A Summer Place
It might not be the Pacific Ocean that hugs that Southern California Coast from my youth that I miss so much, it might not be the warm waters that suround the Florida Keys that I yearn to jump into with Scuba Kit on my back, it might not be have exotic creatures either... But I swear that sometimes Lake Erie is just enough to satisfy my need to be by the coast...what ever coast that might be.
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| A Summer Place. South of the Marblehead Light House. Yes, I dive vintage Scuba. Late 1950's US Divers Aqua Master Regulator. Summer 2022 The Lake Erie Coast has always been with me my whole life. I grew up with a 20 minute drive away from the Marblehead Peninsula. As a child of the 1970's...the water was a solid brown colour with a nasty dead fish smell that could be detected miles before you actually ever saw the water. As hideous as that might seem, it did not keep us from swimming in it. We did not even think twice about it. Maybe that is why we children of the 70's are indestructable (that is a joke)? As a teenager in the 1980's I seem to recall Lake Erie starting to improve somewhat? My memory is hazy about a lot of details like this. If I were to compare 1970's Lake Erie to 1980's Lake Erie I'd have to vote for 1980's Lake Erie. What is strange is that as a child in the mid-1970's I recall seeing people actually Scuba Diving in Lake Erie. I recall circa 1976 seeing Divers doing a beach dive at East Harbour State Park. Only God knows how the visibility might have been like? But there were people diving Lake Erie at that time. It was in early July of 1991 and I was on leave from the US Navy. I took a drive to Huron, Ohio to take a walk at the jetty that leads to the lighthouse there. I will never forget what I saw that day! The water of Lake Erie had a clarity to it!!! I was amazed!!! Granted it was no where near to what I had grown used to on the So Cal Coast, but it had a clarity to it. I learned later that Lake Erie's sudden recovery was a mixed blessing. Much of the clarity had been brought on by an invasive species. The Zebra Mussel had been introduced the to Great Lakes shortly before and had spread through the Lakes. They are a filter feeder and had leant a hand to filtering the water. They also cover everything!!! So the clear water that suddenly made Lake Erie much more dividable, all the ship wrecks that could actually be seen under water now...where covered in Zebra Mussels. |
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| Bleak and desolate view from south of the Marblehead Lighthouse. I have to admit that I love coming to this place when it is grey and depressing, as strange as that seems... Jan 2023 |
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| This was a reef in Devonian Times. This place looks so barren from just a few months prior when I was Scuba Diving off of these rocks. South of Marblehead, Ohio. Jan 2023 |
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| Snorkeling off the Marblehead Lighthouse. Summer 2022. |
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| Hot Fun in the Summer Time. |
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| This photo does not do justice the the clarilty of Lake Erie. Early Jan. 2023. Marblehead LightHouse, Marblehead, Ohio. It took me years to get around to it, but I finally got around to getting my Open Water Scuba Certification. I am not a serous Diver as on going to trips to exotic locales (when money becomes more abundant I might change my tune?) or a serious Tech Diver. But I love to throw a tank on my back and jump in a local quarry. In the last couple years I have been diving off the coast of Lake Erie. I have to say I am starting to really love it more and more. I'd love to see more Divers take advantage of the shore diving we have in this area. It is free and close by (for us locals), granted it is not exotic, but it is worth as least checking out. Conditons vary greatly day to day though. And yes, the title for this episode was inspired by the song by Percy Faith... Here is a link to the Marblehead Lighthouse Facebook Page. |
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