February Meeting

Join us Wednesday, February 12th, 2025 at Capital Brewery, 7734 Terrace Ave, Middleton. The meeting starts at 7pm, but feel free to come by starting at 6:30 to socialize. Capital Brewery doesn’t serve food, but you are free to bring outside food in.

This month’s speaker is Caitlin Zant. Caitlin is the Research and Communications Specialist of NOAA’s Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary. Prior to this, Caitlin worked as a Maritime Archaeologist for the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Maritime Preservation and Archaeology Program for over 8 years, after attending graduate school for Maritime Studies at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Caitlin has been involved numerous Great Lakes archaeological projects, public presentations, workshops, and outreach events, and has assisted in nominating over twenty-five Wisconsin shipwrecks to the National and State Register of Historic Places. Prior to becoming a maritime archaeologist, Caitlin studied History, Geography, and GIS at Carthage College, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Talk Description:

Designated in 2021, Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary (WSCNMS) provides stewardship for our nation’s maritime heritage in Lake Michigan. Co-managed by NOAA and the State of Wisconsin, the sanctuary expands on the state’s 30-year management of these historic sites, bringing new opportunities for research, resource protection, and education. This presentation will explore how WSCNMS has been working to expand research, monitoring, and protection of the sanctuary’s 38+ known shipwrecks over the past three years, look back on recent projects, and look forward to future projects documenting and preserving Wisconsin’s maritime heritage and submerged resources.

January Meeting

Join us Wednesday, January 8th, 2025 at Capital Brewery, 7734 Terrace Ave, Middleton. The meeting starts at 7pm, but feel free to come by starting at 6:30 to socialize. Capital Brewery doesn’t serve food, but you are free to bring outside food in.

This month’s speakers are John Fafinski and Ellen Evans. They will be giving a presentation on their fall trip to Indonesia.

John received his open water certification in 1982 from the YMCA. He is a PADI certified master diver and has many specialty certifications. John started taking pictures in 1991 with a borrowed Nikonos camera. He currently is using a Sony a6300 in a Fantasea housing. Ellen received her open water certification in 1989 from NAUI. She is also a certified master diver with several specialty courses. Ellen no longer shoots video, but you can find her looking in the crevices with her magnifying glass. Ellen and John met in Red Granite quarry at night. Since then, they have dove the world together from the Yahara chain of lakes, Great Lake ship wrecks, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

They hope you enjoy their presentation.

November Meeting and Venue Change

Join us Wednesday, November 13th, 2024 at Capital Brewery, 7734 Terrace Ave, Middleton. The meeting starts at 7pm, but feel free to come by starting at 6:30 to socialize. Capital Brewery doesn’t serve food, but you are free to bring outside food in.

Our speaker this month is Dr. Amy Rosebrough, who is the Wisconsin State Archaeologist, in the State Historic Preservation Office of the Wisconsin Historical Society. A native of the Missouri Ozarks, she has long had an interest in burial monuments and archaeology. She is an alumni of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she received her doctorate in 2010 for region-wide re-analysis of Wisconsin’s effigy mounds and mound builders. She has worked as an archaeologist in the academic, private, and public sectors. In her current position at the Wisconsin Historical Society, she manages archaeological and burial sites data, assists Wisconsin’s citizens with archaeological questions, and serves as a subject matter expert.

Abstract:

In 2021 and 2022 divers raised two dugout canoes from Lake Mendota in coordination with Wisconsin’s Native Nations. These events made international news and drew attention to the archaeological heritage to be found in Madison’s lakes. But there was more to the story, and now it can be told. Come hear behind-the-scenes details of the Lake Mendota canoes and what they tell us about the history of De Jope and our neighboring lake bottoms.

Alert

The September 11th meeting is canceled. Benvenutos closed unexpectedly so don’t have a place for this months meeting. Watch you email and website for updates to the upcoming meetings.

September Meeting

Join us this Wednesday, September 11th, 2024 at Benvenuto’s in Fitchburg. The meeting starts at 7pm, but feel free to come by starting at 6:30 to get your order in and socialize.

