Not a Treasure Hunter, I'm a Treasure Finder!

I admit it, part of the fun of diving is seeing amazing creatures, the underwater landscape, wrecks, all the normal things associated with diving, but the other part is finding lost treasure! Lets be honest, if you are going to have a hobby, might as well have one with the chance of getting rich. Before you get too excited about my discovery and start asking me for a loan, lets face it, not to many pirate ships sailed in the inland lakes in Michigan.

Last night was the official start of Wednesday Night Dive Nights with the local area divers. The destination was Gull Lake, but the other side that I hadn't dove before. It turned out to be a great night for a dive with the outside temps in the 70's and the water temp was in the 50's. Becca and I headed out and found the two boats, the swing set, and a couple of the other objects. This side of Gull Lake didn't seem as cool as the other side, so then I took us on a search pattern trying to find some of the bigger fish. I thought the highlight of the dive was a dead crayfish I found, it wasn't much, but at least it was something. Soon after, I found a bullhead, that once we scared it, it took off in a silt trail frenzy. Next was a bass laying in the weeds. Finally, my orthodox path directed us to where something in the muck caught my eye. To me, it looked like a sardine can, I though "oh great, I found junk", so I let Becca reach for it, figuring to give her the disappointment of crap. Much to my surprise, when she touched it, it's gold band immediately came into view! Treasure! Real Treasure! I can't remember what phrase I shouted through my regulator, but it probably was more of a squeal then anything.

I'm sure One-Eyed Willie personally plundered this gold(plated) watch himself. In his haste to outrun the authorities, the watch slipped from his grasp (I mean his arm was severed off in a sword fight) and sunk harmlessly to the bottom of the lake, so I could find it 200 years later! Okay, so it's a crappy Citizen watch that some drunken fisherman dropped, but it's still my first official underwater treasure, so I'm sticking with my One-Eyed Willie story! Aaaaarrgh!