Michigan UnderWater Divers Club

Jim, Josh and Darrin decided to brave clear, warm water and get some dives in. The first dive was at Manatee State Park. Water was 70 degrees F and vis was 100′ plus. We proved you can silt up the bottom but in less than a minute the vis will clear up. The green hole was much better than it looked.

Jim Scholz will be speaking at the Michigan Maritime Museum on Sunday, November 27 from 2-4. He will give an overview of SCUBA diving, talk about wreck diving and be sharing information on the new wreck located south of St. Joe, MI.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/248913398497414/ – Event Published in Facebook

http://www.michiganmaritimemuseum.org/ - Michigan Maritime Museum located in South Haven Michigan

Darrin and Jim re-visited the boat ramp above the waste treatment plan to verify reports of great river vis. They were rewarded with 6-10 feet of vis when they were not mucking it up. Two 80′s each took them 3 hours to burn up with multiple load of goodies. One of the box objects that they had been diving on for the last year appears to be a model-T body.  Jim was also able to snap a picture of a water born hitchhiker trying to stow away in the loot.

While some of the club was up north enjoying straights wreck other Mudders got wet closer to home. Lake Michigan is still retaining its summer warmth. The temp at the surface was 70.1 degrees F and at a depth of 75′ it was holding out at the mid-60′s F. The visibility was better than expected with at 10′-20′. Vis on the wreck seemed to improve when the sun would come out of the clouds.  After the dive we took a detour to the Cook Plant Buoy and noticed a work boat anchored there. Hopefully the buoy stays for the rest of the big lake dive season.

With summer firmly on Lake Michigan the MUD club had another wreck dive. Ken, Lucy, Jim S. and Jim K. brought out their dive boats with “Mac” and Darrin crewing. Each diver made two dives to the bottom. Water temp was a cozy 66 degrees F on the surface and a brisk 39F on the bottom. That was a drop of 7 degrees at depth over the last two weeks. The divers were rewarded for their efforts with vis that was over 30′.

It was a perfect summer day for a wreck dive on Lake Michigan. Jim S. and Darrin J. ventured out to one of our local wrecks for wetsuit dives. Air temperatures was in the low 90′s which made gearing up require a couple of pre-dive dips. There was a slight haze affecting visibility above water, but on the bottom we had 30′+.  Water temperature on the surface was 65F and the temperature on the bottom was 47F. We ended up with over 60 minutes of total bottom time at 70′+.

A contingent of MUD club divers ventured into the southwest portion of Indiana today to dive on two wrecks. The first dive was the Material Services Barge and the second wreck was the tub boat Tacoma. Two boats with 5 divers launched out of Hammond Indiana in the shadow of the Horseshoe Casino. The weather was close to perfect at 92 degrees F, waves at less than a 1′ and a pleasant light breeze from the southwest. Vis on the MSB as 8′ to 15′. By the time we were done it was closer to the 8′ visibility. Vis on the tug boat was about the same. Water temperature was hight 50′s to mid 60′s at the bottom.

Here is a link to the ride between the two wrecks. Jim had a little fun jumping over the wake being left by Bob’s boat. http://www.trailguru.com/activity/display/MSG+Dive+%26+tug+dive/4431022086/

The MUD divers got blown off the big lake today and ended up at Diamond Lake. Two boats went out with five divers Bob, Kirk, Jim, Josh and Darrin. Bob was able to drop anchor within a couple of arms lengths of the old steamship wreck the South Bend. Vis was ~9 feet with a water temp of 54 degrees F. The communications booth could use a good scraping the next time someone returns to this site. After the dive the rugged divers took advantage of being on the water and opened up the boats for a while. Jim and Josh even got in some wetsuit water skiing.

Bob, Kirk and Darrin made a visit the Haigh Quarry today.  The quarry was busier than we expected for this time of the year. We guess this was the pre-cold weather push by scuba instructors to finish open water certificates for tropical bound students.  The overcast day didn’t interfere with their diving as the water was warmer temperature was warmer than the air. Visibility was poor at 5’ near the docs but did improve on the Flamingo and the lark with 25’ visibility.

High Quarry Dock

Bob and Jim dropping a backup anchor line

Four the of the Mud Club members motored out to the Ironsides off Grand Haven Michigan on Saturday. Finding a boat lunch was a little of a challenge with the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival in full progress. A lucky wrong turn led the mud club divers to a suitable backup launch location. The ramps is a little steeper than most ramps as highlighted by all gear in the back of the vehicle finding its way into the water. It is rumored that their is video of mishap.

With Summer weekends in limited supply it was great to finally get to this dive site. The visibility was very good at around 65 feet. Darrin and Jim went down in he first dive. Bob and Kirk took the next dive. The wreck is continuing to break down over time and if you haven’t had a chance to dive it you need to get it on your scuba bucket list. This 218 foot wreck sitin on the bottom of 120′ deep is worthy of two tanks or a visit with a rebreather.

Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival

You can visit the Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates for a full write up on the ironsides. http://www.michiganshipwrecks.org/ironside.htm