Here is a story I first posted in 2002 about diving in the St Clair River

[Royal]

Diving the Trumble

I have been diving for many years. I started about 24 years ago and have pretty much done every type you can do here in Michigan and a bit in the Caribbean, Bonaire, Cozumel, Costa Rica, etc.
Here in Michigan diving varies a lot. The water is generally not very clear and is cold. Even in the summer, you get below the thermocline (about 20 ft) and it is cold. Wet suit cold. It is not big deal as we are used to it and prepare for it. As the weather gets colder in the fall, we usually switch to dry suits which are pretty warm.

I have done a bit of ice diving over the years. It can be fun but is a lot of work. The experience is something of a confidence builder and just beautiful but to do it right takes a bit of planning. You must have a partner and a safety diver etc. I did it alone one time, which was not very smart, which is another story. I do 95% of my diving alone but it should never be done under a foot of ice! :0( I think I have told that story before but I can not find it, if I saved it.
We also night dive on occasion, which is a ball! So quiet and a completely different world than diving during the day. My first one was during a blizzard and I was nervous as heck. Liked to have froze getting dressed and all the time I was looking at the black lake wondering if I were nuts! I have dove at night alone many times and it is a great experience.
With the Great Lakes surrounding us, there are many shipwrecks to dive on, which I used to do every summer. It is like a trip through history, swimming through those old wooden sailing ships, of which there are hundreds within a divers limit. Each dive is a story in itself
.
When a person first dives it is usually just for the thrill of exploring. Even in my crowded part of the world, I know I have been places and seen things the very few have. Many times in a lake that is lined with homes, I still feel the adventure. There are drop-offs and sights that make your heart jump, especially in 2 ft visibility, that most don

 

[Micheal_R]

There have been times....... :.

But it took me a few times to do an equipment check before I left for the dive. More than once I dove with a rock because I forgot my weight belt. :

Thanks for the trip.

Fair winds

Micheal

 

[Royal]

without a regulator and one time I was doing an ice dive, met my buddy at the lake, cut the hole and found I had forgotten my suit. It was 50 miles away No dive and my buddy was pizzed to say the least. There was two feet of ice on that lake and he could not dive either. I even forgot my mask once.

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

the entire dive appeared to me to be hard work, a constant challenge and struggle. You evidently better come prepared to haul off the relics or someone will get them by the time you return...like that vice that you needed tools to remove. You made mention of barrels many times in the story, is there any salvage value for those barrels? It is hard for me to grasp the fact that one link of chain could weigh as much as one hundred pounds...super heavy by my standards. Having to be constantly getting a hand hold onto something, do you ever grab the wrong thing and get cut? That story about the diver that had to leave his buddy to drown inside that hull was sad. There was just so much to the story, kinda long, but I did not care that it was long because it was so interesting. I just kept reading, but had to slow myself down from time to time because I found myself trying to read ahead to see what was going to happen next. I really enjoyed this story and I want to thank you for posting it. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Ron J]

just as good reading a second time!

 

[Bayrat76]

I might have tried it in my 20's and 30's but not now. But I want even think of night diving, all those eye's up on you. Tried to snorkle once at night off the jetties hear the minute I turned on the falslight I was out of the water. All those eyes moving around.