Beast's Twin Lakes project - IMG

[scubafanatic]

Thanks Dee for considering it, and thank Beast for me too. I'm amazed at how many dive sites have no earthly idea what sort of 'diver-staging/equipment' is really appropriate for divers...it's as if the people who own/operate such sites have never actually looked out the window to see divers actually gear up.......or such owners have never actually dove their own sites and been forced to use their own facilities.

Like you and Beast, I have a keen eye for what really works in the real world, and improvised picnic tables definitely don't cut the mustard.

You speak of different 'models' under consideration......that sounds interesting too...maybe different lengths of benches?

Do hope you have a good way to 'bolt' the benches to the ground......I can definitely see them sprouting legs and walking off in the middle of the night......I'm thinking of buying /donating 1 bench to Aquarena because there's no way anyone can steal it there at least.

Karl

 

[Dee]

Karl....Beast said if you'd pay for the materials, he'd build it for free since it's being donated. I'll PM you the details.

Yeah...we got tired of using the low picnic tables. The tail gate works pretty good but we may not always be able to park right next to our dive area. It just sort of made sense to us. We're sort of hoping divers are mostly honest folks and won't be carting the benches off. But I imagine at some point we'll have to peg them down some way.

As for other models, we're thinking of different lengths and heighths. This first table is almost 36" tall including the boards, which is sort of high for some folks, especially the shorter girls. The next one will be shorter just for them! We may also change the steel from 1.5" square stock to 1.5" angle iron...depends on prices too. We're looking at $100 per bench unless we start getting donated materials. Tony has helped with treated lumber for the next few benches.

 

[scubafanatic]

Hi Dee,

I just PM'ed you a response......I'll need to contact Bridget to see what she thinks, but I can't imagine there'd be any objections to it.

Karl

 

[tinman]

Dee once bubbled...
We're sort of hoping divers are mostly honest folks and won't be carting the benches off. But I imagine at some point we'll have to peg them down some way..

Great idea Dee...sadly, it isn't divers that usually is your problem. I arranged to drop several large wooden wire spools as gear tables last winter at a favourite dive site up here and by spring we had nothing to gear up on! Take some rebar, concrete and good chain. .. The world is full of folks trying to spoil a good dive....

FredT - there is good news on the horizon regarding Zebra Mussels. We have seen and confirmed with others that Bass have found a way to inhale, crush the shell, and eat Zebra Mussels and then spit out the shell! Mother Nature finds a way, provided a hungry fish is near by.

 

[Dee]

Tinman....the Beast Benches have been in place almost 9 months and all 6 are still there! We didn't want to peg them in place because they sometimes need to be moved for better access. Plus they are moved to be mowed around/under. They have been a big hit and more are planned for the future.

As for the mussels....sounds like ya'll need some of our carp. They are used to sucking the mussels out of the mud but I bet they would get the hang of yours pretty easy!