Oh, wait… No, that may not be totally accurate. Last Sunday there was a diving event! Since it’s October and October means Halloween, that obviously means we had a Pumpkin Carving. But not just any pumpkin carving… oh no, we had the Underwater Pumpkin Carving. Now, if you got one of our cookbooks last fall, you’ll know that this has been an on-going thing for 21 years now… But the reason I bring up the cookbook is we had pictures from THE. FIRST. UNDERWATER. PUMPKIN. CARVING. Yes, for some reason that needed to be emphasized!
Truthfully, maybe I should find that first picture and include it in this post, but maybe we’ll do that next year… remind me!
21st Annual Underwater Pumpkin Carving
The weather leading up to the Underwater Pumpkin Carving didn’t prove to be pleasant for this event, but I’m happy to say that the weather held out. Initially, the forecast was cold and rainy, kind of like last year… but it wasn’t too terrible. Yes, you wanted a jacket or sweatshirt, but otherwise, it was dry and nice. If you came to participate, Yey! There was also a dry suit class and I heard the thermocline was around 37 feet. I say I heard because this blogger didn’t participate this year. No other reason that I just didn’t. Guys, I’ve participated in previous years and it really isn’t that terrible in the water this time of year.
So one of the rules is to cut a hole in the pumpkin so that it goes down easier. Even with a hole though, the pumpkins are still a little buoyant. Each and every person has a different plan to get that pumpkin down underwater.
This year we had 10 participants in the Underwater Pumpkin Carving. It was set to start around 1 pm, however, as usual, we got started a little late. Always plan to be there on time though because sometimes we actually start on time. There you go. Words of wisdom.
We had a lot of people there to watch though. Sometimes it is more fun to sit on the surface and see the pumpkins spring to the surface or whatever. Plus, we always find new things that happen on the surface while the divers are spending at max 45 minutes underwater. But, there are fun things that happen down under the water too and we find those out after the divers surface.
And food. Remember, we like food. Note: Mark is “burning” Deb’s hotdog for her. She likes her hotdogs a little more done. Don’t worry, the rest were done on the grill. And boy were they good, as well as the chili. Then there were all the fixings plus desserts.
45 Minutes or 500 psi
Chris Parrish was the first diver to surface. And soon after he surfaced, the next divers started coming up.
The Pumpkins
The 21st Annual Underwater Pumpkin Carving Participants.
Ugliest Pumpkin – Shawn Doty
Best Effort – Justin Walkinshaw
3rd Place – David Hurley
2nd Place – Chris Parrish
1st Place – David Becholdt
Chris Parrish (2nd Place), David Becholdt (1st Place), David Hurley (3rd Place), Shawn Doty (Ugliest), Justin Walkinshaw (Best Effort)
Number 1 was Chris Parrish
Number 4 – Shawn Doty
Number 8 – David Becholdt
Number 9 – David Hurley
Number 10 – Justin Walkinshaw
The 2018 – 21st Annual Underwater Pumpkin Carving Entries.
One last thing, remember that the participants are the ones who vote!
And there goes David Hurley’s Pumpkin. We watched it hoping that it would roll to the water but it didn’t. Bummer. It was fun entertainment for a bit. And he didn’t send it rolling, it just took off.
And of course… the Event Picture… Kim & Nicole tongue picture… But we got Deb to join us! Yey!
And there you have it, full recap including the tongue picture. Now… next on the list of events is the Annual Chili Cookoff on November 3rd. Please mark your calendars to be there! Be there or be square! And of course we prefer you to be there, not square. Just saying.