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2nd Sunday w/ CHUM
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CHUM Claims the Comal Trip Report
- Thread starter AVID
- Start date
Yankee Diver
Nurse Shark
- First Name
- Jeff
Thank you for feeding all Saturday evening. The deer chilli was great.Diving was great as well. Billt5 is the man to go camping with. He has it going on with his Mash unit minus a flatscreen tv. THANKYOU Bill and Jefferey for taking care of me. It was time well needed to get away.
MissTy
Nurse Shark
- First Name
- Theresa
Yes they had quite the setup there! Made for a cozy camp to chill.
You're very welcome for the chili. I'm glad ya'll enjoyed it.
like i said, ya'll gave me an excuse to cook it. iratewithhat2:
- First Name
- Todd
The best laid plans... were to leave right after the kids got out of school and get there well before dark. Even took off work at 1pm to make it happen. We finally left Houston around 8pm in the dark.
The campsites are in a great location alongside the river. The ground is all gravel so if you're sleeping on the ground in a tent you definitely don't want to leave your air mattresses in the living room next to the blue sofa. So we used the sleeping bags as ground cushions and it was pretty chilly with just a few thin blankets on top. The next night was not as cool and we were warm. Even the rocks felt a bit softer.
I had planned to dive but instead snorkeled while the wife and kids floated in tubes with bottoms. The kids brought their snorkel gear and did a bit of snorkeling as well. The water was pretty clear in most places except when those dam divers would stir things up. It was a fun and relaxing couple of hours on the river.
The rest of my time was spent just relaxing, napped a few hours in a hammock, ate some tasty chili for dinner, and drank some cold beer. Spent a couple hours on the tracks with the kids just goofing off and waiting for trains. Oh yeah, they are loud and lying in the tent at night they seem to be coming right at you. I think the engineers get a special kick out of blasting their horn as they pass by. I don't know how many went by but it seemed to be every 30 minutes at night, less during the day.
The campsites are in a great location alongside the river. The ground is all gravel so if you're sleeping on the ground in a tent you definitely don't want to leave your air mattresses in the living room next to the blue sofa. So we used the sleeping bags as ground cushions and it was pretty chilly with just a few thin blankets on top. The next night was not as cool and we were warm. Even the rocks felt a bit softer.
I had planned to dive but instead snorkeled while the wife and kids floated in tubes with bottoms. The kids brought their snorkel gear and did a bit of snorkeling as well. The water was pretty clear in most places except when those dam divers would stir things up. It was a fun and relaxing couple of hours on the river.
The rest of my time was spent just relaxing, napped a few hours in a hammock, ate some tasty chili for dinner, and drank some cold beer. Spent a couple hours on the tracks with the kids just goofing off and waiting for trains. Oh yeah, they are loud and lying in the tent at night they seem to be coming right at you. I think the engineers get a special kick out of blasting their horn as they pass by. I don't know how many went by but it seemed to be every 30 minutes at night, less during the day.
- First Name
- Roger
In case you didn't hear CHUM descended on the Comal river last weekend. The planning thread for the trip is here.
People started showing up early afternoon on Friday, and the last of us pulled into Landa campgrounds around midnight. I think everyone had a campsite right on the river, but unfortunately we were a little spread out. The weather was gorgeous, nice and cool in the 50's that night and the skies were clear. Sprout and I ran into GWNDWN and Aquacat on I-10, and we stopped for some bbq in Schulenberg on the way to New Braunfels. Once we got to the campsite, we pitched our tent, had a few beers, met the neighbors in the next campsite, and called it a nite.
Saturday morning was brisk, but beautiful, and people started stirring between 7 and 8 in the morning to cook breakfast. Those of us in the "middle" campsites hung out by Billt5's MASH unit and appreciated the use of their mobile kitchen. After breakfast, we began herding the rabbits to do some diving. Groups finally made it in the water between 10:30 and 11:00 am and once we got used to the first chill, we settled in for some great dives.
