Thoughts from the Deep

Fantastic dredging weather in Nome this week!  The Goldenrod crew has been out dredging the past several days.  Tommy has been diving, and finds it to be the easiest work he's done up to this point;  all alone underwater, hearing nothing but himself breathe and his unspoken voice uttering random thoughts from within. It's a little different from, but rather like being in the thick of a forest, enveloped instead by water than by woods...  He can also determine if the boat's engines are running smoothly, and the distant sounds coming from the Kubotas  aboard.  He says that the suction is really powerful coming from the hose, "I'll set the hose on the sand, and it sucks all the way down to the bedrock!" He can hear the sounds of pebbles and other matter being sucked into the hose, and says, "The hose will suck a 10 pound rock up like it's nothing."  I asked him if he saw any gold.  "I think I may have seen some, but it's really hard to tell.  We'll know for sure when we do a clean out."

His first dive was in just 6 feet of water.  Since he was so shallow the visibility was not as good.  Tommy moved rock and suctioned for over five hours before calling it a day.  He said that his lips got really cold, but his body stayed warm in his 7 mm thick wetsuit with warm water pumped through from the heat generated off the engines.  By the time they got back to harbor it was nearly midnight.  

The second dive was in 16-18 feet of water (deeper on lot 40).  Tommy described it as a much clearer dive down deeper, again moving rock and suctioning underneath. All went smoothly until the compressor belt bit the dust, forcing them to call it a day.  Fortunately, the new cog driven system has arrived, and will be installed promptly by our crew. 

This Goldenrod show is on the road!  Here's to your ongoing safety, keeping those 'deep' thoughts always positive, and to a successful clean out Brother!