Here is a link to a little dive report I posted in another thread after a dive at a local site yesterday. The report briefly describes the reaction of some new(ish) divers to the conditions vs our cinsiderable enjoyment of our dive.
I think the site is fairly representative of what you can expect at a lot of midwest sites this time of year and I think the reaction of some of the other divers is also typical. I think it illustrates why some divers (there are lots of them who are trained in and live in the midwest) lose interest in local diving. I think lots of divers lose interest in something that they can't do often. Aside from being fresh water and lacking all the tropical colors, conditions are at their worst during the time of the year when most want to be diving. If they do have any interests in fresh water stuff, they just don't stick with it long enough to learn to find possible points of interest or develop the skills they need to enjoy these sites.
A few posts back someone suggested that I had the type of attitude that might discourage new divers from diving, so I'll extend this offer. To any new(ish) divers in the area who are, for whatever reason, having trouble finding points of interest and would like to give it another shot...My wife and I would be more than happy to let just about any one tag along. We have more dives in some of these places than I care to admit. While we can't make it like the tropics, if there's anything in these places that would interest you, we can likely help find it even when the vis stinks. Well, do this just for fun and, of course, at no cost. Out of our interest in self preservation, preservation of the environment (ok it aint the tropics but there's still stuff out there that I don't like to see torn up), to maximize enjoyment of the dive for all of us and just to excersize good dive practices, we would only ask that you participate in a short...lets call it a "team orientation" prior to actually going out sight seeing. Again, at no cost at all and only because we'd be more than happy to help other divers get a chance to see the stuff at local dive sites that we enjoy. We think that divers who put adequate effort into their own skill and learning the sites can enjoy them.
Disclaimer: We are NOT instructors. We do NOT carry underwater liability insurance. We're NOT offering to teach. We're NOT offering to insure your safety or provide anything beyond what any other dive buddy would or could provide. We're only extending an invitation to interested certified divers to dive with us as a buddy/team member willing to accept an equal share of responsibility before, during and after the dive. As a trained and certified diver, it's your responsibility to make go-nogo decissions for yourself and give input in the dive planning process based on an honest assessment of your own skill and comfort as well as your assessment of our skill and comfort. Only you can get you hurt or killed and dispite what some agencies like to admit, divers who screw up do sometimes get hurt or killed. These may be "just quarries" but divers have been hurt and/or killed in every single one of them. It's a mathematical certainty that more divers will be hurt and/or killed in them and it's up to you to see to it that you aren't one of them.
Sorry about the long winded and somewhat grim disclaimer but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Anyone interested should just PM me and we'll go from there.
Anyway, heres the link
http://scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=2101242&postcount=70
