New Adventures

Hi Blog Buddies!

Whew! Busy week—what else is new? The highlight was, of course our first Team Manta road trip to Ohio. Tater, Josh.0, Artsea, Hottie, Batesy and PG rounded out the group for our 878 mile odyssey to explore Gilboa and Whitestar quarries in the Toledo area. 

The first diving day, we went to Whitestar, in Gibsonburg, a 15 acre manmade lake with an average depth of 40 ft. We got maps and talked logistics with Rich at the dive shack and got the lay of the land the night before, so we were ready for action on Saturday morning. We were pleasantly surprised to find a parking spot fairly close to one of the entries and we had plenty of room to set up our gear and make a nice “base of operation.” The divers in the area were very friendly and willing to give us hints to make the most of our dives. This is a wonderful place to get certified, with several suspended training platforms. The beauty of suspended platforms is that any sediment can fall through the cracks leaving nothing that can decrease the visibility for the students. Some of Whitestar’s attractions include numerous boats, a cop car, a swingset and silly things like the 7 dwarves, gnomes, and super heroes tucked in the rocks. With prior permission, advanced divers can dive through a tunnel, starting at 80ft to the bottom of the quarry at 50ft. The visibility was not that great, due to a series of storms , but still about 15ft.

The next two days we spent at Gilboa Quarry in Gilboa, OH. This spot knocked my socks off with the visibility! You could stand on the deck at one of the entry points and look down at the training platform at 20ft. In all, I think we had about 30ft vis! From where we entered, we could even see the tail end of the Grumman Gulf Stream turbo prop plane. Divers can swim right through this plane and check out the cockpit. Next to the plane is a Sikorsky helicopter, also open for swimming through. In a few fin kicks, there is a school bus. As we approached it, the resident trout become excited and start swarming, expecting to be fed. (Apparently you can purchase fish food and lots of divers like to create a fish frenzy by feeding these ravenous creatures!) This made for some really funny photos! There are also boats, cars, and a minivan to look at, all connected with rope, though with the visibility as good as it was, there was really no need for it. Like Whitestar, Glilboa had spacious suspended training platforms. I can imagine divers in training, waiting their turns to flood their masks, and looking out to see the bus, sailboat or microbus beaconing them, giving a glimpse of what is in store for them after their once their certification is earned! Mike, the owner of Gilboa allowed us to leave the trailer on site overnight, and even let us come in Monday morning to dive before the park was officially open. Monday we had the place to ourselves, and the vis was even better! There is a deep area in this quarry, too, but divers must submit a deep dive plan to dive it. We did a little tour along the wall and saw a paddlefish!

Photo by Sheryl Brandes

Photo by Sheryl Brandes

Without a doubt, we had a blast and plenty of laughs, the trip being the perfect “decompression” from crazy stuff at work, family stress and whatever aggravates us. One question we got from local divers was with all the places to dive in our area, why would we make the drive to Ohio? The simple answer is “because it’s there,” but it really is about trying something new, meeting some new people, and some quality time with friends.