Fun-Dive Club Schedule

[theskull]

The Fun-Dive Club is sponsored by The Dive Shop of St. Louis. There are no fees, no meetings, no dues, no purchase required, just . . . fun . . . diving.

The 2006 schedule is off to a start with the dives below. More will be added as the year progresses. Check back here for updates. You may just show up and dive with us, you may post questions and suggestions here, or you may e-mail me with any questions about the arrangements and expected conditions.

theskull
deepblue@the-skull.com

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Upcoming Planned Fun Dives:

Feb 18-19, Table Rock Lake, Branson MO, http://www.stateparkmarina.com/ (http://www.stateparkmarina.com/)

March 4-5, Blue Water Lake, Oronogo MO, http://www.oronogo.com/ (http://www.oronogo.com/)

April 22-23, Beaver Lake, Eureka Springs AR, http://www.beaverlake.com/ (http://www.beaverlake.com/) , DUI DOG Days Event—opportunity to try out one or more DUI dry suits under supervision.

April 29-30, TBA (probably Cerulean Springs, Cerulean KY), http://www.divecerulean.com/ (http://www.divecerulean.com/) , Wetsuit diving season begins!!

[theskull]

Updated schedule:

Feb 18-19, Table Rock Lake, Branson MO, http://www.stateparkmarina.com/

March 4-5, Blue Water Lake, Oronogo MO, http://www.oronogo.com/

April 22-23, Beaver Lake, Eureka Springs AR, http://www.beaverlake.com/ , DUI DOG Days Event—opportunity to try out one or more DUI dry suits under supervision.

April 29-30, Mermet Springs, Mermet IL, www.mermetsprings.com , Wetsuit diving season begins!! Certification classes and Specialties available—for class details contact Lisa at The Dive Shop, (314) 968-8099, 9836 Manchester, St. Louis, MO 63119.

May 19-21, Bull Shoals Lake Houseboat Trip, http://www.bullshoalslakeboatdock.com , Midwest Live-aboard diving at its best! Price includes bunk, food, air fills, fun. For pricing, either as a fun-diver or to also to take a class while onboard, contact Lisa at The Dive Shop, (314) 968-8099, 9836 Manchester, St. Louis, MO 63119.

May 27-29, Mermet Springs, Mermet IL, www.mermetsprings.com , Certification classes and Specialties available—for class details contact Lisa at The Dive Shop, (314) 968-8099, 9836 Manchester, St. Louis, MO 63119. Take advantage of Memorial Day weekend and dive for 3-days, or just join us for 1 or 2 and lounge around the house the rest of the weekend.

July 1-2, Mermet Springs, Mermet IL, www.mermetsprings.com , Certification classes and Specialties available—for class details contact Lisa at The Dive Shop, (314) 968-8099, 9836 Manchester, St. Louis, MO 63119.

July 7-9, Martha’s Quarry, Lebanon Tennessee, www.marthasquarry.com , depths of up to 60’, an underwater forest, submerged 4-story rock crusher house, and other quarry-like attractions. Expected July water temp in the 70’s, maybe closer to 50 F on the deeper dives. Visibility usually better than 20 ft. *Yes, this coincides with the Fun-dive scheduled by Midwest SCUBA--we can play nice together. May even do some carpooling to get there!*

Sept 9-10, Lake Norfork Project AWARE Clean-up Dives, www.norfork.com ,

Oct 20-22, Bull Shoals Lake Houseboat Trip, http://www.bullshoalslakeboatdock.com , Midwest Live-aboard diving at its best! Price includes bunk, food, air fills, fun. For pricing, either as a fun-diver or to also to take a class while onboard, contact Lisa at The Dive Shop, (314) 968-8099, 9836 Manchester, St. Louis, MO 63119.

Still more to come. Keep coming back to see if we've scheduled something you'd like to dive.

theskull

[theskull]

Had a very nice dive weekend at Mermet this weekend. Many dives, some new friends, new places to eat in Metropolis. Viz has been better, but we had a great time anyway. Water is just starting to warm up, 55 F at the 15 ft. platform and a thermocline at 17 ft.

Next Fun-Dive club event is next weekend, May 6-7, at Table Rock Lake (not on the original schedule) just because I wanna go there. Anyone is welcome. Dives will be easy recreational dives, as easy as is necessary to make anyone who joins us comfortable. We just love to be underwater, and shallow is good, too.

theskull

[Trever]

hey Skull I hope to join you guys later on this summer, all of my earluy summer diving is planned.

[theskull]

You're welcome any time. Enjoyed diving with you last year!

theskull

[theskull]

Had a great time at Table Rock Lake this weekend.

Thermocline is on the move, and is currently somewhere between 30 and 40 ft. deep—and working its way deeper as the surface is warmed by the Summer weather. Right now the surface temp is 64 F with visibility of 5 to 15 feet, depending on how close to the main channel you are. And below the thermocline is 50 F with visibility of 20-30 feet plus—really beautiful! We made a couple daytime dives in a new (to me) shore-diving area, a morning dive off the State Park Marina boat out at Duck Island, and a fabulous night dive at the dam. Fish are once again plentiful at Table Rock, with most of the Bluegill in 10-15 ft. of water, and big Bass and Catfish around 20 ft. deep.

See post #2 for additional scheduled dives for the "club".

theskull

[theskull]

We had fabulous conditions for fun-diving this weekend on our houseboat trip to Bull Shoals Lake.

Visibility was 40+ below the second thermocline, and was typically 15-20 at the shallower depths.

Water temp was 63 F at the surface, 58 F at 24 ft., and 50 F at 54 ft., with a low temp of 48 F below 100 ft.

Air temps were high enough to warm us all up between dives throughout the day, but then cooled down to perfect sleeping temp at night.

We dived a couple new sites, and discovered a beautiful enchanted forest at a depth of 60-105 ft. in a pretty little cove. Fish were abundant, especially very large bass, catfish, and walleye, and a great deal of bluegill.

*Next weekend is a 3-day weekend of diving at Mermet Springs.**

[theskull]

Mermet Springs for 3 fun-filled days this past weekend.

We had excellent visibility at all depths below 40 feet. 60-80 was about the best area, especially in the deep side of the quarry.

Visibility was very limited in the first 20 feet, but that area was mostly inhabited by student divers, and they don’t really know yet what they’re missing, so seemed happy enough with it.

Mermet was well-attended this weekend, yet not over-crowded. Enough action that there was always entertainment and buddies to be had, plus plenty of BBQ on-site, but the entry docks were never crowded.

Water temps were 68 F at the surface, 60 F at 20 ft., 50 F at 50 ft., and 48 ft. on down to app. 100 ft.

Visibility was generally good, but there was a great deal of particulate raining down through the water—this will probably settle out in the next couple weeks. It did improve overnight when it rained Sunday evening.

Our return to Mermet will be July 1-2 (probably 3-4 as well).

More updates to come as plans develop.

theskull