I think that lake cleanup dives have become my favorite types of dives. It’s not that I like seeing the litter and debris in the lakes but rather that I like getting it out of there. I’ve also found that it’s a great place to make new friends.
The Event
The first annual Bull Shoals Shoreline and Underwater Lake Cleanup event was held on Saturday, September 7th at Brown’s Beach/Point Return in Bull Shoals Arkansas. It was organized by the owner of Boondocks Resort, the Fire Chief of the Bull Shoals Fire Department, and a few others in the community. The lake cleanup event included raising some money for the fire department’s dive team.
The organizers managed to get donations for door prizes from several businesses in the area as well as a dive shop in Springfield, MO (over 2 hours’ drive away). 15 divers showed up including myself as well as other volunteers to do shoreline cleanup.
High Points for Me
This was a well-organized lake cleanup event. Rather than try to write some paragraphs on it, I’ll just bullet point what I loved about it.
- Organizers provided a tank refill station for divers. For me, this meant not having to rent two tanks for the day. For those who brought their own tanks, it also meant they could go home with a full tank. It was very considerate and well appreciated.
- One of the organizers provided lunch to all volunteers. It was an incredible fish fry with hush puppies and fries. I can safely say that we all appreciated it, and I want to go back to their restaurant now. It was very tasty.
- The door prizes were considerable. The two big ones were a brand-new scuba tank, and a six day stay at the Boondocks Resort, but there were many more.
- We had really nice mesh bags to do the lake cleanup. This is particularly important underwater. It’s not easy to dive with the drag of an enclosed bag. Mesh allows the water to filter through it.
- The Fire Department put out dive flags before we ever got in the water and patrolled a bit to ensure diver safety. I really appreciated that forethought. They were also available to come to the divers to pull up heavier items, which I really appreciated when I found a tire. It didn’t hurt to have trained medical staff around, especially when one diver sliced his finger on something underwater (which apparently required four stitches).
- The attitudes of everyone involved were incredibly positive. I cannot wait to meet some of these people again. There was also tremendous appreciation expressed by the local community members in attendance for those of us who drove a bit to be there. I honestly felt almost pampered.
- Bull Shoals Lake is beautiful, above and below the water. I’m looking forward to diving there again.
- I’m sure I’m leaving something out, but this was so fun.
I didn’t take my camera to this event. The biggest reason was that I wanted my hands free to focus on the litter and debris. Visibility wasn’t great, but it was good enough. I think it was probably in the 6-to-10-foot range in most areas. I obviously got some photos above the water.
The Diving Experience
On a personal note, my buoyancy control is getting so much better every time I dive. I think my biggest issue now is figuring out how to maintain position while I focus on something else. I’m not sure how to practice that yet.
David was my dive buddy for the day, and I think we worked well together and had a good rapport. I look forward to diving with David again and learning more about his artwork. He’s really talented.
David and I made three dives. The first two were in the cove at Brown’s Beach, pictured below. We found a small number of cans and bottles. David found what looked like a piece of railing off a pontoon boat or something like that. My big find was a tire, about 20 feet down and right in the middle of the picture.
Point Return, where Brown’s Beach is located, was where we organized for the day. There was a tank refill station, pictured below.
This is also where the boats brought divers to shore from some of the dive sites. I somehow failed to get a picture of the fire department dive team boat, but it was in use as well.
David and I then joined the smaller boat with two other divers (Colby and Nathan) to go dive below some bluffs. It’s a location where a lot of kids will jump into the lake and there was quite a bit of litter in the waters below.
The Find of the Day
It was in one of these little inlets that we made the odd find of the day. Nathan actually won a door prize for that. He’s pictured below with his find.
If you’re thinking that cannot be what I think it is, you’re wrong. It is. It was intact underwater. The broken bit happened as we pulled it up, but Nathan got that piece and the tank lid as well. It took four people to get it into the boat.
My Conclusions
This was such an enjoyable day. Everyone involved was there to have fun and with a great attitude. It’s hard to call any scuba diving work, but we did achieve a lot in a short time. Our final results are the trailer pictured at the top of the post.
I will definitely dive again with some of my new friends from this day including a couple of them who didn’t dive because they focused on supporting the rest of us. Liz, Steve, Nathan, David, Russ, Colby – it was so incredible getting to meet all of you.
