Fortune Pond October 8th

[SurfLung]

- My son-in-law Nick just emailed that he will be going with me to Fortune Pond. Two of us makes a group and we WILL be diving Vintage Double Hose! These are photos from my first trip using a cheapie 35mm camera. I now have a GoPro Video and will bring back some really good quality visuals. We plan to dive my Phoenix plain, Phoenix with Octo stuff, Green DAAM, Sea Hunt Mistral, Warner Ave Mistral, and Faux Jet 2000... Yes, that's all of my DH regs and this is my last chance to dive before snow comes.

[Drado]

Eben, make sure you've got a 3rd party flat port for your GoPro HD. It makes a world of difference in the clarity of your video... in fact all the UW photos I've posted so far have actually been screenshots of my videos using the GoPro HD.

Can't wait to see your dives with all your regs Have fun!

[USdiver]

I like that implication "last chance to dive before the snow comes". We are expecting several ice diving reports with your double hose regulators over the course of the coming winter.

[swimjim]

Hey SurfLung, Perhaps I could swing up there and dive with you. I've been known to do a video or two myself. Shoot me your itinerary ([email protected]) and we'll put something together.

Jim

[SurfLung]

- Hey Jim, that would be great. My son-in-law Nick and I are definitely going. We're going to drive up Friday, Dive Saturday, and Drive home Sunday. We plan to stay at the same hotel/resort you stay at in Iron River and eat at Alice's restaurant.
- Seahunt Jerry Lang is going to try and do it in two days and has a couple of possible partners to bring up with him... Not definite yet.
- It would be great to finally meet you and do some diving at the place you have made so famous to us!

[SurfLung]

- Our Vintage Event at Fortune Pond seems to be catching on. So far there will be Nick, Me, Jim Bach, maybe two of Jim's friends, Maybe Jerry Lang and 1-2 of HIS friends. After all, who doesn't like diving in clear water?

[1969ivan1]

Fortune pond rules! The viz was like none other I have seen in a quarry before. Check out this video Jim made for me at the pond.

http://www.thescubamuseum.com/videos/Videos.htm

You just have to love WATERTIGHT Productions!

[SeaHuntJerry]

Moo,a couple of us are going!
Jl

[swimjim]

The Fortune Pond trip is here and gone. Perfect weather and awesome water conditions greeted us at Crystal Falls Michigan. I tried posting a picture but found out I didn't shrink it enough. I'll continue with this a little later. Anyway, it was good to meet you Surflung and Seahunt Jerry is always a riot. Great weekend!

Jim

[Vintagediver]

Glad to hear that you guy's had great weather and also a good time. I was hoping to make it up there for this event; but things didn't work out like I planned. I was also eager to see what kind of a turnout you had; hoping that if there is enough interest maybe this could become another vintage dive event. Just a little food for thought for anyone who might be interested next year. Now all we need is some pictures and an event report from you guys from this weekend. Terry

[swimjim]

Heres a photo of the attendee's.

Left to right, Swimjim, Seahunt Jerry, Fred W, Jerry S, Frank W, Surflung, ?, Nic A, Eric P and Ken. Eric Poggemann photo.



Surflung, Swimjim, Seahunt Jerry

Like I said we got real lucky with weather. October is a gamble in upper Michigan. I went up on Friday with one of my friends from the Deepsix. Eric P. About the time we got up from our dive Jerry and his two friends arrived. Ken and the other fellows name Jerry will have to help me with. I managed to tweak my back coming out of the water so that put me out of action, but Jerry and his crew got ready and then hit the water. A little later Surflung and his son in law arrived and did the same. The top layer of water was in the 50's, but below the thermocline it dropped to the 40's. Viz depended a little on how deep you were at and varied somewhere in the 60 - 100 foot range.
After the diving was done we retreated to Iron River and the Lake Shore motel. The Lake Shore is a vintage Mom and pop motel and in my opinion is a pretty nice place. Always a pleasant place to stay. After a brief respite we went to Alice's resturant and had a nice meal. It didn't exactly start that way but we ended up moving a couple tables together. Stories of the days dive circulated and dives past too.
The next day a couple more of my Deep Six buddies came. Jerry S, Fred and Frank W and joined in the festivities. Somewhat recovered from my back episode I dove strictly vintage that day. I have a Dacor R-4 which in the past has resisted all my attempts to make it useable. My last tweak was a winner. It wasn't great, but I had a nice 15 minute dive with it and took it as deep as 60 feet. I switched over to my Healthways Gold label after that and stayed with it. That reg cooks!!
For this event I purchased a small table top gas grill and around noon I got it going and cooked some Bratwurst. Fred added to that some butcher style hot dogs. It made for a nice lunch right at the pond.
As the afternoon wore on people started to pack up and head home. On my last dive of the day I broke out my video rig and got some nice underwater footage of Surflung and his son in law Nic. That evening Surflung, Nic and Myself had another nice meal at Alice's resturant. The hostess/owner Jill came over and talked to us for awhile. She's a cutie! I slept late this morning. Almost until 7:00. Okay, late for me. Ha. I went to Mr. T's for breakfast then came back and checked out. I stopped at Fortune Pond which is on the way home for me and sat there and thought about the weekend. Everyone got along super well. My Deep Six guys dove modern and that wasn't a big deal what so ever. Actually, Eric's tech rig drew a lot of interest and there were a lot of questions about it. In the end a good time was had by all.
For those who are willing to make the trip to upper Michigan and can dive cold water, Fortune Pond would make an awesome place for future vintage get togethers. Not just because of the dive site, but the accomdations, resturant and locals are very nice. A good time was had by all.

[8dust]

Sounds like a great time!

Thanks for the report & photos.

Would love to make it up there some day.

[1969ivan1]

My hydroglove is so envious! I wish I could have made the trip. There are quite a few of those guys I have not had the pleasure to meet yet. Nice to see some Healthways made it to the pond!

[JES]

Jim,

Thank you for the write-up and the pictures. Looks like a good time was had by all.

[SurfLung]

- What a great time we had. We rolled the dice weatherwise but it worked out to be an absolutely perfect weekend. Water was cold but I did fine with my 3mm wet suit and 3mm hooded vest (how many mm's of fat am I wearing?) Ha!
- SwimJim gets the award for the most truly Vintage set-up... Suit, tank, harness, weights, mask, fins, regs... All period correct. I got some really clear GoPro video and will post it here in a day or so when I get a chance to edit it. Thanks Drado for the advice on replacing the lens for underwater.
- Water clarity was superb. My son Nick and I both felt it was a sensation of flight to see so far and be just gliding through it. We dove once Friday and three times Saturday.
- Many thanks to SwimJim for bringing Fortune Pond to our attention and recommending excellent accomodations and restaurant!

Fortune Pond... The Movie!
http://youtu.be/DR8MhHqLPO0 or, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR8MhHqLPO0