Gills are back to normal

[bottomrunner]

Hi every one
Well I got 5 dives in this winter
Maximun depth of ice was 15 inches
Much better than other years. I can remember cutting through 3 feet of ice to find 6 inches of water and another foot of ice below it.
That I had to cut with a hand saw on scuba
This winter my maximum bottom time on a dive was 97 minutes.
Awesome winter!
Now the ice has been gone for the past month here in Kingston.
Last weekend I got 64 minutes bottom time and made it out to the stacked hulls, raised the mourning line and bottle but found that the cap on the bottle was broken.
So today I am bringing out a new jug to attach to the line to replace the old one.
I will be down at the portsmouth around 1 pm. If anyone wants to join me, you are more than welcome.

 

[Scuba]

Much better than other years. I can remember cutting through 3 feet of ice to find 6 inches of water and another foot of ice below it.
That I had to cut with a hand saw on scuba

Now, that's a diver! Don't anyone get in his way when he's going diving.

Glad you're having a good ice season. All the pictures I've seen from under the ice are way cool. No pun intended. LOL Maybe one day I'll get the chance to see it myself. I'll need to wait and choose one of those "better" seasons.

 

[bottomrunner]

Hi fellow divers.
Another great dive!
47 minutes bottom time, max. depth 53 feet, water temp 44f.
Had a buddy join me for this dive. it was a enjoyable change.
The swim out to the wreck took 18 minutes.
Here in the lake we already have a thermocline that sits about 10 feet below the surface. In the first 10 feet we has about 4 feet vis.
below the thermocline the vis. increased to about 60 feet.
However the algee bloom has already started to cover the bottom.
Last weekend I had cleaned the travel line that runs from shore to the wreck.
This dive, a week later, the line looked like I had never touched it.
It had another 8 inches of algee growth attached to the line and a carpet on the bottom about 6 inches deep.
My buddy had a single 80 cu.ft. tank at 3000 psi. So I decided to add a 7 foot octo. to my rig, just in case.
The dive can be done on a single tank, but it does not leave much room for error.
Since I carry 240 cu.ft. at 3500 psi. I always have plenty of air.
When we get into the water and check our gauges, buddys tank drops to 2600 psi. and mine drops to 2900 psi. because of the drop in temp.
I have added another 20 lbs of lead to my belt to hunt for old bottles on the way back.
On the wreck we saw 5 big small mouth bass, that stayed with us while we were on the wreck.
I replaced the bottle on the mourning line, after we checked out the wreck.
By the time we are ready to head back to shore, buddy has 840 psi; I still have 2200.
I drop to the bottom, switch buddy to my 7 foot octo; had him hang on to my cage, took my fins off and lived up to my nick name.
It took us 9 minutes to get back to shore.
I was knee deep in the mud, hoping I would kick some thing but had no luck this time.
When we got back into 15 feet of water, buddy switched back to his tank and we checked out the ancor park, and 2 old wrecks that are in the same area.
Buddy came out of the water with 300 psi. and I still had 1200 psi.
It was another awesome dive.
I will be back at the same place next weekend.
If anyone wants to join me, I would enjoy the company.
2 weekends ago, I walked into another debris field that may have some promising finds. I will be checking this site out next dive.

 

[Kriterian]

Thanks for the great stories! I like to read dive reports but hardly ever hear any ice diving ones. Who woulda thunk it would be in the solo diver section too?

I had a question since I'm not familiar with ice diving. What does shovelling the snow away from the ice in a spoke pattern do for you? Does that just make it easier to see the exit point from a distance?

 

[bottomrunner]

Thanks for the great stories! I like to read dive reports but hardly ever hear any ice diving ones. Who woulda thunk it would be in the solo diver section too?

I had a question since I'm not familiar with ice diving. What does shovelling the snow away from the ice in a spoke pattern do for you? Does that just make it easier to see the exit point from a distance?

Hi Kriterian
The spoke pattern is part of the backup.
When you remove the snow off of the ice, it lets the sunlight shine through the ice. It lights up the bottom and creates a map for me to follow.
My hole is the hub and the spokes extend about 50 to 100 feet from the hub.
So if my rope breaks that ties me to the hole, I can still find my way back.
I just have to look up and follow the spoke back to the hole.
However this only works if you stay inside the wheel.
Plan your dive, dive your plan
Hope this helps.