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Thread: Willow Springs Dive Park

  1. #21
    Wreck Diving Moderator acelockco's Avatar
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    Great to hear you are going to make it up this weekend. I was informed that we have some stinking event to go to on Saturday for a few hours, but I think I may be able to get in a dive anyway. Sunday is 100% clear for me and we can dive all day.

    There are fire rings so bring wood, and there is a charcoal BBQ if you want to bring charcoal you can use that. There are some gas grills at the opposite side of the park, but I am not 100% sure they work.

  2. #22
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    Don't you just hate it when life gets in the way of diving.

    No worries, we're a pretty self-sufficient group. If not on Saturday, we'll see you on Sunday. We should be easy to spot. Look for a white Ford Explorer with WV plates and a large van (I don't remember what make or color it is) with MD tags.

    Thanks for the fire ring and b-b-q info. Next to diving, our club is best known for burning chunks of red meat over open flames.

    Mountain Dog
    It's not the destination, it's the journey.

  3. #23
    Wreck Diving Moderator acelockco's Avatar
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    Yes, when life interfears with my dive time I get really moody, just ask my wife.

    I will send you a PM with my contact info so you can give me a ring when you get there.

  4. #24
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    Hey All-

    We had a good time at Willow Springs this weekend. As it turns out, only 3 of us were able to make the run but we got in 5 dives.

    We camped on the east end right at the edge of the water and we were the only ones on that end of the quarry. It was beautiful.

    Can't say the same for the diving on that end of the quarry, though. On our first dive on the east end as I dropped down I held my wrist out in front of me to make sure my computer had started doing it's thing, and I couldn't see my hand. My dive buddies were about 3 to 4 feet away from me, and they might as well have been on the next planet. I did manage to find one of them. We joined hands to stay together and promptly ran head first into the quarry wall. At this point we decided we had better surface and look for the other team member. LadyDog was already bobbing around on the surface.

    So, we decided to surface stroke it to the tanker truck bouy and try again. The viz was a little better there - maybe 3 or 4 feet in some spots. We found the truck and something else - it may have been a car (we never could tell). We spent the rest of the dive effectively blind. We did make it back to the tanker truck and using our superior navigation skills (um, look at the compass idiot) actually made our way back to the dock.

    The rest of our dives were done from the west end of the quarry. The viz there was still very tough, but much better than the first dive. Maybe 10-15 feet in the good spots. We found cars, airplane, fire truck, torpedo, several boats including the "Quest", railroad tracks, steel tanks, snowmobile (I think), and even a few fish. Coldest water temp was 57 degrees.

    Topside, Willow Springs is very nice. Awesome camping areas, nice bath house, great picnic areas, a good air-fill set-up, and nice people. They are rebuilding the main shop and the entrance gates. Looks like it will be very nice when it's done. If they can get the viz improved, this will be one top-notch dive park.

    It was a lot of fun and actually a good experience diving in low viz conditions. We'll be back.

    Mountain Dog
    It's not the destination, it's the journey.

  5. #25
    Registered Users aerospot's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mountain Dog View Post
    Hey All-

    We camped on the east end right at the edge of the water and we were the only ones on that end of the quarry. It was beautiful.
    On our first dive on the east end as I dropped down I held my wrist out in front of me to make sure my computer had started doing it's thing, and I couldn't see my hand. My dive buddies were about 3 to 4 feet away from me, and they might as well have been on the next planet. I did manage to find one of them. We joined hands to stay together and promptly ran head first into the quarry wall. At this point we decided we had better surface and look for the other team member. LadyDog was already bobbing around on the surface.


    Mountain Dog
    Perhaps I am just to damn particular but, this doesn't sound like any fun at all save for the beerz and campfire! I am not anxious to do any diving in conditions like you have described here. Granted I have yet to gain my certification (2 more classes and 5 ow dives ahead) but my drive and desire to achieve ow cert stems from our 'snuba' trip in the Keys.
    I agree that there needs to be an understanding as to diving in low vis so as not to panic when someone silts up the water but, what fun can be had from dropping into water where you cant see your hand at the end of your arm?
    Having spent some snorkel time in Lake Erie over the past several years I have enjoyed better than average vis mainly due to the zebra mussels. I had imagined diving into such water and enjoying the various wrecks and artifacts to be found on the bottom. And when we can return to the Keys or other reef I anticipate diving in pristine clear ocean water...

  6. #26
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    aerospot-

    I understand what you're saying. There's nothing better than viz that's so good you don't even have to think about it. Believe me, if I could dive in the tropics every day, I would.

    But I also subscribe to the philosophy that "a bad day of diving is better than a good day doing anything else." I had this choice: spend the weekend doing yard work, or dive Willow Springs. LOL.

