More Fun In Cold Water!

[Fondueset]

Something so big it moves your center of gravity forward would probably be helpful.

[Adrian]

Wear your weightbelt around the armpits ha ha...

[Fondueset]

Hahah. I noticed Eric F and Pete both wear neckweights. I'll bet that helps.
we went diving yesterday - beautiful day - temps in the 50s F with big icebergs floating around on the bay. We swam way out then drifted around lounging on floating ice in the sun. Started to get a better feel for the monofin on the way back in - though I still need to work on not bending my knees - I was able to get with the rythm and swim pretty well for a long distance on the surface.

Here are a few shots from yesterday. The big iceberg we were both on was purpose built for divers - with a convenient submerged ledge.

[fogish]

How do you make the submerged ledges? I guess what I am getting at is how do you make the ice so it less likely to damage your suit when you enter and exit? Which do you like more, the broken ice with open water between or using the chainsaw and making an opening to dive in? Thanks

[Jon]

I like the open water with chunk of ice in between- you are much more free to swim that way. Cutting a hole is a pain in the butt and it limits you much more.

We had some black ice floating around where we diving this weekend. I was swimming, full speed, in my monofin over to Gene when I ran into the edge of it without ever seeing it. When I got home my wife gasped because I had a huge gouge in my forehead that was still bleeding. the stuff was so thin, and low in the water, that I never even knew it was there until it was too late.

Here's a shot of the ice path I had to break so that we could get out to open water last Saturday. I was worried that I might damage my suit on the way through but I just kept lying on top of the ice to break it and moved ahead. It was slow work but we didn't have that much to break through.

Jon

[Fondueset]

I got a lot of that last year. Way worse than big icebergs. I had the bloody forehead syndrome too.

[Fondueset]

Amazing dive today! About 28F air with strong north winds. The winds broke up the past night's ice. We dove the area on the west side of the bay where I encountered the hundreds of carp a few weeks ago. This time I found a huge walleye and, strangely, a few small pike laying on the bottom out in deeper water. they were hard to see because they very light yellow-green color. I was getting cold by the time I found them and they were deep and skittish. I plan to go back there tomorrow and head straight for that spot.
Redid my little video - it loses some on the web of course. I'm amazed how, even in this comparitively limited eco system, I'm very often surprised.

Elmwood Dive Montage

[naiad]

Originally Posted by Fondueset

I checked out the wreck and investigated some interesting contours on the bottom. On the way in I found a large carp ostensibly sleeping in the weeds near shore.

I have seen goldfish doing that in cold water - they rest on the bottom with their face hidden in the weeds.

I like the 'Carp Kiss' video, I didn't know that there were so many big carp. I also wouldn't eat carp because they are cute.

Lucia

[Fondueset]

You'll like these then From todays dive. Fantastic visibility - very cold water - usually a film of ice overnight. Check out the aggressiveness - Huge thing comes swimming at you while you are sunning yourself on the bottom so you rise up on your fins, turn and head straight for it! It's legal to spear carp here but - in the words of the local scuba shop owner; 'if you did that they might stop talking to you.'

[Fondueset]

Finally my friend Alicia and my daughter got to check out their new elios 5 mils suits. We were in for a couple hours and everybody was great except for cold hands. My hands were way warm however. What I did is wear little $1 acrylic knit gloves under my elios mitts. When I got in my hands were way too warm, but they quickly became very comfortable and stayed that way for the entire dive. Water temp was 37F. Claire jumped off the breakwall in her bikini later in the day - and had to swim to a ladder to get out. She admitted it was a miserable experience then did it again yesterday!

Here are some shots of her first run with a monofin.

[Jon]

Nice pics!

Thats exaclty what hte lake bottom looks like outside the breakwalls in Milwaukee. If you go out a little further you get into the clay mounds and the really BIG boulders. It makes for a neat bottom but it's a pain in the butt for side scanning as many of those mounds look just like sip hulls.

Along the sand ripples we'll often find logs, trees and other things that got sucked into the lake at one point and have been worn down smooth by the ave action and just sttle into place along there.

[land shark]

that camera takes a pretty sweet picture!

[Fondueset]

Couple more from the monofin series.

[joe123321]

Great pictures fonduquest!

[nostres]

I agree, what was Your camera?