The viz was around 10 feet and we drifted along looking at the bass, carp, turles, plecostomus, and other residents of the Comal. There were no tubers, except for those in our group, and no other divers, so we had the river to ourselves.
The "Comal newbies" were a little nervous about their first toob chute, but when I got to the bottom and turned around, I saw everyone coming through with big smiles on their faces. Oscar got a little hung in the second half of the first toob chute when his octopus got lodged in a rock, but with a little help from his buddies, he got untangled and headed downstream.
As we were drifting down the last third of the river, we ran into some of the other CHUMmers and made a mass exodus from the river. Thirteen divers in gear waiting on the Landa shuttle is apparently something the residents of New Braunfels don't see every day, and we got a few strange looks from people driving by.
After the short shuttle ride back, we dropped our gear at the campsite and started making lunch. Some of us had sandwiches, others enjoyed a fancier camp lunch of tortellini.
The afternoon found us headed in different directions. Some opted to relax and snooze, others settled into their folding chairs with a frosty beverage, and the truly hard-core CHUMmers grabbed some toobs and coolers and headed back to the river. There were a few more people on the river in the afternoon, but it was still fairly empty and the toobing was as fun as the diving.
That evening, we hung out at the campsite and enjoyed the awesome venison chili that MissTy and AquaBurro brought along as well as the cool hill country evening.
Sunday morning brought a little slower start than Saturday and there were a few empty beers scattered around the campsite. We repeated our breakfast routine, chatted with JaySMARTdiver who stopped by to say hello, and then slowly started getting our gear ready to dive. It was about 11:00 before the first divers got in the water on Sunday, but my buddy Ken from New Braunfels brought his family along to join us in the water.
Diving was about the same as Saturday, but we were now all old pros at the toob chutes and everyone was a little sad when the last one was behind us.
Some folks had started heading out Sunday morning, and by the time the shuttle dropped us off at Landa, the campgrounds were pretty empty. We packed the rest of the gear, and then five of us decided that there was still a little more fun to be squeezed out of the weekend, and rented toobs for another float down the river. The current was faster on Sunday, and the float took almost an hour less than the previous day, but was still fun nonetheless.
After returning the toobs and cleaning up at Landa, we made one last stop at Rudy's in New Braunfels for some AWESOME bbq before finally resigning ourselves to the fact that we'd have to return to the real world. Leaving the hill country behind with the setting sun in our rear-view mirrors, we thought about what a fun weekend it had been.
This was one of the trips that really defines who CHUM is. A lot of people who were CHUM veterans, some new faces, and a few friends dropping in. Wet made the rounds of the campsite. We had some great diving, perfect weather, a lot of laughs and all-in-all just one heck of a weekend.
Thanks to everyone who made it out. As is said so often around here "we gotta do that again!"
Pics, btw, are posted here.
CHUM descended on the Comal river last weekend. The planning thread for the trip is here.People started showing up early afternoon on Friday, and the last of us pulled into Landa campgrounds around midnight. I think everyone had a campsite right on the river, but unfortunately we were a little spread out. The weather was gorgeous, nice and cool in the 50's that night and the skies were clear. Sprout and I ran into GWNDWN and Aquacat on I-10, and we stopped for some bbq in Schulenberg on the way to New Braunfels. Once we got to the campsite, we pitched our tent, had a few beers, met the neighbors in the next campsite, and called it a nite.
Saturday morning was brisk, but beautiful, and people started stirring between 7 and 8 in the morning to cook breakfast. Those of us in the "middle" campsites hung out by Billt5's MASH unit and appreciated the use of their mobile kitchen. After breakfast, we began herding the rabbits to do some diving. Groups finally made it in the water between 10:30 and 11:00 am and once we got used to the first chill, we settled in for some great dives.
The viz was around 10 feet and we drifted along looking at the bass, carp, turles, plecostomus, and other residents of the Comal. There were no tubers, except for those in our group, and no other divers, so we had the river to ourselves.
