Sorry to chime in so late, but it's been a hectic couple of days since the dives...
First, it was great to have the chance to meet everyone - what a group. Smart + entertaining + good divers all = a wonderful weekend. Having the chance to spend some one-on-one time with Walter was a special treat. Despite the charters working overtime to be weird, the dives were good and the company was terrific. Not a cyber-diver in the bunch.
I am sorry about the charter switch that landed us on the Great Lakes Explorer and that kept us from diving the St. Mary - anyone who liked the Wells Burt would swoon over that wreck. Nonetheless, we got to see some of the most popular local sites over the weekend and the weather held nicely. The Willie is a fun dive no matter how many times I've been there and the SoM is still new enough that I'm pretty easy to convince to visit it. Vis on the Dredge wasn't very good but that lent to the eerie feeling of that monster laying upside down suspended above the bottom. The Wells Burt is living history and always a good dive and is delightfully intact for a wooden ship that's been laying on the bottom in 45 feet of water since 1883.
Actually, diving from the Great Lakes Explorer may have been a good thing. Focusing on the perambulations of the SS Minnow as we wandered aimlessly about the Southern Basin of Lake Michigan gave us something to talk about other than some of our fellow board members that weren't able to join us. If you're from Chicagoland and you weren't on the boat, my advice would be plenty of cooling compresses for those ears.
Poor Walter - the guy borrows a dry suit from a friend for his first exposure to cold water diving and we send him home looking like he was held hostage by a band of maniacal gaffers. Front, back, arm, he was a walking advertisement for the multiple uses of duct tape.
I'm glad to see that everyone made it home safe and sound, even if the travel was a little grueling. You're all welcome to come back to Chicago for another dive or ten any time.
Steven
First, it was great to have the chance to meet everyone - what a group. Smart + entertaining + good divers all = a wonderful weekend. Having the chance to spend some one-on-one time with Walter was a special treat. Despite the charters working overtime to be weird, the dives were good and the company was terrific. Not a cyber-diver in the bunch.
I am sorry about the charter switch that landed us on the Great Lakes Explorer and that kept us from diving the St. Mary - anyone who liked the Wells Burt would swoon over that wreck. Nonetheless, we got to see some of the most popular local sites over the weekend and the weather held nicely. The Willie is a fun dive no matter how many times I've been there and the SoM is still new enough that I'm pretty easy to convince to visit it. Vis on the Dredge wasn't very good but that lent to the eerie feeling of that monster laying upside down suspended above the bottom. The Wells Burt is living history and always a good dive and is delightfully intact for a wooden ship that's been laying on the bottom in 45 feet of water since 1883.
Actually, diving from the Great Lakes Explorer may have been a good thing. Focusing on the perambulations of the SS Minnow as we wandered aimlessly about the Southern Basin of Lake Michigan gave us something to talk about other than some of our fellow board members that weren't able to join us. If you're from Chicagoland and you weren't on the boat, my advice would be plenty of cooling compresses for those ears.
Poor Walter - the guy borrows a dry suit from a friend for his first exposure to cold water diving and we send him home looking like he was held hostage by a band of maniacal gaffers. Front, back, arm, he was a walking advertisement for the multiple uses of duct tape.
I'm glad to see that everyone made it home safe and sound, even if the travel was a little grueling. You're all welcome to come back to Chicago for another dive or ten any time.
Steven