Willow Springs Dive Park

[Mountain Dog]

Ace-

We're a "Go" for this weekend at Willow. LadyDog and I, and at least one other buddy pair will be coming in Saturday morning, camping overnight, and getting in a couple of dives before heading out Sunday afternoon. We're going to try to round up a few more at the dive club meeting tomorrow night. About twenty just got back from a week on the Nekton Rorqual and a another bunch are heading to CoCo View next week, so I don't know how many are up for blowing bubbles this weekend, but we'll see.

Are there fire rings in the camping area? We'll bring firewood if we can use it.

As for your question of wrecks in the St. Lawrence seaway, I haven't done it yet, but there are some pristine wrecks there. Our club is going up the first weekend of September (I don't think I'll make it this year). They use a dive op out of Brockville, Canada. And as Daddy-h20 said, the Canadians frown quite sternly on souvenir hunting.

Mountain Dog

[acelockco]

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.

[Mountain Dog]

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

[acelockco]

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.

[Mountain Dog]

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

[aerospot]

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...

[Mountain Dog]

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