First dive

[FreediveWI]

Devil's lake is getting better all of the time. There is a research project going on in there right now to help clean it up and return the lake to its original visibility- over 50'! ;D

The lake itself is shallow and has a lot of fish in it. We used to be able to spearfish in it, but that has changed with this years DNR rules.

Wazee is very nice. Much bigger, cleaner and deeper than Red Granite. Plus, it doesn't have that black bottom silt that sucks up all of the light like Red Granite does.

August is the premo time for Lake Michigan wreck diving as the temperature climbs into the 70's adn the wind can blow the warm water around to push the thermocline down to 90' or more. We have had many dives on the Willy and other wrecks in nothing but a swimsuit. 8) I even remember Jerry diving on the Wisconsin one summer in a t-shirt and wetsuit hood. ;D

It's also great to do openwater training dives in Lake Michigan in the summer time. With the great vis. and sand/rock bottom you can't find anything even close in any of the inland lakes around here. Student's really like being able to see something- which doesn't happen in Lannon Quarry in August. I can remember teaching classes in Lannon Quarry when I had to take students down one at a time and hold them right up to my facemask to see if they were acutally doing a mask clear- vis was less than 3'. :'(

Winter time brings in the REALLY good vis to Lake Michigan. I have measured out 85' of horizontal vis on the "Willy" in January and well over 50' of vis on the "Carferry Milwaukee" in the winter time.

You just can't beat lake Michigan for great diving. Here's a picture of one of my favorite snorkeling wrecks, the "Lady Elgin". She is only in 55' of water off the border of Wisconsin and Illinois. She is broken up over a wide area and provides many different dive sites. She has a great histroy to her. One that helped reshape the entire city of Milwaukee.

This is acutally a picture of Sharon Cook diving her. Sharon learned to dive for the specific reason to dive the Lady Elgin. Her great-grandmother was one of the people who died when she sunk. Great wreck, great history, Great Lake.

Jon