I have to admit when I first got my open water certification I wasnt a good diver. I was typically overweighted because I hadnt yet learned the tricks of going under. I tended to hold my breath as I submerged instead of letting the air out of my lungs, thus I thought I needed that much more wieght to get down. I wasn't comfortable in the cold, murky waters of the midwest lakes and quarries that we had to pick from. My dive buddy Don and I suffered through our learning curve of experiences as we logged dives wherever we could get wet. Don was more bold and carefree about it, I was the nervous and sometimes overly cautious greenhorn.



During our certification process our instructor advised us that the more experience, and more comfortable we got with diving in the cold and low visibility conditions of our home area the better we would be once we got to our ultimate goal.......the ocean.



Together Don and I logged possibly a hundred dives in our home area in Missouri. Our favorite, although far from the best, is a little known spot about an hour south of St Louis known as The Offsets, or Mine La Motte . It's a open pit lead mine , which actually predates the infamous Bonne Terre Mine, and is surrounded by rock cliffs anywhere form 5 feet to 60 feet in height. Its is privatelly owned now and has become a popular hang out spot for youth from all around the area. They pay their entry fee, sign a death waiver and make a day of it. Its more like a stationary float trip scenario with music, libations, bbq's, and lots of fun.



As far as the diving goes at The Offsets , it is possibly some of the worst we've ever done at times. Water temp was usually hovering around the 50 degree mark and visibility was usually 2 feet or less (sometimes ZERO) but the reason we came back time and time again (and still do!) is because of the cliffs! The cliffs are a magnet for the kids to jump off of and whatever they had in their pockets was left at the bottom about 35 feet down. This is where I discovered the fun of treasure hunting in the water. You NEVER knew what you would find at the bottom of the quarry. In the 17 years I've been diving there I have found items I still havent figured out what they are. Jewelery , money, wallets, credit cards, checkbooks, car keys, drugs, drug paraphanalia, cell phones, cameras, sunglasses (thousands of them!) and lots of dive gear.



The Offsets has been a training ground for divers for years. Not so much anymore since many other more diver friendly places have opened up but many a new diver has left their fins, mask , knife, or dive light at the bottom. I have also fallen victim and left a mask and weight belt there for someone else to find. The Offsets still is a good training ground for newbie divers, though not many go there anymore. It offers a shallow pool with some interessting features underwater. You can learn how to handle the very cold bottom temperatures and get comfortable in low visiblity in realative safety. I will continue to dive there as long as it is open to divers and swimmers. I honed my skills there for a lot of the low vis diving I would do in my future and I am glad I did it too.



My then dive buddy Don has moved on with a family so his free time to dive is taken up by his 3 daughters now. I moved on to a new buddy that I introduced to Mine La Motte and now Jason and I regularly scour the bottom for hidden treasures. I'm actually looking forward to this years season to begin. I will post some pictures of the quarry if I can find them.