Ever since our second home closed, we’ve been sort of
deprived of diving (unless you take a trip somewhere…not my current option)
Dutch Springs is closed for the season, except for an occasional weekend when
purportedly instructors can take people in (and we’ve heard that even if you DO
have a membership, you have to pay…still researching that one) And Rob hasn’t heard back from Willow
Springs, so when this opportunity came up (after needing to go to Scuba Central
PA to get his cylinders filled) we jumped on it! Jeff (from SCP) told him about Fuller Lake
in Pine Grove Furnace being an option. He said that it’s about 40 feet deep,
has a few things to see, but most important;
“IT’S WET!” He said that he was
meeting some other people there on Sunday morning, so come on down and give it
a shot. He called me, and after I
checked to make sure my wife didn’t have me scheduled to do anything, I said “let’s
go!”
I have to empty out my 119’s since they are up for visual inspection,
so it was a good way to waste the gas.
We were meeting at 9:00am, so we had to make sure we were on the road
early. I just met Rob at his house,
transferred my gear to his truck, and we made the approximately 45 minute drive
through Carlisle, and Mt. Holly Springs until we got to the park. Since it’s a State Park, we didn’t have to
pay to use the facilities, but if a ranger is there, you need to make sure you
can produce a C-card. The park sits on the Appalachian Trail. When
we arrived, we took a quick walk around and witnessed some of the nice
scenery of our beautiful state. There’s a comfy “heated” bathroom facility, and
plenty of picnic tables. When Jeff
showed up, he gave us the quick and dirty of the lake layout, and we were soon
getting our gear set up. It’s been a
while since I’ve been able to put this all together, but it all seemed to go
together quickly, and we were waddling over the little bridge to the “beach”
(complete with sand, sort of a pain on clean up) and into the cold water. Rob looked at me and gave me the thumbs
down, I agreed, so down we went.
At about 20 feet, we looked at each other, and no errant bubbles
were to be seen, so we started in the direction of the underwater structures.
(not after first passing a small model of a boat that said “Coast Guard” on it…
I’m guessing a landmark for where the beach/exit point is located) It took a little while to get comfortable
since it’s been a while, but I felt pretty good, but stayed fairly close to the
bottom. We were soon approaching some kind of log structure, and swam under
what appeared to be a back porch off sorts, we continued, and soon found
another structure, but with the amount of people that were already there, opted
to keep going, since we really didn’t know what else was there to see, and Jeff
did tell us that it would only take about an hour to circumnavigate the whole
lake. For the most part, it was like diving the shallower parts of Bainbridge
with less things to see, we did see a few sunken boats (canoes) a pair of swim
goggles, and some fishing gear, other than that, trees and rocks were the order
of the day. I actually found the deep spot
at one point. I looked at my depth, saw
48 feet, and a few more feet to spare, so I dropped down, and as I was told,
you had to get a little muddy to get 50 ft…but I got it! We continued along, and when I looked at my
time, saw about 55 minutes when my safety stop appeared. We were soon at the little model of the Coast
Guard boat, and he was right, about 60 minutes to get around the whole lake! Rob looked at me and gave me the thumbs up,
and I agreed, so we finished the dive. Sixty minutes is about all I can handle
at the temperature.
Duration: 63 Minutes
Deepest Depth: 50 Feet
Coldest Temp: 40º
Ok, a little warmer (slightly) than BSC this time of year,
but still a rather cold dive. (Especially our hands, Rob opted for his lighter
gloves, I had a slight leak in one) my
lips were numb as expected. Other than that, I think we’ll go back. With the
options that are available this time of year, I think this is a great option
(and it doesn’t cost anything except gas to get there, and a fill) The visibility was pretty decent throughout,
same drill as Bainbridge, if you turn to look back at someone or something,
expect to kick something or kick something up. The word we received was that during the
summer it’s pretty nasty viz, so this is more of a Fall/Winter/Early Spring
dive (until other places open) So it’s
an option for us! The other thing of
note is that you have to have a dive flag. We’re not sure if you NEED to tow
it, since there is no boating on the lake, but one has to be displayed. Jeff had one leaning against something on the
beach, so we were covered.
All in all it was a good day, great to get out, and it’s
hard to believe that today is December 13th with how warm the
weather has been. Never expected a nice
day like this, and wasn’t expecting to get a dive in since we have no second home
for the moment. At this point in time, I’m
“hoping” to get out on New Year’s Eve up at Dutch, Rob and John are planning on
it. I’m about 99% sure I’ll be there. See you then!
(thanks again for Jeff from Scuba Central PA for giving us
this tip!)
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