Lake Michigan (Chicago area) trip report

[BLU DIVER]

Four of us packed up the cars and headed north Friday for a weekend of wreck diving on Lake Michigan. Saturday morning we arrived at the East Chicago Marina and headed out to the Tacoma and Material Service Barge. The lake was as flat as glass. The sun finally broke out around 1:00 pm. There was a bit of a current on our first dive site, the Tacoma. One of the divers in our group had an equipment issue and failed to make the first dive of the day. The rest of us enjoyed the 52 degree water and 45' viz. I was the only one in our group to have been on Lake Michigan before. So, the rest of the guys were absolutely stoked! Which was still exciting for myself as well and felt great to see and hear the enthusiasm! They were amazed by the nails that held the Tacoma together, the steam engine and propeller. They took some pics of the bow. We also enjoyed the Material Service barge and the many swim throughs it provides.

The captain brought to my attention that he might not be running out on Sunday, due to weather. Sundays dives were going to be the Buccaneer, a new dive site in the area. This was concerning as we had this planned all summer. Back at the dock we were rushed off the boat so he could set his fishing gear up for a fishing charter later that afternoon. We exchanged information and he said he would call later that evening about Sundays dives. Following our conversations I had with him Saturday, I knew he was not going to run on Sunday. The captain kept recommending Haigh Quarry, as if we drove up to dive a quarry! We left the marina and had our tanks filled at Scuba Emporium in Orland park, IL followed by lunch at TGI Fridays. I called a few other charters trying to get back out on the lake. Windy City was booked, I tried to contact Capt. Dale the phone rang off the hook (no answering machine). Finally, reached Capt. Bob at Dive Chicago, "Yes, we have room for four." He said the weather on his side of the lake (North Shore) should not be a problem, "meet at North Point Marina at 08:15 for a 9:00 am departure." Sure enough, Capt. Mike of N'Pursuit calls back and cancels Sundays dives. We were prepared for this and made other arrangements...were golden, right? Wrong!!! Capt. Bob calls at approx. 11 pm and cancels Sundays dives (one being to the Wisconsin, we were looking forward to diving very much). His fuel pump went out, "we'll have to get a mechanic out here on Monday." ARRGGGHHH....very frustrating!!!! Woke up Sunday to a windy morning in Gary, IN with 3-4 footers on the lake....I would've gone out diving but I'm not the captain!

We made two dives at Haigh quarry and enjoyed 40' viz and the warm water (70's & 80's on the shallow side) and 50's in the 40' - 50' area. Dove the LARC in Haigh and the Rock Crusher. One of our divers decided to dive what he referred to as "Tropical Diving." And I tried not to laugh too hard as I took a picture of him underwater......Yeah...diving in a T-shirt and a bright blue silky speedo and bright white legs!!!! That's what you call a true dive buddy, as we walk to and from the water through the crowds at Haigh. I am wearing a black dry suit and he is wearing a bright blue speedo. I'm not sure what happened to the others in our group, but they managed to beat us getting in and out of the water...LOL... Paying no attention to the onlookers as if this was not a Seinfeld-esque moment, he was "Tropical diving" in the Caribbean of the Midwest! To my surprise he didn't scare off any fish! :)

So, it didn't go as planned and was an emotional roller coaster...Dive on/Dive off. Overall we had a very fun time and enjoyed many laughs together.

BLU

[theskull]

Sounds like a good weekend of diving. I have had pretty good results with NPursuit in the past, although the most recent outing was less than stellar. Will not be handing him any more of my money after the way he dissed your group, though.

He seems to be going sour on divers and favoring the fishermen--less work for him I suppose.

theskull

[b1gcountry]

I'm not sure you should be getting on a charter for canceling due to weather. Every charter I know of in the area would have canceled for 3-4' seas. Mike's boat is pretty small compared to the rest of them. The wrecks you are seeing are a lot bigger boats than the charter boat you will be riding on, and a lot of them went down due to weather. Some of them even in August weather.

Every time you head up to Lake Michigan, you are betting on the weather being good enough to dive. Last year, I had 10 charters cancel. You just never know. I really don't think it is fair to blame a charter operator for some bad weather. When the lake is 3-4', I don't have any fun diving. The waves are very close together on the lakes, and that makes the seas feel a lot rougher than they really are. It is not the type of weather you want to take divers out in. Especially if it is their first time on the lakes.

Tom

PS, Why the heck did you stay in Gary!?!

[scububa]

Yeah, the weather is always the big variable. Florida Keys, Great Lakes, Morehead City, Cozumel even. theskull had a lot of travel, gas and time invested in his Doria trip that all was at risk of weather.

When we got blown out in NC, this is what I figured...The operators have about 90-120 days to make their money for the year. When they don't go out for two days, they lose up to 2% of their year. I have to believe they don't do this lightly. I figure one of the things I am paying for is their experience. If they don't want to go out, I probably shouldn't be out there.

They also can't make decisions on based on the most competent divers, they have to consider the 'average least' competent. Olympic Dive Center realizes that if one person gets hurt, they lose a lot of customers. With the speed on the internet, it is even worse. Even if people don't get hurt, having 3 out of 6 being sick is no fun for anyone on a small boat.

Now, if you saw the guy going out with fishermen after cancelling your prearranged charter, that would be a sea-horse of a different color :D

[theskull]

Back at the dock we were rushed off the boat so he could set his fishing gear up for a fishing charter later that afternoon. We exchanged information and he said he would call later that evening about Sundays dives. Following our conversations I had with him Saturday, I knew he was not going to run on Sunday.

This is the part that I find offputting. 1. They were rushed off the boat to turn the boat around for a night fishing trip. 2. They were being told 18 hours in advance that he would probably cancel the next day's charter. Every charter I've ever booked waited until the morning of to make the call, and every good one had us show up in case the weather backed off in an hour or two.

theskull

[BLU DIVER]

You're right the weather is a variable and Mikes boat is small. I was thrown back by Capt. Mike telling us that we were most likely not going out on Sunday, while we were on our way out to our first dive site on Saturday morning. When we booked with him in June he had nothing going on for that Sunday. Maybe he had something else going on? That's why I was a little suspicious of how things went down.

I have been out with Mike before and had a great time diving with him. I enjoyed Saturdays dives as well.

Basically, it was frustrating that the weather did not cooperate. We had 4 great dives, 2 on the lake and 2 at Haigh. I forgot how large Haigh Quarry is....

@ Tom

Gary? What's wrong with Gary? LOL There's nothing like checking in to the Hotel behind bullet proof glass! :) We stayed in Hammond/Gary because it's close to the Marina. If I was to do it over again I might have stayed in Orland Park, IL. That was a pretty nice area with lots of restaurants and night life. That's funny because my wifes family lives on the North Shore of Chicago. They were asking the same question. Gary???

[b1gcountry]

Yes. If you picture Indiana as a person, and Lake Michigan is its upraised arm...then Gary is the armpit of the state :)

I actually like it when the charter cancels before you have to make the drive out there. It's even saved me a couple drives up from St Louis when Greg has called a Saturday dive on a Friday night. That was a mid-October dive though.

Like Jim said, I strongly support charters canceling due to weather. The smart diver knows when not to dive. It sounds like you are frustrated because you don't think it was weather that caused him to cancel. I wasn't there, so I can't speak to that, but if it the lake WAS 3-4' on Sunday morning, then take comfort, because you wouldn't have been diving anyway.

Tom