Edition 2-15 – TriState

February 1, 2015

The winter has been real busy for the Tri-State Diving crew. January 15 th five of us traveled to Waubay Lake near Grenville SD to recover a SUV that had sunk in about 20 feet of water. The vehicle went through an ice ridge and plunged into the lake. A Watertown South Dakota recovery company hired us to do the job. It took us four hours to do the recovery. Visibility was about five feet and the bottom solid. We spent about an hour drilling holes to locate the vehicle as the ice had shifted and had moved the markers that had been placed over the site about two weeks earlier. Here are some pictures of the recovery:

This shows the location on the lake.

Once the vehicle was recovered and the hole has been cut the crew is setting up the SUVE

SUVE being set up over the hole

Winching vehicle to the surface and removing the lift bag

SUV ready to be lowered on the ice surface

Here is a link to watch a video of the job that was shot by a SD Game Warden. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNlF-qaMcMg&feature=youtu.be

January 19, 2015 four members of the Tri-State Diving crew recovered a SUV that ended up in the river channel on the north side of Ottertail Lake. This was a four hour job. Here are some pictures of the job.

Ice had to be removed for a good distance because it was warm and the wind was making the ice in the river channel weaker.

Diver walking the cable out to the vehicle for hookup

Pulling the vehicle toward the SUVE as the diver is steering for line up on the SUVE

Vehicle out of the water and resting on the ice

Here is a WDAY news story link about the ice conditions in area lakes and some footage on this recovery. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=876033069084661&id=100000339282489&pnref=story

January 29, 2015 four of us traveled to the channel between Big and Little Detroit Lakes to recover a 1994 pickup that ended up sinking into the channel. The young man got out safely. The recovery took four hours to complete.

WDAY did a feature story for the 6PM news that night on us doing the recovery and here is a link to watch it. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=879803568707611&id=100000339282489&pnref=story

Pictures of the recovery

Vehicle almost out

Hooking up to tow back to the access by the Holiday Inn access

That evening I got a call on another vehicle going into Little Detroit Lake about 100 yards from the one we had taken out that day. The vehicle broke through the ice ridge about 5:00 PM between the two lakes. The crew of four spent about two hours taking the vehicle out.

Here are some pictures of the recovery. Thanks to Mark Lindquist for taking the photos.
Vehicle resting against the ice on the ice ridge

Crew unloading the trailer

Cutting ice from around the vehicle

Drilling hole in the ice for the ice anchor

We are planning an ice dive class for some time in March so if you are interested please give us a call. If you are already certified you are welcome to come along on the dive.

Sea You on the Bottom

Tri-State Diving Making Diving Safe and Adventurous