Thanks, Tradd! What an adventure!
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Thanks, Tradd! What an adventure!
Pics from UASC survey dive last weekend.
Where was this? Very cool!Quote:
Originally Posted by Tradd
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southern Lake Michigan. Forgot to post the neat pic of a freighter with Chicago in the background. The other photo is when I jumped in with my camera somehow on. Caught a pic of boat with the diver down flag from a bit underwater.
Was at a quarry in NW OH yesterday with some friends to practice for my big technical diving course next summer. These friends are already tech trained. And the guys are fab about helping to haul my heavy double tanks around. There was a photographer with his big camera rig out yesterday and he got some pics of me. I’m the one with white fins. See how horizontal I am? That’s the ideal.
Another pic. Attachment 3018
hahaha! The whole underwater scene is kind of beautiful/scary anyway and that figure just added to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tradd
Tradd, I love seeing this progress. Horizontal! In the lake! A lake that would terrify me in a boat! I keep remembering how uncertain you were at the beginning. I am in awe!
It’s an old rock quarry. Not Lake Michigan. :)
Thank you. I’m having fun.
Great pictures! I really miss Lake Michigan. My walking route for 14 years was alone the lake unless it was to windy and cold to walk next to it. The old mansions are down there in Kenosha so always fun to walk in that area.
I agree! So cool to see you "diving in" to this experience (excuse the pun)--since you pretty much fell into it. Life has a crazy way of showing you to where you should be.Quote:
Originally Posted by nswef
Isn't Lake Michigan pretty cold this time of year??
This wasn’t Lake Michigan. It was a former stone quarry in NW Ohio.Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
Where in northwest Ohio? I grew up in Fulton county.
Ottawa, OH.
I’ve thought about getting into diving, but no way could I get the wife interested. There are several sites near here that are popular dive sites. And the Keys are not that far away.
ill just have to stick with snorkeling for now. Maybe I’ll get into it a little when I buy a boat.
Now I’m thinking I need to stop in at a local dive shop. I wonder what this is going to cost me. At least I wouldn’t have fees to get into the water.
I don’t know where you’re located, but Rainbow Reef Dive Center in Key Largo has a very good reputation and is a good place for getting certified. Do classroom/eLearning at home with pool dives and the certification dives in FL.Quote:
Originally Posted by dmc
My son is a dive instructor in Florida. I can get you a great deal, let me know.
Im in Punta Gorda, it’s a little north of Fort Myers.
His home base is Cortez (Bradenton), but I think there's a shop in Venice. I'll ask about farther south.
“Ottawa”
My backyard! I lived in Defiance for about 15 years before moving west.
I have some very exciting news to share. Yesterday I officially signed up for my really advanced diving class next year. Advanced Nitrox/Decompression Procedures/Helitrox combo. This will get me down to 150ft (approx 50 meters). It will also allow me to spend more time on shallow wrecks. You learn how to do staged decompression stops on the way up. Helitrox is breathing gas with 20% or less helium. The helium takes the edge off the narcosis you can get on the Great Lakes due to cold and lower visibility. I’m so excited I’m bouncing off the walls. Had a good 30 min chat with my instructor yesterday. We’ve scheduled pool time in Jan and Feb, and classroom time in Feb. I’ve got one of the three textbooks done/questions answered (had actually done them originally last winter out of sheer boredom). I’m doing a private class. Not cheap, but why not get the one on one attention?
You (and diving) have come a long way. I remember Jacques Cousteau and his clunky gear. I can't wait to see where you go next.
So exciting! I am in awe of the progress you've made!
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I’m still in awe myself!
Course I’m taking:
https://www.tdisdi.com/tdi/get-certi...-diver-course/
First wreck after class.
https://youtu.be/bKvp9OO1AH8
Eerily beautiful. And tranquil?
All done with my bookwork for the class. Instructor told me how much he appreciated me turning it in so early. :D
Just working out a lot now. Pool dive next weekend, just working on stuff on my own.
Amazing how much progress you have made in your diving skills and having so much fun along the way! Enjoying seeing these wreck videos, always was interested in Great Lakes shipwrecks and as a Chicago born and raised person, some major wrecks are right in "the neighborhood" so to speak
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This is my goal for this year after I get my technical diving cert after finishing class this year. I’ve been obsessed with this wreck after I first saw a pic of it right after I was certified 3 years ago. Thomas Hume, 3 master schooner that carried lumber from Muskegon, MI to Chicago. She’s smack dab in the middle of the lake, 150ft deep (perfect since my class will certify me to 150ft). She sank in May 1891. All 3 masts are still on the wreck. They became unstepped during the sinking and are laid across the rail on one side.
Pool session for class next week.
A friend took this photo last year.
Had first pool session for tech diving class yesterday. Was pretty good. Knew I’d have things I’d need more practice on and those are exactly the things I suspected.
Best part: I climbed out of the pool via the deep end ladder with my double tanks on! Needed a few pulls on the valve, which I need on the boat anyway. Super happy! I’ve been spending a LOT of time on the recumbent bike at the gym and my quads definitely show the results. Yay!
Another pool session in two weeks.
Good for you! That photo gives me the shivers, I can't imagine something I'd want to do Less than be trapped under water next to that. (Which only makes me even more admiring of what you do, don't get me wrong. Go Tradd!)
Tradd, you are very inspiring!! We may not all be divers, but we can learn from your passion, persistence and discipline.
Class got interrupted due to the stupid plague. Pool sessions were cancelled due to the public pool being closed. Last classroom session ended up being done online, but that was OK. Worked just fine. Our local quarry usually opens at the beginning of April. It's only opening June 1 (next Monday). I did a weekend up at a Wisconsin lake (former quarry - Wazee Lake near Black River Falls) for my class two weekends ago. There were three other students, all guys. They had all been out of the water since last fall, except maybe for some pool work. All three of them are regular open water diving instructors. We all would ordinarily been diving at one of the quarries since the beginning of April, but hadn't been able to due to the stay at home orders. It really showed in our diving. We all went away with a list of things to work on. My instructor and I have tentatively scheduled the last weekend of June for a full weekend of dives at our local quarry. Once I show I can do the skills decently, then we do two weekends at the WI quarry, as it's deeper.
I’m in the process of buying a boat. I’m very interested in diving, but I’m thinking I may just stick with snorkeling for now.
Attachment 3265
Went to two OH quarries late last week to dive with two divers from MI and OH who helped me practice for my class. I had switched some things with my gear so weighting had to be readjusted and now that my buoyancy is good, I can move on the practicing other things. The photo is the result of two days of very hard work. My instructor was pleased when he saw the photo (actually screen grab from video). You’re supposed to be as horizontal as possible. That small tank on my left side? You practice dropping and picking it back up without much change to your buoyancy. Much harder than it looks!
Glad you finally got to go diving, Tradd!
Well, it's been a fun run but I'm giving up diving. Let's call it "local diving politics" and leave it at that. Dive shop/dive boat owner didn't like a bit of criticism I gave on a diving forum and banned me from the local boat. Diving for me is only the way to get to see Great Lakes shipwrecks. If I can't dive the Lakes, it's not worth it. My budget will be much happier without me diving anyway. At least most of my gear will have good resale value.
Wow Tradd, I am really surprised that you are giving up something you loved so much.
Tradd, You must have been angry about the banning. I'm sorry you won't be diving so much or at all.