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SurfLung
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First Name: Eben
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Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Wed May 15, 2019 10:23 am

Fortune Pond May 17-18
- Yes we're heading to Fortune Pond and the first trip of the 2019 Dive Season. I have my motel reservations made and we should be arriving at "the Pond" around 11:00-12:00 Friday morning. We'll hope to get in 2-3 dives Friday, have a nice dinner at Alice's Restaurant, and do two more dives on Saturday before heading for home around 2:00 PM.
- I'll be bringing along my "Crew Served" UV-26 diving scooter (takes a crew to carry it into the water). This will allow at least 2 cruises completely around the lake at 40-100 feet deep... VERY much like playing Superman in flight!
- I'm also bringing my Twin 48s. These are round bottom 1800 psi surplus tanks I converted to Scuba. They're longer than 38s and my research indicates the are 48 cf at 1800 psi and 53 cf at 10% over (1980 psi). I have a beautiful Voit manifold on these and recently adorned them with Karls Voit chevron tank decals... Very nice!
- I'll also have my Sea Hunt 38s, my yellow USD 38s, and the other gray ones I call "Bill's 38s" because I got the tanks from Bill Tucker. These are also gray but with a polished stainless set of bands. I'm debating whether I should put AquaLung stickers on them.
- MAN... I have a tough choice on which double hose regulators to bring. I have a newly rebuilt Snark III Silver that is in Like New condition. I have my Voit NAVY that I fixed up last year. I have an original Royal AquaMaster... Looks and breathes like nearly new. I have my Voit 40 Fathom SINGLE hose I really should give some use to now that it has a proper diaphragm, exhaust, and swimaster first stage... I have a nice blue Voit steel 50 cf tank with white chevron... They would go nicely together... Similar set up to James Bond when he dove from the helicopter in Thunderball. So many regulators and tanks... So little time.
:)
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

swimjim
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Thu May 16, 2019 9:51 pm

Arrived Fortune Pond for a look see around 6:30. Sheriff Diver was getting ready to jump in and check out the conditions. I already had a long day. I finished a flooring job, went home, packed and drove up. I checked in at the lake Shore motel in Iron River and then went to the local pizza place for dinner.
As usual, I brought a mixture of old and new. I have two "modern" twin 72 sets with iso manifolds. I'm set up with sling tanks with 50% and 100% 02. And then there is vintage. One twin 72 set and three single 72's. The singles are set up with DACOR J valves so I can run an spg and I have a 30 cubic foot sling tank with air to run my dry suit and have a bail out. I generally hang out between dives, but dive solo, so it's nice to have a back up plan just in case. Reg's? For "Vintage" I brought my Kracken, my Hot DAAM and a round label Royal I picked up and rebuilt in the off season. I'm looking forward to giving that Royal her shake down cruise. I also have my DiveX Sierra scooter along and I am looking forward to taking a spin around the pond with it.
The weather for tomorrow looks great. Sunny and 60's. Saturday, not so much..... but that could change!

SheriffDiver
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Sat May 18, 2019 4:58 pm



Outstanding visibility at Fortune Pond as you can see as SwimJim goes by on his scooter...

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Greg Barlow
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Sat May 18, 2019 6:06 pm

The visibility is truly incredible, and has to be near 100’.

I’m not convinced that is Jim, though. That diver is wearing a dry suit in 38 degree water. The real SlimJim would typically be adorned in a 3mm shorty in water that balmy.

Enjoy, guys!

Greg
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SheriffDiver
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First Name: John

Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Sat May 18, 2019 6:23 pm



Since nobody else had a video camera I had to shoot my own. My UDS-1 triple tank system. Just love to dive it. Took it to 100 feet. The skull and thermo is around 75 feet. Oh yes, the bottom timer I'm wearing actually works.

swimjim
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Sat May 18, 2019 6:28 pm

The water was cold which is why even I was clad in a drysuit. Ron, Eben and Rich dove wet!!! They are the REAL MEN! The viz was well in excess of 100 feet. From the pier you could see the mirror on the big rock over 60 feet down. There really isn't anything quite like Fortune Pond. The Florida Springs have comparable viz, but no where near the depth and super cool bottom structure! One just has to dress for success and it's all good.

SheriffDiver
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Sat May 18, 2019 7:30 pm



Not to be left out here are Rich and Surflung. I think Surflung was using his Snark and I think Rich was using the 50 Fathom he got from Rob. Rich's tank has a Jack the Frogman sticker on it.

SheriffDiver
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Sat May 18, 2019 8:27 pm



Another one of SwimJim. Look how clear this one is. I think Jim is using his Kraken.

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ScubaLawyer
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Sat May 18, 2019 9:18 pm

Looks like tons of fun! Seeing you guys wearing twin 72's makes my spine hurt. :D
"The diver who collects specimens of underwater life has fun and becomes a keen underwater observer. .. seek slow-moving or attached organisms such as corals, starfish, or shelled creatures." (Golden Guide to Scuba Diving, 1968) :D

SheriffDiver
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Sat May 18, 2019 9:20 pm

ScubaLawyer wrote:
Sat May 18, 2019 9:18 pm
Looks like tons of fun! Seeing you guys wearing twin 72's makes my spine hurt. :D
At least I wasn't standing in lines wearing them. Much lighter in water!

swimjim
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Sun May 19, 2019 7:48 am

I was indeed diving my Kraken. Drysuit, no wing and a modern plate. That got the reg position a little high, but the Kraken still performed very well. :D

