One if by land, Two if by Sea, 3 for Portroe Quarry

I was never gonna be able to call this blog Paul Revere's ride. The reference to the famous American Hero who in-famously warned John Hancock and Samuel Adams (of the big signature and noble pilsner) of British troop movements before the battles of Lexigton and Concord was apt though. If you stay with me I will tie this all together I promise.  You may or may not know the phrase One if by Land, Two if by Sea, taken from that same famous ride. Well back in 1775 they apparently had no phones for texting and they had to send messenger by horseback to put a lantern in the steeple - I cant imagine what the "mobile bill" was for a message like that.  Luckily for us, we can manage with a few calls/texts on a Saturday to figure out where our LSAC members are going to be diving on Sunday.

Well our Sons of Liberty were spread all over the country - from Portroe to Kilkee and beyond the Loop Head. For my part I will blog about my first club dive of the year, and I hope that Brian O'Leary can add something about Portroe and maybe John Breen can manage a few words about the Tea Party that went to Bridges of Ross.

Our plan was simple enough - meet at Kilkee slipway for 11am sharp, dressed and ready to go. But this was complicated by the clocks spriging forward at midnightish (another Ride reference). I can explain my dilemma with reference to my Facebook status Saturday night...

"I have to be somewhere in the morning at 11 sharp. Add in travel time, now i need to set my alarm for 8. Do i set if for 7, knowing that it will be 8, or will my phone know to change the time? I better get up an hour early and check my phone. So If i set my alarm for 6... wait, that would be 5am right? Im only going to the beach - its only 90 mins drive. Ill be like 4 hours early. Ah man im not gonna sleep tonite."

In the end we were an hour early - which isn't too bad - better early than late I always say.  We met up with the good guys/gals from Aughinish SAC to avail of a few free spots on their boat (our trailer is in for repair I hear). A huge Thank You to Kevan, Martin, Aude and Christoph (and the others) for making us feel very welcome.  They were heading out to the Pinnacle for a handy one - and they even had a dry cox! Kevan organized the dive pairs - but he must have made a mistake as he ended up with me - I'm not complaining though - always great to have an expert lead the way. Kevan had depth on his mind so I did my best to mind by air intake (thanks Peter - I think your breathing lecture paid off...) as I was on Full Face Mask. I tried to stay a little above my buddy so I could conserve air, but when we approached 38 I had to stick the arm down so I wouldnt be outdone by anyone in Portroe.

It was all over faster than I liked, but Im sure we did a full circle of the Pinnacle cause I think we past two rebreathers at least once or twice. Never ran into Dave Keane or Bill Sullivan - but Im told they had a decent dive to 22m for Bills first dive with the club, welcome and hope to dive with you again. Second dive was in Newfee for the Aughinish trainees and I offered to do dry cox as payback.  There were even a few snakes and shamrocks jellies on the boat, I hope Martin managed to get one.

Oh yeah - I bet all you dirty mided people thought there would be a big payoff at the end linking this all back to the famous Ride. Im a yank but im not stupid. Basck home in Washington DC when you drop off your spouse to the Metro there are signs to mark the designated spot for your car - Kiss N Ride. My visiting Irish cousins used to get a huge laugh our of that - and now I know why.