Kelly Lake, Oconto County Wisconsin

Diving in Kelly Lake

When I was young, along with “Route 66″, one of my favorite-never-miss-it TV shows was “Sea Hunt” with Mike Nelson (Lloyd Bridges!).  Remember?!  I always pictured myself scuba diving, until one day I did; tanks and all.  I guess the worlds of outer space and inner space (water world) attrack and intrique a good majority of us.  So, too, was it for Kelly Lake’s Jack Peterson.

Kelly Lake’s Jack Peterson was eager to plunge into Kelly Lake using a diving unit he spotted in our garage; air pumped from the surface to the divers.

Back in the late 60s a couple friends and myself had scuba tanks for a short time until I ran across this system.  With tanks, we found we had to to drive to Marinette for “dive air” to fill them; 45 minutes one-way for air that lasted about a half hour.  The Johnson “Airbuoy” I found runs 45 minutes on a quart of regular gas—just need to keep filling it up.  There are two 25′ hoses and masks/harnesses.  The principal is positive pressure to the mask; self-purging; no regulator to control or worry about.  25′ feet is plenty deep for most areas around Kelly Lake, and the “buddy system” applies perfectly.  Besides, below 40′ you have to worry about decompressing while surfacing.  You don’t have to be certified to use this diving unit.  May I note that the Airbuoy is about 40 years old; still runs like new!  It has a 2 hp Lawn Boy 2-cycle engine, and pumps 2.5 cf/m; parts are still available!

Well, anyway, I gave Jack some instruction on clearing his ears and technique on breathing using the positive-pressure mask.  I told Jack that we’d just swim along the surface (like snorkeling) until he felt comfortable.  We  no more than started out when Jack made a dive for the bottom!  Following him to watch his progress, and when from about 10′ down, he voluntarily headed for the surface to catch his breath; or so one thinks; it’s easy to hyperventilate sucking in more air than you need.  Your body gets too much oxygen and thinks it carbon dioxide!

Taking his time now, Jack grew more accustom to swimming slowly without exertion.  Under the  sunny ski and under the warm water, Jack and I entered the water world.

I’ve dove much of Kelly Lake, and, yes, I’ve seen some spectacular fish—BIG ones!  Also, large bass around the cribs; northern pike; and a variety of pan fish.  They’re usually located just off the weed beds.  Diving deeper—and I have gone completely across the lake underwater—it’s like a vast inundated desert; no plant-life only thing to see is a blanket of silt with numerous snails crossing to-and-fro every few feet, leaving the snail-trails behind like parched cracks in the desert sand.

I’ve been called upon to search for outboards that fell off; propellers; chairs, etc.  Thirty-some years ago the Constable approached me to see if I would dive for the 19-year-old boy who drowned while skiing.  My long-time friend, Kelly Lake’s Greg Levar, said he’d go along; we were the only divers there at sunrise on Saturday; the boy drowned on Tuesday.  Perhaps some of you can recall how they banned any boating on the lake for those 5 days—again, that was over 30 years ago; mid-70s?

We were waiting and ready to go Saturday sunrise.  The Sheriff came over and told us they were going to do one more fly-over before we would go diving.  Both Greg and I were eager to help, but apprehensive about what we would find.  Back then, for those who remember, Earnie Chadwik had an airstrip running adjacent to St. Bernadette Road (there’s a corn field there now).  The plane took off, circled and returned for a landing.  They came running back to where we were standing and said they spotted the body floating about a hundred yards off the southeast shore—a body will usually surface in 3 to 5 days..

Bernard Van (Van, as more popularly known) and another person set off in Van’s 16′ Boston Whaler.  We watched as they pulled the body back to the landing where Greg and I stood; the undertaker was standing behind us; Van and his partner had done a noble job, but needed a break from the scene.  I won’t go into detail, but it was sad to see the boy, the condition he was in and the tragedy of drowning.  Together Greg and I had to muster-up our reserve to get his body on the gurney; the undertaker handed us a blanket to cover the boy first. Greg and I were just talking about this the other day.  We were in our twenties and never before had witnessed a drowning—something we’ll never forget.  Greg and I both agree, that being in our early twenties, we were fortunate we didn’t have to dive and find the young man; not knowing what to expect.

Well, back to more pleasant memories and diving.  Here are some pics of Jack and I venturing out into the lake.  It’s been a few years since I’ve had the unit out; it was fun and refreshing going back down-under!  Roger

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