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.
August Meeting: Mini Golf at Vitense
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.
May Meeting
Join us this Wednesday, May 8th, 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 Scott Dicks
Scott got his C-Card in 1966 from the YMCA in Decatur Illinois. He got is fascination for diving from watching Sea Hunt and Jacque Cousteau documentaries.
As a science major at Ripon College with majors in Chemistry , Biology and Psychology. He studied blood chemistry in sharks and theorized about the impact on behavior.
Later in life, he hooked up with Eugenie Clark’s old research team in the Caribbean who discovered the “Sleeping Sharks of the Caribbean”.
He was a safety diver for the research team and handled a bang stick watching the backside of the research team.
Scott Dicks is a NAUI Certified Instructor and Dive Master. He has over 4,000 hours underwater. He specializes in spearfishing, wreck and cave diving. In 1975, he won the Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Minnesota contests.
April Meeting
Join us this Wednesday, April 10, 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 speakers are Brad and Nikki Acker, who will be sharing their experience from diving in Egypt’s Red Sea last year.
Read the newsletter here.
Four Lakes Cleanup Dives
Dates and locations have been set for our annual cleanup dives in our four lakes. We hope you all can join us!
- Saturday, May 18, 9am: Lake Kegonsa at Town of Pleasant Springs Boat Ramp at 2267 Williams Point Dr., Stoughton. (Non-resident permits are required, $5 per day.)
- Sunday, May 19, 9am: Lake Mendota at the Lake Street boat launch near the Pyle Center.
- Saturday, May 25, 9am: Lake Monona at Law Park.
- Sunday, May 26, 9am: Lake Waubesa at the Bible Camp, 2851 Crescent Dr., McFarland.
Gayle is coordinating the first weekend’s dives, and Brad the second weekend.
We can use anyone’s help: divers, shore support, and folks to clean the shoreline. Bring your friends and dive buddies!
For all dives, you’ll need your own gear, a dive flag, and goodie bags. Mesh bags, work gloves, and lift bags are helpful if you have them. Divers need to be certified and capable of diving in the lake conditions. Please print a waiver and bring it with you to the May meeting or dive site. We can help you find a buddy. Avoid diving under other people’s floats to avoid having something heavy dropped on your head. Be careful about boat traffic.
March Meeting
As the days get warmer and longer, we hope you all can join us this for this month’s meeting on Wednesday, March 13th at 7:00pm. We meet at Benvenuto’s in Fitchburg, 2949 Triverton Pike Dr. Feel free to come a little early and socialize!
Our speaker this month is Gina LaLiberte. Gina leads response and communication on cyanobacterial bloom issues as the Statewide Harmful Algal Bloom Coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. As a life-long resident of the Great Lakes region, she has a BS in Biology and a MS in Resource Ecology Management from the University of Michigan. She has studied algae for other 30 years.
Topic: What’s that Green Stuff? Algae and Blue-green Algae Blooms
Algae are more than just “green stuff” in the water – they’re important parts of freshwater communities, and many have interesting forms and life histories which you can appreciate when you take a closer look. We will review some common types of algae from around the Great Lakes region. We will also examine blue-green algae blooms, learn to assess potentially harmful blooms, and review practical tips for how to stay safe on and under the water.