Lake Mendota, Madison

[ethanb]

A group from Diversions did the Habitat again today.  Six people showed up for the adventure dive, which is a bit over the five-diver limit we usually have for the boat (it's rated for seven, but the gear add a lot of wait), but the lake was fairly pretty flat, so we decided to go anyway. 

With the no-wake zone in effect for the entire lake, it was about a 35 minute ride from Marshall Park to the Habitat (next time we're launching at Lot 60, unless the no-wake rule is lifted).  It got a bit longer due to some electrical problems (a fuse holder was touching the oil filter and melted through, cutting power to the master fuse and killing all the electrical systems in the boat), but we sorted them out quickly ("repaired" with electrical tape and zip ties) and were only delayed a few minutes. 

We had a beginner along, so we split into a team of two and a team of four for the dive.  I Viz was still pretty good great - about 5-10 feet shallow and 10-15 deeper.  There's tons of green floaty things in the upper part of the water column - they disappear below about 25 feet, but it's really dark at that point.  Lights are a necessity to see anything or communicate - fortunately almost everybody had one (we'd originally planned to do Isaac's Wall, a shallower site where lights aren't usually needed).

I didn't have a thermometer, but it's pretty comfortable all the way down to the boat.  I'm guessing the thermocline is around 30 feet and it's a little chilly below, but not at all bad in a wetsuit and hood.