The end of This Year

[gtxl1200]

Well Friends, I think for this year I'm hanging up the Drysuit. This year for me has been a really great year. I have been able to meet some great people Through Scubaboard to dive with. So to finish out this year I will list some of the places I dove this year and I want to hear the places you dove this year. Maybe give me some ideas for when I take the Drysuit off the hanger for next year..

Gilboa 2x
Whitstar 1x
Port sanilac 2x
wrecks I dove in port sanilac this year

Regina 2x
Northstar 2x
MaryAlice B. 1x

Thunder Bay preserve

Wrecks I dove in Thunder Bay
E.B. Allen
Grecian- Stern
Oscar T Flint.

Plus a few local lake dives

I wanted to get in more, but all in all a great dive season, and great posse I hang with, made it a really good dive season for me

Be Safe and see you in the water next spring. Unless I take a warm weather water trip sometime this winter

so tell me where you dove this year.

 

[SwimJim]

With some of the best diving for the season coming up, it's too early to hang it up for me. If Lake Michigan lays down, late fall can offer some of the best viz. I'm around 80 dives for this season to date. I dive up and down the Wisconsin coast of Lake Michigan generally. A few but not all the wrecks were, the Car Ferry Milwaukee, Island City, Northerner, SS Niagara, SS Atlanta, Advance, Bryon, McMillian and Pitz, Walter B Allen and the Fleetwing. I did a bunch of shore diving in my local area and in Door county. I made it up to Fortune pond in upper Michigan too.
Due to a back injury and back surgery I missed out on about two months of the season. I missed out on some really good stuff. I would have surpassed 100 dives easy. I still may do that. Ice merely slows me down. LOL

 

[luckydays]

Its kind of sad to see the season end, isn't it. What will I do with my time now. Oh yeah, spend it with the family.

Anyway, this year was my first year of diving and I made three trips to Florida to do shore, reef and wreck diving. I also dove locally at Haigh Quarry (more times than I can count), Gilboa Quarry (twice this year thanks to the GLWC meet and greets), Pearl Lake and Mermet Springs once each. I dove Lake Michigan a few times both shore diving and on charters. I have one more trip on the radar for a Halloween Dive that should be great. I know I will hit Haigh at least one more time this year but it is starting to get cold and I really do not like the cold. All in all, I have 125 dives for this season and will probably end up with 130 before the year is over (unless another warm water trip pops up in December).

I am looking forward to next years diving and vacations that are on the horizon.

And for those of you who may be coming to Chicago for the Our World Underwater event in Feb, look me up and we can go have a drink somewhere.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Let's see, here's a summary of my year so far. I hope to still get in 3-4 more days of diving yet in 2009.

Logged dives: 69
Wreck dives: 16 ... North Carolina (2 trips) and Boynton Beach (MV Castor)
Coolest dive(s):
- Diving with sand tigers on the Spar (6x)
- Diving the U352 (2x)

Training:
- Finally finished DM in Feb and have done a good bit of assisting this year.
- Completed basic survey training with Ohio's Maritime Archaeology Survey Team (MAST).
- Completed Cavern training ... and loved it! I hope to start cave in 2010.

Disappointments:
- I didn't get in any deco diving. Absolutely none. I hope to change that in 2010.
- I didn't make it out on any MAST survey trips.

Trips/Outings ... total of 28 days diving:
Gilboa OH 9 days
North Carolina 2 trips, total of 7 days, total of 15 dives
Ginnie Springs FL 3 days
France Park IN 2 days
Hidden Paradise IN 2 days
White Star OH 2 days
Blue Stone Quarry NC 1 day
Boynton Beach FL 1 day
Blue Springs IN 1 day

 

[gtxl1200]

Man I'm a slacker..I have to do better next year..

 

[MrSmitty13]

Mine is bigger...

 

[luckydays]

Mine is bigger...

Men often say that.

 

[ComputerJoe]

I'm winterizing the boat tomorrow morning :-(

NOAA pulled the buoys in a couple of weeks back and I went out to the Grecian last sunday anyway...BIG mistake to believe the weatherman, BIG mistake. Out bound we had a chop, when anchored maybe 3 footers, after the dive 6' breakers with a couple of 8 footer to give us a send off and chase us home. You can't ignore mother nature.

The dive was great! 50 some degree water anywhere you went, 35' of viz, not a bad dive for the last one of the year. Now I wait for Jan 1 and my first dive of the year at Rock Port.

 

[gtxl1200]

mine is bigger...

huh???

 

[Divers Incorporated]

The season may be winding down but if you have a drysuit and you hang it up now you are missing some of the best diving of the year. The quarries get really clear as they get cooler... and the Rivers become my destination of choice. I Really like diving the saint clair river and the detroit rivers in the late fall early winter months. Ice diving and winter diving at White star bring unbelieveable visibilities... I am sure gilboa is the same.... (portage is usually closed for ice diving but they may change that)

So I am saying... dont give it up just yet.. some of the best diving of the year is yet to come.

Rich

PS. Since we are keeping score I logged 139 dives this year with my favorites being Bonaire (22x) and the Georgia Aquarium (1x) and the technical shipwreck dives in lake huron over 150ft (11x)