Hello from the Great Lakes region

[Kyle Gervers]

My name is Kyle I am fairly new to freediving and am always looking for someone to go diving with. I live in the northern part of the lower peninsula of Michigan plenty of deep water to dive in around here and beautiful shipwrecks. I am glad to be part of the group and look forward to conversing with you all.

 

[BatRay]

Welcome to the forum. A few of our members have posted pics of the wrecks up north, and they are truly spectacular. Is the water clear? Everything within two and a half hours of me is 3ft viz or less.

You may want to post in the International Buddy Network subforum and see if there are any locals in your area.

 

[Kyle Gervers]

The water is a little finicky sometimes but normally in the big lakes its a good 20-50 ft(I realize that is quite a difference) vis. depending on the day. I have even seen it down to around 12 ft vis. Up around the wrecks the the water is really clear in the morning and will stay that way as long as there are not a whole lot of people visiting the site and stirring up the sediment. As long as you can handle the cold water dives (which is better for freediving anyways) Lake Superior is superbly the best lake I have dove up around the Munising area where we had around a 75 ft vis.

 

[fishimani]

I grew up near Traverse City, always wanted to get back home for some freshwater spearing. If you have any questions don't hesitate to PM me.

 

[Kyle Gervers]

I grew up near Traverse City, always wanted to get back home for some freshwater spearing. If you have any questions don't hesitate to PM me.

That is round about the area I live absolutely beautiful

 

[Kyle Gervers]

Welcome to the forum. A few of our members have posted pics of the wrecks up north, and they are truly spectacular. Is the water clear? Everything within two and a half hours of me is 3ft viz or less.

You may want to post in the International Buddy Network subforum and see if there are any locals in your area.

The water is a little finicky sometimes but normally in the big lakes its a good 20-50 ft(I realize that is quite a difference) vis. depending on the day. I have even seen it down to around 12 ft vis. Up around the wrecks the the water is really clear in the morning and will stay that way as long as there are not a whole lot of people visiting the site and stirring up the sediment. As long as you can handle the cold water dives (which is better for freediving anyways) Lake Superior is superbly the best lake I have dove up around the Munising area where we had around a 75 ft vis.

 

[BatRay]

That sounds gorgeous, especially the wrecks. Have zebra mussels affected your regular dive areas? I hear they can have quite the impact.

 

[Kyle Gervers]

That sounds gorgeous, especially the wrecks. Have zebra mussels affected your regular dive areas? I hear they can have quite the impact.

They are quite frequent in most of the lakes that I dive unfortunately(save for Lake Superior which all I seen were fresh water clams) and they are really a bother for the wet suit and will leave scratches on the monofin. You just have to be careful from rubbing up on them thankfully they are not too hard to spot

 

[Jon]

Have zebra mussels affected your regular dive areas?

They've completely changed the lake on my side. Wrecks are caving in on themselves due to the weight. The commercial fishing industry has collapsed. This vis is great, but the wrecks are a former shell (pun intended) of what they used to be. When I started diving the wrecks had 8-10' of vis,but you could still see the paint on the wood from a 150 year old schooner. Now, all you see are shells in a ship like form. Vis can run 50' in the summer to ver 150' in the winter. They can cut you up, but are easily avoided.

Oh, and the zebra mussels are quickly being displaced by the quagga mussels. They are twice as big, and reproduce year round, and live in depths down to 400'.

Jon

 

[Kyle Gervers]

Have zebra mussels affected your regular dive areas?

They've completely changed the lake on my side. Wrecks are caving in on themselves due to the weight. The commercial fishing industry has collapsed. This vis is great, but the wrecks are a former shell (pun intended) of what they used to be. When I started diving the wrecks had 8-10' of vis,but you could still see the paint on the wood from a 150 year old schooner. Now, all you see are shells in a ship like form. Vis can run 50' in the summer to ver 150' in the winter. They can cut you up, but are easily avoided.

Oh, and the zebra mussels are quickly being displaced by the quagga mussels. They are twice as big, and reproduce year round, and live in depths down to 400'.

