Great Lakes Diving Tour in a week

[grantctobin]

Be careful please

 

[Tracy]

Actually yes!

Last year I had just earned my dry suit cert and I went to take Ice with only the class dives as my dry suit experience. There were 3 dives, totally bombed the last two dives. I was fine with the overhead environment but my buoyancy was all over the place, then I started breathing hard and fighting to maintain and as a result I didn't pass and rightfully so. Got motivated, dove dry suit like crazy and so now I'm ready for redemption!!!

Sorry about that. You will eventually understand why.

 

[Hart Divers International]

Hi @Tigerpaw, while this thread is full of great advice for the GLs, I’d also recommend reaching out to the folks at Midwest Underwater Explorers for a community to help you get started in the region. They can be found on Facebook and at MWUE.org

Cheers and Safe Diving.

 

[Jared0425]

I echo the sentiments here. The big lakes in winter and spring are no joke and have a steep learning curve. Superior's South shore even during a light breeze will make a bad day worse. And despite no algae to speak of in the water, viz kinda sucks in the Deep winter. We've gone out and got pummeled on Lake Huron a few times in January and February. Earliest I will dive is May on a boat.

 

[grantctobin]

I echo the sentiments here. The big lakes in winter and spring are no joke and have a steep learning curve. Superior's South shore even during a light breeze will make a bad day worse. And despite no algae to speak of in the water, viz kinda sucks in the Deep winter. We've gone out and got pummeled on Lake Huron a few times in January and February. Earliest I will dive is May on a boat.

I might be misreading your post, but I am not talking about the lakes so much as the personnel involved

 

[Jared0425]

I might be misreading your post, but I am not talking about the lakes so much as the personnel involved

I don't know, it sounded like someone was goading someone into diving the big lake in the dead of winter. Am I missing something?

 

[Tigerpaw]

You all are AWESOME, thank you so much!!!

 

[Tracy]

You all are AWESOME, thank you so much!!!

Enjoy your trip. Pay attention to what is going on around you. If it doesn't feel right, call it and get out. Your instructor will likely be off somewhere playing with his camera instead of paying attention to you. Munising is beautiful and ice diving can be fun. Just be mindful that you have a tender who is hopefully paying attention and that is it.

 

[Tigerpaw]

You have to understand that the heavy undies are my usual setup. I don’t add any weight for the vest. I do have to add a couple of pounds for my Fourth Element X-Core vest which is very toasty and really helps. FE pushes it as an alternative to heated undies. At maybe $150-$200 (haven’t looked at current pricing), it’s definitely more affordable than a heated vest. I totally forgot to mention the FE vest. I wear it directly over my base layer.

Just wanted to let you know I'm ordering the FE X-Core. I'm also wanting to get a FE Halo but I read where you have to be weighted down for it. I'm trying to get my body acclimatized to cold, the past two weeks I've been diving drysuit with only BARE Exotherms in water that is 47-50 degrees at the local lake. It has become bearable and uncomfortable, the good news is that I'm not shaking so that is progress. While the Ice trip is the closest, I'm also trying to get ready for the wreck diving in July. My research shows that the temps at depth in the Great Lakes are in the 37-45 degree range.