Plein Air Diving Competition

And a funny thing happened.....

on the Jersey Shore

hilarious really if it didn't happen to you.

The Place:

I spent an entire afternoon painting Polly's Bait and Tackle on a dock on the bayside.

It's was very windy so I tied a beach umbrella around a piling and set

up my easel in the shade underneath.

I kept my left hand on the easel the whole time even though it was

heavily weighted down.

Until I didn't.

Honestly I felt the wind had died down late in the afternoon,

and I was getting tired, and I needed to clean my brush.

So for one second I took my left hand off and THAT was THE MOMENT

my entire painting kit did a back flip off the dock 

four feet down into the murky water.

My jaw dropped with shock!  

Just before I shouted a four letter exclamation (oops) in front of

a deck full of families eating dinner after taking a ride on the Pirate Ship,

most of which turned to look as I jumped into the water before everything floated

away on the tide.

After all I still had another day, I needed my stuff!

I knew it was low tide but it was deeper than I thought!

The Ugly Truth:

Everything you see here except the umbrella went in,

the palette box, backpack, easel, painting, me....

The Challenge:

It was clearly more challenging getting out than it was getting in.

After all it was a boat dock and not a swimming area.

But I didn't even think about that until a nice group of ladies ran over to ask if I was OK and

"Can you get out"? 

hummmmm

I hauled myself into a near by boat, no small feat I might add,

and they helped pull the ropes in so I could reach the dock.

Nice peeps, we'll probably keep in touch.

Most everything was salvaged successfully.
( Except sadly a few of my favorite Rosemary Brushes;(

My new fried Polly from Polly's Bait and Tackle let me use her crab net

to fish out my turp can, part of it at least, once I realized it was missing and

the water settled down enough for me to see something shinny on the bottom.

Everybody need a little help from their friends:)

The plein air adventure continues.....

Next time more about the show and what I painted there...

Thanks for following along!