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Click To Enlarge
From Dennie Leese . . .
Wow...what a great weekend for ice dives! From no ice to nearly 8 inches in just over a week. That's what we found when Bill Siwiec, Sue Friedman, Jim Zimmerman, Bill Gockley, Ron Lobb and Sharon Slieker-Jones (who had to impress me with her dive skills beforehand) found when we hit Bainbridge for an Ice Diving Specialty class with Instructor Dennie Leese and DM's Bryan Palmer, Nate Brommer, Chris Mayo, Scott Steinbaecher, Jim Brown and Vern Heagy on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
The conditions couldn't be better. Clear sunny days, cold enough to keep it from thawing, almost 8 inches of ice, heaters for the shack, hot water, chow and a CHAIN SAW to cut the hole instead of chopping away with axes. Water temp was running about 39-40 degrees with close to 30ft of viz. We had 14 people on the ice on Saturday standing around the hole with gear all over the ice. That's some thick ice to hold all that lard! All the new divers got to make 3 dives over the 2 days and take turns being line tender, dive leader and signaler to the surface support people. Unfortunately, there weren't any major screwups for me to write about! Everybody did an excellent job. This is one class we can't afford any screwups anyway, so it was just as well. Congratulations to all the students who did and excellent job and to all my DM's who made everything run smoothly for us all weekend. We took way too many pics to put all of them on the website, but we will include a few here, so check them out.
If conditions hold, Dennie will be running another Ice Class the weekend of Feb. 14-15 (yes..Valentines Day...you have to dive ice when you HAVE ice), with classroom academics at Smokeys on Friday night, Feb. 13th at 6pm. If you're intertested, contact the shop NOW and sign up so Dennie knows if this class flies or not. Ask anybody that was there this weekend if they had a good time. For those of you already ice certified, man did you miss it! On another note, several of the people from the Ice Class have expressed interest in an Equipment Specialty Class. I have tentatively scheduled one for Saturday, March 13th in Smokeys classroom from 9am til about 5pm. Call the shop to get signed up for this one if you're interested. I'm sure you'll learn a few things about equipment maintenance and a few tips and tricks to take care of some of those annoying little problems that come up on dive sites. Don't forget to check out the pics and hope to see you in the next Ice Class and Equipment Class.
From Darth Vern . . .
We have pictures here from several of our usual photographers, Dennie, Palmer, Jim Brown and myself!!!
In addition to Ice Classes and Equipment Specialty, we are running Discover Scubas and even Open Water classes, with check-outs in warmer weather! No time like the present to get some new divers!!!!
If you missed Ice Diving, you really do have no idea what you are missing! It is absolutely incredible and something not many divers care to tackle, the challenge is great and the reward is even greater! With cutting the hole out over the platforms and not at the shore like last year, posed interesting problems with entry and especially exits, but we figured them all out and every diver was safe.
Keep On Diving and Live The Adventure!!!
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