Mermet Springs May 16-18

[BigMike]

I have reserved a Pavilion at Mermet Springs in Southern Illinois (almost to Kentucky) for Friday-Sunday May 16th-18th. SwimJim has been there and is planning to join me along with some of his "local" buddies. Fred is about 2.5 hours away in Nashville and is looking at coming up on Saturday. Mermet is a great place to dive and has all sorts of sunken objects to dive in and around. Check out the website at http://www.Mermetsprings.com . The visibility is usually 20+ feet and the noticeable thermo cline is normally around 55 feet. It will be cold so you will need a full (thick) wetsuit or dry suit with hood & gloves. They have an amazing staff with air refills and food on-site . It will cost $20 a day and $7.00 per fill. They have changing and restroom facilities on site. You will need your C card and fill out a liability form when you arrive/check in at the office. The website has lodging information if you are interested. I live about an hour and a half away outside of St. Louis, and will probably be commuting each day. PM me if you have any specific questions. Let me know if you are interested in joining us. Mike

[8dust]

Looking forward to it, Mike.

Please provide me with a note for my wife to let her know I'm excused that day...

and maybe see if you can't get it to warm up a bit too. I'm not a drysuit guy, and my heavy wetsuit doesn't fit any more, so I'm not sure what I'll do about that there but any diving is good diving, cold or not.

[swimjim]

Well, although I really wanted to make this one, I've had some unanticipated large expenses of late and it's just not in the cards. Looks like I'll be diving local this year, which in my case isn't a bad thing. Lake Michigan is still my favorite place to dive salt or fresh and it's literally at my front door. I should also be able to sneak up to Fortune Pond here and there. That's a chip shot for me.

Jim

[BigMike]

I just got diagnosed with a torn retina so I'm not going to be able to go this weekend. I have cancelled the pavillion reservation. I'm still hoping to get to Mermet once my Dr. figures out if I need surgery or not. My wife made me ask the Dr if diving could have caused it and he said that there was no way . Looking forward to Sand Dog, Big (one-eyed) Mike

[Ron]

Sorry to hear about that Big Mike. I just broke one of my teeth not too long ago doing Army stuff, so I sympathize. 12 more days and I can dive again! You gotta focus on what's important, 98% of your pieces are still serviceable I hope you feel better! Hopefully you can come to SD and we can tell lies over a beer.

[BigMike]

That sounds great! I'm looking forward to diving in Allen's neck of the country.