The "Comal newbies" were a little nervous about their first toob chute, but when I got to the bottom and turned around, I saw everyone coming through with big smiles on their faces. Oscar got a little hung in the second half of the first toob chute when his octopus got lodged in a rock, but with a little help from his buddies, he got untangled and headed downstream.
As we were drifting down the last third of the river, we ran into some of the other CHUMmers and made a mass exodus from the river. Thirteen divers in gear waiting on the Landa shuttle is apparently something the residents of New Braunfels don't see every day, and we got a few strange looks from people driving by.
After the short shuttle ride back, we dropped our gear at the campsite and started making lunch. Some of us had sandwiches, others enjoyed a fancier camp lunch of tortellini.
The afternoon found us headed in different directions. Some opted to relax and snooze, others settled into their folding chairs with a frosty beverage, and the truly hard-core CHUMmers grabbed some toobs and coolers and headed back to the river. There were a few more people on the river in the afternoon, but it was still fairly empty and the toobing was as fun as the diving.
That evening, we hung out at the campsite and enjoyed the awesome venison chili that MissTy and AquaBurro brought along as well as the cool hill country evening.
Sunday morning brought a little slower start than Saturday and there were a few empty beers scattered around the campsite.
We repeated our breakfast routine, chatted with JaySMARTdiver who stopped by to say hello, and then slowly started getting our gear ready to dive. It was about 11:00 before the first divers got in the water on Sunday, but my buddy Ken from New Braunfels brought his family along to join us in the water.Diving was about the same as Saturday, but we were now all old pros at the toob chutes and everyone was a little sad when the last one was behind us.
Some folks had started heading out Sunday morning, and by the time the shuttle dropped us off at Landa, the campgrounds were pretty empty. We packed the rest of the gear, and then five of us decided that there was still a little more fun to be squeezed out of the weekend, and rented toobs for another float down the river. The current was faster on Sunday, and the float took almost an hour less than the previous day, but was still fun nonetheless.
After returning the toobs and cleaning up at Landa, we made one last stop at Rudy's in New Braunfels for some AWESOME bbq before finally resigning ourselves to the fact that we'd have to return to the real world. Leaving the hill country behind with the setting sun in our rear-view mirrors, we thought about what a fun weekend it had been.
This was one of the trips that really defines who CHUM is. A lot of people who were CHUM veterans, some new faces, and a few friends dropping in. Wet made the rounds of the campsite. We had some great diving, perfect weather, a lot of laughs and all-in-all just one heck of a weekend.
Thanks to everyone who made it out. As is said so often around here "we gotta do that again!"
Pics, btw, are posted here.
MissTy
Nurse Shark
- First Name
- Theresa
oh the trains.......
HONK HONK HOOOOOOONNNNNKKKKK!!!!
bring back any memories?
how about Sunday morning, the battle of the trains and church bells... (the bells would have been nice on their own... kinda pretty and relaxing, unfortunately it was like battle of the bands with the trains honking and the bells!!!)
HONK HONK HOOOOOOONNNNNKKKKK!!!!
bring back any memories?
how about Sunday morning, the battle of the trains and church bells... (the bells would have been nice on their own... kinda pretty and relaxing, unfortunately it was like battle of the bands with the trains honking and the bells!!!)
Was that against doctor's orders?
Billt5
Nurse Shark
- First Name
- Bill
comal camp and dive
It was a lot of fun camping out with the Chum's. jtodd, and I really enjoyed diving and camping with sharksnak. We also really enjoyed the company and sharing the campsite, & our kitchen with eveyone. Let's do it again real soon!! Next time I'll bring the rest of my camping gear. I finally uploaded the few pictures that I took. I was glad to get my mask back that I lost in the tube chut, I didn't mind giving Joe a reward for it.
It was a lot of fun camping out with the Chum's. jtodd, and I really enjoyed diving and camping with sharksnak. We also really enjoyed the company and sharing the campsite, & our kitchen with eveyone. Let's do it again real soon!! Next time I'll bring the rest of my camping gear. I finally uploaded the few pictures that I took. I was glad to get my mask back that I lost in the tube chut, I didn't mind giving Joe a reward for it.
