ODC December 2015 Newsletter
Owatonna Divers
ODC News Letter
Owatonna Diving Club | PO Box 232, Owatonna MN 55060 | December 29, 2015 |
Upcoming Events
January 1th New Years Day Dive | January 12th Monthly Meeting January 29th Polar Plunge |
Every Thursday, 7:00 Pump Nights
Club Meetings
We encourage all members, family and new students to attend the monthly club meetings to share experiences, laughs, and ideas for future dives, as well as the state of the club. We meet at 7:15 the 2nd Tuesday of the month. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, January 12th. All are welcome to attend.
Tank Inspections
We will start the annual Tank Visual inspections soon. If you have a tank checked out, please return it as soon as possible so that it can be inspected. If you have tanks at home and want the club to inspect them, please bring them in ASAP. If you plan to dive in the near future, and intend to use your tank that is being stored at the club house, please send me a message letting me know so we can get it inspected quickly.
Dive Safe, Dive with a Buddy!
Newsletter
If you have a story you would like to write for the Newsletter, or would like to see something in a newsletter, please send me an email at owatonn...@gmail.com. The Newsletter is scheduled to go out the last Sunday of each month. Please have any material to me by noon Saturday if you want it in the Newsletter.
CAT Training?
If you missed the opportunity to attend the CAT (Combat Applied Tourniquet) training, and are interested in another opportunity, you’re in luck. ODC will host another CAT training later this fall. Please contact Troy if you’re interested. He will work out the details with TC based on the level of interest.
Also, we decided to double the price we charged last time.
Sporting Clays
We have enough interest in shooting clay pidgins that we’ll have enough for 2 5-man teams. Troy will make the arrangements. This will take place sometime in the spring, weather permitting. If you are interested, please contact Troy directly.
Equipment Drop-Off
We have had a few people drop of their old, or no longer used equipment at the club house. We do appreciate it when people donate gently used and still working equipment. However, we need to know what condition it is in before we can use it for students. If you have old equipment that is no longer working and can’t be serviced, we would ask that you give it to your garbage collector rather than dumping at the club. If you have equipment that is so old that you believe it has historic value, please consider bringing it to a museum or antique dealer. ODC does not have the facilities to display antique dive equipment.
Fall Dive Trips
By: Trent Mccorkell
This year I did two fall dive trips with club members for fun and to finish up my Advanced Open Water (AOW) certification. First trip was to the north shore October 9-11th. I rode up to Two Harbors on Friday with Dan and Lynda Krulish. (Thanks Dan and Lynda) and the fall colors had to have been very near their peak and the trip up was a scenic and smooth one.
Saturday morning the group loaded up to dive the Hesper. The waves were pretty high heading from the boat landing but around the breakwall the Hesper site was calm and the dive went very smoothly. This was my first time diving this site and was the Wreck Dive for my AOW. I dove with Steve T and Pete D off of Corey Monahan’s boat. The wreck was very interesting and I think it would take a lot of dives to fully explore entire wreck. The thing I will remember most was the large wooden rudder.
After the Hesper dive the wind and waves continued so we decided to go back to Two Harbors and dive the Ely. The Ely is located in the harbor between a breakwall and a large ore dock. Unfortunately a large ore boat was just leaving as readied to launch leaving the harbor a little stirred up. Steve, Pete and I still dove and it wasn’t a bad dive but we only got to see a small part of the overall wreck. Still it counted as the AOW Boat Dive for Pete and me.
Sunday ended up too windy to put the boats in so the group headed to do a shore dive on the Madeira. Steve and Bob ended up being the only two willing to dive and the rest watched from shore. Still, I did try some snorkeling looking for rocks (agates) and the site was beautiful in the clear water but it was kind of cold snorkeling in swim trunks and a t-shirt.
I finished the weekend diving the beach at Burlington Bay with Dan K looking for rocks and stuff. We didn’t find much and with the water depth being so shallow we could have snorkeled it instead. After the dive we broke camp and headed home. Overall a very nice trip and a very scenic time of year to go with some nice diving as well.
The Second Fall Dive trip was October 30- Nov 1 trip to Gilbert, MN to dive at Lake Ore-Be-Gone. This has been an annual Club Dive/ATV riding event for several years and the second year I’ve gone. The Friday drive up was a relaxing one but very dreary with rain off and on all day. However, there was excitement along the way with a police action near Moose Lake. Five to ten police cars were on the side of I-35, a trooper was sitting on the I-35 overpass, and a police helicopter was flying over the wooded area next to the freeway while officers were walking through the woods. I pulled off the highway to stop at the Moose Lake State Park to look at their agate display but the park was temporary closed, I assumed due to the nearby police activity.
Saturday morning after breakfast most of the group hit the ATV trails but after lunch we got in two dives. First one was done as the AOW Deep Dive with Corey M, Chuck M, Pete D, Marissa M and myself diving. We went just north off of the Ore-Be Gone boat landing and didn’t have to go more than 20-40 feet away from the dock to get to deep water. After completing the Deep Dive requirements we had the area pretty stirred up so after a short time exploring around we headed back to the landing. The second dive was at the swim beach for our AOW Navigation Dive. Pete, Marissa and I completed the navigation requirements while Chuck and Corey observed. The water was clear and a little cold (upper 40’s). I didn’t bring my camera on this dive but below is a photo of a “Speeder” I shot in that area last year (2014).
On Sunday we decided to dive the east side of Ore-be Gone. This side has a 53 Pontiac, an airplane, and a Huey helicopter to dive, and counted for my Underwater Photography Dive which completed the AOW certification. Once in the water I hung around the Pontiac taking photos and noticed a lot more zebra mussels attached to it than it did in 2014. Here are a few pictures from the dive, the first is Chuck and the car and second Chuck and Marissa coming back from the Huey.
I really want to thank all of the members that make these dive outings possible