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.
- 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!
- 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.
- 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!
- Here's Ron with his UDS-1 theme gear... Very much dialed in and functioning the way it was intended, I think.
- 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.
- 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.