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dfreeman · 12-05-2006, 07:49 PM,

Saturday is the prefered day.

Doug

12-06-2006, 10:06 AM,

Have fun diving it...I think I'm going to have to miss out on it this year, I've got some family stuff on Saturday.

dfreeman · 12-10-2006, 10:12 PM,

The Sunday (December 10) Wolf River excursion started out slow but ended well.

Went to Shiocton but the river was solid all the way across. Had called ahead of time, but I guess the gang at the bar do not distinguish between the river being open and the bar being open. Not the first time this mistake has been made. Oh, well, lets go for plan B.

Went to the dam at Shawano and found open water at the old railroad bridge. Good enough for us so we suit up and go. After some less successful entries near the dam, walking on the ice, we went in under the rail bridge. Swam around under the bridge and found the graveyard of old bikes (at least 5 down there). Plenty of current and a gravel bottom. Finally went north of the bridge on the east side and found a nice hole, about 16 feet deep, that was crawling with sturgeon. Big ones, little ones strange looking ones. There was one with some serious scrapes on its side. Another had a tag. A few had scars from propellers. There was even a burbot stuffed in there. Spent a lot of time in the hole, it was great. A very good place to take pictures since this is an eddy and there is no current and you are not running into sticks and trees and old junk like in Shiocton. Bringing the camera next time.

Took a while to find our way out of the hole and then back to the take out. Great dive. Visibility was around 8 to 10 feet. Lights required at depth. Even 35 deg F temperature. First stage regulator was encased in ice down the hoses. But still worked fine.

Great diving, but colder in the water than ice diving. Hope to do this one again.

Doug

dfreeman · 12-20-2006, 07:28 PM,

Was thinking about diving in December. One could go to tropical locations, but what fun is that? You end up taking two dives from a boat where you barely use any equipment. It is so warm that at most you wear a shorty. The water is 82 deg F and you barely can feel it as you cruise through water with 100 feet of visibility. Watch the fish see the coral, swim and whatever.

After two dives you strip down and complain about the boat ride back to the resort being cold. At the resort you start drinking heavily, telling the young girls how you cheated death in the deep nasty ocean. Tell them what a Manly man you are. Even telling them about how you used the devils gas. Try to recruit some of the girls to be scuba groupies and help you with your gear the next day.

You end the evening unconscious from all of the margaritas. Do it again the next day.

How boring.

Up here in the north we have much better diving than that boring tropical stuff.

For example, went diving in the Wolf River at Shawano on Sunday and remembered to bring the camera.

As the following pictures illustrate, where would you want to dive?

dfreeman · 12-20-2006, 07:37 PM,

I know it is easy to pick. The adventure of the Wolf River calls all of us this time of year. Here you can see that it does take more gear, but the sun was out and the temperature outside had to be a balmy 40 deg F. How much fun can that be.

The dive location had a nice layer of ice that was the consistency of a good margarita. Why drink the margarita when you can dive in the ice? These choices are so simple. The middle of this slush patch is where the sturgeon hole exists. Can not wait to get there.

dfreeman · 12-20-2006, 07:47 PM,

With glee and a smile we suit up and walk to the rivers edge. Move a little of the slush out of the way and in we go. The water is a pleasant 33 deg F. Just perfect for this time of year. Down we go with as little screaming from the ice cream headache as possible (better known as the spike).

Once we are in the hole, we get to visit with the sturgeon. These fish are very slow in this cold water and you can get right up to them. Little ones, big ones, they are all over the place. An ancient fish like this is really something to see.

dfreeman · 12-20-2006, 07:53 PM,

Here are some more examples. The eel attached to the sturgeon is a chestnut eel that is native to the Wolf River. Great diving. This was a blast.

It takes a little more effort than in the tropics, but it is great to explore.

dfreeman · 12-20-2006, 08:01 PM,

The water was a little cold. Here you can see the layer of ice that formed on the outside of the first stage during the dive. This does not happen very often in the tropics.

Get out and dive my friends.

Doug

schalge · 12-20-2006, 08:50 PM,

Awesome, let me know when you are going again.

gheeres · 12-21-2006, 04:00 PM,

Ah yes, a good, but cold, dive... Although I would have rather been diving the mines in southern Wisconsin that day (had to stay "close" to home), it was good to get out and get wet.

Doug

The video that Bob shot during the dive turned out pretty good (~24 minutes). I've got the video put together on a DVD for you to pickup at Divepoint Scuba. I didn't spend any time editing the video...just captured from 8mm, added a simple DVD menu and burned to DVD.

Hope you enjoy!
George