As a member of the Michigan Underwater Divers club, we always like taking the opportunity to talk about diving the waters of the Great Lakes as well as its inland lakes and rivers.
This was the weekend the Mid-way Baptist Church, in Watervliet, MI, held its annual Sportsman Banquet. There are displays setup by local businesses that are involved in outdoor activities such as fishing, hunting and camping.
For the past several years they have invited us to have a table where we have displayed samples of current dive equipment including underwater scooters, some time we display dive equipment from the 60’s and 70’s which many attendees can relate to.
This Saturday we did things a little different by just displaying bottles recovered from the local lakes and rivers as well as having a slide show showing all the various items recovered by club members during last year’s “Ecology Dive” held in Niles, Mi. along Riverview Park.
The slide show answered the question that everyone wants to know and that is “What do you find on the bottom of the St. Joseph River.” So today we showed them.
Annual Sportsman DinnerFrom the stage looking outFrom the back looking frontward- Prizes were on the stage which included the orange ice fishing shanty.Taxidermy information and samplesadditional displaysMary Beth, MUD Club President, showing off and talking about the various types and age of bottles that have been recovered.Drink area for the mealQuite a feastif you went away hungry it was your fault!!
I had a great time today participating in the “Sportsman’s Dinner” held yearly at the Midland Baptist Church in Watervliet, Mi.
ALL sportsmen (men or women) were invited to attend the Sportsmen’s Dinner, and you did not have to be a hunter or fisherman to enjoy this event, just come out and meet some of your local friends and neighbors.
In the display area myself and two other members of the Michigan Underwater Divers Club participated in the event by providing information on local wrecks, samples of bottom land treasures and providing a display of vintage scuba gear.
Other displays included outdoor gear including tents and stoves, fishing, wildlife mounts, archery, and taxidermy.
There were over $1,400 worth of door prizes given out that included a fully guided Lake Michigan Salmon fishing trip for 3, kayak, kids bow and arrow set, .450 Bushmaster Rifle and much more! There was a great variety of foods from tame to outdoor menus.
Featured speaker at this years event was Tracy Breen who is a full-time outdoor writer and marketing consultant in the outdoor industry. Over the past twenty years, he has been able to hunt and fish all over North America. Tracy was born with cerebral palsy and often writes and speaks about overcoming physical obstacles, chasing dreams and living life to the fullest. Tracy writes for a wide array of publications including Outdoor Life, New Pioneer, North American Whitetail, Buckmasters, Petersen’s Bow-hunting and Bow-hunting World to name a few.
Maybe we will see you their next year!
2018 Annual Sportsman’s Dinner
Sir Larry & Club President Mary Beth at two display tables.1953 Build It Yourself diving tank & regulator set with directions from Popular Science Magazine. Plus a 1/2 page on instructions on how to dive safely. Old Sea Hunt Magazines were popular too!
Miscellaneous regulators from days gone past . Before Buoyancy Compensators (BC’s) you might have had a safety vest with CO2 cylinder with quick pull release as shown.Shorty tank, wreck dive narrow backpac with double hose regulator.This is a 72 Steel Tank filled to 2250# with a J valve and its J rod routed thru the back pack tank bands. When the tank is full the lever is up, when breathing resistance got hard, pulling the J rod down allowed the last 300 psi to be available to breath. There were no submersible pressure gauge’s (SPG) back in the day. (side note: 72 cu ft is really ~65 cu ft)
Today was time for another diving related road trip. This time to the 37th Great Lakes Shipwreck Festival held on the campus of Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, MI.
It was presented by the Ford Sea Horse and Sea Lancers scuba diving clubs with cooperation from the Detroit Historical society, Dossin Great Lakes Museum, and Great Lakes Maritime Institute.
There were 26 exhibitors covering topics that included: Government, U/W Imagery & Commercial Diving. Several Museums and Publications were represented along with several artist and authors. Dives shops, Dive Charter Operators and several travel booths were also available.
There were two rooms for seminars. The auditorium was used for presenting presentations on Great Lakes Shipwrecks and the seminar room had presentation on travel, educational, and technical diving related topics. There was something for everyone to enjoy.
Michigan State Police Diving Division
Treasurer
Dave Trotter – Shipwreck Hunter ExtraordinaryAuditoriumMAD MILunch TimeMAST
March 25: Several Muddies attended the annual series of films shown by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates (MSRA). Looking forward to next years presentations.
March 11: For the third weekend in a row, I was on the road again, this time traveling to the 18th “Annual Ghost Ships Festival”being held at the Crowne Plaza, Milwaukee Airport Hotel, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The purpose of today’s trip was to complete the last leg of the winter tri-state trifecta of underwater diving events, shows and seminars. The first two being “Our World Underwater” held in Chicago and the 36th “Great Lakes Shipwreck Festival” which was held in Ann Arbor just a little ways from Detroit.
This trip was also another opportunity to show the colors, so to speak, as a “Michigan U/W Dive Club” member, and as a representative of “Scuba Obsessed” which is a scuba podcast where I am known as the “Dive Mentor”.
As a side note ScubaObsesed has been on the air since 2010 and I believe it is currently the longest running Scuba Diving podcast in the nation. You can tune us in on just about any Thursday evening around 9:00 PM on “Talkshoe”(Call ID 73759) or on “WRVO Radio Network 1.” Reno Viola Outdoors (RVO) Radio broadcasts over thirty different shows about the outdoor lifestyle.
Ghost Ships presentations started Friday evening beginning with a feature presentation on the “Edmund Fitzgerald Investigations’ and on Saturday the exhibit hall opened at 8:00 AM with the presentations beginning at 9:00.
Here are a few photos that should give you a feel of what was available at the event.
Ghost Ships Booklet Presentation Topics & ScheduleTicket Booth Aquatic Adventures BoothAJ Dive Charters Scuba Groupie’sDive Rite Booth SectionDivers Dans BoothBruce’s Legacy – Great Klein 3900 Side Scan shots Hollis BoothHollis Rebreather Associated ItemsUnderwater LightdudeRacine County Water RescueShipwreck Explorers LLC Underwater Archaeological Society of ChicagoProject Scuba – Dive ClubDiscover Rebreathers – Workshop
January 21, 2017. This was a great weekend for classroom work if you were not able to get out diving. Several Muddies attended three PADI & DAN specialty classes at Wolfs’ Marine in Benton Harbor. Primary instructor for today’s classes was Dave Tonneman (Benthic Adventures)
The three classes were:
1) DAN Basic Life Support: CPR and First Aid
2) DAN Emergency Oxygen for Scuba Diving Injuries
3) PADI Enriched Air /Nitrox
Today was a very cloudy and wet dive day. A bit of wind but no lightning. Dove with Jim S today and did have a nice find to share.
Interesting vicks bottle, embossed soda bottle with rocks inside bigger than the bottle neck opening which proves rocks “grow”. Very nice brown long neck bottle on the right.
Another nice summer day in Niles doing a double dip, which means a two tank dive.
The river visibility was not too bad so decided to try and get some useable still underwater shots so people could have an idea what a divers see’s in the river.
junky bottomAnd some not so colorful fish.We do have “some” colorful fish.Bottle collection waiting to be checked outGravel bottom
