Final Dive in Lake Fenton...

[Tractor Tom]

...for a while at least.

Just a short note. My buddy Dave (cldwdiver) and I made a Sunday afternoon trip to Lake Fenton today and enjoyed some VERY good diving (for it being a mudhole and all...) There had been a couple classes doing openwater checkouts during the morning, but by the time we got there, the water had cleared quite a bit. We had vis in the 25 - 30' range and warmer water temps than I had expected. The first dive was a tour of the wrecks and I was wearing my pony so I ran my AL 80 to the bitter end. We stopped at 15 feet on the way in, at the end of the rope from the sunken platform and did a safety stop. I checked my pressure gauge to see that I was well past my safety limit and motioned to Dave that it was time to hit the surface.

Talked to a couple of fellows I know from the LDS before the dive and for the first dive, took Gavin along as he was there looking for a buddy. He makes lugging those steel 95's around look easy. Its nice to be young and strong.

The reason I say Final Dive on Lake Fenton is because the deal is done with the developers and the owner of the marina that we dive out of is currently moving. When construction starts, we no longer have access to that part of the lake and all the roped together wrecks without a boat to get us there.

Farewell Lake Fenton, I loved and hated you at various times for various reasons....

 

[cldwdiver]

You beat me to it Tom,

Yup, good/bad ol Lake Fenton-North-End is gonna get nearly impossible for us to access by June or so. It actually was a pretty good training ground for OW divers trying to upgrade their skills. Lots of silt to show if you were not trimmed out, sometimes very limited vis, sometimes 30+ ft of vis like today. Some nice easy wrecks for divers to cut their fingers on (love them zebra mussels). Until the dive shop strung lines between the wrecks it required some nice compass work too.

It was a good place to get a dive or two in when you didn't have the time or money to go anyplace better. For those times when just had to get a dive in for the sheer joy of being on a dive.

I will miss it simply because the other local dive spots are much worse, with little to nothing to see. Even though I had seen most of the wrecks there 100+ times, they were still better than the plain muck bottoms that await us on other local lakes.

I had a great time diving today with Tom. The weather could not have been nicer, the vis was 25-30ft, water was a balmy 45F, lots of fish. very few boats cruising over our heads. (Lake Fenton is famous for the Dive Flag Slalom course, if you know what I mean.) Best of all... our friend Mr. Murphy stayed home.

Just another wonderful day in the world of scuba diving.

 

[diver_paula]

Bummer. I've intended to try out Lake Fenton but never made it. Is the marina you wrote about the old guy that will let you park at his place and use his basement facilities? Or is that still an option for lake access?

Paula

 

[cldwdiver]

Hi Paula, that boat launch at the north end is the one that will be closing.

Unfortunately, there just will not be another shore access to the north end that we know of.

It sure was nice having a place so close for a quick jump in the lake all these years.

There are a couple of other spots to actually get into the lake from shore, but there is not much to see at either of them.

 

[diver_paula]

Dave.

A major bummer. Thank you for the clarification.

Paula