Jon

Its the same with the shipwrecks here. You would be lucky to find a wreck that isn't completely covered in the darned things. But last year we dove in Munising in the Upper Peninsula and all the wrecks up there in lake Superior were in pristine condition

 

[Triton1715]

Hi Kyle,

If you're looking for a buddy, try getting a hold of Fondueset. He lives in Traverse City and seems to pretty much dive year-round. I grew up there myself, but am now further south in Grand Haven. . .though I still haven't gotten out in the water here yet.

 

[Kyle Gervers]

Hi Kyle,

If you're looking for a buddy, try getting a hold of Fondueset. He lives in Traverse City and seems to pretty much dive year-round. I grew up there myself, but am now further south in Grand Haven. . .though I still haven't gotten out in the water here yet.

Hahaha funny you should mention that but I happen to just purchase my monofin from Chris he has actually helped me out quite a bit

 

[Triton1715]

Ha! That is funny! I've been meaning to dive with him for years. My entire family lives in TC, so I'm up there all the time in the summer, but I just never have any time to get away on my own it seems. Well. . . plus there's the issue that I don't have any cold water gear. I grew up diving in fresh water, but I got spoiled with beautiful ocean waters and just can't bring myself to get back in the low-vis, cold, monochromatic world again. Talk about spoiled, right?

 

[Jon]

I used to dive the wrecks up in Whitefish Point and they seemed to have avoided the mussels. I can also remember diving Tobermorey about 10 years ago and the mussels were on the clay bottom, but not on the wrecks themselves. Not sure if that's still the case, but it was back then. I got out of trimix diving when my daughter was born, but my friends that still do it have shown me their videos of wrecks covered with quagas down to 370'. Not nearly as impressive as they used to be.
A 3mm suit is fine for the lakes in the summer time. I've even dove without a suit in Munising in August. Many times you'll have a 30' surface layer of warm water to breath up in and then bust down throughout he thermocline for cooler, cleaner, water. A 5mm was a better choice when I used to free dive the wrecks with a scooter due to more time at depth with a squished suit.

Jon

 

[Kyle Gervers]

Ha! That is funny! I've been meaning to dive with him for years. My entire family lives in TC, so I'm up there all the time in the summer, but I just never have any time to get away on my own it seems. Well. . . plus there's the issue that I don't have any cold water gear. I grew up diving in fresh water, but I got spoiled beautiful ocean waters and just can't bring myself to get back in the low-vis, cold, monochromatic world again. Talk about spoiled, right?

HAHAHA I would not say spoiled but blessed. If I could just up and leave and move to Long Island in the Bahamas you bet I would just to be that much closer to Dean's blue hole but West bay was actually quite nice and warm when I dove there this summer. I've yet to actually get out and dive with him though. We met up at the civic center pool and I tested,liked,and bought the fin.

 

[Kyle Gervers]

I used to dive the wrecks up in Whitefish Point and they seemed to have avoided the mussels. I can also remember diving Tobermorey about 10 years ago and the mussels were on the clay bottom, but not on the wrecks themselves. Not sure if that's still the case, but it was back then. I got out of trimix diving when my daughter was born, but my friends that still do it have shown me their videos of wrecks covered with quagas down to 370'. Not nearly as impressive as they used to be.
A 3mm suit is fine for the lakes in the summer time. I've even dove without a suit in Munising in August. Many times you'll have a 30' surface layer of warm water to breath up in and then bust down throughout he thermocline for cooler, cleaner, water. A 5mm was a better choice when I used to free dive the wrecks with a scooter due to more time at depth with a squished suit.

Jon

I used to dive the wrecks up in Whitefish Point and they seemed to have avoided the mussels. I can also remember diving Tobermorey about 10 years ago and the mussels were on the clay bottom, but not on the wrecks themselves. Not sure if that's still the case, but it was back then. I got out of trimix diving when my daughter was born, but my friends that still do it have shown me their videos of wrecks covered with quagas down to 370'. Not nearly as impressive as they used to be.
A 3mm suit is fine for the lakes in the summer time. I've even dove without a suit in Munising in August. Many times you'll have a 30' surface layer of warm water to breath up in and then bust down throughout he thermocline for cooler, cleaner, water. A 5mm was a better choice when I used to free dive the wrecks with a scooter due to more time at depth with a squished suit.

