Middle TN SB'ers Get Together

[Fish_Whisperer]

Heh... We dove Vortex in February and although the water temperature was its normal 68F, the air temperature was 34F. Getting into the water was no problem, until it came time to burp the wetsuit. The memory of that still makes me shiver! *shudder*

 

[Tanked Monkey]

How deep is Martha's Quarry?

I've only been to Martha's once, so I'm far from the expert. From what I saw, the house's roof start around 10' and the ground floor is around 30'-35' (I may be off a little bit here). There's also a "trench" that get's a bit deeper, but I think you'll need a shovel to go deeper than 50'.

Mike

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Oh jeez... That'll be about like diving Vortex Spring, then. I've never dived a quarry before, so I had this image of something 200fsw or more.

 

[Tanked Monkey]

I've heard that there are other quarries in the general area with more significant depth, but haven't ventured out to them yet. Martha's big advantage is its proximity. It's in Lebanon, TN.

Mike

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Yep. I'm in Shelbyville, so it's closer than any other quarry around. Looking forward to the get-together!

 

[utdivermatt]

Fred opened Martha's a week or so ago. I'm new to Nashville, and dove Martha's on opening day, April 1. The average water temp was 50 deg, and hit 47 at the coldest. Brisk! Visibility was pretty decent, for a quarry (~25').

We'll be there this coming Saturday, April 15, if you want to join us. We roughly plan to practice bouyancy while task loaded (s-drills, shoot a bag, etc) on the first dive, if you're interested seeing/practicing that kind of thing. Basically, we'll probably stay put on that dive to get our diving legs back after the winter, working on whatever skills you want. On the second dive, we'll probably do some exploring of the attractions, like the u/w houses. It'll be a loose group of DIR & non-DIR divers, so everyone's welcome.

We'll probably get there around 10am or so. You can look for me. I'm a small guy (5' 9"), drive a black Audi, and have a TLS 350 with red overlay. Some say I bear an uncanny resemblance to my avatar, but I beg to differ :monkeydan


Best,
Mike

I live in Knoxville, and will be spending the weekend in Nashville, and was hoping to get to the quarry for a dive or two Sunday afternoon. I was thinking they probably wont be open being Easter, but I wasnt sure. I bought new gear over the winter, am I am dying to get it wet. Let me know how the diving is there, I will be down there again the last weekend of April for my Nitrox class!

 

[Tanked Monkey]

I'm not sure if they're open on Easter Sunday, but you can drop Fred a line to find out http://www.marthasquarry.com/. If you're available on Saturday, there's going to be a nice little group there.

Mike

 

[utdivermatt]

I might try to see if I can squeeze it in Saturday, just a question of other obligations. DO you know if they rent suits there? I am just learning the wonders of freshwater diving, and have not experianced non-tropical water more than a handful of times. How much protection will I need for 50 degrees or so I would expect?

 

[scubabrandon]

last year they were open on sundays starting at noon I think. I wish he would open on fridays for atleast 1 week out of the month!

 

[Tanked Monkey]

At a minimum, if I were diving wet, I would wear a good 7mm suit and 5mm gloves, booties, and full hood or hooded vest. Maybe even add a 3mm shorty underneath the 7mm as well.

If you're not a quarrior, some say this early part of the dive season can be a bit too cold. I don't mind the cold now that I'm in a drysuit, and like the decent visibility of this time of the year. My LDS and local scuba club aren't even getting wet locally until the end of May! Not to sound too pessimistic, tho :evil:

Mike