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SurfLung
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Mon May 20, 2019 10:01 am

Eb's Dive Report
- Rich and I arrived at Fortune Pond on Friday, a little before noon... Just as Ron and SwimJim were suiting up for their second dive. The sun was shining bright and sky was nearly cloudless. So we had a combination of excellent light AND excellent visibility. I put on my polarized sunglasses and looked down into the depths off the pier and... WOW... I could see out and down all the way to the bottom 60-70 feet deep.
- I suppose you can't call us "pure" vintage divers because of suits and computers. But we were all diving some level of vintage equipment. TWIN TANKs being dove only by the coolest divers, I thought I should get some pictures.
Image
SwimJim is seen above with his Twin Steel 72s and Argonaut Kraken Regulator.
Image
SwimJim and Ron SheriffDiver with double hose regs and Twin Tanks.
Image
Rons Twin 72 Black Voits with Chevrons (above). SwimJim submerging in the background.
- After taking these photos, we got busy ourselves getting suited up. I got my Twin 48s and blue 50 Fathom set up for a nice photo:
Image
Twin 48s are re-purposed surplus tanks, 1800 psi. Original Voit Manifold and Blue Chevrons.
- You can see Rich in the background getting his Twin 50s set up. Rich's 50s are brand new aluminum tanks with authentic reproduction labels from the 1970s. He's using a 1970s one piece USD manifold and 1970s tank bands adapted to a ScubaPro BCD. My Twin 48s have stainless tank bands and authentic reproduction harness... Both made by Allan Klauda.
Image
- My Twin 48s haven't been dove very much and I didn't have my weights figured definitely. So I wore my SeaTec horsecollar BC in case I got a little heavy down deep. As it turned out I only made two buoyancy adjustments of about 1/2 breath and I stayed comfortably neutral down to 132 feet and back. BTW The SeaTec dump valve was super convenient for releasing air during ascent.
Image
- Friday I actually dove the Twin 48s twice... The water was 37 degrees and 25-30 minutes per dive was about as much as we wanted to risk as far as avoiding hypothermia issues. The first dive we went down to 132 feet and the visibility was 70-100 feet all the way. Second dive, I used the same tanks but switched in my single hose Voit 40 Fathom regulator. This was significant as it was my Dad's first regulator when he took up diving in 1961. I was able to restore the second stage with a NOS diaphragm from either Rob or Bryan... It exhausts thru the middle and those are hard to find. Anyway, I attached it to a Swimaster MR12 1st stage and it breathes as good or better than any brand new single hose. This trip I rode the UV-26 scooter and also took a brief cruise down to the 130 ft marker. Another 25 minute dive. So you can imaging my surprise when I finished the dive and my Twin 48s still were 1/4 full. Even with the deep diving they seem to have PLENTY of air.
Image
Above... Me with the Twin 48s and yellow hosed Voit 40 Fathom regulator... (Photo by Ron)
- For my 3rd dive, I took a Voit steel 50 cf tank with Oxycheq wing and homemade harness. I used a beautiful "Like New" Snark III regulator I restored last year and cruised back and forth with the scooter so that Ron could get some good video of me diving with my tank stand still attached to the tank! More interesting than that (I think) is the TOTALLY VINTAGE outfit that Rich was diving. The yellow tank was from Jack the Frogman and features a unique O-Ring adaptor for a 1/2 NPT valve. We had a heck of a time finding someone to hydro test this tank. Finally last winter, we asked our guy at the Hydro place if he could just test it with the O-Ring adaptor and use his 1/2 NPT spud. He said, "We can try". It passed hydro by a wide margin and now Rich is diving it like a normal steel 72!
- After the video session, I rode the scooter along the ridges to the south of the pier... What an exhilarating experience to be flying over a ridge and see the bottom 70-100 feet below... It truly felt like I was flying. I suppose the prop-wash of the scooter is like wind chill... I could feel the cold penetrating thru my suit on my chest. So when I arrive back at the pier, I was really chilled. Thankfully we had a hot sun shining and I was able to get out of my wet suit and into dry clothes to warm up. I didn't have to use the heated changing room this time.
- Friday night our four intrepid divers gathered at Alices Restaurant for a fine meal. In fact, I had already decided on a large brick of Lasagna when I was riding the scooter... And as expected, it was delicious.
- Saturday dawned 40 degrees cold, rainy, cloudy, and windy. We Fortune Divers can take a lot of cold but this was a bit over the edge. So we all called the trip a success, packed up, and headed out for the long drive home.
- I can't wait to go back to Fortune Pond June 21-22.
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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ScubaLawyer
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Mon May 20, 2019 10:53 am

Again, looks like you guys had fun! I would have been there except for the fact 1. It is COLD freakin' water, :shock: and 2. Didn't feel like making a drive of over 2000 miles. :D Happy to live it vicariously through your photos and reports. M
"The diver who collects specimens of underwater life has fun and becomes a keen underwater observer. .. seek slow-moving or attached organisms such as corals, starfish, or shelled creatures." (Golden Guide to Scuba Diving, 1968) :D

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SurfLung
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First Name: Eben
Location: Alexandria, MN
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Re: Fortune Pond This Weekend!

Tue May 21, 2019 10:14 am

More on the Twin 48s...
- In case anyone is interested, my Twin 48s are (I believe) the same size tank as was used by the original Scott Hydro Pac. The Scott tank was stamped 1800 psi working pressure but they advertised it as 50.3 cf when filled 10% over to 1980 psi.
Image
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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