St Clair River Diving

[rickydazla]

So, now that we've done our last charter for the season and pulled our boat out of the water and there's no more wreck diving from the Sanilac Shores for the year I'm still trying to avoid the quarries! I also have a bunch of divers who are river virgins but keen to get involved and get in amongst the wrecks at Port Huron...

To date all of my river dives have been on the Tremble - I LOVE IT and would like to take some people out there but don't want to throw them straight in unprepared; I had dove in a lot of current previously and didn't have too much problem throwing myself straight in there but it certainly took my breath away (quite literally).

To this end I was thinking about building up a short list or dives that might be considered as training for the Tremble, preferably wrecks and preferably building up in the skill required to dive them.

In thinking about this it crossed my mind that I could probably develop (with a little help) a NAUI distinct specialty for this. I flipped through their standards and policies and these are the areas which must be detailed in order for a course to be approved:

• Course Overview
• Qualifications of Graduates
• Course Prerequisites
• Academic Requirements
• Skill Requirements

This whole thing only occurred to me yesterday so my thoughts are only in their initial stages but I thought I would get others' opinions even at this stage because I'm certain that you guys (divers, dm's and instructors alike) probably all have valuable experience and opinions to offer (not least given that I am not 'a local'!).

This is not something I am going to keep to myself; it will be open source (as it were) and not only usable by NAUI leaders as I intend to publish the framework online so that divers interested don't necessarily need to "take the course" (i.e. pay!) to do it and that leaders from other agency-affiliated shops can adapt it.

Thanks in advance


Rick

 

[Barracuda2]

Hi Rick, I've dove the Tremble several times, and the Monarch across the river, but that was before the seawall was built. We just entered at the site and then exited just a short distance down river. Today that seawall is quite extensive (long and high). How do divers now exit the river after diving the Tremble? It would take a man and a half to climb up the vertical ladders fully geared after removing fins while fighting current. How do you guys do it now?

 

[rickydazla]

How do divers now exit the river after diving the Tremble? It would take a man and a half to climb up the vertical ladders fully geared after removing fins while fighting current. How do you guys do it now?

I've always climbed up the vertical ladders fully geared after removing fins while fighting the current! Does that make me a man and a half? Can I get a certificate?!

I have seen people hanging a weighted line over the side so that they can take their BC off, clip it on, climb out and then pull it up after them...

 

[PvtStash]

Just certed this year , 47 dives all quarry... I just recently got a Bare arctic combo (7mm full w/ 7mm over-shorty n hood) how long can I continue diving this season in the conditions you'd have us diving in?

I'm ready to get out of the quarry and expand my bounds a bit...

 

[Busdiver]

Boat traffic is finally slowing down on the river. This will open up more spots to play around. Last winter we would take use google earth and map out drift dives. Sometimes they worked, sometimes we were lucky to be picked up by divers driving in their cars along the river. We would put a car at point A, hop in the water, and then drift to point B. This worked great as long as viz was 5 plus feet. If viz is south of 5 ft then it was dangerous and we were required to drift on the surface or pull ourselves out and walk or get picked up by a fellow diver. The only dive I regret was doing a drift in 36 degree water and the viz was awful. This was last march. We tried three different parts of the river to get down. All of them were dangerous. We drifted on the top for 45 minutes before we found a really good pull out. It is the closest I have come to thinking our gonzo dives were dumb. Thanks to the diver driving down the riverside rode who spotted us and thought we were dumb a$$e$ and picked us up at the beach north of Marine City. Saved us a long walk.

There is an instructor, Kevin Zepp, out of sea-side/sea snoopers who has a list of really good drift dives that he has been doing this year.

 

[Barracuda2]

I've always climbed up the vertical ladders fully geared after removing fins while fighting the current! Does that make me a man and a half? Can I get a certificate?!

I have seen people hanging a weighted line over the side so that they can take their BC off, clip it on, climb out and then pull it up after them...

Rick, YOU ARE A MAN AND A HALF!!! and deserve a certificate. Does that ladder extend a few feet below the surface so you don't have a giant upstep for the first step? What do you grab onto while removing fins? or is there some place to wedge yourself? I've got a bad knee and don't know if I could negotiate the ladder fully geared, especially with my 30 pony. YOU THE MAN!

 

[DudleyNMU]

Another good easy spot in the river is in Marysville off of River Rd. You enter the water just north of the south boat launch off the wall and drift south. Average depth is about 20-30'. Good easy drift dive and easy exit because there is no wall to climb. The current isnt ripping in this area also. This would be a good warm up for river Virgins...

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

We usually do the barge to Monarch drift and get out at the pilings just before the wall in front of the casino.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

I know a NAUI instructor who teaches a river course. He is also a frequent diver in the St. Clair. PM me and I'll give you some contact info, or I could tell you what he covered. I took his class but never got around to the river it's self.

BTW, I'd like to try a beginner river dive if you get a group together.

 

[FPolk]

Today that seawall is quite extensive (long and high). How do divers now exit the river after diving the Tremble? It would take a man and a half to climb up the vertical ladders fully geared after removing fins while fighting current. How do you guys do it now?

Barracuda, I dive the Tremble a lot just looking for stuff. If I'm planing on exciting at the same spot I normally leave a rope with a few clips on it. So that i can clip off my fins or any other gear before climbing out of the water. Also a few divers put up a ladder that extends higher than the ones the city put in. Right now the ladder at the Tremble has been taken down for the season.

Take a look at the video named ME Tremble 2008 on YouTube, you can see the two ladders at the end!