Diving in Chocolate Milk

Hard to believe, but there are times that I have asked myself, why did I ever want to dive there? I had been hoping to dive the James River in Virginia very close to the mouth of the river for many years. While on a trip to visit relatives, I finally got my chance. As it turns out, the part of the river that I wanted to dive was federally restricted. Ultimately, I had to dive elsewhere. So I found an old Civil War dock, with only pilings left along the shore. I popped off the boat and hit the water. I am used to diving in an average of 50° water, and this was 85°. Boy was it warm! And there was no visibility, absolutely none. I could have seen better in a cup of chocolate milk. I thought I’d go deep to cool off. I got down to the bottom, and guess what? It was still 85°. So much for southern diving adventures.

Horned Pout and Mud

As a treasure diver, I get into great sites, and then some not so good ones.  I had done some research into an old swimming area in Bethel, Maine.  When I found the site, the old changing booths were still there, although they were leaning a little to the left.  The weeks were pretty thick, as no one had swum in the area for some time.  I went straight for the drop off, and soon found the mooring blocks for the float.  The mud was up to my elbows.  The first thing I found was a silver half dollar, then two more.  I knew this would be a great site!  Well it didn’t turn out that way. After about 20 minutes, I spotted a small catfish. By this time I had some silver dimes and a great gold ring. Then I saw a bigger catfish. I couldn’t see much as the mud cloud was pretty thick. But I could feel things going up and down my suit. It was eerie. So I moved to a new area. And when I went back the mud had settled, and I saw what was picking at my suit! Horned pout! Tons of them. I stopped counting at eighty. Then I told myself, "If you don't feel pain, they aren’t really there."

And so, I kept at it. I found over a hundred coins and five rings that day—once I got over the mud and hornpout.

Never-ending Lake of Coins

 I had heard about a class ring lost over 40 years ago at a site near Portland, Maine, so I got permission from the landowner to dive the site. The beach had closed down in 1955, but I knew it would be a good site when the landowner told me that in the 40s it held 100 campsites and 50 picnic tables. Upon entering the water, I found another wheat penny or silver dime every six inches. There was a 40-foot float in 18 feet of water about 100 feet from shore. In its day, it had a slide and a high tower. I found the Model A engine blocks that held the float in place. Under that float, in 10” of mud, lies a never-ending supply of coins, along with countless silver religious medals . When I asked the owner about this, I was told that from 1870 to 1955, if you were Catholic and lived in Portland, this is where you went swimming. I dove there for two years and found thousands of coins and 19 class rings. I never found the ring I originally went looking for. To this day, I find more coins any time I return for a dive.

Catfish Bigger Than You!

Some sites that I dive in for old bottles I just cannot forget. One is in the Connecticut River, just off Hartford. Wooden pilings from the old steamboat landing lay hidden beneath. Now, it’s not very often that I see any critter on the bottom that makes me feel uncomfortable. This dive, however, as I continued searching for more bottles, I grabbed another log and tried to roll it over. It moved! It was a catfish as big as you, and the biggest catfish I ever saw! I guess they are territorial, because it didn’t swim away like other fish. Instead I swam away!

Is That a Turtle Mom?

I was diving at a small stream in Springvale, Maine, at about 12’ deep, using my underwater metal detector. I was going along just fine, when I heard loud splashes. So I popped up, and on shore were 5 kids and their mom. You should have seen their faces. They were shocked that a diver was in the stream. They thought I was a big snapping turtle and were throwing rocks in the stream. I had been underwater for about an hour without surfacing, so it was a pretty good guess.