-This was my THIRD trip to Fortune Pond this year and I apologize for not having a bunch of photos to post. I brought my GoPro but my videos look like all of the other Selfies I've taken over the years. The above photo was taken with my phone. That's Ron and Tony in the foreground.
- Sheriffdiver Ron took some good video and posted to Facebook. Here's a screenshot from one of his videos showing me (SurfLung) with my best color coordinated yellow twin 38s.
- Weather was Fabulous... 75-85 degrees with clear skies and a gentle breeze.
- Turnout was surprisingly good. On the vintage side there were me, Rich, Ron, and SwimJim. Next we have our friends Tony and Matte who join us pretty regularly in their modern gear. Then we had another 4 divers who came down from Marquette (friends of Don Fassbender). And finally we had a father with two teenage sons. Ron took them under his wing to show them around the more well known sights of Fortune Pond.
- We made 3 dives each day... Total 6 dives for the trip. Some swim dives and some scooter dives. The scooters are great because we can ride all the way around the pond in a half hour or less. And because it's effortless, you use very little air. Ron and Matt have "Black Tip" scooters. Mine is a UV-26.
- Temperatures ran from 60 degrees at the surface down to 37 degrees at 118 feet deep. That 37 degree one was a scooter ride around the lake at depths from 90-118 feet... It only took 20 minutes to get all the way around... And yes we were pushing the NO DECO limits a little too close!
- Visibility ranged from 75 ft down to 3 feet... No kidding... That 3 foot section was on one of the scooter dives around the pond. We encountered a cloud that got thicker and greener and darker until I could barely see the end of my scooter. I was afraid I might run into a wall so I started edging upwards until I popped out of it. This was like flying an airplane through a thunderstorm. When I popped out, I was in 75 foot visibility with white vapor clouds to fly between. I don't know where the dark cloud came from... Any ideas?
- Saturday night our Vintage group went out to dinner at Alice's Italian Restaurant. Excellent food and comradery. And Sunday morning we all drove home. Another great vintage dive trip we will remember fondly.