Jon

We are actually planning a trip to Tobermorey for either this year or next (this year might be a stretch because were going to freedive-a-palooza at Wazee in Wisconsin) been hearing pretty good things about it I am very excited

 

[Triton1715]

I'm actually thinking about giving it a go this year and splurging on a cold water suit. I'm just hesitant because I have the suspicion that I'll spend the money on it and use it about once or twice a year. Though, come to think of it, freediving some wrecks in the lake would be a lot of fun. The last time I did that was about 5 years ago. A friend and I went out to South Manitiou Island off Glen Arbor. There's a beautiful wreck called the Three Brothers sitting in 25-50ft of water or so just off the shore. . . and I mean, just off the shore. You could hit it with a rock from the beach. It is in absolutely wonderful condition because it was buried by an underwater sand dune for about a century before shifting sands uncovered it about 20 years ago. It's a pain to get out to the island, but absolutely gorgeous if you ever get a chance. Last time I was there, it really reminded me of the Caribbean. . . the water color and clarity (you could see the entire ship from the surface and it was like glass that day.)

Okay. . . so now I think I may have talked myself into getting some cold-water gear if for no other reason than revisiting that wreck.

 

[Triton1715]

I used to dive the wrecks up in Whitefish Point and they seemed to have avoided the mussels. I can also remember diving Tobermorey about 10 years ago and the mussels were on the clay bottom, but not on the wrecks themselves. Not sure if that's still the case, but it was back then. I got out of trimix diving when my daughter was born, but my friends that still do it have shown me their videos of wrecks covered with quagas down to 370'. Not nearly as impressive as they used to be.
A 3mm suit is fine for the lakes in the summer time. I've even dove without a suit in Munising in August. Many times you'll have a 30' surface layer of warm water to breath up in and then bust down throughout he thermocline for cooler, cleaner, water. A 5mm was a better choice when I used to free dive the wrecks with a scooter due to more time at depth with a squished suit.

Jon

Thanks for the advice Jon! I just might go pick one up know that I've thought about it a bit more.

 

[Kyle Gervers]

I'm actually thinking about giving it a go this year and splurging on a cold water suit. I'm just hesitant because I have the suspicion that I'll spend the money on it and use it about once or twice a year. Though, come to think of it, freediving some wrecks in the lake would be a lot of fun. The last time I did that was about 5 years ago. A friend and I went out to South Manitiou Island off Glen Arbor. There's a beautiful wreck called the Three Brothers sitting in 25-50ft of water or so just off the shore. . . and I mean, just off the shore. You could hit it with a rock from the beach. It is in absolutely wonderful condition because it was buried by an underwater sand dune for about a century before shifting sands uncovered it about 20 years ago. It's a pain to get out to the island, but absolutely gorgeous if you ever get a chance. Last time I was there, it really reminded me of the Caribbean. . . the water color and clarity (you could see the entire ship from the surface and it was like glass that day.)

Okay. . . so now I think I may have talked myself into getting some cold-water gear if for no other reason than revisiting that wreck.

That sounds like a blast. Thats one of the few glories of this "balmy" water of ours that it keeps wooden ships almost perfectly preserved( that is until the zebra mussels get to them). Elios makes some really high quality suits and they custom fit them to your measurements for all around the price you would pay for everyday suit from the scuba shop. I will be having them do one up for me soon enough and after shipping(from Italy, Yikes) it will be around 470 dollars for a custom fit suit.

 

[Kyle Gervers]

Thanks for the advice Jon! I just might go pick one up know that I've thought about it a bit more.

And after a bit of delving into it I am thinking on a camping/diving trip to south Manitiou island this spring/summer great Idea thank you