questions about diving the madiera

[ed49]

Hi,  I am going to be in MN in July and wanted to dive the madiera. I was just wondering if a 7 mm wetsuit would be ok that time of year. I saw that there was a dive shop in duluth that rented tanks and wetsuits. If I need a drysuit I would probably pass as I have only dove with shorties. Also, is there any spearfishing in superior, not the darkhouse type - the speargun type? Also, my son only has 10 dives in and was wondering if there is much to see of the madiera if we limited our depth to 60-70 feet. Thanks for any help you can give me.

[arcFlash]

It's not that straight forward but I'll spell out some general things.

7mm is ok for a short dive if you don't get cold real easy. Farmer John's are better.  You should expect 38 degrees and hope for warmer water in the 40's. Full hood and thick gloves are required. Don't even think about going in without a full covering. The surface swim is a few hundred feet and some get too cold before they arrive at the wreck. The swim in small waves can be tiring so don't be in a hurry. Large waves, don't go.

It's not a great place for new divers not use to cold water but it's got plenty of stuff to see in the 30 foot range and the main hull is 60-70 feet. Seeing just the bow in 30 feet is worth the work. It's really great.

If you haven't had to dive thick gloves and full hoods it can be a lot for new divers so consider that and take thing slow at first.

[doug67]

MN allows spear fishing but only for rough fish(carp,suckers,buffalo,dogfish,eelpout,ect). You probably wont see any on the Mediera but the St. Louis river has lots. 

[jasondbaker]

If you and your son have never done any cold water diving and he only has 10 dives I wouldn't recommend doing this dive.  It's just not the right place to try new equipment and figure out your buoyancy. 

[ed49]

Well we are hoping to get that number to 20 before July. We are doing 4 dives this weekend but all 30-40 foot dives. As for the hood, we both have 2 mm hoods and wore those last weekend spring diving and are used to that but we both were a little cold and that was from 68 degree water. We were in 3/2 shorties and I should have wore my farmer john's under them. I will have to see if they rent thicker farmer john's in duluth as mine is only a 3mm but with the shorty is 6 mm for the torso, still not nearly enough for lake superior but should be fine for the diving I will be doing around detroit lakes. I am very glad to hear that there is alot to see at 30 feet. If anything we can work on skills with thick gloves/hood in shallower water. One of my buddies up there was talking about diving the hesper but the entry may be a little tricky and I don't think the visibility is as good from what I have read. I don't do shore dives if over 1-2 foot seas because, down here, 1-2 foot seas in the gulf of mexico means you will not be able to see your outstretched hand. I did a few night dives in tampa bay that were really bad and I am trying to keep it simple for my son and work him up to lower visibility diving. I will have a two week window to dive the madiera so I am going to wait till the calmest day and then go.

[mattd]

If you really want to do it wet, I would really think about calling up Jay at Superior Scuba and going out on his boat.  You are going to have a certain amount of time until you are too cold to continue.  You don't want to waste that on the surface swim.  You may find that by the time you get to the bouy you are already cold and not even do the dive.  From the boat, you can jump in, go down the anchor line, and see the wreck.  Then when you are cold, you can hop right out and change into warm dry clothes.

[DetectorGuy]

The Hesper is a nice wreck and it is an extremely easy shore dive... Drop your gear off on the jetty, park your car, gear up on the nice flat rocks, and jump in from the jetty. As you step off the jetty you are almost right on the wreck. big waves from the North will make the exit dangerous. Viz here is probably a little worse than the Madiera, but no long surface swim. The 2 mm hood will not cut it for either wreck (unless it is one of those rare times that the water is 60 degrees). Like Arcflash said, expect 38 degree water and hope for warmer. The Hesper has a bunch of stuff to see in the 30' to 45' range.

[arcFlash]

The Hesper EATS gear at the entrance. Anything not tied on will get lost in the rocks. You'll be sitting on large boulders when gearing up and the space between them is bottomless. Anything dropped will go too deep to retrieve.

If you have time it's nice to see, make sure you go find the rudder first. It's the best part and the farthest out.

If I only had 3 tanks, I'd use them all on the Madiera and the idea of using Jay is great. You can swim around the point and see acres of steel plate in 10 feet as well so if you have time and limited air, you can snorkel much of it and use the scuba on the way back.