Whitestar Quarry Dive Report

[Boats]

Hey folks!

Well, the day proved interesting for sure! This morning, the thunderstorm delayed the departure for Whitestar. The plan was to be there by 8:30, maybe 9ish. SO, after the weather delay, ScubaGirl and I rolled in about 1:45! We wuz bumming for sure, we REALLY wanted to meet Wrecking Crew members.

We both hope this weekend at Gilboa we can meet, dive, drink and get to know folks!

We bagged two dives, had a blast! Saw the boats, the platforms, swam that far wall along the beach entry, and enjoyed nice VIZ on the first dive. The second dive, we pulled some murk, DOH! Still lots of fun, a big catfish spotted!

The water temp above the thermocline was 74. When we dropped down to 44 feet, the temp was 63.

This was my first dive at Whitestar, and I really liked the setup. I thought the access area was great (the beach), with plenty of room to park and spread out. A nice area to do a giant stride entry, and I liked the little dive shack. I thought they were very nice and helpful!

I'm going to post some pics here on Scubaboard from the dive! Please feel free to check 'em out!

Also, any feedback on Whitestar would be great! Specific areas to dive, how are the night dives, stuff like that!

Looking forward to Gilboa! It will be crazy!

 

[PvtStash]

I rolled in @ 7:58 and was joined shortly thereafter by Mike "bonecrusha" Lynch... the skies looked ominous but figured we could get in before any impending doom...

walking into the water, we're not Quite the first one's in, I meet my OW instructor coming out after a quick lil' tryout of AquaLung's new "Slingshot" fin (he didnt like them. confirming my all-hype opinion). Vis was beautiful and we dove along the North wall hitting the Crusher Pit (dude you didnt mention the Crusher Pit or Block House in your post, did you not see these things? cus' if not you've missed THE thing to see while visiting the W-star; the Crusher Pit is awesome and I'm only Too happy to show it to you very soon!) and then back to the beach... as we're comin' up from our safety stop I see a flash and look up... raindrops... "here it comes" I think...

walking back to our cars its immediately apparent that our timing couldnt of been better as we were among the very very few able to get a dive in before the thunderstorm broke... and man did it break... it came down hard, so hard I was kinda happy cus' there was no way a storm like that lasts, and after 30-40 min. the worst was over and we were able to get another dive in...

the 2nd dive we went along the South wall... the runoff from the heavy rains made the entryway vis about 3 inches... when I decided to drop down and crawl through it along the bottom I broke through the Zero vis layer into this pristine 50' vis wonderfulness that looked absolutely amazing when looking back up into the lighted opaque layer.

I could see Mike's hands and knees as they we're Just breaking through and I Knew he couldnt see Anything, I popped up in front of him and gave him the thumbs down and dropped back down again... had another great dive and then the Bonecrusha had to go.

It was roughly 11:40am and I still had 1000psi in my LP 121... thats another dive np, and as luck would have it 2 ladies we're divin' next to me and one of them was done for the day... I saw my chance and I took it... done! dive #3 assured!

Dive 3 was adventurous in itself, mostly because... well... apparently I DO tend to swim a tad too fast... (dammit!)...

I was leaving maybe a quarter after 2pm thereabouts... missed each other...

I'm out there roughly twice a week, generally anytime from 9am-2pm, lemme know when you wanna go.

 

[CMAN]

We(my daughter, her friend, my son and I) got there Sat. about 8:15 AM (a co-worker of mine and his son and daughter were in the mini van pulling a camper). The three girls and his son were doing their first check-out dives (after the storm). We came back on Sunday and we left with four newly certified divers!

 

[CMAN]

Here is a short video too. Well I was going to add a video but I must be doing something wrong because it isn't loading. I don't have time right now to figure it out (going to Alpena for some more diving) so I do it as soon as I find time.

 

[Busdiver]

I love the photos. I have a five year old daughter. When she was 2 her mother and I introduced her to the sport at Epcot. She was able to get a visual of what we do when we say we are off civing. I am already planning her 8th b-day party--A bubble makers class. It is too cool that your daughter also has a friend her own age to buddy with.

 

[BoneCrusher]

Boats... Glad you made it to Whitestar. Too bad we missed you. Matt and I had a great time in the morning... It was even kinda fun hanging out during the SI with the downpour! If you missed the rock crusher, you definitely need to see that. Also, I also like the "Man's Thrown" out by the Frito Lay truck.

PvtStash... Yeah, you are a definitely a "lets see how much ground we can cover!" kinda diver. Its not a bad thing, just what you are into. I left the camera's in the car because I figured that would be the plan. I did have a great time diving though! Thanks for coming out!

One of these weekends I would like to plan a weekend trip to either Whitestar or Portage. I have the dive trailer done and want to try it out on a weekend of diving.

 

[Boats]

MichScubaMike!

We were bumming, but did have a great time! Yeah, for sure I'll be heading back! AS often as possible! There's a Frito Lay truck?

A dive trailer! How sweet! Throw some pics up! Is the trailer itself decorated? I really like that concept.

Seriously though, had a great time. Looking forward to more.

 

[Boats]

CMAN: Hey! You guys walked right by me after one of your dives! I recognize the pink and blue fins in the photos (I looked at your album). I was chatting with Scubagirl near the beach entrance /exit area and complimented whoever had the pink fins, on her pink fins!

My daughter is 17, and wants to get certified, I hope she's serious! She did a Discover Diving day, and loved it. I have a 7 year old, who loves to snorkle. I am SURE he'll get into this! I knows I dive, and is always asking me questions!

 

[CMAN]

I did see Michscubamike (reconized him from our club meetings)standing in the parking lot but I didn't get over to say hi. My son, another co-worker and I are up in Alpena right now and we are planning to hit some wrecks in the morning (if the winds let up!!!!). I'll try to post after we get back.

 

[BoneCrusher]

Hey CMAN! Sorry I missed you! I was down in Toledo with the family for the weekend and had a little bit of time to get some dives in. PvtStash and I were able to make a dive before the storm and a quick dive after the storm, then I had to take off. Looks like you had a great time. Bet you enjoyed watching your daughter on her checkout dives.