March31: Today’s dive had been planned for April 1 but since that conflicted with Easter Sunday this year, it was moved to Saturday the 31st. It was about a hour drive to Gull Lake which is a little north east of the bustling metropolis of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Gull Lake is a nice lake having a little over 2,000 acres of surface area with a maximum depth of 110 feet with a very soft bottom. Soft bottom means that if you have a 5-foot rod with you and you then poke it in the bottom you will lose sight of it before you hit firm bottom. Word to the wise is don’t drop anything cause you most likely will not find it.

The shoreline of the lake is fully developed, and is ringed with homes and cottages. Typical fish are Rainbow trout, Lake trout, Land-locked salmon, Smelt, Smallmouth bass, and Yellow perch. With the extensive number of water access property owners, and being close to Kalamazoo, its one public access (boat launch) is used a lot in the summer and there is a ton of boat traffic. This time of year there is lots of parking available and, at least this weekend, there was zero boat traffic. Besides the bathrooms were already open and being in an enclosed room out of the wind when taking off cold wet gear is a plus. Having the working electric hand warmer on the wall was a nice side feature too!

We generally dive at Ross Township Park on Gull Lake and not the boat launch area but it was not yet open for the season. The reason we most often dive at the Park is because of the sandy beach entry. In that area there are several boats, motorcycle, trampolines, wooden Indians, fishing shanties, rail road track and a host of other objects to see. During the summer weekends many dive shops hold their open water training at the park.

Though we were expecting a few more divers it might have been the sleet, stiff southerly winds, significant white caps and waves that might have soured some from coming out.

Along with shore support, which is always great to have, eight divers got in the water including one brave gal in a wetsuit. Water temp was a cool 41° and once you got below 20 feet the visibility went from around 4 ft. out to 20ish. Saw no fish today but thick mats of vegetation in the shallows.

The coldest part of the dive was on the surface, with that strong wind in your face getting into and especially out of your now very cold & wet dive gear was a colder process than expected.

We still had fun and several of us had lunch at Ned’s Restaurant afterwards.

With the varying extreme temperature swings, snow squalls, mixed with the occasional rain, February’s ice is not suitable for safe diving. Occasionally there are windows to fly but they too are fleeting, so we turn to other indoor activities diving related.

This month was attending the 47^th “Our World Underwater Dive and Travel Show” that was held on February 17 at the Chicago Marriott O’Hare.

You might note that last year it was held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, in Rosemont, IL but apparently due to continued low attendance and associated cost was moved.

Left St. Joseph and stopped at the Michigan City Airport to pick up my dive buddy then off to “Sophie’s Pancake House” to fortify ourselves for the trip.

After a hearty breakfast we braved the Chicago traffic and arrived at the Marriott about an hour after the doors had opened. Tickets cost $20 at the door for the exposition floor /display area and exposition floor seminars which were on dive locations. Did not attend any standalone seminars ($30) or go to the evening film festival ($20).

The formal seminars were categorized within 4 groups: Dive the World, Wonders of the Sea, Dive with a Pro, and Shipwrecks. We did see one MUD Club member who was attending the shipwreck seminars.

There were14 films for showing at the evening Film Festival. Every film presenter is an outstanding diver, experienced presenter, and some of the best examples for divers the world over. Their passion for their craft is outstanding.

With all that said, this year it appeared that there were fewer and smaller diver specific booths for scuba gear than last year but tons of travel booths. Parking was tight but it was appreciated that the parking fee ($11.00) was validated/ waived when your purchased your show ticket. This made this year’s travel cost lower than last years.

In that the Milwaukee, Wi. “2018 Ghost Ships Festival” has been cancelled it will be interesting to see what the attendance is like at the March 3rd “Great Lakes Shipwrecks Festival” in Ann Arbor, Mi.

I am wondering if this is simply a normal cyclic of interest or if it’s indicative of a trend. Maybe it’s just me but it seems that the majority of individuals attending these events are gray beards.

As we normally do there are side trips made when traveling back home after the show. This year we tracked down a couple of “Army Navy Pawn & Surplus” stores to rummage thru. It’s fun and you can never tell when you might find something you just have to have.

By then breakfast had been digested and it was time to refuel which we did at “The Hog Wild Restaurant” in Midlothian, IL. Now if your ever in the area I strongly suggest you stop here. The prices are OK, the service is amazingly fast, and the Pork Chops are to die for.

The trip home was a little slow due to a snow squall hitting  and reduced visibility to 300 feet max in many areas and the roads were iffy.  It was 262 miles R/T but a full fun day.

Hope your day was enjoyable too!

Chicago Marriott O’Hare

January 20:  Today was an actually a combo event day that started out with my participating in a “Discover Scuba Class” put on by “Wolf’s Diver Supply” located in Benton Harbor and “Benthic Adventures LLC” located in Glenford, Ohio.  The second part was as a mentor in the classroom portion of an “Ice Diving” class held that evening at Wolf’s Dive shop.

The “Discover Scuba”  class was held at the Saint Joseph High School pool on Stadium Drive. In addition to the introduction to scuba class being held there, the pool was made available to any experienced (certified) diver as an opportunity to get wet in semi-warm water that had visibility. So if you wanted to stretch out your dried out wet suit or see if your dry suit was leaking, this was a time to do that.  It’s always amazing how much wet suits seem to shrink after being laid up during the winter months.

Along with getting wet and checking out your personal dive gear, Wolfs Marine had “full face masks” with communications available to experiment with as well as Diver Propulsion Vehicles (DPV’s) or in layman’s terms “underwater battery operated scooters”.

As indicated by the pictures included here, I took my trusty “GoPro” for those divers who like to geek the camera. There is Allways some one.

Classes like this are fun but involve a lot of work that the students do not see. Hauling in dozens of heavy scuba tanks, weighted down buoyancy compensators (BCD) and additional dive gear thru the snow is a pain and then after class lugging it all out again but now  its all wet and cold.  Its the price you pay for having fun.

The evening class was on “Ice Diving”. Most Scuba divers are an adventurous group, always looking to expand their horizons and try new experiences. So those looking to be challenged and want to try something a little out of the ordinary, the Ice Diver course is the perfect solution. Ice diving is a totally unique experience from typical recreational diving and will give you an experience that most scuba divers have not enjoyed. Just imagine diving under a solid sheet of ice and exploring where few divers have – is your adventurous side ready for the challenge?

If you think this could be something you would enjoy, or is on your bucket list, why not join us in the next “Discover Scuba” class?