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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 May 11-12

Wed May 02, 2018 3:04 pm

Fortune Pond May 11-12th is ON...
- With the lateness of Spring this year, we were worried that the ice might not be melted off Fortune Pond in time for our scheduled May 11-12th dive trip. But Spring has finally arrived and is melting the lake ice all over... with a vengeance!
- Fortune Pond is located just east of Crystal Falls, MI on New Bristol road. We usually stay at the Lakeshore Motel in Iron River which is 16 miles east.
- Most of us will arrive at the lake on Friday around noon. We'll get in a couple of dives and then head back to the motel in Iron River. We usually try to go out to eat at Alices restaurant, which is the nicest restaurant around for probably 20 miles. Prices from medium to high. There's also a pizza place and fast food restaurants. Saturday we'll get in a couple more dives. Some of us will be leaving around 2:00 PM Saturday so we'll be able to get home in time for Mothers Day on Sunday the 13th.
- Ron Sheriffdiver has offered to bring barbecue beef for lunch on Saturday. I will bring my portable grill and Venison Cheddar Brats for Friday. BYO beverages and if you'd like to contribute cookies, chips, potato salad, you will be appreciated.

Upcoming Dive Trips...
May 25-26 Wazee or Tioga
June 15-16 Fortune Pond
June 29-30 Wazee or Crosby (Maybe just one day)
July 20-21 Wazee for Sure (Jerry's Invitational)
August 3-4 Fortune Pond
August 17-18 Wazee or other
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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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

Re: Fortune Pond May 11-12

Tue May 08, 2018 8:57 am

Making Twin Tank Plans...
- Last year Rich and I got carried away with bringing twin tanks to Fortune Pond and we ended up having to haul a trailer to carry everything. I brought 4 sets of Twin 38s. He brought 2 sets of Twin 50s. And then we brought 4 more single tanks. That's 16 tanks for a 2-day weekend.
- Realizing that we never come close to using all of the air in our twins (we just like to dive with them), we decided this time to just bring 1 set of Twin tanks each, and cascade fill them from high pressure singles. And we'll fill them to low pressures for cascade efficiency and still have plenty of air volume per dive.

- Here's our plan:
Twin 50s are 100 cf at 3000 psi. Re-Fill 'em to 2250 psi and they're 75 cf of air.
Twin 38s are 84 cf at 2000 psi. Re-Fill 'em to 1800 psi and they're 76 cf of air.
That's about the same as an "80" filled to 3000... Plenty of air per dive.

Image
- We're figuring to cut our "cylinder count" significantly and get enough repeat Twin Tank dives to really dial these sets in. :idea:
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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 May 11-12

Wed May 09, 2018 10:44 am

BachsVideo.jpg
- The first time I met SwimJim Bach was at his beloved Fortune Pond. Above is a photo he shot of me in the foreground and my son Nick in the background. Quite a memorable weekend. First dive, my rebuilt Mistral slipped it's diaphragm and I almost got a lung full of water. We quickly switched in a different double hose reg and went back to diving. I fixed the Mistral back at the motel that night and, I remember SwimJim watching over me like a big brother as I shallow water tested it the next day.
- That trip was the first time I experienced the "cool factor" of Fortune Pond. It was the last dive of the 2nd day. I swam down to one of the terraced roads at about 80 ft deep. There were boulders on the road and they were back lighted by the afternoon sun shining down through the crystal clear water. I looked up to see Nick way up at the surface and he looked so small. Then I looked at the road and it looked like a scene from "The Twilight Zone". From then on, I was hooked on Fortune Pond... And since then I have seen a new and different "cool factor" view on every trip.
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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 May 11-12

Wed May 09, 2018 9:50 pm

https://vimeo.com/30378348 Here's the video in it's entirety. Fortune Pond is an easy place to get "hooked" on!

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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

Re: Fortune Pond May 11-12

Mon May 14, 2018 9:15 am

Fortune Pond Dive Report...
Image
- Absolutely wonderful visibility last weekend at Fortune Pond... In excess of 80 ft in some places. Looking off the end of the pier, you could see the bottom at 75 ft... The mirror that leans against the big rock looked like a bright little square way down there. Similar sensations when diving. During one of our 3 minute safety stops I rode my scooter way over to the other side of the pier and could still see my buddy Rich waiting out his stop over on the other side. And on one of our magnificent scooter rides around the pond, we were gliding along the edge of a cliff about 60 ft down. Looking up you could see the ripples on the surface. Looking down we could see SwimJim just as clear as day, tooling along on his scooter about 60 ft below and in front of us. Amazing, wonderful visibility.
- Weather was supposed to be hazy both days with 40-60 degree temps. But instead, Friday afternoon cleared up to a bright sunshine and warmer temps. Saturday dawned absolutely clear skies and beautiful bright sun. You could see the surface ripples on the bottom at over 50 feet deep. And I will tell you personally, nice hot sun warms you up faster between dives than cold and hazy skies!
- Remembering that the ice just finally melted off Fortune (and all the other northern lakes) less than a week ago, it's not surprising that the water temperature was cold. It was 41 or 42 degrees at the surface but for most of our diving depths was 37-39 degrees. About 30 minutes at a sustained 37 degree temperature is about all I can stand with my wet suit... I did some serious shivering between dives. The dry suit divers didn't seem phased by the cold at all. And, the other wet suit divers seemed fine, too. Cold fingers and achy face/head until you got used to it.
- We had a good turnout with SwimJim, Eric, Cameron, and Brenda from the Deep Six Dive Club. Sheriffdiver, Drew, and Val came up from New Ulm. And me and Rich came over from Alexandria. That's 9 hearty souls. Diver Don was in town and stopped by to say hello. Thanks to Ron for bringing barbecue sandwiches and others for snacks. We all went out for a nice dinner at Alices Restaurant Friday night and enjoyed each others company.
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

mrepi2000
Diver
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2017 7:57 pm
First Name: LB
Location: Fairborn OH

Re: Fortune Pond May 11-12

Mon May 14, 2018 7:32 pm

swimjim wrote:
Wed May 09, 2018 9:50 pm
https://vimeo.com/30378348 Here's the video in it's entirety. Fortune Pond is an easy place to get "hooked" on!
Very nicely done video! Thanks for posting.

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

Re: Fortune Pond May 11-12

Sun May 27, 2018 4:43 pm

Some video showing the clear water we experienced


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

Re: Fortune Pond May 11-12

Sun May 27, 2018 4:46 pm


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

Re: Fortune Pond May 11-12

Sun May 27, 2018 4:55 pm

I let me friend Drew use my triples and a Made in France AquaMaster. Very cold but clear water:


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