Category: Scooter / DPV

Three Wrecks and a Pipe Dream: a 3-wreck scooter loop from Perkins Pier

macado

Yesterday we scootered about 4.5 miles around Burlington Bay in Lake Champlain, visited three shipwrecks, and surfaced 3 hours and 50 minutes later. I was cold and very thirsty but the dive was a success. Skipping the heated vest was definitely a bad idea, even in 53 degree water. Although to be fair I could have just worn thicker undergarements. The dive plan started the way all bad ideas start: I looked at a nautical chart and said, “You know, I wonder if we could scooter to these wrecks from…

US La Vallee Wreck: A DPV Dive in Lake Champlain

macado

I realize I barely update this blog anymore but I wanted to do a quick post about our dive this weekend. A few years back I started to brainstorm and research potential wreck dives that could be done from shore with the the use of DPVs. The Goal: Be able to navigate safely to these wrecks without surfacing. Effectively treating the whole dive as if it were an overhead environment, like one would do in a cave. Obviously, one could surface in a real emergency, but during the summer months,…

Jodrey Weekend (Dec 7-8) with Blue Foot Diving

macado

I usually try to get up to Alexandria Bay, NY towards the end of the year to get a couple dives on the Jodrey once visibility improves. This weekend did not disappoint. Andrew (Blue Foot Diving) will usually keep his boat in the water until the end of December so it’s a good opportunity to dive the Jodrey with peak visibility. I drove up Friday early morning and we got a dive in on the Islander in the late afternoon for a bit of a shakedown dive. The water temperature…

General Butler and Burlington Breakwater DPV Dive (Lake Champlain)

macado

The NOAA marine forecast for New England did not look great last weekend so both the Saturday and Sunday dive charters I signed up for were cancelled. Shocking I know for this time of year in New England.. 🙁 Since I begrudging spent Saturday working on house projects I needed to dive somewhere on Sunday for my own sanity. We polled the usual dive group and it was decided we would shoot up to Burlington, Vermont (Lake Champlain) and do a DPV dive up there while the water temperatures are…

Friday the 13th Dive Shenanigans: A Night DPV dive to the OJ Walker in Lake Champlain

macado

Unfortunately my regular dive buddy John decided to abandon me and move to bum-fuck Tennessee. As a result we haven’t gotten any dives in together this year. I don’t blame him (ok only a little bit); The weather is warmer in Tennessee and I’m sure the cost of living is much better than New England / New York. Anyway he still does National Guard in Vermont and flew back this past weekend. We had talked about getting in a dive together when he was here but unfortunately it would have…

Trip Report: Roy A. Jodrey on Dec 11-12

macado

I decided to get one last trip on the wreck of the Roy A. Jodrey before the end of the season. “End of the season” is of course a bit of a misnomer. There is still plenty of diving to be done in the St Lawrence river in the winter but most charter boats are out of the water by mid-December and the ice starts to become an issue by February. If you get really desperate you can shore dive at the Islander or Bonnie Castle but you may have…

Scootering to the OJ Walker in Lake Champlain

macado

Is the OJ Walker in Lake Champlain a shore dive? It is now.. 🙂 With DPVs anything can be a shore dive it’s just a matter of motivation and perspective. Ok maybe it’s a little more than that but I personally like a good challenge. For those that are unfamiliar with diving in Lake Champlain the OJ Walker is a wreck dive that is north of the Burlington Breakwater in about 60ft. It is typically a dive that you need to a boat to get out to. When I told…