April Meeting

First of all, big thanks to Greg on his presentation of the SS Newbrn/USS New Berne/SS United States at our February meeting! It was a very interesting presentation on a shipwreck just south of L.A.

Please stay tuned to this site, your email, or Facebook for a location on the April meeting. The past two meetings have been at the Cranefield’s, but the club may try another venue to see whether it works out better.

Finally, save the dates for our lake cleanup dives! They’ll be held on May 16, 17, 23, and 24. The annual picnic will be on June 7 at Mendota County Park. More details to come on the locations for those dates.

February Meeting

The Four Lakes Scuba Social will be held February 12, 2020 at Cranefields VFW Post 1318 at 133 E. Lakeside St. This is a new location and we’re interested in what you think about it.

There is no formal speaker this month. Instead, come on down for a social event. There will be a raffle with prizes. If you have any recent footage that you want to informally share, feel free to bring your footage on an HD card or external USB drive!

Also be sure to check out this month’s newsletter.

Happy New Year!

4LSC wishes everyone a safe and happy year of diving this 2020. Our holiday party was a great time. Congratulations to Gayle on another year of winning most dives, and Gayle, John, and Ellen for diving in all four of our local lakes.

A reminder that the meeting is at the Middleton Nitty Gritty, 1021 N. Gammon Rd. We’re on the lookout for a new home for our monthly meetings, so keep an eye on the newsletter, Facebook, and this website on locations for future meetings.

We’re also looking for speakers for the 2020 calendar year. If you’ve been on a trip recently, consider sharing your experience. And if you have ideas of good topics or speakers, let the club officers know.

Holiday Party

‘Tis (almost) the season for the 4LSC holiday party!

This year, the party is on Wednesday December 11th at 7pm. In order to get an accurate count, please RSVP here by December 4.

The event will be held at the clubhouse for Mirabel Apartments, 8001 Ritz Dr. Madison. The entrance is along Ritz Dr. Please park on the street. The club will provide pizza, salad, and dessert. There will also be door prizes for club members, so you won’t want to miss it!

Things to bring:

  • Your own beverages.
  • Your logbook. We’ll recognize those who have been in all four of the local lakes, as well as who’s done the most dives this year.
  • A DVD of your diving videos from the year. Share your recent trips with others.

Hope to see you there!

Fall Events

Big thanks to Cassandra Johnson for presenting at the September 2019 meeting about Dunbar Rock Villa at Guanaja, Honduras.

There are some club events coming up this fall!

  • Saturday, October 5: Phoenix Party. Bring a side dish, beverages, a lawn chair, warm clothing, and any anchors you’ve found this dive season. More details are in the newsletter.
  • Sunday, October 13: Yahara River cleanup dive. We’ll meet over near the locks and float down to Lake Monona, cleaning up trash along the way. The water will be much warmer than when we’ve done this dive in the early spring. We’re looking for canoes, canoeists, and shore support to help with removing the trash from the water.
  • Wednesday, December 12: Holiday Party. The December monthly meeting is our annual party. More details to come.

Take a Stake in the Lakes Cleanup Dives, 2019

Every year Four Lakes Scuba Club hosts cleanup dives at Lake Kegonsa, Lake Waubesa, Lake Monona, and Lake Mendota.

Theses dives are the club’s way of participating in “Take a Stake in Our Waters,” which is a year-round cleanup project created by the Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission.

We will be meeting at the listed location at the indicated time. All dives are shore dives, with the addition of the barge for our May 18th and June 2nd dives. Don’t forget to bring a dive flag and certification cards to all dives.

For our May 11, 12, 18, 19 dives: divers typically plan to go to a nearby restaurant for lunch afterwards, so feel free to join at your own leisure.

