Tractor Tom
Contributor
Diving doesn't stop here in the northern part of the country, when the winter comes, it just gets colder. Several weeks ago, I made plans with my regular dive buddy Dave (Cldwdiver) to make a last trip to Higgins Lake to dive the wrecks there. Along the way, we invited a new friend from the Scubaboard to join us. Then we got about 10 days of rain, followed by a cold snap. Well, Saturday morning when I hauled my butt out of bed, it was about 17 degrees F at Frankenmuth. Dave was at the house a half hour early (as usual) and I was ready to go. We drove to Higgins Lake, up I-75 and arrived at the dive site an hour before we were suppose to meet Scott. The weather was beautiful! Calm, partly cloudy, a deep blue sky visable between the clouds. Not a movement on the lake. 22 degrees F. at 9:30 am. So we geared up and waded out to the deep water. We were happy to find that the water temp was 44 degrees at 40 feet, twice as warm as the air temp. I was having some problems with weight and trim, so the dive was a short one, about 15 minutes. Got back to the truck and had a message from Scott, he was still having a problem finding the dive site, but drove up as I was getting ready to call him. We had a 75 minute surface interval, and were back in the water about 11:15 or so. Dave and I in drysuits with attached gloves, Scott in a semidry with heavy mittens. Another dive, about 25 minutes this time, but I was still having trouble with my rig, and bouyancy (too many undergarments I think). We finished diving a little after noon time, and were still not above the freezing mark. After all of the rain we had, the visability was as poor as I have ever seen in Higgins Lake at 15' in places, 6-7' in others. I was very cold by the end of the second dive, and it was a race to change into street clothes and hit the local tavern for excellent food and a few beverages before making the two hour drive back to Frankenmuth. Next dive for me is in the Keys with Ocean Quest in Islamorada...after the cold of that dive, the warm water down there will be very welcome. Next planned freshwater dive is Gilboa Quarry on Saturday, 3 January to celebrate the new year of diving. After Florida, that could be quite a shock....
