kidsdream
Contributor
The weather was simply perfect this past Saturday making it just the right time to get back in the water. I have been dry since my return from Florida at the end of July. Two previous trips to dive Lake Huron had been kiboshed by the weather gods including last week's trip to the Dundenberg.
But this time the weather cooperated and a group of 10 Great Lakes Wrecking Crew and Ford Seahorse Club divers were there to enjoy the day with Rec & Tech Charters.
We did the North Star and Regina, As these wrecks have been commented on many times before, I won't go into too much detail. I was surprised upon my decent (I did both dives pretty much solo) that the water felt warm, all things considered. But unfortunately this brought crappy vis. On the North Star I got a bit disoriented, but my trusty compass and a trail of wreckage brought me back to the mooring line which is tied to the large boiler.
Dive stats: 93' max (58' ave), for 48 min with a bottom temp of 57 degrees. It felt great in the water, with just a mild current.
The Regina always delights. As I am getting more comfortable with the wreck, I spent more time inside the wreck exploring about 80' from the engine room forward. I re-entered the wreck for a look see in the main hold area as well. At the end of the dive I worked on deploying my deco bottle in preparation of getting to the Dundenberg (150'+) in two weeks. I had a bit of an issue re-stowing the reg hose - cave/warm water diving I have no issues, but with my thick gloves I couldn't lift the elastic bands up properly to handle the task easily. In fact, dexterity is really my biggest challenge in cold water as clipping off lights/regs/SPG's are much more difficult as it is hard to hold the clips fully open. A couple of the gang were using tent bands with large plastic balls which aids in lifting the bands off the cylinders, I will try to rig up a similar device to make the job easier and reduce task loading.
Dive 2 stats: 76' (54' ave) for 43 minutes and a bottom temp of 63 degrees with no thermocline.
Did I mention how calm the seas were? An image from the ride back in. Ted, Mike and Diverpaula enjoing the sunshine.
An image from inside the Regina on a day with better vis.
But this time the weather cooperated and a group of 10 Great Lakes Wrecking Crew and Ford Seahorse Club divers were there to enjoy the day with Rec & Tech Charters.
We did the North Star and Regina, As these wrecks have been commented on many times before, I won't go into too much detail. I was surprised upon my decent (I did both dives pretty much solo) that the water felt warm, all things considered. But unfortunately this brought crappy vis. On the North Star I got a bit disoriented, but my trusty compass and a trail of wreckage brought me back to the mooring line which is tied to the large boiler.
Dive stats: 93' max (58' ave), for 48 min with a bottom temp of 57 degrees. It felt great in the water, with just a mild current.
The Regina always delights. As I am getting more comfortable with the wreck, I spent more time inside the wreck exploring about 80' from the engine room forward. I re-entered the wreck for a look see in the main hold area as well. At the end of the dive I worked on deploying my deco bottle in preparation of getting to the Dundenberg (150'+) in two weeks. I had a bit of an issue re-stowing the reg hose - cave/warm water diving I have no issues, but with my thick gloves I couldn't lift the elastic bands up properly to handle the task easily. In fact, dexterity is really my biggest challenge in cold water as clipping off lights/regs/SPG's are much more difficult as it is hard to hold the clips fully open. A couple of the gang were using tent bands with large plastic balls which aids in lifting the bands off the cylinders, I will try to rig up a similar device to make the job easier and reduce task loading.
Dive 2 stats: 76' (54' ave) for 43 minutes and a bottom temp of 63 degrees with no thermocline.
Did I mention how calm the seas were? An image from the ride back in. Ted, Mike and Diverpaula enjoing the sunshine.
An image from inside the Regina on a day with better vis.
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