Blast From The Past

by

John R. Strohm

UUS [University Underwater Society, now University Scuba Club] stories from years past...

What I have are tidbits of recollections. This is going to ramble some: we're talking about memories pushing 30 years old now.

I first joined the club at the start of summer 1975. The club had a table outside summer semester Registration. I wasn't certified then, hadn't even considered it (although diving was something I'd always been interested in - "Sea Hunt" got me too) at thhat point. My first club dive was a night dive off Hippy Hollow [Lake Travis, Austin, Texas] (my recollection is that I'm the one that suggested a night dive and the location, and Rick Friesenhahn, the club president at that time, looked thoughtful for a moment and said something like "That's a good idea." A few nights later, we were all out at Hippy Hollow. I was snorkeling solo, without any kind of dive light, and having a blast. The other guys were diving. If I close my eyes for a second, I can remember being about 10 ft down, running into Jerry Johnson [obituary, long time club member 1968-1988; club Treasurer from June 1972 to September 1976]coming up, lit up bright as day.

The club hit Canyon Lake, and Rattlesnake Island, also that summer. Canyon Lake had some cars sunk shallow. I was snorkeling, followed the divers down to the cars. It is a different feeling, watching the divers taking their time, no time pressure to move around, while I'm acutely aware that I can't stay down very long at all.

I did NASDS Basic SCUBA in August 1975 through Texas Skindiving School [in Austin, Texas], and then I completed NASDS Open Water in October. NASDS Open Water was about the equivalent of PADI AOW, but I think we spent a lot more time in the water, doing the basic skills OVER and OVER and OVER AGAIN, until they became muscle memory. (At the same time, this builds familiarity and confidence - at least it did for me.)

First dive out of training was Rattlesnake Island, again, that fall. I wound up buddied with a guy from Florida. Beautiful day for diving, bright, sunny, clear sky, viz was probably 20+. Had an absolute blast.

Next spring, some of the club went to Florida on Spring Break. I'd been in Jacob's Well with Don Brod [early dive shop owner and dive instructor in the 1960's; ASCO Dive Shop at Lake Travis and Texas Skin Diving School on N. Lamar in Austin, Texas] once, and I couldn't resist the idea of taking another look at caves. We hit Jenny Spring twice, Peacock Slough once, Devil's Eye and Devil's Ear once each. (They call it Ginnie Spring now, and the one we were in is now known as Peacock I.)

Memories...

Hanging near the ceiling in the Grand Ballroom at Jenny, feeling like I'm hanging in mid-air. It was that clear.

Descending through a manhole-sized opening in the floor, in a room off the right side of the main cavern at Peacock, seeing that the cave goes on God knows how far, looking up to see my buddies ten feet above me, around the manhole, waiting for me to come back up. I would NOT do that again, without proper training and equipment, but I was young and immortal and VERY stupid (in retrospect).

Late in the 1970s. Club dive to one of the off-the-beaten-track locations on Lake Travis. We went by boat, to a dock somewhere. Dana Mardaga [first lady dive club President 1978-1979] had a movie camera with a zoom lens, which I was playing with at one point. Diving with Imre, whose last name I can't remember now [Imre Szekelyhidi - article, photo]. We were the only guyss in the club diving Watergill At-Pacs. The lake was down thirty feet or so, and there was this overhang with an air pocket that was big enough for us to get our heads in. We were at 90 ft at the time, and Imre was telling me that he had to make a deco stop because he'd made the first dive and this was his second. I knew I was OK to ascend without a stop.

Rattlesnake Island, again. I was unhooking the club dive flag float. I was wearing Imre's At-Pac: my tank was at storage pressure, his was about half-full, and it was easier to borrow his rig (with his permission!) than swap the tanks. The thing that felt weird was that we both used the Farallon moldable mouthpieces, and his felt WEIRD to me. (I was used to my own, which, OF COURSE, fit perfectly. I *MISS* that technology.)

Sneak dive at Aquarena Springs. There were probably 20 of us. Maybe 5 ft of water, lots of reeds everywhere, cold water. Full wet suit. CRYSTAL CLEAR viz, almost as nice as Florida caves.

Diving off of Windy Point. Three-man team at the start. At 90 ft, during the dive, we run into two other UUSers, and one of the guys who was with me bails and joins up with them! Never seen anything like it before or since.

Hot dogs on Rattlesnake Island. What was it that made them taste so much better out there than at home, or even at a club party?

Club party, at one of the apartment complexes near the intramural field. Barbecuing chicken. All of a sudden, Tracy Davenport [- article, photo - former dive club President 1976-1977] peels off his clothes, grabs someone else - I don't remember who - and jumps in the pool. One of the other guys observed that Tracy had the spontaneity to do that and the charisma to get away with it. I think that was the party where some of us were down by the pool, others were up in the apartment, and this drag queen showed up on her way out for a night on the town.

Years later, introducing my brother [Jim Strohm] to Tracy [Tracy Davenport worked for a number of years for Don Brod at ASCO Dive Shop and then for Doug Powell at Adventure Sports in Austin, Texas], signing him up for Basic SCUBA and getting him his snorkeling gear. Jim went on to get very active in the UUS, and went on to become a PADI instructor. He dropped out of diving for a while, just dropped back in. Jim mentioned once that he only trained a very small number of students, and that one of his students went out to Florida, where he ran into Tracy Davenport. Tracy looked at his C-card, and reportedly said something about "Hey, I know this guy!"

Out at Lake Travis, at Rattlesnake Island. Dr. Helmreich [club faculty sponsor 1976-1988 - speaker at 25th anniversary club reunion] had his sailboat out, and we ran into him at the island. I never knew if he was out there because he knew the club was diving the island that day, or if it was pure coincidence. I think this was summer 1975, before I was certified. At the time, I don't think I knew he was the club faculty sponsor.

Another Rattlesnake Island dive, this one on an overcast dreary day. Jerry [Johnson, article, amateur radio (ham) operator, WA5RON] had come up with these two tiny UHF survival transceivers, and wanted help testing them. I got drafted. I think this was a year or two before I got my ham ticket.

Club snorkel trip to the San Marcos river, on a rainy rainy night. I wound up borrowing a wetsuit from one of the other guys. Viz was ZERO. I, and one or two others, decided we damned well were going to get wet ANYWAY. The water was surprisingly warm, considering, and it was fun. That one was good practice for a really ugly dive I did a few years later, to an undisclosed river site. I honestly don't know where exactly this site was; someone else drove. That one was swift water, probably 10-15 ft deep, viz measured in inches, and it grew freshwater clam the size of your hand.

Most of the club dives were in my first logbooks, which are long since lost in one of many moves. Or maybe they are in a box somewhere; I don't know.

University Scuba Club - The Early Years

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