Below are all five cleanup dives for 2019:

  • May 11th: Lake Kegonsa. Dive Site: Pleasant Springs Boat Launch: 2267 Williams Point Dr, Stoughton, WI 53589. We will meet at 9am, to be in the water by 9:45am. There is limited parking at this location, so carpooling is highly recommended. Normally there are parking fees at this location, however the city will be waiving the fees for us to do our dive. We will provide more information about parking when you check in that morning.
  • May 12th: Lake Monona. Dive Site: Yahara Place Park. We will meet at 9am, to be in the water by 9:45am. This location has off street parking. We will meet in the park where Riverside Dr. and Yahara Place intersect. You may want to drop off your gear first and then find a place to park your vehicle. This dive site is at the mouth of the Yahara River so current is to be expected. Be aware that there is high boat traffic at this location, so dive with caution. With all the flooding last year, we anticipate that there will be a large amount of trash in this location.
  • May 18th: Lake Monona. Dive site: Olin Park Boat Launch/John Nolen Drive Causeway. We will meet at the Olin Park Boat Launch at 9am, to be on the barge by 9:45am. There is a large parking lot a ways from shore, so you may want to drop off your gear first and then find a place to park your vehicle. We will be taking the barge from the park over to the causeway. So don’t be late, or you’ll miss the barge. This area is susceptible to large amounts of trash, due to its close vicinity to the busy road. People fish from the shore in this area so be cautious of fishing line. (Dive from the barge at the causeway is weather dependent, if the water is too rough we may have to dive at a different location nearby)
  • May 19th: Lake Waubesa. Dive site: McConnell St. Boat Launch. We will meet at 9am, to be in the water by 9:45am. There can be limited parking at this location, so carpooling is highly recommended. There is about a 50 yard flat surface walk from the parking lot to the boat launch.
  • June 2nd: Club Cookout and Dive! Lake Mendota. We will be meeting at the Mendota County Park: 5133 Co Hwy M, Middleton, WI 53562 at 10am to be in the water at 11am. We will have a cleanup dive followed by a potluck lunch (~1pm). We will be bringing the main coarse (burgers and brats) and water, but we ask that everyone else please bring a dish to pass, and BYOB.

Special Gear Rental Offers:

  • Breezeway Bubbles Scuba: is offering Half price gear rentals and Free air fills and/or tank rental to all divers that participate in any of the six cleanup dives! Contact the shop in advance for Gear rental!
  • Diversions Scuba: is offering $25 Gear rentals and Free air fills to all divers that participate in any of the five dives! Contact the shop in advance for gear rental!
  • Hoofer Scuba Club Members: Hoofer Members will be offered Gear Rentals for Free! Rental Supply is limited. Sign up for gear in advance.

April and May, 2019

At the April Four Lakes Scuba Club meeting, 4LSC’s own
Lisa Vorburger shared the some amazing photos of the critters of Lembeh, Indonesia.

In May, Tori Galloway, a graduate student at Indiana University, presented on the shipwrecks of the Dominican Republic, and IU’s effort to preserve and document them as part of the Living Museums of the Sea program. Tori is in Madison for the summer working as a Maritime Archaeology Fellow with the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Check out information with this month’s newsletter.

May was dues month. If you missed the meeting or forgot to fill out a form and pay, please remember to do so next month.

March 2019 Speakers on Castle Rock Cave

Join us on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 7:30pm at Babe’s for Andy Bachhuber, Bob Dankert, Brad Acker, and Gayle Orner’s presentation on the unique Castle Rock Cave. Home of the infamous Cheesegrater restriction, this cave in southwest Wisconsin requires no-mount equipment configuration and determination because of its low clearance and tight spaces. They’ll share their videos and photos of their personal attempts to progressively push farther back into the cave than they’ve been before.

If you’re claustrophobic or prefer wide open spaces, this won’t exactly be your cup of tea. But hopefully you find that it’s at least an…interesting…scuba experience.

Also be sure to check out this month’s newsletter here. If you have articles are scuba happenings, please email it for the newsletter!

February Speaker

Join us Wednesday, February 13 for Jim Troupis’s talk about his recent trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea. He spent several days diving the Great Barrier Reef, then experienced some exciting land adventures in New Guinea, including the Goroka Sing-Sing Festival, which few westerners get to see in person.

Read this month’s newsletter here.

Snow is in the forecast for Wednesday evening, so be sure to drive safely!

January Speaker: Bill Hoernke

Join us this Wednesday, January 9th at Babe’s for our own Bill Hoernke speaking about his experiences completing the PADI Instructor Development Course in Bonaire.

In addition, club elections will be held at the meeting. We’re looking for officers to help the club thrive.

And if you’ve recently been on a dive trip or know of an interesting diving-related topic, we are looking for speakers for some of the 2019 meetings. Let one of the officers know you’re interested!

And as always, here’s our month’s newsletter.