kidsdream
Contributor
Last weekend a group of divers including Johnoly (from Orlando) went up to St. Ignace to dive the Straits. Most of the other divers traveled 7+ hours to make it to this "slightly" remote location. This is great diving, but you do need to be prepared for some icy water temps as we saw temps in the mid to lower 40's on the Huron side. John posted a complete trip report on the Scubadiving.com D2D website.
I will try to post a few more images, but I did not have the focusing set right on my camera, so there were not many clear shots. My favorite dive of the trip was definitely the Stalker. There was so much marine architecture still visible on this old schooner that I will need a couple of more dives to take it all in. I was able to enter the cargo hold from a deck opening and traverse nearly the entire ship in the hold. With light clearly visible from hatches and the broken up bow, I did not need to use a reel to make safe passage.
Here is what it looked like from my perspective - in the hold itself the vis. was 50'+
Next year I have some new ideas in store for this trip including the potential to charter Straits Scuba's smaller boat (the Intrepid) that will allow our group to totally set the schedule and locations. I have already set my personal countdown clock for next year.
Oh yea, a couple of more tidbits. Kudos goes to Pink Fins for having Pirate Dee Rags made up for the trip. And I do have to admit a couple of personal maladies. The boat was a bit over crowded. This was contributor to my SeaVison mask with prescription Lenses going MIA (meaning overboard) during the SI on day 1. I did have a back-up, but it was in the hotel room so I borrowed a mask for the dive on the Northwest. If anybody finds a black SeaVision mask near the Sandusky please send me a note. Also this trip was my first diving doubles from a boat after practicing in small lakes and quarries to date. While I felt good in the water, I was a bit task loaded on the first dive of the trip (the Sandusky). I should have left the camera on the boat for that one. Cold water, navigating the granny line/down line, the camera, a drysuit and the doubles made me have a few issues with clipping off some elements of my gear that first dive. Live and learn.
See ya!
I will try to post a few more images, but I did not have the focusing set right on my camera, so there were not many clear shots. My favorite dive of the trip was definitely the Stalker. There was so much marine architecture still visible on this old schooner that I will need a couple of more dives to take it all in. I was able to enter the cargo hold from a deck opening and traverse nearly the entire ship in the hold. With light clearly visible from hatches and the broken up bow, I did not need to use a reel to make safe passage.
Here is what it looked like from my perspective - in the hold itself the vis. was 50'+
Next year I have some new ideas in store for this trip including the potential to charter Straits Scuba's smaller boat (the Intrepid) that will allow our group to totally set the schedule and locations. I have already set my personal countdown clock for next year.
Oh yea, a couple of more tidbits. Kudos goes to Pink Fins for having Pirate Dee Rags made up for the trip. And I do have to admit a couple of personal maladies. The boat was a bit over crowded. This was contributor to my SeaVison mask with prescription Lenses going MIA (meaning overboard) during the SI on day 1. I did have a back-up, but it was in the hotel room so I borrowed a mask for the dive on the Northwest. If anybody finds a black SeaVision mask near the Sandusky please send me a note. Also this trip was my first diving doubles from a boat after practicing in small lakes and quarries to date. While I felt good in the water, I was a bit task loaded on the first dive of the trip (the Sandusky). I should have left the camera on the boat for that one. Cold water, navigating the granny line/down line, the camera, a drysuit and the doubles made me have a few issues with clipping off some elements of my gear that first dive. Live and learn.
See ya!
