Metrodome collapse 2010 blizzard dive

[oneshotshooter]

We went diving again on Sunday. With the ice conditions here this year I figured it would be good to be ready. I will try to post the pictures from last weekend I couldn't get them to load. We were searching for remnants of a P-51 Mustang, that went down in a local lake 50 some years ago. We had some promising side scan images from the summer to check out. Visibility triples in the wintertime.

Definitely a good day of diving. I only thought about blue water Diving 75 times throughout the day! The tone was set for the day when we're leaving the landing and heading three quarters of a mile away to our dive site. I was on the back of the snowmobile (it was not a two-man snowmobile) and we were pulling another sled loaded with our first load of gear, when we started breaking through into the slush. I went to jump off to lighten the load so we didn't get stuck. Evidently the snowmobile was moving faster than I thought, my feet hit the ground and my forward momentum catapulted me forward causing me to do a face and head plant into the slush. too bad the cameras weren't rolling. I am feeling it today though. I could use a tissue

YouTube - GEICO - Sarge

When I found the tackle box, it was right after I found the smashed up computer. It was at least three quarters of the way buried into the hard bottom. It was all metal and very heavy. Right away I thought it was a safe full of gold and rare coins!! Luckily I had found a ice scooper, and was able to dig it out and lift bag to the surface. I will be thawing it out today. It was also really cool to dive the shipwreck that John found this summer. Managed to log 55 minutes of bottom time in 1 dive, a new personal ice dive best. Then of course John had to dive for 58 minutes .

 

[oneshotshooter]

Managed to get out again on Saturday. We were met with a snappy 0° and a brisk 15 to 20 mph wind. We are combining our training with an anchor scramble with some other local divers. We hit the jackpot on Saturday. My first I've found me swimming back to the hole with my lift bag inflated carrying three anchors, one large bungee cord, and a kids fishing pole. I knew I was going to be using extra lift bags, so I added 2 to my normal gear configuration of one. I added one to my lower left d ring on my back plate wings, which comes with a built-in harness. In my anchor finding frenzy, when I reached for the lift bag of the D. ring, I inadvertently unclipped my fingers spool. So as I am swimming back to the whole carrying all the booty, I feel tension on my legs and fins.my spool has unraveled and wrapped up everything! When I tried to get out of it, my fin came off. Got my fin back on, un-tangled, and made my way back carrying my booty. logged 78 min of bottom time on dive 1.

Getting ready for dive 2, I could not find my extra tank. I figured I left it back at the landing in the truck. I was going to ride the wheeler back to get it. My dry suit zipper was somewhat frozen and my buddy help me zip it up. He said it's not all the way, I said that's okay I only want to keep out the air, not water. Famous last words. I then found my tank which was in the sled behind the wheeler. Time to go diving. As I splash in and I immediately feel of cold sensation around my neck creeping down my chest. I assume my neck seal is bunched up. Sure enough the tender checks and it was. Back to diving. As I am frog kicking along, I am trying to determine if the cold wetness was from the leak or what is happening. As the cold passes my chest and hits my midsection I remember those famous last words I am only keeping out air not water! dive 2 only lasted 3 mins.

Here are a couple of pictures of the day

 

[Selchie in LB]

Thank you for this fun and informative post! You guys are crazy.

 

[oneshotshooter]

We drink really strong coffee!

 

[Desert_Pirate]

LMAO, I watched a diver skip his check one time, jumped into a 40 degree river without zipping his dry suit at all. had the gall to bounce right back out of the river and accuse me of UN zipping him haha good times yup good times.
We cut ice on Jan 22 if my camera batteries will stand the -15 temps we been having I will post some pics

 

[oneshotshooter]

LMAO, I watched a diver skip his check one time, jumped into a 40 degree river without zipping his dry suit at all. had the gall to bounce right back out of the river and accuse me of UN zipping him haha good times yup good times.
We cut ice on Jan 22 if my camera batteries will stand the -15 temps we been having I will post some pics

we are going again on Saturday. We are getting pretty efficient at setup and takedown. We even had grouper sandwiches last weekend. We bring a turkey style deep fryer to heat up water, for gloves, hood, cold feet, and frozen equipment. Was pretty easy to bring some oil and fish fillets. Look forward to seeing how you guys do it.

On the 22nd I will be doing some blue water diving in the Florida Keys. Need to restock the fish supply and thaw my brain out a little bit it will be so nice just to roll over the side of the boat to go diving!

 

[Desert_Pirate]

hey guys, thought I would just attach pics here instead of starting a new thread. hope this doesnt seem like a hijack. It was a perfect day for a training, temps were in high 20s and sunny, ice was 13 inches thick and we had a great turn out of divers from 3 counties and lots of surface support. It was a great training day:madelook:

 

[oneshotshooter]

Nice pics! I think the guy that cut the hole might be a little claustrophobic . did you guys find any treasure? visibility must've been pretty good without any snow on the ice. Do you guys use 2 safety divers?

 

[Desert_Pirate]

did you guys find any treasure? visibility must've been pretty good without any snow on the ice.

No, we didint find anything down there... visibility was really poor, you could see your hands, sometimes read your guages... all I could see was dark green, till I hit mud, then it turned to a hazy black/brown.

Do you guys use 2 safety divers?

Yes. We have diver tetherd to the tender, who is tethered to Ice anchors about 40 yards back.

One diver in the hole at a time. We have a 100% safety diver, who is ready to go with second tender/tether/ and anchors also... and a 90% safety diver who is standing nearby.

it was a good training, have a recovery of a 4 wheeler that broke through near the dam we have to go get, and another training in February coming up also.

Gotta Love it! irate7:

 

[oneshotshooter]

managed to get out for another day of ice diving. The ice diving anchor challenge is going strong! We found a trolling motor and a nice musky pole with a shimano calcutta baitcasting reel on it along with the usual anchors

I am close to or over 500 min under the ice this season. Best time of year to dive in mn.