    There is a lot to be said for doing some diving in low viz conditions. For one thing, you never know when it's going to happen to you, so being able to handle it could save your life. For example, our dive club went to Pompano Beach, Florida earlier this year. Viz is usually pretty good there, but there is also a lively current, which can change conditions on you in a heartbeat. And it did. We were diving a wreck in a hefty current that started with about 25' of viz but by the time we thumbed the dive the viz had dropped to maybe 10'. Ripping current, failing viz, and dropping tank pressures is enough to deal with. If these conditions induce any amount of panic in a diver, the result could be disastrous.

    That's why I would rather practice dealing with things like this under the more controlled circumstances of a quarry. Was that first dive in the zero viz "fun"? No, not really. We regarded it as a training dive. We practiced maintaining buddy contact, navigation, and using all of our senses - not just sight. Without visual references, it's pretty tricky to judge your bouyancy. If you can stay neutral in zero viz, you're doing a good job. Believe it or not, this one dive did more to make me a better diver than any other dive I've done.

    On the other end of the quarry, where viz was better, we had a lot of fun trying to find the wrecks and other toys down there. Again, navigation and communication skills were put to the test. Nothing wrong with that.

    The more work I put in on my diving skills now, the less I will have to focus on that when I hit the warm, clear waters of Bonaire in September.

    Mountain Dog
    It's not the destination, it's the journey.

  7. #27
    Registered Users Daddy-h2O's Avatar
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    Can't agree more with MDog. 95% of my diving is in 20' viz or less. These are the conditions availible to me and given the choice between not diving or diving in less than ideal vis conditions, I will dive.

    Just my 2psi.
    "I have a cunning plan..."

    http://www.eoara.org/Home.html

  8. #28
    Wreck Diving Moderator acelockco's Avatar
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    Obviously (I dive Willow Springs at least 2 days/week) for me I agree 100% with Mountain Dog and Daddy-h20. I have logged about 50 dives at Willow Springs already this season and can really feel my diving skills have improved because of it.

    This weekend I was wreck diving off the coast of New Jersey. An opening on a boat I wanted to dive from was available last minute. The reason the diver backed out was because of the conditions. The seas were really rough, we had crazy winds, strong currents and guess what, LOW visibility. Because of my constant training in low visibility at Willow, I felt right at home in the low vis on the wreck.

    In the end, it was a GREAT dive, what others consider low vis is good vis to me. I bagged a few flounder for dinner and almost had a nice lobster, but it backed into a hole and I could not reach in far enough to grab it. I met some really great people there and just had a totally enjoyable day.

    In retrospect, had I not been so comfortable diving in such conditions things could have been a disaster.

    Now all of that being said, I really thing the visibility at Willow is pretty good. On the East side of the quarry the vis is pretty bad, but that is what the entire place was like earlier in the year. On the west side I think the visibility is fine. Of course I would like it to be clearer, but the thought of poor visibility does not even cross my mind when diving there. Goes to show you, that with practice your opinion could change as well.

  9. #29
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    Hey Ace-

    We missed you at Willow this weekend, but I'm glad to see that you had a great dive in NJ.

    I agree that the more you dive in "less than pristine" conditions, the less it matters. You had told me the viz was bad on the east end, but we went there anyway, precisely to challenge ourselves in those conditions. It was an excellent experience. It also made us appreciate the conditions on the west end.

    I don't mean to make it sound like I'm complaining about the viz. I'm not. It's just that everything else at Willow is so nice that this is the one drawback to the place. I would like to enjoy the topography of the quarry and see the huge variety of toys down there a bit better.

    I know they are working on it, and as I said I will be back. Clearly, the new owners are moving things in a positive direction, and for that alone they deserve our support.

    Mountain Dog
    It's not the destination, it's the journey.

  10. #30
    Wreck Diving Moderator acelockco's Avatar
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    That's great Mountain Dog. I did not think you were complaining, but even if you were, we are all entitled to our opinions so no worries if you feel the need to complain.

    LOL!!!

    Anyway, back to things, the new owners are really doing a lot. Funny thing, the new owners are not even certified divers. In fact they just started their SCUBA class this week.

    Indeed they are doing a lot, last year when I was diving there the place was a dump. The grass/weeds were usually up to your knees. The front gate was a disaster, there was trash everywhere (not just trash but abandoned vehicles and such) and there were none of the porta-johns (which are usually really clean). The bathouse was always dirty and smelled like...well you know what it probablly smelled like. All of those problems have been taken care of. The compressor was just serviced and they just repaired the one side of the dock last week as well.

    Now the place is cool, I feel like I am just chillin' in my own backyard over there. Maybe you will come up sometime over the winter and brave the ice. I don't know if you went into the dive shack by the dock on the west side, but there is a HUGE wood burning stove in there. We get that thing going with a ragging fire, do some dives and jet back into the shack to warm up and get some grub. If you were in there, you may have noticed the nice seating removed from the school bus you dove on.

    My next job is to remove that air conditioner that is in the bus's engine compartment. Did you see that waskely SCUBA wabbit by the way?

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