Return to Marblehead (First Dive of 2023).

 

First dive of 2023, Marblehead Light House.  

Ill fated snorkeling attempt at East Harbour State Beach.    The irony of this photo is that the Dacor "Turbo" Fins were first offered in 1969 and they would be used to dive a place that had been decimated in a major storm & flood on 4 July 1969.

Circa-1958 US Divers Aqua-Master Regulator, did not miss a beat.

South-West Corner of Marblehead Light House.  Very difficult to get into the water here, but more interesting underwater.

    I finally got around to getting back into the water for 2023.  I attempted to go diving at East Harbour State Beach.  It was too crowded to kit up for full on Scuba Diving, so decided to go with snorkeling kit instead.  The area had been hit with rough water and rain for the last few days.  This did not lend to great water clarity.  I tried to see if it was pseudo-clear near the rock break waters.  That was just not worth the hassle that day.  I gave up... 

  

    East Harbour State Beach is barely a beach in the normal sense...  I remember a much larger beach in my childhood and teens.  It has been going away for a long time, which makes this former Southern Californian sad...I love beaches and coast lines.   It was decimated by a storm/flood on 4 July 1969 and has been declining ever since.  

   About water clairity... Keep in mind that when I complain about bad water clarity...I am a child of the 1970's.  I remember THAT LAKE ERIE!!!  I am talking about water with suspended particulate matter being kicked up due to wave action, I'm not talking bout the dead Lake Erie of the 1970's, and Thank God for the that!!  This place can be very diveable on the right day!  I will return when it is not so crowded and not been raining before.  Lake Erie can be like this, good on one day and hideous the next.

    My next dive spot was my favourite, the light house of Marblehead.  I did not go here first due to it being a Sunday and I thought it would be a total crowd scene.  I got lucky as it was not too crowded and I actually got a parking place close to my entry point on the North side.  I got my kit down to the rocks, put on my wetsuit jacket and kitted up.  I slid my bum off the rocks into the lake.  I had a 72 CF Tank, a double hose regulator from the late 50's and my Dacor Turbo Fins.  Wearing shorts and just wesuit jacket made me so much more agile than a full 7mm wetsuit.  Lake Erie is fairly warm at this place anyway.

    Underwater at Marblehead is basically flat-ish rock bottom with the eratic rock here and there.  It is very shallow as well, until you get way out there.  I think I bottomed out around 20 feet?  I did two dives of about 20 minutes each.  I am getting used to diving the North side, I know what to expect here.  Don't get the impression I'm getting bored, because I'm not.  I just wish the South-West corner was easier to get in at.  I guess I could enter on the North side and do a surface swim that way, and I just might do that next time?

    The one time I dove the South-West corner it was "new".  I saw more eratic rocks and it seemed there were a lot more fish and larger fish.  There is another dive spot down the road to the South from Marblehead I that I dove last year.  It was similar to what I saw on the South-West corner of the lighthouse, I need to dive that again this year.  

    It seems that the water clarity is much better than the other locations in the area, and I think the limestone rock that forms the bottom of the lake plays a major part?  It is weird to think I am Scuba Diving over a coral reef from Devonian Times.  Then again I get a weird vibe when I Scuba Dive East Harbour on a place that prior to 4 July 1969 was dry land...

  Anyway, after I got out of the water and got changed into dry clothes for the drive home, I felt for a minute or two like the 19 year I was when I lived in San Diego.  Being in the water sends me back to my SoCal youth, and I am not complaining about that!  I also love being cold after being in the water, driving home wearing a hooded sweatshirt in upper-80's temps is normal for me.

  I'd love to see other Scuba Divers discover shore diving in this part of the North Coast.   I know it is not perfect, but it is here and is a great place to explore.