Hathaway - nice vis - 12/12

[MASS-Diver]

I headed down to Hathaway pond for another shake down dive today. I've been out of diving hurt (back injury) since the end of summer (with the exception of some shallow commerical stuff to pay the bills). It's been tough not diving, but it's fun trying to shake off the rust.

Anyways, the vis was great in the pond today - atleast 20' with no particulate at all.

 

[vetdiver]

Anyways, the vis was great in the pond today - atleast 20' with no particulate at all.

Great that you got back out! I think I'd have gone totally crazy staying dry since summer... The husband and I did Folly Cove yesterday, and while it was pretty fun, the vis was nothing to get too excited about - maybe 10 ft if you were lucky.

What's the water temp in the pond now?

 

[MASS-Diver]

Great that you got back out! I think I'd have gone totally crazy staying dry since summer... The husband and I did Folly Cove yesterday, and while it was pretty fun, the vis was nothing to get too excited about - maybe 10 ft if you were lucky.

What's the water temp in the pond now?

The water temp at 25' was 44degs - still not too bad, but starting to get down there.

 

[vetdiver]

The water temp at 25' was 44degs - still not too bad, but starting to get down there.

It was 45 at Folly (we didn't look until we were coming back in, though - might have been a bit colder at depth, I guess). Thanks for the info.

 

[keelhaul123]

It was 45 at Folly (we didn't look until we were coming back in, though - might have been a bit colder at depth, I guess). Thanks for the info.

Myself and two buddies went to Old Garden yesterday and enjoyed bracing 46 degree water....thank God for Drysuits! Of course that beat the air temp of maybe 40 degrees so it was warming to get in the water. Vis at Old Garden was in that 10-15 foot range, not bad for Cape Ann, and good enough to find lobsters(came home with 2). I must be getting soft in my old age though because although I brought two tanks with me, I got too cold during the SI to get back into the water. Once you're chilled...you're chilled! The seas were calm, but there were the occaisional set of rollers breaking at the beach. Unfortunately that proved my undoing as I was taken down by a good wave while trying to walk ashore and rolled like a cork in the surf for a bit! Geez that sort of thing is embarrassing. Back and forth I went for a few waves until one of my buddies managed to grab me so I could get back on my feet. Once I got out I looked like I had a roll in the salad bar....seaweed from head to toe. The creature from the Black Lagoon had nothing on me! But ya know...it was alot better than NOT diving!

 

[MASS-Diver]

I know - the cold water is no joke. In a month or so though, we'll all be wishing for 45degree water temps. This is my first year with drygloves that actually work - they are really sweet and I like them better than my usual winter rig of 3 finger mitts.

 

[vetdiver]

Just ordered some of those Atlan semi-dry mitts from a friend, expecting to get them next month...I am using 5 mm gloves pre-soaked in hot "glove soup" right now. Hopefully, this will help me some - I get cold anyways, but my hands are really the limiting factor for me! If these Atlan mitts don't work, I may be looking to do the dry glove thing next year. In the meantime, I am stuck doing under-45-minute single dives until the water gets warm again...and being the "wussy one" diving with my poor husband, who has stopped bringing up the subject of ice diving for the time being...

We are out of commission until late January - will be hoping to get back out the weekend of the 22nd...

 

[MASS-Diver]

Another day, another pond. I'm still having trouble shaking off the rust and the ol' back was acting up; but, conditions were nice at least 30' of vis (at least) with a water temp of 41degrees at 40'.

 

[Soggy]

Another day, another pond. I'm still having trouble shaking off the rust and the ol' back was acting up; but, conditions were nice at least 30' of vis (at least) with a water temp of 41degrees at 40'.

I'm headed there Xmas eve morning with Gary to help him out with his first drysuit dive. I hope the temps haven't dropped into the 30s by then.

 

[MASS-Diver]

I'm headed there Xmas eve morning with Gary to help him out with his first drysuit dive. I hope the temps haven't dropped into the 30s by then.

It's actually supposed to be farily warm this later this week, so you guys should be OK in terms of skim ice (hopefully) - but I think you'll probably see upper 30s.


I though Gary was getting his DS in August? Anyways, if the pond stays this clear (and they don't have too much rain runoff) the nice vis will make for a nice traning dive.