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SurfLung
Master Diver
Posts: 1763
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:03 pm
First Name: Eben
Location: Alexandria, MN
Contact: Website

Fortune Pond Dive Report

Wed Jun 26, 2019 10:06 am

Fortune Pond Dive Report 6/21/19
- Fabulous Diving Conditions. Clear and sunny skies, warm temperatures, almost no wind, and SUPER CLEAR WATER!
- This trip there were just three of us: My wife Jill, Ron SheriffDiver, and myself SurfLung. Ron came prepared with several vintage diving THEME outfits. I brought along three sets of Twin 38s and my Kraken, Royal Master, and Mystery Mess. Also, I've been trying out a repro 3 window mask. Kind of a lot of mask volume and heavy, but you get used to it.
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- Above you see my wife Jill going into the beautiful Fortune Pond for a dive. Jill is not into vintage gear (except she's diving a souped up ScubaPro 109. Also, she has a fully functional J-Rod reserve for added safety... So there is some vintage in there!
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- First dive I took the Scooter for a ride around the lake. I estimate visibility at 70-100 feet down to 140 deep... Below that is a cloudy zone but you don't need to go deep to enjoy good visibility at FP. Ron and I are wearing vintage tanks and regs with pacifica masks. Look close and you'll see Ron has a beavertail smooth skin wetsuit and vintage style weight belt, too.
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- Here's another photo of us in the same outfits. Twin tanks are just the best. BTW - Ron is wearing his "Spectre" themed diving equipment from the James Bond movie Thunderball. MY theme is just Aqualung Yellow and bless-ed Twin 38 tanks!
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- Here's Ron with his UDS-1 theme gear... Very much dialed in and functioning the way it was intended, I think.
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- I've been watching Ron's UDS-1 outfit evolve for the past few years. First he had to find someplace to hydro and EV the tanks. Then he had to get the valves working right... Filler valve, etc. Then a new harness from Allen. Then the right BCD... This yellow horsecollar works like a charm. And now finally, he put several hours into creating the yellow striped wet suit to complete the overall vintage Cousteau look. VERY cool.

The Compressor Connection
- Jill and I combined the trip to Fortune Pond with a trip to northern Michigan to pick up a compressor I had bought. It's an AeroTecnica Coltri MCH-6. Appears to be the same thing they currently make... Maybe the "compact" version. Very much like a MaxAir 35.
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- After all the driving, we spent a beautiful day swimming and diving in Crystal Lake, MI. Vintage Diver Terry lives nearby but I wasn't able to connect up with him. Water was VERY clear. Not nearly like Fortune Pond, but VERY clean and clear.
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SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

swimjim
Master Diver
Posts: 1694
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:28 am
First Name: Jim
Location: Belgium WI

Re: Fortune Pond Dive Report

Wed Jun 26, 2019 6:23 pm

Nice report as usual Eben. Wish I could have made it. My 38's have been ready for a while and remain untested. I need to fix that! Lol See you soon.

Jim

User avatar
SurfLung
Master Diver
Posts: 1763
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:03 pm
First Name: Eben
Location: Alexandria, MN
Contact: Website

