July 14th might be Bastille Day but for Windy City Diving it was another great set of dives on the Lake and a Fireworks Extravaganza. We left Burnham Harbor around 1730. After about 30 minute ride out to the site, we sent divemaster Bob overside with our mooring line. Bob unfortunately had forgotten his boots for his drysuit and lost a fin. We of course had to pick Bob up and get him a new set of fins. Attempt number 2 at setting a mooring was looking good up until the point that Bob’s knot attaching the mooring line to the Buccaneer unraveled. Okay, the third time is a charm, right? We again collected Bob and the mooring line and once again passed over the wreck sending Bob down to tie us in. And it worked! We suited up the rest of our divers and they hit the 75F water. We had one of the group doing their first Lake Michigan dives so I was interested in hearing what Scott had to say. The divers hit a thermocline at around 40FT and had 52F on the deck of the Bucc and viz near 35FT. All the divers enjoyed Chicago’s newest wreck and all want to go back.
For dive #2 we decided to head nearshore to get some warmer water and be close to the fireworks scheduled for 2130. The decision was made to dive the Holly Barge (Chicago’s first artificial reef) and the adjoining wreck of the dredge Illinois. We were on site at 2020 and the divers planned a 35 minute dive here. As it was getting dark, I turned on our masthead (red -white-red) and issued a securite call.
The divers had a great dive on the Illinois and the Holly. Both sites offering lots of fish and some of the largest crawfish in existence (so I am told). Viz +30, Temp 67F. Then fireworks show where the divers enjoyed some Coronas while I maintained us in an ideal position for viewing the show. Great Dives and Live Entertainment, just doesn’t get any better.
