2014 Summer Adventures

Well blog readers, with the help of several Team Manta members, we have come up with some exciting events for the summer.  In addition to our usual trips to Haigh Quarry and Pearl Lake, this year we are planning some new adventures.

First, we plan to team up with the Nature Conservancy and UW La Crosse professor Tim Gerber to help remove Eurasian Milfoil from Lake Lulu in Mukwonago.  Anyone who fishes or lives on inland lakes has heard of Eurasian milfoil and is familiar with the threat this invasive species poses to our greatest natural resource.   From a purely self-serving view point, it is in the interest of all divers to do our part to help in the removal of these plants.  In addition, we, as divers, are uniquely skilled to do this kind of work. If you are interested in joining this effort, plan to join us June 14 at Lake Lulu.  We will be given an informal, onsite orientation to the problem and our role in the solution.  We will then hit the water and do our part for the environment.  Manta Divers will supply tanks and air, but prior registration is required.  Check out the video here.

For those of you who don’t have the time (or funds) for a week long tropical dive vacation should consider a Team Manta road trip as a way to get in a bunch of dives and enjoy the dive lifestyle.  This year’s road trip in to southern IL to Mermet Springs. This dive location is a 8.5 acre spring-fed lake, with depths ranging from 15-120ft.  Features include a Boeing 727 airplane from the movie U.S. Marshals, a 45,000lb.coal car, a submarine, Ford pickup truck, Bruce the shark and Cherokee and Cessna airplanes. We plan to start our adventure Friday morning, July 18, driving to Vienna, IL.  As with many adventures, the journey is as fun as the destination, so get ready for a fun drive and many laughs as we caravan south. We will dive Mermet Springs the 19^th and 20^th and head home on the 21^st.  Check out the video here.

Finally, we will be exploring two of Lake Michigan’s famous wrecks, the Dredge No. 6 and the Prins Willem.  The Prins Willem, a 258ft Dutch freighter, sunk in Oct. 1954 off the coast of Milwaukee. The top of the wreck lies in 45 ft. of water, and the very bottom is at 85ft. The Dredge, a large crane barge, capsized in high winds on May 23, 1956.  The wreck is at 30ft at the top and 70ft at the bottom. Both of these wrecks are doable, even for newer divers, as long as cold water is not an issue. Advanced open water students can count these as their deep, wreck, and boat dives.  Manta Divers has reserved the catamaran, Mai Tai Saturday, August 2.  Spots are very limited so sign up as soon as possible.

The entire schedule will be posted on the shop website soon, so get your calendars ready and plan to join us for fun and diving.