Re: Fortune Pond Dive Report

Fri Jun 28, 2019 9:35 am

Some More of the Vintage Themes at Fortune Pond...
- My wife Jill took most of the pictures posted here (thanks Babe). Here are a few more of Ron's Vintage Movie gear:
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- Above is Ron in his James Bond Thunderball "good guys" dive gear. Red suit, white Voit Twin Tanks, Polaris reg... The red suit turns color to dark purple and then black when you go much deeper than 15 feet so it was hard to get good underwater video showing the RED color unless we stayed fairly shallow. They must have shot the movie scenes pretty shallow or with artificial light to get the red to show up.
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- Above is Ron in his James Bond Thunderball "bad guys" Spectre outfit. Ron goes to extremes to get his outfits as authentic as possible.
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- The UDS-1 was an attempt to commercialize the futuristic look of Jacques Cousteau's TV show divers. The UDS-1 units have been difficult to restore back into diving condition. First, getting the tanks hydrotested was the challenge. No test facilities seemed to have the right connectors. I think DiverDon found a place that could do the Hydrotest as well as the Eddy test visual. Next challenge was restoring the filler hose system. I think Herman helped with this. Then, the first stage of the regulator is integral with the triple tank manifold and that had to be figured out. The harness was replaced with an Allan Klauda creation. The USD auto inflatable horsecollar BCD was also a challenge. Ron hung in there through all of this and got the UDS-1 system up and running as good or better than they worked when brand new. The last big challenge was the yellow striped black smooth skin suit. Striping took HOURS... And he had to tear it all off and do it again at least once. Congratulations Ron. VERY nice full out diva-able restoration!
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- Photo above was a selfie taken by Ron. We got alot of good underwater video, too.:)
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

SheriffDiver
Master Diver
Posts: 194
Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 9:07 pm
First Name: John

Re: Fortune Pond Dive Report

Fri Jun 28, 2019 7:55 pm

ImageCousteau style striped wetsuit by Scuba Diver, on Flickr

I finally got to finish my striped wet suit which I tried to make look like some of the striped wet suits from the Cousteau days. It took probably 10-12 hours to stripe the whole wet suit but I think it paid off and looks great underwater and with my UDS-1 unit.

ImageStriped Cousteau style wetsuit by Scuba Diver, on Flickr

I finally got a nice working Yellow US Divers horsecollar that I can wear with my Cousteau style gear.

ImageYellow US Divers horsecollar with yellow striped wetsuit by Scuba Diver, on Flickr

And then with the UDS-1 unit it just looks right.

ImageCousteau style striped wetsuit with UDS-1 by Scuba Diver, on Flickr

SheriffDiver
Master Diver
Posts: 194
Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 9:07 pm
First Name: John

Re: Fortune Pond Dive Report

Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:02 pm

An then I broke out my Thunderball Spectre looking dive gear.

ImageThunderball Spectre diver by Scuba Diver, on Flickr

The black tanks with the black wetsuit and double hose reg and Bond is in trouble now...

ImageThunderball Spectre diver by Scuba Diver, on Flickr

SheriffDiver
Master Diver
Posts: 194
Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 9:07 pm
First Name: John

Re: Fortune Pond Dive Report

Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:04 pm



Diving the Spectre Thunderball gear video

SheriffDiver
Master Diver
Posts: 194
Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 9:07 pm
First Name: John

Re: Fortune Pond Dive Report

Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:06 pm

An then James Bond from Thunderball heard Spectre was at Fortune Pond so he made an appearance and dove.

ImageThunderball James Bond style wetsuit by Scuba Diver, on Flickr

Eben just had to check out James Bond and gave him the location of where Spectre was last seen...

ImageThunderball James Bond wetsuit by Scuba Diver, on Flickr

SheriffDiver
Master Diver
Posts: 194
Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 9:07 pm
First Name: John

Re: Fortune Pond Dive Report

Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:07 pm



Thunderball wetsuit with the scooter and James Bond is looking for Spectre diver.

SheriffDiver
Master Diver
Posts: 194
Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 9:07 pm
First Name: John

Re: Fortune Pond Dive Report

Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:10 pm



Oh yes, Mike Nelson was present too and took his triples and Voit Fathom 50 to a depth of 123 feet. I had to remove my weight belt to go that deep. I left it behind on the large rock around 60 feet.

I had a lot of fun diving different style gear in different style wet suits. I have to keep track on my dive log with all the different combinations so I know about how much weight each wet suit requires. The water was super clear and it just makes it all the better when you can see for a great distance. Come with us and dive the clear waters of Fortune Pond.

SheriffDiver
Master Diver
Posts: 194
Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 9:07 pm
First Name: John

Re: Fortune Pond Dive Report

Fri Jun 28, 2019 10:43 pm



Here is some footage of Eben and Jill on our dives...

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