This month we welcome David Faber and Natalia Plagge

David Faber

“As a 28-year-old father and fiancé, I’m an avid outdoorsman with a huge passion for freediving, particularly under the ice. Known as @depthchaser on social media, I create captivating underwater content showcasing the Midwest and beyond with my dive partner Natalia. With experience assisting in freediving classes and serving as a safety diver for the 2023 Tampa Bay UNU Freediving Competition, (2023 USA national pool championships) I’m a proud Wisconsin-based certified Master Freediver and aspiring instructor. My journey with freediving began with spearfishing in 2019. Right here in Wisconsin.  After two years I became a certified advanced freediver in 2021. Following my masters in 2022. I stress the importance of safety with this growing sport. Looking forward to competing in the 2024 national fresh water spearfishing championships later this month

 

Natalia Plagge

My underwater journey began in 2011 when I learned the scuba diving. Freediving was always on the back on my mind, however not many people knew about its existence and there were just a few Freediving courses offered in upper Midwest. When I became a certified Freediver in 2020, I’ve decided for myself that this problem has to change. I wanted to form a Freediving community and assist others with their passion for Freediving. Right now I am a Wave 3 Molchanovs Freediver, Master Freediver and a Freediving Instructor for PADI. I am also a PADI IDC Staff Instructor. 

I work with Midwest School of Diving as a staff member. I’ve been training in Caribbean and Europe with world known champions and record holders not for certifications but for personal growth as an athlete, at least ones a year. I love sharing my experience with students and those who interested to learn about Freediving. 

Dive / Eat / Float 2024

We hope you’ll all join us for the annual Dive, Eat, Float on Saturday, August 10! All are welcome — divers, snorkelers, “support crew,” and tubers.

Dive 🤿

Meet at Redgranite Quarry at 9am on the pickle factory side. Map. Make sure you bring your dive gear. If you need a buddy, we’ll pair folks up at the dive site.

Eat 🍔

After diving, head on over to Randy’s place at about noon. Map.

Bring your own meat or protein for the grill, beverages, lawn chair, and a dish to pass. Don’t forget sunscreen and bug spray.

Float 🛟

After lunch, we’ll float down the mighty Mecan River.

Bring a “rock proof” tube or float and some shoes or booties for the river.

June Meeting

Join us this Wednesday, June 12th, 2024 at Benvenuto’s in Fitchburg. The meeting starts at 7pm, but feel free to come by starting at 6:30 to get your order in and socialize.

This month’s speaker is Charles “Chas.” Hague. Charles is Vice Commander of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 43-04 (Madison). He has been a proud member of the Auxiliary for 18 years. His qualifications include Telecommunications Watchstander, Boat Safety Instructor, Vessel Safety Examiner, and Aids to Navigation Examiner. He learned how to sail on his honeymoon, and has been working for the past 45 years to get better at it. He and his wife Barbara moved to Madison two years ago to help his daughter with his twin grandsons.

THE TALK: Hague will give a brief history of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Auxiliary and discuss the current missions. He will also talk about how to boat safely, and tell a few sea stories.

Cleanup Dives

Thanks to everyone who came out for the annual cleanup dives in May! We had a great turnout and mostly good weather.

Lake Kegonsa appears to be clean; divers found very little garbage at all.

Mendota near the Union and Langdon St. had a lot of garbage as usual. We had a great turnout: 13 divers! Among the finds were a shopping cart, a couple cell phones, and a knife. The weed growth was up compared to years past, which made trash hunting a little more difficult. Gayle found remnants of where the pier collapsed at the Memorial Union last year, but didn’t find any goodies among the debris.

We also had a good turnout for Lake Monona. It’s been a few years since the club has done a cleanup on this side of the Terrace, and the highlight was over a dozen fishing poles. We also found a couple steel pipes that the water ski team uses for practicing, which we returned to them. Despite the heavy rain the night before, visibility was great.

At the Bible Camp on Lake Waubesa, we had rainy weather but still a good turnout. We pulled up 10 anchors and a couple bags of trash.

Photos by Gayle.